Archives: Speaker

Dr. Mayur V Kaku is the Head of Neurosurgery Department at Vasavi Hospital, Bengaluru. He completed his Neurosurgery training at National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore. He is expert in Minimally Invasive Brain and Spine surgery and has special interest in Endoscopic and Pediatric Neurosurgery. He is active member of Neurological Society of India (NSI), American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and is trained by World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies (WFNS) in Stereotactic Radiosurgery for Brain and Spine. He is practicing yoga for the last 20 years and is certified and practicing Yoga Therapist too.

Dr Rob is a yoga practitioner for nearly 25 years and a Doctor of Chiropractic. He has been helping people move towards health since 2000 and is the founder of More Than Anatomy. This is an online resource for teachers of yoga who want to learn about the human body in relation to yoga.

Shriram Sarvotham, PhD, E-RYT-500, has been practicing yoga since childhood and teaching yoga for over three decades. He studied with many renowned teachers including Swami Bodhananda, Yogacharya Srivatsa Ramaswami, Yogacharya Sri R. Subramaniam, Yogashiromani Krishan Verma, and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ji. Shriram’s prime focus is to share authentic and holistic yoga practices that are rooted in classic yoga texts. He has taught over 300 workshops and retreats all over the USA, led numerous mega-yogathon events, and has given lectures and demonstrations at prestigious yoga conferences. Shriram is a co-founder and Director of the EkaShri Schools of Yoga. He is also a faculty of Yoga Teacher Training programs for several yoga institutions and studios, including Yoga Bharati, a branch of SVYASA Bangalore. Shriram is a recipient of the “Exemplary Service Award in Yoga” given by the Consulate General of India, and the “Yoga Service Award” given by ISKCON. Shriram did his Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT Madras followed by PhD from Rice University in Houston, Texas. He works in the tech industry as a Senior Scientist in San Francisco Bay Area, California.

Diplomat turned Yog Guru: Chandra Mohan Bhandari, a former Ambassdor of India, an Honorary Professor of Opole Polytech University, Poland, and an International Yog Grand Master, has had a brilliant educational career. He got his Master in Physics degree from I.I.T., Kanpur in 1970 and joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1974. Though he is widely travelled overseas because of his diplomatic career, he throughout his career held his personal life closely wedded to Vedic Sciences. He studied Vedic texts in his free time and through his own experiences after sustained practice of the many Yogic Kriyas, quantified deep holistic health and wellness benefits besides spiritual realizations. This was clearly visible in his public personality, which deeply influenced public opinion about holistic health and wellness advantages from living by Yog and Ayurved sciences. This led C.M. Bhandari to establish the Institute of Vedic Sciences at his Devamber Dham Arogya Ashram in Kashipur in February 2020. Before that, he had established a small scale Devamber Arogya Dham Ashram in June 2012 in his native village Mawra in Ranikhet Tehsil of Almora district in Uttarakhand. C.M. Bhandari has designed five modules of 10 hours each for practical experiences of benefits from Yog and Ayurved Sciences.

Valerie Hwang is an Ayurvedic Health Counselor and yoga nidra teacher based in Long Beach, California. Guided by the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda, her mission is to help people stay healthy so that not only can they live a life of peace and joy, but so that they can pursue their higher purpose with grace and ease. Valerie uses simple diet, lifestyle, and 5-sense therapies to promote healing and vitality in the mind and body. She has studied Ayurvedic Nutrition and Culinary Education under Bhagavat Life by Divya Alter and greatly enjoys applying Ayurvedic wisdom to cooking and eating for balance and health.

Vladimir Yatsenko, MA in Sanskrit language and literature, General and Theoretical Linguistics, PhD in Indian Philosophy, doing research in the field of Vedic and Vedantic Studies, Indian Philosophy, Philosophy of Language and Integral Yoga Psychology. He was a visiting Professor of Sanskrit and Integral Studies at Auro University, Surat, and a facilitator at University of Human Unity project at Auroville, Indian Psychology Institute in Pondicherry, International Centre of Integral Studies in New Dehli and SACAR in Pondicherry. At present he is a visiting member at Sri Aurobindo Integral Life Center, Fountain Inn, USA.

Swamini Pramananda (affectionately known as Ammaji) is the Spiritual Leader and Visionary behind the organization, Purna Vidya, based in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. While still a teenager, Ammaji lived in a traditional gurukulam and studied Advaita Vedanta (the Non-dual teaching tradition of India) for three years with her first teacher, Swami Dayananda Sarawati. Ammaji eventually became a monk and spiritual teacher herself. For the past over 40years, she has been sharing the vision of Oneness and Harmony with seekers around the world. Swamini Pramananda is one of those rare teachers who understand the intensity and challenges of the Spiritual journey, and can communicate these ancient teachings in a way that is both relevant and meaningful for the modern spiritual seeker. Swamini Pramananda is a Vedanta teacher and a teacher of teachers as well as a Sanskrit scholar. Her scholarship is grounded in these timeless teachings as well as her direct experience of the truth they reveal. As a result, she has become one of the clearest and most eloquent teachers of the Vedic vision of Oneness and Happiness you will find in the world today.

