Antoaneta Maria Gotea was born in July 1972, in Bucharest, Romania. Memories from her early age of her father practicing complicated physical exercises (known in Yoga as uddiyana bandha) and unusual breathing (pranayama), which were also synergistically connected to her mother’s teachings about the existence of subtle bodies and reincarnation, made her desire to lead a genuine spiritual life, which became her aspiration.

Her search for an authentic spiritual path led her at the age of 21 to a Yoga course while studying at the Politechnical University of Bucharest. She studied Raja Yoga, Mahavidya Yoga, and Kashmiri Shaivism at a Yoga school in Romania. In 1997, she began leading women’s groups practicing Mahavidya Yoga, her favorite branch of Yoga.

Her first encounter with meditation was in 2000 when she joined her companion, Sahajananda, for a meditation retreat in one of the remote caves in the Romanian countryside. The three weeks spent in solitude and silence made her understand for the first time how difficult it is to calm the mind, how much discipline and perseverance are required to deepen meditation, and what determination is required for those who aspire to know the Truth.

The confrontation with herself was difficult, but it awakened her. After this experience, a deep longing for solitude and meditation was awakened. The following year, she joined her companion again in the cave for a second remote meditation retreat. The profound happiness she felt when she returned to the same cave where the first glimpses of meditation appeared is very difficult to describe. Another significant retreat in her life was an 18-day kaya kalpa (dark retreat) that she did with Sahajananda.

She has continued her meditation journey by developing group meditation retreats (Hridaya retreats) led by Sahajananda, both in Romania and Thailand. In 2008, she graduated from a teacher training course. She began teaching yoga in Thailand and Romania.

In 2010, she had the great opportunity to connect with the depths of Tibetan Buddhism when she attended the Dalai Lama’s teachings in Bodhgaya, a 10-day Phowa retreat with the great master Ayang Rinpoche, and the meditation course “The Art of Living with Joy” with Mingyur Rinpoche at the Tergar Monstrosity in Bodhgaya, India. Since then, the Buddhist teachings on compassion and bodhicitta have been fused with the practice of Hridaya Yoga based on the nondual teachings of the great sage of Arunachala, Ramana Maharshi.

In 2011, Sahajananda and Antoaneta, working together, launched the first Hridaya Meditation and Yoga Teacher Training Course. She had the great opportunity to coordinate the first HTTC class and also taught an incredible group of students—one who loves meditation.

Her spiritual journey continues… The meditation retreats continue… Meditation is a continuous transformation of the mind. Until the mind returns completely inward and goes to the depths of its source, the Spiritual Heart (Hridaya), effort is necessary.