Dayana Rivera / Sahiba Kaur
Her father’s Zen meditation teacher gave her a spiritual name while she was still in her mother’s womb. Her father taught her to meditate at the age of four. Nature and art have always been central to her spiritual exploration. As a teenager, she was inspired by Krishnamurti’s invitation to bring about a psychological transformation that could contribute to positive change in society.
She began a committed daily Kundalini Yoga practice in 2005 and started teaching in 2006. In 2009, she co-founded Siri Prem in Quito with Sat Prakash Kaur and Balprem Singh. She taught there until moving to Madrid in 2015.
Training and professional affiliations
Her qualifications include Kundalini Yoga Levels I and II from the Kundalini Research Institute (USA); The Science of Mind and Humanology for Leadership and Success with Anter Vidya (Italy); and Sat Nam Rasayan Healing Level I with the SNR Foundation, with further training in progress. She is associated with the Aquarian Teacher Academy and the Sat Nam Rasayan Foundation, and is a member of IKYTA and the Spanish Kundalini Yoga teachers’ association, AEKY.
- 26 healing and meditation gatherings with Guru Dev Singh between 2009 and 2019, in Española, Ram Das Puri, Lima, Los Angeles, Rome, Mount Shasta, San Pablo, Madrid, Mur de Sologne and Mexico City.
- Intensive White Tantric Yoga practice in New Mexico, Florida, Quito, Mur de Sologne, Madrid and Barcelona.
- A two-day group meditation of 11,000 repetitions of the Mul Mantra with Jugat Guru Singh, specialist in Naad and director of Miri Piri Academy, in Alicante in 2019.
- Intensive study and practice with international teachers at 11 yoga festivals in New Mexico, Florida and France between 2009 and 2019.
- Eight intensive Mujer de Luz workshops with Nam Nidhan Kaur Khalsa in Quito between 2006 and 2013.
- Gurmukhi and sacred sound workshops with Parwinder Singh Khalsa in 2010, 2011 and 2014.
- 11,000 repetitions of the Re Man Shabad in group meditation with Guru Dev Singh in Raiwala, India, in 2014.
- An intensive 17-hour physical and meditative practice of 84 repetitions of Japji Sahib in Goindwal, India, in 2014.
- Courses and workshops since 2005 with Guru Dev Singh, Sadhana Singh, Jugat Guru Singh, Prabhunam Kaur, Nam Nidhan Kaur, Harinam Singh, Guru Singh, Krishna Kaur, Pritampal Singh, Ardas Kaur, Parwinder Singh, Mukta Kaur, Mahan Kirn Kaur, Shiv Charan Singh, Sat Dharam Kaur, Guru Sangat Kaur, Guruprem Singh and Simran Kaur. Topics have included addictive behaviours, prenatal and postnatal yoga, and yoga for women and children.
Teaching, interpreting and community work
Through Leaders & Yoga, she offers leadership workshops and seminars for businesses, institutions and communities. She taught Kundalini Yoga for four years at Quito’s No. 2 men’s detention centre. Since 2006, she has also taught in public spaces, addiction recovery centres, cultural institutions, schools and universities, working with children, teenagers and adults, including Indigenous communities, refugees and migrants. Regular classes and workshops help fund these social projects.
She interprets between English and Spanish for international yoga events, White Tantric Yoga practices, Sat Nam Rasayan gatherings and festivals. She translated Sadhana Singh’s books Leadership and Success, Progressing Towards Leadership and Success and Experiencing Leadership and Success into Spanish.
She has been a guest workshop facilitator and speaker at Saint Louis University’s Madrid Campus; Spain’s National Kundalini Yoga Teachers’ Gathering in Almería; Summer Solstice Sadhana Celebration in New Mexico; Sebomai in Magliano, Italy; EN-ARTES in Sucre, Bolivia; NC-Lab in Bogotá; the Master’s in Artistic Studies at ASAB, Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas; La Casa Encendida in Madrid; Tejedoras de Sueños in San Pedro Sula, Honduras; Shunia Yoga in Barcelona; San Patrignano addiction recovery centre in Rimini; and My Sacha Ji, Ekah and Siri Prem in Ecuador.
Art, education and curatorial work
She holds a master’s degree in Art Education in Social and Cultural Institutions from the Complutense University of Madrid and a degree in Fine Arts from PUCE. Her work brings together art, yoga and education for social transformation.
She curated Líneas Paralelas at the Ecuadorian Cultural Centre in Madrid in 2019 and co-curated Accidentes Geográficos: Contemporary Art from Ecuador 2005–2018 at La Neomudéjar Museum. In Quito, she led Cultural Research at the Fundación Museos de la Ciudad, coordinated the Espiritualidades project and curated Aliento: An Anthology of Pilar Flores at the Contemporary Art Centre.
She directed Fundación Máquina de Cine, which uses audiovisual tools to create spaces for reflection, discussion and participation. Its projects received awards from the Association of Ibero-American Educational Television, the United Nations in Ecuador and Ecuador’s National Film Council. She served on the curatorial committee of Arte Actual at FLACSO Ecuador, worked as an artist educator with ArtEducarte and belonged to the WASH, Lavandería de Arte collective.
Her ongoing research explores how Kundalini Yoga can be applied in everyday life, helping people lead their own lives and support communities of peace.
