about Ina
From an early age, Ina Poljak believed in a just world and wanted to participate in its making.
She believed that education held the key, that education helped to develop understanding and compassion.
For many years, she studied many disciplines and read many books. She received her BA in International Relations and Russian from Wesleyan University (Connecticut, USA).
She then completed her M.Phil. in Russian Studies at Oxford University (St. Antony's College).
It was then that she began to wonder about the value of (conventional) education. So many of the students and academics she encountered here and elsewhere were – it seemed to her – preoccupied with their own narrow field of interest, disconnected from other disciplines, and often uninterested in the consequences of the theories they expounded.
As a Masters student in Cultural Anthropology (London University's School for Oriental and African Studies), she began to learn more about Buddhism.
She travelled to Buddhist countries like Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Tibet. She even worked as an associate producer on a film project about elephant handlers in Nepal.
These travels and encounters moved her deeply.
She came to realize that people are natural phenomena, that they are extensions and reflections of their environment.
People are what they do, rather than what they think or believe.
The word ‘tapas’ means soulful living in Sanskrit. Sometimes it is only an idea that people have, sometimes they embark on a spiritual quest (which may or may not become a physical journey) to find it.
From Ina’s experience, ‘tapas’ does not exist outside of our own selves. When we understand this, we realize how beautiful life can be, and how little we actually need.
Over several years and in other areas of learning, Ina was privileged to study with internationally renowned teachers:
macrobiotic teachers such Alex Jack (who co-authored many of Michio Kushi’s books) and Wieke and Adelbert Nelissen (co-directors of the Kushi Institute of Europe);
Mikhail Rose (the only teacher in the United Kingdom who studied with Shizuto Masunaga, the pioneer of Zen Shiatsu);
and Shiv Charan Singh (acclaimed Kundalini Yoga teacher).
Ina has completed levels 1, 2, 3, and 4 of her macrobiotic training at the Kushi Institute of Europe, and worked as Assistant and Head Chef at Deshima, the macrobiotic restaurant affiliated with KI Europe.
Ina is also an MRSS-certified shiatsu practitioner;
a qualified holistic nutritionist (trained with the College of Natural Nutrition based in Devon, UK);
as well as a qualified Kundalini yoga teacher (trained at the Karam Kriya School in London, UK).
For her, these particular disciplines offer the most inspiration and guidance for daily habits and daily life.
By making a profound connection between people and their wider environment; and between their physiology and their psychology (and spirituality), these disciplines helped bring her back to everyday life, to something she could experience directly and personally.