Our Yoga Gurus

Gurus are those rare beings who have realized their oneness with the Supreme, - the highest transcendental Consciousness. They have not only realized their true self but also work selflessly to inspire humanity to seek the divinity within them. A Guru is able to expedite the progress of his/her disciples through their close connection to the supreme. They taught the timeless spiritual truths in a variety of ways, their teachings reflect the environment and period in which they live. Masters may have offered their own unique path towards the highest Truth. However although the outer forms may differ, the ultimate realization is the same. Swami Sudhir Anand has been greatly influenced by the great gurus - Swami Sivananda, Swami Vivekananda, Swami Satyananda & Swami Chidananda, Swami Ram & Adi Shankaracharya

BKS Iyengar

Yogacharya B.K.S.Iyengar (Guruji) is a living legend who has taught yoga in unique way to all his students. He finds the meaning of the yoga sutras by his practical search and regular practice of yoga. Thus, he has helped all to experience the wisdom of the yoga sutras. His style of teaching yoga is called "Iyengar Yoga" and is now being followed by certified teachers across the world.

Sri Pattabhi Jois

Sri Pattabhi Jois was born on the full moon day of July, 1915, Guru Purnima day in an ancestral village called Kowshika, near Hassan in Karnataka state. Jois continued to teach at the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mysore, now located in the neighbourhood of Gokulam, [3] with his only daughter Saraswathi Rangaswamy (b. 1941) and his grandson Sharath[8] (b. 1971), until May 18, 2009 when he died aged 93 of natural causes. Jois continued to teach at the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mysore, now located in the neighbourhood of Gokulam,[3] with his only daughter Saraswathi Rangaswamy (b. 1941) and his grandson Sharath[8] (b. 1971), until May 18, 2009 when he died aged 93 of natural causes.

Swami Sivananda Saraswati

Swami Sivananda Saraswati was born at Pattamadai, Tamil Nadu, in 1887. After serving as a medical Doctor, he renounced, came to Rishikesh and was initiated into Dashnami sannyasa in 1924 by Swami Vishwananda Saraswati.
He toured extensively through out India, inspiring people to practice Yoga and lead a divine life. He founded
the Divine Life Society at Rishikesh in 1936.

Swami Rama

Swami Rama was born at small village called Toli in the Garhwal Himalayas in 1925. He became the lineage holder of the Sankhya Yoga tradition of the Himalayan Masters. From an early age he was raised in the Himalayas by his Master Madhavanada Saraswati, and, under the guidance of his Master, traveled from monastery to monastery and studied with a variety of Himalayan saints and sages, including his grandmaster who was living in a remote region of Tibet.

He is especially notable as one of the first Yogi, allowed himself to be studied by Western scientists. In the 1960s, examined by scientists at the Menninger Clinic who studied his ability to voluntary control bodily processes (such as heartbeat, blood pressure, body temperature, etc.), that are normally considered to be non-voluntary. Later he founded Himalayan Institute in US and in India.

Adi Shankaracharya

Adi Shankaracharya was born around 788 AD in Kaladi village of Kerala. Adi Shankaracharya was the first philosopher who consolidated Advaita Vedanta, one of the sub-schools of Vedanta. He believed in the greatness of the holy Vedas and was a major proponent of the same. Not only did he infuse a new life into the Vedas, but also advocated against the Vedic religious practices of ritualistic excesses. He founded four Shankaracharya Peethas in the four corners of India, which continue to promote his philosophy and teachings. Adi Sankaracharya biography reveals that he was also the founder of Dashanami monastic order and the Shanmata tradition of worship.

The Four Adi Shankaracharya Peethas

• Vedanta Jnana Peetha, Sringeri (South India)
• Govardhana Peetha in Jagannath Puri (East India)
• Kalika Peetha, Dwaraka (West India)
• Jyotih Peetha, Badrikashrama (North India)

Swami Vivekananda

Swami Vivekananda was born in Calcutta, in 1863. From his childhood, he showed inclination towards spirituality and God realization. While searching for a man who could directly demonstrate the reality of God, he came to Ramakrishna and became his disciple. As a guru Ramakrishna taught him Advaita Vedanta and that all religions are true, and service to man was the most effective worship of God, in 1897 he founded the Ramakrishna Math and Mission.

He is considered a key figure in the introduction of Vedanta and Yoga in Europe and America and is also credited with raising interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a world
religion during the end of the 19th Century. He is best known for his inspiring speech beginning with "sisters and brothers of America", through which he introduced Hinduism at the Parliament of the World's Religions at Chicago in 1893.

Swami Kuvalayananda

Swami Kuvalayananda was born in 1883, at a time when the national resurgence was slowly awakening the spirit of Mother India. In his college days he came under the influence of Sri Aurobindo. Awaiting on this path to guide him, was the great Yogi from Bengal, boxmahamsa Madhavdasji, who had settled at Malsar, near Baroda, on the banks of Narmada.

The insight in Yogic discipline under the guidance of Madhavdasji, gave Swami Kuvalayananda's career a sharp turn. He ventured into a new field using entirely a new approach. He tried to investigate the effects of some of the Yogic practices on the human body with the help of some of his students, in the laboratory of Baroda Hospital, in 1920-21. His subjective experience coupled with the excellent results of these scientific experiments convinced him once for all that the age-old system of Yoga, if understood through the modern scientific experimental approach, would help greatly in the spiritual and material resurgence of the human society. This became
his life's mission. He established the kaivalayadhama institute of Yoga in lonavala pune.

Swami Chidananda Saraswati

Swami Chidanada Saraswati was born in 1916 in Tamil Nadu. He took to a life of renunciation in 1936, and joined the ashram run by Swami Sivananda in Rishikesh, in 1943.

He succeeded as President of the Divine Life Society in 1963, after the mahasamadhi of his predecessor, Swami Sivananda, who founded the Society.

Swami Satyananda Saraswati

Swami Satyananda Saraswati was born at Almora, Uttar Pradesh, in 1923. He was initiated into Dashnami sannyasa by Swami Sivananda Saraswati in Rishikesh in 1943 later he founded Bihar School of Yoga in 1963.

He is one of the pioneer in Yoga and its related practices. yoga center Shiva yog peeth, india offers yoga classes, yoga courses, yoga teacher training in rishikesh.

Sri Sri Ravi Shakar ji

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is a spiritual leader and founder of the Art of Living Foundation (founded 1982), which aims to relieve individual stress, societal problems and violence.

Shankar says that every emotion has a corresponding rhythm in the breath and regulating breath could help relieve personal suffering. After realizing Sudarshan Kriya, Shankar started sharing it with others through the Art of Living course.

200hrs YTTC