Australian-born Valerie Jeremijenko (ERYT 500) is an experienced educator, entrepreneur, and yoga teacher with more than 35 years of work across education, the arts, and wellness. She was a pioneer in the Middle East, establishing Yama Yoga Studios in Qatar, one of the region’s first yoga studios, which grew into a thriving network of branches over more than 15 years. Her academic background includes an MFA and a PhD in creative writing, along with publications and teaching experience. She has also contributed extensively to dance education, production management, and non-profit leadership, always supporting the development of the whole person. In professional life, some of her most meaningful roles were in student affairs at universities in the Middle East and internationally, where she focused on nurturing students as complete individuals. Valerie brings all of this experience into her leadership and vision at Ananda Yoga and Detox Center.
Although her career has taken many paths, yoga has remained her deepest commitment since 1991. She has studied with respected teachers including Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, R. Sharath Jois, Lino Miele, John Scott, Graeme Northfield, Tim Miller, and many others. To deepen her understanding within traditional lineages, she has travelled to India more than 15 times. She has also hosted and studied with internationally known teachers in contemporary styles, including Dylan Werner, Simon Borg Olivier, Alison West, Nicky Knoff, Lisboa & Simon Calder, Kristina Karitinou, Noah Mckeena, Dice & Briohny, Brian Campbell (Forest), Max Storm, Petri & Wambui, Jules Febre, Renee McNamaro Cerro, Michael Gannon, Yogeswari, Bridget Woods Krammer, Kathryn Budig, Adam Keen, Ian Lewis (Iyengar), Paddy McGrath (Scarvelli), Julie Martin (Flow), Yogeswari (Jivamukti), and many others. She is currently deeply immersed in Dharma yoga.
Valerie’s studies in yoga anatomy are wide-ranging, with particular attention to the facial and nervous systems. Her current focus is pain science, studied with teachers such as Tom Myers, Simon Borg Olivier, Joseph Muscolino, and Leslie Kaminoff. She continues to explore yoga philosophy through programs with the Oxford Center for Hindu Studies, Carlos Pomeda, Embodied Philosophy, and Yogic Studies. Her meditation practice is rooted in Vipassna.
In the studio, Valerie is known for a teaching style that is charismatic, challenging, and deeply nurturing. She brings compassion, humour, and intelligence into every class, inviting students to approach practice as a journey of self-healing and discovery. Her offerings include Ashtanga, Dynamic Vinyasa, Dharma-inspired Hatha, and technical workshops. She also leads specialised programs in myofascial release, natural breathing, yoga nidra, emotional balance, and meditation.
Valerie has spent many years training teachers, offering programs in Doha since 2006 and at her summer retreat in Bulgaria since 2012. The teacher training programs she leads at Ananda Yoga and Detox are long-established and trusted. To date, she has trained more than 1,000 teachers worldwide through her comprehensive curricula. Many of her students now teach as studio owners and teacher trainers themselves.
As an author, Valerie’s collection of literary essays, How We Live Our Yoga (Beacon, 2001), received critical praise from The New York Times, The Village Voice, and Publishers Weekly. This influential book explores how yoga transformed the lives of notable writers, thinkers, and teachers. An electronic edition was released in August 2020.
After raising four daughters and working full-time for many years, Valerie is now fully devoted to her practice, her students past, present, and future, and the renewal of Ananda Yoga and Detox Center.