Rutger Kortenhorst is a wellbeing and practical philosophy teacher for teenagers (12-18). A Sanskrit teacher for 5-12 year old age group. Passionate about the great outdoors - cycling and walking. Teaching adults Sanskrit and Vedanta philosophy during the evening and the weekend. Website https://sanskrit.ie for wellbeing with Bhagavad Gita in colour-coded Sanskrit and translation and sung by Gaiea. Eesha Upanishad is being uploaded this summer. Writing Sanskrit textbooks for children in the west to help them learn. A lot of this done through music.

Siddhant Ghosh is the founder of a Nationalized NGO, working on rehabilitation, social upliftment and acceptance of girl children effected in trafficking, orphan children, children and young adult with Mental retardation, Autism and Cerebral Palsy and grand parents left on streets by their own. My Faith in GITA has taught me the need to work for social upliftment of people with disadvantages, as to be the primary source of ultimate happiness, something we all individual seek in life.

Omkar, with a background of Bachelors & Master’s degree in Yoga from the prestigious SVYASA Yoga University, has nearly 2 decades of experience in training and teaching Yoga. He is loved and respected by his students and clients for the gifts he brings to their professional and personal lives as a Yoga teacher, Therapist, Counsellor, Coach and a Stress management consultant. Omkar travels widely conducting workshops, seminars, retreats etc. on both philosophical and practical aspects of Yoga including meditation and guided relaxation.

Mirabelle D’Cunha supports committed yoga lovers to savour the luxury of inner experience and find purpose, pleasure and joy in life through breath. She provides a loving space for them to unplug from urgency, into deep trust and allowing. Her signature offerings are Sadhana Club - an online sanctuary that brings grace, clarity, and community to yoga teachers and practitioners - as well as her Breathe into a Radiant You private mentoring program for healing through breath. She also hosted the world's 1st Bhakti Yoga Summit in 2020 and 1st Ever Pranayama Summit in 2021 which was endorsed by The Chopra Foundation. Mirabelle is in an intimate relationship with yoga as a breath-ing experience . She has studied with swamis (monks) and teachers from the Sivananda Saraswati lineage and at Mumbai University. Mirabelle has taught at yoga ashrams and studios in India, the USA, Canada, Bahamas, Bermuda, and the Cayman Islands and is a guest teacher on yoga teacher training on pranayama, bhakti yoga, and the deeper nuances of yoga as a living practice. She has been a speaker and panelist and teacher for Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Programs. Whether in an individual or group session, corporate or yoga teacher training space, gentle allowing, compassion and intimacy with breath are at the heart of how Mirabelle approaches all of her work in this world.

Ganesh Giri is from New Delhi, India. Presently stays in Japan. Learned yoga from childhood at various Ashrams in Rishikesh and Bali Indonesia. Teaching Yoga & Meditation in Japan for 12 years. Registered Yoga Master at Wakayama Prefecture Board of Education Japan.

Three extraordinary teachers mentored Raghu Ananthanarayanan when in very difficult phases of his life, namely; J Krishnamurti, Yogacharya Krishnamacharya and Pulin K Garg. He was intimately involved with them for more than a decade from his late twenties. This engagement not only transformed him, it evoked from him his service orientation, his sadhana. His work revolves around helping individuals, groups and organizations discover their dharma, and become the best they can be. This he believes aligns with his own personal sadhana. Formally trained as an engineer with an MS in Bio-Medical Engineering from IIT, Madras, he has been in immersive involvement in questions of human life. In academic areas, he has been Cofounder of the Sumedhas Academy of Human Context since 1995, and of the Barefoot Academy of Governance with TISS since 2012. He is one of the Directors of the Centre for Consciousness and Inner Transformation, an initiative of Indic Academy. As Director of Flame Tao Knoware Pvt Ltd Raghu spans the commercial world of consulting by helping redesign the client organization for greater alignment and synergy. Raghu has authored several books: Learning Through Yoga, The Totally Aligned Organization, Leadership Dharma, Arjuna the Timeless Metaphor, Organizational Development and Alignment: The Tensegrity Mandala (as co-author with Gagandeep Singh). Currently his wife Sashi and he, donning their role as Chief Mentors are working on nurturing people on a Sacred Quest at Ritambhara Ashram, situated in the beautiful Nilagiris.

Kanniks Kannikeswaran is a visionary musician, composer, music educator and writer with several recordings, productions and scores to his credit. Often referred to as 'The Magical Musician from Madras' Kanniks' skill lies in his ability to create captivating music easily accessible to a broad audience base, blending complex features of diverse World Music forms. All of Kanniks' projects are consistent with his vision of building community through the celebration of threads of commonality between diverse peoples and cultures. Kanniks is a recent recipient of the prestigious McKnight Visiting Artist Fellowship (Minnesota) and the Ohio Heritage Fellowship.

Kanniks is hailed as the pioneer of the Indian American choral movement. He has founded and directed Indian American community choirs in Cincinnati OH, Bethlehem PA, Houston TX and Tampa FL and created a large repertoire of choral music based on ragas.

Swami Taponidhi,as a parivrajak (wandering) sannyasin is freely spreading the message of yoga and with his vast teaching experience, intuitively simplifies the subtle and powerful techniques of yoga so as to enhance relaxation and awareness thereby allowing the participants to choose appropriately while facing the events of life and thus improve the quality of their lives.

Swami Taponidhi, after fifteen years living under the guidance of his Guru in Bihar School of Yoga, Munger, Bihar, India, is propagating and promoting the traditional goal of yoga