Ela began attending Hatha Yoga classes in Poland in 1987 in her first year at university and discovered Iyengar Yoga in 1995, when she moved to Edinburgh, Scotland. Ela trained as an Iyengar Yoga teacher in Edinburgh, from 2002 to 2004. Ela holds an Introductory Level Certificate with Iyengar Yoga Australia. In 2006 she moved to Perth, Australia where she continued to teach until moving to Canberra in 2015, to devote more time to the study and practice of yoga at Yoga Mandir Institute. Over the years, she has studied with senior teachers in Europe, Australia and India. In December 2014 and 2015, Ela attended intensive courses with Geeta Iyengar, at RIMY Institute in Pune, India. Ela joined the teaching staff at Yoga Mandir in 2016. She currently teaches Lunchtime and Open Yogasana classes. In addition to her teaching, Ela has been assisting with the development of Yoga Mandir's research library and currently holds the role of Led practice Mentor.
Ela’s professional life has been in education, research and education management: at universities for 20 years and in public service for 5 years. She holds a PhD in Linguistics and English Language from Edinburgh University, with specialisation in Medieval English. She can interpret Medieval English documents handwritten on parchment. Ela also holds an (overseas) secondary school teacher qualification. From 2010 to 2015, Ela worked in project management of external assessment of Year 12 students for the Western Australian Senior Secondary Board: SCSA, WA. While there, she witnessed firsthand the pressure and stress that students, parents and educators experience in the final years of students’ secondary journey. Ela strongly believes that regular practice of yoga would improve students’ physical and emotional wellbeing, as it does hers, which in turn could contribute to their academic performance.