Deva & Greg
Deva has been a Yoga teacher for over ten years, he trained in traditional Hatha yoga since 2001. He began his practice in his native country Brazil at the Suddha Dharama Mandalam Yoga Ashram, under the tutelage of Dr. Jose Rugue Ribeiro Junior (Swami Narayanananda) and Sergio Carvalho (Haridas) and qualified as an accredited Yoga Teacher in 2003.
He has completed two advanced yoga courses at the Khrisna Shakti Ashram which is an accredited representative of Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math from Nabaduip, India in Campos do Jordao, Sao Paulo, Brazil receiving direct studies and practices from Regina Shakti (Rohini Shakti DD), president of the Sao Paulo Yoga Institute and studied the ancient scriptures of India under the guidance of Sripad B.V. Trivikram Maharaj. He lived in the ashram studying and practising the tradition of Bhakti yoga for a little while after he became a gaudya vaishnava, and in 2004 he moved to Uberlandia, Brazil to teach at the Prema Yoga school.
He has travelled in India, studying various forms of yoga, teaching methods and practices in 2005. He learned many techniques which he has since incorporated into his daily life. He then returned to his hometown of Dracena and opened his own yoga school, which he managed until he moved to England in 2007.
In England, he started working as a chef, and was introduced to 5-rhythms which he has since incorporated it into his yoga teachings, and in 2008 he trained in Ayuverdic Yoga massage and by a chance meeting met Greg.
Greg is the youngest of four and was raised by a spiritualist medium which gave him a foundation of knowledge and a passion for the study of religions and spirituality. Throughout his life he has attended many workshops on solar energy, bicycle power, perma-culture, composting, natural house building, water recycling, and organic food techniques.
After secondary school he spent several years working in customer orientated jobs, from shops to offices to the entertainment industry, these jobs gave Greg an extensive knowledge of running a business. After a while he found himself in a very unhappy place working in jobs that were 'helping people'; though the people being helped were the ones making the money, so he decided to go to University.
His degree is in Anthropology, but he also took some short courses in Mandarin and Quantum Physics. At university he was able to further his personal study of world religions, his final dissertation was on the phenomenological experience of Yoga Practitioners.
Greg has been practising Yoga since he met Deva, they have been in a relationship for 4 years and have lived and worked together since meeting.
The first business, they managed together, was built up from nothing on an initiative by Deva and two friends, Tania & Renee, an underground restaurant serving beautiful meals in beautiful locations, which was named Purple Sprouting Eating Co. Greg joined Purple Sprouting just after they had set up the business, and a few months later the girls had moved on to different projects.
Greg and Deva took Purple Sprouting from strength to strength, they worked together running the underground restaurant, and slowly evolved it in to a small catering company working for small events, and a very special market ‘Makers Boutique’ which is based in Brighton. Greg has learnt a lot of skills in the kitchen from Deva, as Deva has extensive experience working as a sous-chef at the Real-World studios in Bath, he has cooked privately for CEO’s of international companies, celebrities; and for Greg and friends just for fun.
Through out their short years together they had the feeling that something was not quite right in relation to their real life's purpose, and had been thinking of moving out of England for some time, then after the death of a dear friend they had the opportunity to re-evaluate their path. The tragic way in which their friend Nush passed away, showed them that they were losing valuable time in which to make a difference to people, in a way that would make them satisfied at the same time. They looked at their own lives and the skills they already possess in order to find the right avenue to follow that would enable them to do this.
Deva was born in a deprived area of Brazil and has first hand knowledge of wanting to further his studies in Yoga training and was unable to afford it. Greg is not from a rich family either and whilst struggling to make ends meet, to find a way to make a big success of himself with fame and fortune Greg, as did Deva, realised that these ideals are not what they want, what they want in life is to be able to live simply and to help people on a one-to-one basis and actually make a real difference in someone's life.
That is why they are taking the profits they have made from the catering business, as well as from other part-time jobs, moving out of the UK, and are investing all of it in to the non-profit organisation: The Yoga Village Project.
