About · Hola, mucho gusto
Yoga is the love of my life.
I’m Mixa (pronounced “Mee-sha”) Margaret Fajkus, the creator of Yoga Freedom. My longtime practice has empowered me to thrive as a human being, teacher, writer, friend, partner and mother.
I’m a yogi, mother, partner, writer, poet, editor, translator and teacher, among other things. Thanks to yoga, I am alive and thriving.
Practicing yoga since
1993
Teaching since
2002
Leading retreats since
2010
Living on Lake Atitlán since
2012
“All life is yoga.”
Sri Aurobindo
My story
From Texas to Guatemala.
The yoga I teach
Many threads, one practice.
Hatha
Dharma
Kundalini
Slow flow
Yin
Pranayama
Mindfulness
Writing practice
The sacred Mayan calendar
1980
I was born on a full moon on May 30, 1980 in Texas. Growing up in the Austin area, I stumbled upon yoga in 7th grade and immediately got hooked.
2002
I completed a 200-hour hatha yoga teacher certification program at Yoga Yoga in Austin. I simultaneously graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor’s degree in advertising.
2003
I moved to California and began to study Buddhism in the Bay area. There, I launched my yoga teaching career, which led to teaching a dozen weekly classes at gyms and yoga studios across the Bay area.
2004-06
I returned to Texas in fall 2004 and in mid-2005 had a nervous breakdown. I was committed to a psych ward for 10 days, a stone’s throw from my favorite yoga studio, Dharma Yoga. I regained sanity, brushed up on my Spanish, became a bilingual elementary school teacher and bought a small house in south Austin.
2009
I moved to Guatemala City, where I worked for three years at a fancy private school. I began to co-lead weekend yoga retreats in 2010 and led my first weeklong retreat in 2017.
2012
Since 2012, I’ve lived on Lake Atitlán in the Guatemalan highlands. I enjoy everyday views of three magnificent volcanoes and the magical lake. I got together with my partner in 2012 and our daughter was born in early 2013.
Today
Since 2015, I’ve worked at Villa Sumaya retreat center in various capacities. In 2023, I joined the team at Bambu Guest House in Tzununa. I’ve been blessed to lead and co-lead many small group yoga and mindfulness retreats here at the lake and each one has been a wonderful, meaningful, and unique experience.
