Meet Buckhead Yoga Instructor & Founder of Nirvana Propaganda: Aza Larsen

Today we’d like to introduce you to Aza Larsen.

Aza, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was introduced to yoga by my older sister when I was 17. It became a fun way to stretch and was an alternative to higher intensity workouts – which I liked. Over the course of almost 10 years, yoga morphed into a way of life. It is so much more than a workout or simple stretching – you can tap into your higher self and see that anything is possible and that you have infinite power if you choose to see it. Matching that higher state with body movement is what I do yoga for. Yoga is a meditation. Yoga helped me get through my harder college years & blossom into my adulthood while teaching me how to be more understanding, loving & kind to others – and myself.

It was about 7 years into my yoga journey that I left Miami Beach and went on to complete my teacher training in Hawaii to be able to share with others how to tap into the loving-kindness & higher possibility within themselves through body movement, breath & meditation. Soon after my training, I moved to Santa Monica to develop my teaching style. After years of growth & working with some of the best mentors, I started my own yoga & lifestyle company in Malibu, Nirvana Propaganda®. I began teaching primarily on the beach, but also private lessons around LA & on set. Now that I am back in my hometown of Atlanta, I try to bring that same peace from the Malibu coast with the vibrant aloha from Hawaii to all of my classes. Our flagship studio will be opening at the SLX Grand next year.

Has it been a smooth road?
Of course not! Would anybody say life is smooth? A quote I relate to goes something like, ‘Why do people assume people who do yoga are always chill and relaxed – we’re all here because we’re nuts!’ I say all of this jokingly because life is hard, but it ebbs and flows with the times. Some early college years were rough, going through breakups were tough, and losing the ones you love is never easy. But yoga was always there for me as a tool to not only help me through these hard times but to grow from them with confidence. Yoga helps in overcoming the shallows by realizing that you are enough, your life is enough, and to quote one of my favorites, ‘Every little thing is gonna be alright’.

Tell us about your childhood, what were you like growing up?
Growing up was such a magical time! I was very giggly & creative. My grandpa taught me how to play the piano & 6 other instruments, which is why music is such a big part of my life and a BIG part of my yoga classes. Retrospectively though, the best part about being little was that I was innocently & exactly true to myself, with no shame or desire to mold to society. As you get older & everyone is telling you who you should be, dress, talk & act, it was hard to stay true to who I really was and wanted to be. After going through so much personal growth through yoga, I am now able to tap into my true self-similar to my youth, live more freely, confident in my path, and without constraints or worry of what other people think.

What is your favorite childhood memory?
Being close-knit with my entire family, cousins, siblings, aunts, uncles. A lot of my dad’s family immigrated from Iran when I was really little, so my childhood was full of family, culture, & Persian food! As you get older and everyone lives in different places, has their own schedules & family, and egos come into play, it’s hard to see each other as often – let alone be care-free when you are with them.

What are your plans for the future?
Obviously opening my studio is the biggest goal in front of me right now but once that’s open, I would love to start a yoga program to help kids in those pivotal teen years. It’s important to have the right tools to deal with stress to be able to find your path in life. I also work very closely with my dad’s company, Crystal Quest®, which provides water filtration for residential & commercial use. That’s something very big in my life because just like yoga, I really and truly believe in it. And I get to work with my dad! But the importance of clean water is HUGE – it’s almost every day you see something in the news about contaminated water & I know our company is helping so many people get access to the water they need. And again, just like yoga, I would love to start a program to help people get access to clean water & during disaster relief. So between yoga & the water biz, I’m pretty full (which is a good thing!) but I would love to start a family soon with my husband David. It will be interesting juggling all of that – which is where my personal yoga practice will have to come into play!

Contact Info:

• Website: NirvanaPropaganda.com
• Phone: 310.924.4588
• Email: namaste@thenirvanacollective.com; azanirvana7@gmail.com
• Instagram: @aza_nirvana
• Facebook: Aza Larsen
• Other: Spotify: Aza Larsen, Pinterest: Aza Nirvana

Image Credit:
Wakefield Beasley & Associates; The Residences of Buckhead; The Hawaiian Sanctuary; Del American