My Story

I am Dr Tanya Pergola.

People often ask me: how did a girl born in suburban Connecticut in the United States, with Russian-Italian ancestry, end up living with indigenous people in Africa and now, guiding people all over the world to live with greater well-being and joy?

Well, here’s my story…

1968

I was born into a multicultural, global habitat. Both my parents kept one foot in their home cultures and the other foot in the United States. I saw the need to build bridges immediately, to keep the peace within my own mind, and in the constellation of my family. 

My father, an executive within the pharmaceutical industry, kept one hand in the business of modern pharmaceuticals, and the other hand in his passion for true overall health. Together with my mother – a believer in food as medicine – my childhood home was often a place filled with debate about the best way to orchestrate life, as an individual, and as a society.

To keep my mind-body in balance, I was drawn to gymnastics, dance and tennis at a young age. My enthusiasm for conscious movement continued throughout my student years and eventually evolved into me becoming a passionate yoga teacher.

1986-1990

Perhaps it is not surprising that I fell in love with the study of Sociology and Anthropology while an undergraduate student at Washington & Lee University. This field not only gave me clues to understand how my own performance in this lifetime was being scripted, but also how I could contribute to the scripts being written by the broader society. I got so fascinated with how the changes and evolution of the world “out there” influenced my own thinking and being, and how my own being and thinking could potentially influence this world, that I pursued a PhD in Sociology with an emphasis on Social Change and Social Psychology. 

1990s

During my doctoral work at the University of Washington, Seattle in the 1990s, I studied and taught Environmental Sociology, Research Methodology, Race Relations, Gender Studies, Political Sociology, Organizational Theory, Sociology of Religion, and Criminology. While very little of what I read and discussed was new to me, I was happy to learn a language that helped give voice to what my own intuition and experience in the world was showing me. 

1997

Towards the end of my graduate school career, I lost my father to a brain tumor. Having been such a strong influence on my life, I was plunged into a time of asking the soul questions: Who am I? What do I want? What is my purpose?  I sensed that my father had passed the baton to me to run the next leg of the race and do what I could to serve humanity; but how to do this? By this time, the United States felt to be a bit out of control: overconsumption, obesity, heart disease, growing inequality, environmental destruction, extremely high rates of incarceration particularly for black American men, high rates of divorce and mothers raising children on their own, etc. What was happening? The predominant script seemed to be missing something — the elements of humanity, of soul. 

1999

After finishing the PhD, I went to climb Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and immerse myself in the stunning nature of primordial Africa. While there, I spoke with my guides from the Maasai tribe and was reminded of my interviews with the Indigenous People I spoke with during my doctoral research in the Pacific Northwest of North America. There was a richness and calmness to their way of being in the world, often devoid of material possessions. I was captivated, and engulfed by the desire ‘to get to the bottom of things’. 

2001

In 2001, I moved to Arusha, Tanzania and with a grant from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) co-founded an NGO with a Tanzanian Maasai elder. In its 20 years of existence Terrawatu, under my Co-Leadership, has built schools, computer labs, reforested lands, developed complimentary medicine clinics and supported small business development in women’s groups. And, with its partner People-to-People Safaris, we have led hundreds of students and adults from around the world on educational safaris helping to foster global citizenship. In exchange for my work in Tanzania, I was taught some secrets of healing wisdom from the Maasai. Wisdom about how to heal and keep one’s self healthy and by association, the family, community and society you are part of. I often say I received my second PhD in Africa. 

2004-2012

To keep sane in graduate school, I began practicing yoga and meditation regularly. In fact, my first yoga class was in Seattle in 1990. At that time, these mind-body practices were considered ‘fringe’ and part of a “New Age Movement.” Being a student of social movements and comparative religion, I had studied and written about the New Age Movement and leaders in spiritual communities around the world. However, knowing how useful the practices of yoga, meditation and conscious living were in my own life, as a student and then as Director of a humanitarian organization in Africa, I realized I had to do more than analyze these tools from an academic perspective. I wanted to share these powerful tools with others who could benefit from them. I began teaching yoga in 2004, in Tanzania. Four years later I met Dr. Deepak Chopra and got involved with his community. Now, I am proud to say I am a certified Meditation, Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga instructor and an Ayurvedic Lifestyle coach with Chopra Global.

2012

In 2012, after living and working in Tanzania, Botswana and South Africa and learning from other indigenous tribes and cutting-edge scientists in the TED community and global development organizations, I watched my own home country – the United States – becoming more and more unwell. The diseases I knew about in the late 1990’s had proliferated and new epidemics were growing – mental illness, drug addiction, pernicious ongoing unequal treatment of citizens especially African-Americans. It was time to return to the United States and see what was happening on the other side of the pond. It had become clear what to do with that baton my father had passed to me: it was time to help others with their health and well-being. I would share all the tools I have been so blessed to receive and have been gathering on my own safari (safari is a Swahili word for journey).

2020

For the last 8 years, I have been working with individuals and groups to help them heal and grow in positive ways. I combine my expertise in Social Psychology, cross-cultural communication, narrative medicine, the Vedic practices of Yoga, Meditation and Ayurveda, and indigenous African healing traditions with cutting-edge science to move people beyond limiting and unhealthy beliefs and behaviors. The method is called The Pergola Method™ My book Time is Cows: Timeless Wisdom of the Maasai won a Nautilus Book Award for Indigenous/Multicultural. I speak at conferences around the world and most recently, have been teaching and working with patients virtually. 

The little girl from suburban Connecticut is now a global citizen, sharing my wisdom to help heal a wounded world.