Aya Manabe is a Japanese yoga teacher (E-RYT 500, Yoga Alliance) based in New Delhi, India, and Director of India & Japan at Namah Shivaya Yoga – International School of Yoga & Meditation.
After years in the corporate world, Aya chose a different path, guided by her desire for a more authentic and meaningful way of living. She trained extensively in traditional yoga ashrams in India and has since been sharing yoga as a path of self-care, inner balance, and gentle transformation with women from diverse backgrounds.
Her teaching goes beyond physical practice, offering yoga as a supportive tool for healing the body, calming the mind, and reconnecting with one’s true self. Aya holds an LL.B from Osaka University and is currently pursuing an MSc in Yoga at S-VYASA University, studying classical yogic philosophy under Indian teachers.
“My first and most important learning of yoga began with seva in yoga ashrams. Through offering my time, energy, and practice in service, I came to understand yoga not only as a personal discipline, but as a way of giving back to society. This foundation has deeply shaped both my teaching and my way of living.
As my own practice has matured, my perspective has naturally expanded—from practicing for myself, to sharing yoga with others, and now to consciously returning what I have received to the wider community. I believe that yoga finds its true meaning when inner transformation is expressed through compassionate action.
Through Yoga Gives Back, I hope to embody and share this journey: how yoga can guide us from self-care to service, and from individual growth to collective well-being. As an ambassador, I wish to support and communicate the spirit of yoga as a living practice—one that nurtures dignity, opportunity, and empowerment, especially for women and children.”
YouTube, Instagram: aya.yoga.india(personal）, nsyoga108(school).