Hi, my name is Elena. I am the founder and teacher at Sakura Meditation.

I am a Romanian, former software engineer, now living and teaching in Tallinn, Estonia. But also willing to travel to teach, mostly in Baltic and Nordic countries, and of course Romania.


I found this meditation technique more than 5 years ago and it was exactly what I was looking for. I was just coming out of a very challenging period of my life. Having severe inflammation in all my joints, particularly my knees which prevented me from being able to walk, for months. During that time my mental and emotional health was also in a bad shape. And after realizing that I was making things much worse with my mind I decided that something had to change.

After a few months of research and practice, I found vedic meditation. Which I now lovingly call Sakura Meditation (you can ask me why, when we meet).

It was a total game changer.

I was getting so much from this meditation on so many levels of my life. My joint pain was gone, so were my dark thoughts and anxieties. I was sleeping better. I was more productive and creative at work. My relationships became so much richer. I felt more connected.

So the next heart-driven step for me was to embark on the wonderful adventure of becoming a teacher of this technique. After years of intense study and many courses with many teachers of this beautiful craft, culminating with an intensive 3 months teacher training in the south of India, here I am, ready to share these amazing tools with you.

My Trainings and Qualifications

I am a qualified Vedic Meditation teacher who trained for many years with Mahasoma and Beeja. Here are some of the courses I graduated during my training as a teacher.

    • 3 months of intensive training in Tamil Nadu, India; 

    • Course activities: up to 10 hours of meditation and advanced techniques per day, lectures in vedic wisdom and culture, mechanics of stress and impact on human physiology, how to sequence and deliver complex information in simple and understandable terms, tests in sanskrit language;

  • “Understanding the Brain: The Neurobiology of Everyday Life” course, started in January 2025, with Prof. Peggy Mason, PhD; The University of Chicago

    I chose this course as I want to expand my knowledge of the inner workings of the human brain and nervous system. I want to be able to correlate with what happens in the brain when we meditate.

  • “Vedic Meditation Mastery” Sept.-Nov. 2023 with Charlie Knowles 

    • Vedic philosophy, advanced meditation techniques, integration of spiritual experience with modern philosophy and science, personal development, and coaching.

  • “Beeja Mastery” March 2021 - July 2022, with Will Williams

    • 6 module course of learning, exploring and developing the capabilities known as ‘siddhis’, along with more Vedic wisdom and analysis of ancient vedic texts, enlightened parenting

  • “Energy Management Essentials” course, July 2021 & June 2022, with Natasha Wojnow, Sussex UK

    • This course complimented my knowledge of human physiology on the energetic level and literally saved my ass in dealing with toxic relationships. It also deepened my understanding about my own patterns and regressive tendencies and how to heal them with ease.

  • “Limitless Living” April 2020 - Jan. 2021 with Will Williams

    • 6 module course of advanced meditation techniques, Vedic knowledge and wisdom, mythology - hero journey, quantum mechanics, psychology, mechanics of love, relationships and communication

  • “Rounding Retreat” - March 2020, Will Williams, Sussex UK

    • First learned the advanced technique of rounding

  • “Beginner’s Course” - October 2019, Will Williams, London UK

    • Learned vedic meditation, got my first mantra, learned the mechanics of meditation and discovered its benefits;

    • Fell in love with the practice and its elegant simplicity

  • Many Advanced mantra sessions and rounding retreats

  • Mentor at Coder Dojo Bucharest - Sept. 2018 - June 2020

    • Teaching kids programing in simple educational apps

    • I put this here as is relevant for my teaching journey. This is when I knew that I wanted to share my skills and joy of life with as many of my fellow humans, no matter their age :)

  • Ni-dan Aikido Yudansha, Aikikai Romania, started in Oct.1996

    • Practiced for 15 years this lovely Japanese martial art of Aikido, this is what shaped my formative years and I would not be who I am today without it