Biography

Antonina Rubina

Antonina Rubina, born in Moscow in 1984, is the mother of a three-year-old little daughter, the holder of a two-year master’s degree in Fine Chemistry, a Master’s degree from the Art School of Paris, CCA; a professional model with the “Elite” agency for ten years in Paris and New York; and a practitioner and certified teacher of Iyengar yoga.

Antonina Rubina is an extraordinary individual, driven by a never-ending pursuit for spirituality and beauty.

Born in Russia to a military father and an economist mother, she studied Fine Chemistry and graduated as an engineer from the prestigious “M.Lomonosov” Moscow University, while continuing in her diligent practice of classical dance. Having completed her degree, she couldn’t bring herself to sacrifice her youth cooped up in a laboratory.

Consumed by the quest for what she likes to call “the elixir of essential happiness”, she knew deep down inside that this was not to be found in any test tube or chemical formula.

Mother Nature was generous with her brains, but also with her looks and soon enough she was “spotted”, and became a professional model from 2004 to 2013. But Nina is not someone who simply allows herself to be swept along by events: she embraces the new perspectives these offer her.

Her travels all over the world, from Paris and London, to New York; her collaborations with the biggest agencies, the world’s leading brands and magazines such as Vogue, Elle and Marie Claire; and the fashion shows of Jean Paul Gaultier, Lorenzo Riva and Chloé have allowed her to satisfy her natural curiosity and to open herself up more and more to the world around her.

This experience has not only allowed her to meet incredible talents and work with spectacular creative energies, but also to learn about economic and strategic practices at a very advanced level.

However, she felt that there was something missing. Her travels had given her the opportunity to discover the greatest museums in the world. Her desire to study the world of art in general, and contemporary art in particular, led her to enrol in the Paris Institut des Études Supérieures Des Arts in 2010.

There, a new chapter of her life began, allowing her to acquire a solid knowledge of the art market and the development of ambitious projects. Through internships with the Opera art gallery and Pierre Cornette de Saint Cyr, and the organisation of her own exhibition in September 2014 with artists from the land of her childhood, she came to realise that happiness and beauty are polymorphous concepts that should be shared by turning towards those around us.

In 2014, she received an offer to represent and develop a line of jewellery in France, for mothers-to-be. Thus, the adventure began: under her guidance, the brand “Une Fée d’Amour” was created, and Goyal Paris Joaillerie was launched in October 2017.

Antonina could have stopped there, but with her need to understand and this obstinate and inspired search for absolute harmony between the body and mind naturally guided her towards yoga and the science and art of life.

In 2010, she pushed open the door of her local yoga club, and entered a world which would change her profoundly. Day after day, session after session – on her mat – her future took shape. As a practitioner, she decided to move into teaching: to transmit the values and benefits of this age-old practice.

In 2016, after three years of demanding training, she became a certified yoga teacher at the Iyengar Yoga School of Faeq Biria, himself a disciple of BKS Iyengar, a legendary figure in contemporary yoga. Nina has travelled several times to PUNE in India, to the home of BKS Iyengar himself, to receive yoga instruction at the highest level.

In 2018, she founded Lemon and Love Yoga with the goal of creating a place of practice for adults and children, with an innovative concept where head and body are one: a place where the desire for what is good and beautiful is omnipresent, and a place where yoga is taught with respect, discipline, kindness and happiness. This project became a reality in 2019 in Ajaccio, on the world’s most beautiful island.

In yoga, nothing is ever permanent. It is a discipline of life; it is a lifelong work. Antonina is only 35 years old, and has all the time in the world to continue to pursue the purpose of her life, for the benefit of others and the people she loves.