After graduating from university, Todor Taruna left for the United States, where he worked in the entertainment business. He had a good standard of living, but at one point he began to feel dissatisfied.

Seeking positive change and more balance in life, he decided to become a vegetarian. In 2012 he met Emil Gavrailov – one of the first yoga teachers in Bulgaria, who began his practice in the 60s of last century. Gavrailov became Todor Taruna’s first yoga teacher. From that moment on, they spent hours together every day, practicing Asana, Pranayama and hiking in the mountains, while also discussing yoga philosophy.

Taruna’s understanding of yoga deepens after studying the integral system of Satyananda yoga – not only as practicing various asanas on the mat, but rather as a holistic way of life.

At the end of the summer of 2013, Taruna led a two-week yoga practice at the Vita Rama Healthy Living Center, and then became part of the permanent project. There he met El Freegano (Hristo Hristov), ​​who introduced him to the practice of Ashtanga Vinyasa. In early 2016, he left for his first seasonal trip to KPJAYI (K. Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute), Mysore, India, where he learned from Ashtanga Vinyasa’s original source Sharath Jois, the leader of the Ashtanga line. During his many trips to India, Taruna visited some of the holiest places, such as Jagannath Puri, Vrindavana, Mayapur, Udupi, Gokarna, Srirangapatna, Melkote, Karoli, Talakaveri, Pandharpura. He also visited Jaipur, Goa, Delhi, Calcutta and more.

Taruna practices and learns from the best teachers in Ashtanga Vinyasa, such as Saraswati Jois, Petri Raisenen, Mark Roberts, Deepika Mehta and others. However, he learned the most from his teachers Mark and Joan Darby, who were among the first Western students of K. Patabhi Jois. From them he gained in-depth knowledge of the first and second series of Ashtanga, including assists, anatomy and philosophy.

Over the years, Taruna’s training has included various mobility courses, FRC – functional conditioning and flexibility with some of the best teachers in the world. Taruna is currently practicing the third and parts of the fourth series of Ashtanga Vinyasa.

Taruna also studied yoga philosophy at the College of Vedic Sciences in England, where he completed a 3-year course in Bhagavad Gita, Upadeshamrita, Isopanishad and other yoga scriptures under Bhakti Prabhava Swami. In 2017, he received spiritual initiation in Brahma Madhva Gaudiya sampradaya from Shachinandana Swami. Then he received the name Taruna Krishna Dasa.

From 2017 to 2019, Taruna leads a Mysore program at Tristana Ashtanga Yoga in Sofia, and in 2020 and 2021 he leads a Mysore program at Ashtanga Yoga Shala Sofia.

Since 2017, he has been doing annual yoga retreats and seminars called Yoga Dharma. In them he tries to present yoga as a way of life and to convey its countless benefits, passing beyond the physical level, through the mental, reaching the very core of our being – the soul.