Ashtanga Yoga Belgrade

Ranko Stoiljković began practicing and studying yoga along with the practice of Karate at the age of 16, as a student of Thirteenth Belgrade High School. Since 2006, he has been devoted to Ashtanga Yoga practice in the tradition of Sri K.Pattabhi Jois and Sri R. Sharath Jois, whose Ashtanga Yoga Institute is situated in Mysore, India. He visited Mysore for the first time in 2008 and spent two months there. After that, he has been travelling to Mysore every year and staying there for two to three months, with, above all, the desire to remain a student forever.

During the past twenty years, he has been professionally teaching various branches of yoga. Since 2008, he has been teaching Ashtanga Yoga in the tradition of Sri K.Pattabhi Jois and Sri R. Sharath Jois, who he recognised as his gurus within this specific type of yoga that nowadays represents one of the most significant spiritual practices in the world.

His first teacher is Dragan Lončar (vidayayoga), one of the best known and the most successful yoga practitioners and teachers in this region.

He travelled to India for the first time in 1994 with Dragan Lončar and visited Mungir, the Bihar School of Yoga. That is where he met Swami Sivamurti Saraswati, who he has been perceiving as his guru or spiritual teacher ever since.

During the following year, he stayed at Swamiji's Ashram in Athens, Greece for several times. In 1996, he started living and working at Swamiji's Ashram and she encouraged him to teach various kinds of yoga. He spent traditional eight years at Satyananda Ashram in Greece (www.satyanandashram.gr) as one of Swamiji's closest students.

He was initiated into Kriya Yoga Meditation within the system of Satyananda Yoga (Bihar Yoga) in 1996.

In 2000, he was initiated into Dashnami Sanyasa tradition and given the name Swami Vairagyaratna Saraswati.

He has been teaching Yoga in Belgrade since 2005.

In 2007, he finished course for yoga instructor at Vidya Yoga School of Dragan Lončar.

He completed course for yoga teachers at New Zealand during 2009 and 2011, with John Scott (www.stillpointyoga.co.nz), one of the best known and the most successful students of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and Sri R. Sharath Jois.

On December 20th 2012, he obtained blessings from his guru, Sri R. Sharath Jois, the director of Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute in Mysor, India, to teach the first series and became authorised teacher of Level 1. In 2016, he obtained authorisation for Level 2.

Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute in Mysore India (www.kpjayi.org) is the only institution with the empowerment to issue authorisations or certificates to individuals to teach Ashtanga Yoga.

Since 2011, he has been participating in seminars and workshops organised by David Swenson and his wife Shally Washington (www.ashtanga.net). In this way, he has continued to learn Ashtanga Yoga from his first Ashtanga Yoga teacher, David Swenson, whose DVDs and books he used to practice and teach Ashtanga Yoga in the tradition of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and Sri R. Sharath Jois.

In 2012, he started occasional trainings in Goa, India with Rolf Naujokat and his wife Marci (www.yogabones.org).

In January 2016 he was authorised as Ashtanga Yoga Teacher Level 2 with license to teach 2nd series up to Karandavasan.

He is also a Karate Master and Karate Instructor, former member of national karate team, and winner of numerous medals on national and international competitions.

He is a Bachelor of Law.

He is a great lover of animals and nature.