“The starting point of the journey is the ending point of the journey”
Swami Lakshmanjoo
Walking the ancient path, illuminated by the ones who walked before me
His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama
Buddha Dharma
Sharath Rangaswami Jois
Sharath Yoga Centre
Gurumayī Chidvilāsānandā
Siddha Yoga
Simona Nucera is an authorized Ashtanga Yoga teacher, designer, and founder of Shala Mandala, a contemplative education project operating between Venice and Southern Italy.
Her work integrates traditional Mysore-style practice, contemplative disciplines, retreat direction, and sustainability-oriented design research informed by long-term study in India and an international background in fashion, textile design, and visual culture.
Introduced to yoga at the age of twenty, Simona has dedicated over two decades to the study of yoga, meditation, and contemplative traditions across Europe, India, Southeast Asia, and the United States. Her formation was deeply shaped by extended stays in traditional āshrams and in Varanasi, one of the world’s oldest living centres of spiritual scholarship.
She trained within the lineage of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and later received Authorization to teach from Sri R. Sharath Jois following years of dedicated practice within the traditional Mysore method. Her principal teachers include Sri R. Sharath Jois, Sharmila Desai, Hamish Hendry, Noah Williams, Peter Sanson. In 2022 she assisted Sharath Jois in the shala, deepening her understanding of direct method transmission and traditional hands-on adjustments.
Before dedicating herself fully to contemplative practice and teaching, Simona worked between Milan, London, and Los Angeles in the fashion and design sector, developing experience in textile research, product development, and interdisciplinary creative production connected to theatre and visual culture.
Her studies are further informed by Advaita Vedānta, Goenka Vipassanā meditation, Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, and ongoing academic research in ancient civilizations, arts, and contemplative traditions at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice.
Alongside teaching internationally across Europe, India, New Zealand, and the United States, Simona continues to develop projects dedicated to contemplative education, cultural exchange, retreat experiences, and mindful hospitality.
Her teaching emphasizes continuity, attentive practice, simplicity, and the creation of spaces dedicated to study, reflection, and contemplative living.
