Milena - Feather Fairy, Yoga and Tantra teacher

What is your Koh Phangan story?
2013 was the first year I came, I discovered yoga and was looking for something meaningful as I got burnt out working in the corporate world in a corporate job with long working hours. I had lost all my juice. I had no motivation and didn’t want to talk to people. So I asked my boss to give me one month off.

I was looking for a meaningful program as I knew I couldn’t just lie on the beach all the time, I needed something else and was thinking of yoga. My best friend was doing yoga teacher training on Phangan and sent me a recommendation to come. Thanks to her presence here, it felt like coming home.

So I have been visiting Phangan on and off since, I went back to integrate the experience as it was life changing - I started to be truly happy. I carried that happiness within me even back in my job and I took time to answer the question of what I really wish for my life? I quit my job, let go of my apartment and moved here to further study yoga and tantra, I was also teaching bellydance as I had back in Prague. I’ve been renewing the flow.

What is tantra to you?
There are many traditions and definitions, for me it is a way of living, a way of connecting to myself and the outside world. It’s about being authentic to who I am and connecting to my body and my feelings. For me personally Tantra teaches me to relax the mind and relax into my body. My mind being sharp and very analytical sometimes tends to overthink. Tantra offers many useful tools to guide us from the learned intelligence and knowledge in the head to the innate wisdom and intuition of the heart.

The knowledge in my mind needs to come to the natural wisdom in my heart. When I’ve found teachers that resonated with me, the words they were saying came like an instant reminder of something I already knew but was not aware. It is a pointer to this wisdom and knowledge we all carry within, just need to be reminded.

Yoga and tantra seem to go next to each other, what sorts of things do you try to live by?
The first thing for me was yoga, the physical exercise connected to focusing the mind to energy flow, energetics in the body. It works not only on a physical level but also by focusing the mind on the energy flow it helps to purify energy channels in the body.

When we learn to focus the mind, which normally is pretty scattered or distracted, it allows the connection of the mind and body, so generally speaking it influences the body, mind and emotions as a whole. From yoga people get more information on yamas and niyamas which can be translated like ‘morals and ethics’. These principles speak of non violence, truth, non stealing, non possessiveness, cover topics like contentment and purity. There are ten of them and they speak about the relationships towards ourself and the outside world. They apply to actions, words and thoughts as well. I would say for me personally the flow of events felt very natural. I started with yoga, purifying my physical body and energetic channels which lead me to tantra and deeper work with energies.

Why do you think Koh Phangan has attracted such a large yoga community?
It is obvious for me that firstly Agama is attracting many people as a tantric school. I myself also wonder what the reasons are that made the founders come.

One thing is obvious, Phangan being a beautiful, tropical paradise goes well with tantra that says we are here to be happy and enjoy our lives. For me, life on a tropical island is enjoyable indeed. This island has a very special energy, it feels very transformative to me, the processes go deep and can be very fast – at some moments it goes boom! Here you go, girl! Here’s your new challenge, your new lesson to learn.

We have seen feather hair extensions on girls on the island, what got you interested in doing this?
I was never interested in feathers when I saw them on people, I always wondered why they had them. Then I met Elf, amazing girl who is producing these in Bali. The first huge gift she gave me was telling me her life story. I fell in love with her feathers when I saw her work, which is distinctly different from what I had seen before. I myself at that time was looking for hair extensions because my hair was very thin and fine. I used to have really long, thick and curly hair until I fell sick about ten years ago and went almost bald, the quality of my hair was far from before. I was happy I had some hair at all but it didn’t feel like an expression of the woman, how I feel inside. When I saw these feathers on Elf I couldn’t tell what was her hair and what was feathers, it was so beautiful.

A few days before that I had an appointment with a very good hairdresser, he checked my scalp and hair and said I couldn’t have extensions because of the quality and weakness of my roots. So the lightness of the feathers came as a blessing with Elf, this beautiful woman. Also energetically, it created a shift, one thing is that I started feeling better, more content with my appearance by having longer, richer hair. Moreover, I felt freedom coming along with these feathers. Two words came right away as we were putting them in, freedom and choice. This was also a way of wrapping up my life shift - I chose freedom.

What is unique about this product?
First is that all the other feather extensions are made by one long feather, coming from specifically grown roosters whereas this product carries fifty feathers from tropical birds on each string of extension. They can be put into hair either via the micro ring or the keratin method which are the regular methods for hair extensions.

The strings as well as other products, earrings and accessories are produced in Bali by Balinese women, single mums with small children. They have a fair pay and they can choose flexible work time. It’s a big family.

How long do they last?
There is no general answer, they are similar to hair extensions, so it depends on the speed of hair growth for each person. Also some people like to have them reattached sooner and some later, it can be two to five months.

The feather hair extensions can be washed, straightened, curled with tongs and they naturally blend with hair. They behave in the same way as human hair and when it comes to maintenance feathers don’t like oil, so you cannot use hair oil. In fact oil is not good for hair either, it makes a film on the surface that prevents things coming in and out, so no nourishment can get in. Even this I learned from feathers.

What are your current and future projects?
I’m currently and will continue teaching yoga and tantra, I’m giving classes (group and private) and workshops. Right now we are starting Sunday’s women’s circles called ‘Feminine Essence’ in Samma Karuna. I intend to offer workshops for healing and restoring with Tao and Yoga.

For next year I feel the need to settle, to make a home. What I would love to manifest is a home. I would also like a studio, healing and retreat centre with classes, retreats, workshops and healing offered. So, I can see myself settling, living on Phangan and in Bali and bringing workshops and precious traditional yogic and tantric teachings to Europe as well whilst travelling.

What do you like to do on Koh Phangan?
Apparently I like the ocean! I’m very much a water element, I love swimming. I enjoy high season as there is a higher water level. Phangan has incredible lush beaches, coconut beach is one of my favourites. When I’m not teaching I like to spend my time with friends or on my own creating some art and writing.

When and where do you teach yoga and tantra?
Currently I do group classes in Samma Karuna and Orion, some months are busier than others. I do a lot of private sessions on yoga, tantra or personal guidance. Also nutritional consulting on a more private basis. Usually my clients come from a personal meeting or are recommended from friends. People can always reach me via email (LoveHeals.Mail@gmail.com) or Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/SacredTantricAlchemy).

What is your life philosophy?
It actually changes as I am changing and learning, certain quotes or directions resonate with different periods of my life. I guess that for this year it has been about choosing freedom and making decisions out of love, not out of fear.