Kaivalyadhama India’s Centennial Celebration

Dr. Praseeda Menon has 7 plus years of work experience as a Research Officer at the Scientific Research Department of Kaivalyadhama Yoga Institute, Lonavala, India. Apart from a PhD in Psychology and a post-graduate Diploma in Yoga & Ayurveda, she has also studied Applied Buddhist Psychology & Ethics. She conducts collaborative scientific research on the efficacy of yoga in holistic health, healing and well-being. Her research work at Kaivalyadhama has focused on the psychological impact of yoga on non-communicable diseases, mindfulness in relation to personality factors, the self-regulatory role of yoga in different cultures, and the efficacy of yogic practices in children with intellectual disabilities. She has well-published researches and several conference presentations to her credit. She played a key role in bringing Kaivalyadhama’s 96-year-old research journal, Yoga Mimāmsa, the world’s first and the oldest yoga research journal, online, as well as handled its editorial responsibilities from 2014-15. She is an Assistant Professor at the G. S. College of Yoga & Cultural Synthesis, Kaivalyadhama, and a recognised Ph.D. Supervisor of Kavi Kulaguru Kalidas Sanskrit University, Nagpur. She teaches yoga and mental health and research methodology for various certificate, graduate and post-graduate courses at Kaivalyadhama. 

Yogacharya Dr. Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani is Director of the Institute of Salutogenesis and Complementary Medicine (ISCM) and Professor of Yoga Therapy at the Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth University, Pondicherry (www.sbvu.ac.in).

He has served as member of numerous expert committees of the Ministry of AYUSH including its Steering Committee of the Yoga Certification Board, National Board for Promotion of Yoga and Naturopathy, Scientific Advisory Committee & Standing Finance Committees of CCRYN, Expert Committees for Celebration of International Yoga Day and the Yoga & Diabetes program. He is Consultant Resource Person for the WHO Collaborative Centre in Traditional Medicine (Yoga) at MDNIY, New Delhi. He is also Joint Secretary of the Indian Yoga Association (www.yogaiya.in) and Vice President of the National Yogasana Sport Association (https://yogasanasport.in)
A recipient of the coveted DSc in Yoga from SVYASA Yoga University, he is Chairman of the International Centre for Yoga Education and Research at Ananda Ashram, Pondicherry, India (www.icyer.com) and Yoganjali Natyalayam, the premier institute of Yoga and Carnatic Music and Bharatanatyam in Pondicherry (www.rishiculture.in). He is son and successor of the internationally acclaimed Yoga team of Yogamaharishi Dr. Swami Gitananda Giri Guru Maharaj and Yogacharini Kalaimamani Ammaji, Smt Meenakshi Devi Bhavanani.
He is a Gold Medallist in Medical Studies (MBBS) with postgraduate diplomas in both Family Health (PGDFH) as well as Yoga (PGDY) and the Advanced Diploma in Yoga under his illustrious parents in 1991-93. A Fellow of the Indian Academy of Yoga, he has authored 19 DVDs and 35 books and 36 compilations on Yoga as well as published more than 400 papers, compilations and abstracts on Yoga and Yoga research in National and International Journals. His literary works have more than 3870 Citations, with an h-Index of 28 and an i10-Index of 76.  In addition, he is a Classical Indian Vocalist, Percussionist, Music Composer and Choreographer of Indian Classical Dance.

He is a recognized PhD guide for Yoga Therapy and is the first Indian to be recognized as an IAYT Certified Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT) by the International Association of Yoga Therapists, USA. In recent years he has travelled abroad 20 times and conducted invited talks, public events, workshops and retreats and been major presenter at Yoga conferences in the UK, USA, Italy, South Africa, Malaysia, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

He was awarded Puduvai Kalaimamani by Government of Pondicherry for the year 2016. He is an Honorary Advisor to International Association of Yoga Therapists (www.iayt.org), Australasian Association of Yoga Therapists (www.yogatherapy.org.au), and Gitananda Yoga Associations worldwide (www.rishiculture.in).

Hope Farmby began her yoga practice in 2010 and has been teaching since 2020; she studied yoga therapy at Loyola Marymount University. As a yoga instructor, she provides a full range of classes, workshops, and retreats that nourish the body, mind, and spirit.

Focused on offering inclusive classes and teaching yoga principles—not just poses—Hope’s goal is to introduce people of color, those with injuries, and elderly people to the self-care practice of yoga in a welcoming and safe space.

Joseph Le Page founded Integrative Yoga Therapy in 1993 and has been a pioneer in the field for decades. Since 1995 he has been teaching yoga therapy in hospital settings and is the Director of the public health program “The Healthy Heart Program” in Brazil. 

Yogacharini Lee Majewski, MA, C-IAYT, C-IYA, an author, researcher, educator and yoga therapist, is a founding director of Yoga For Health Institute (www.yogaforhealth.institute ) a non-for-profit organization located in Toronto Canada. She spent 10 years studying and teaching in ashrams in the Caribbean and India and remains a visiting senior Yoga Therapist at Kaivalyadhama. Most recently she co-authored recently published book Yoga Therapy as a Whole-Person Approach to Health.

Amy Wheeler, Ph.D. was a Professor of Kinesiology at California State University for 25 years. Amy's degrees include a B.A. and M.A. in Health Promotion and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology. She was trained as a Yoga Therapy by the Krishnamacharya Tradition. She served as President of the Board for the International Association of Yoga Therapist from 2018-2020.

Veronica Zador is the founder and director of the International Institute of Yoga Therapy, a fully accredited yoga therapist certification program based in Southeastern Michigan.  She has been involved in standard setting and educational leadership in the field for over 30 years.