| The Center's Teachers |
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Swami Rama of the Himalayas also called Bhole Baba and known as Rama Dandi – especially in the Himalayas. Swami Rama founded the Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy with centers throughout the world. Swami Rama was initiated in early childhood by a great sage of the Himalayas, known as Bengali Baba. Swami Rama studied with many adepts and then traveled to Tibet to study with his grandmaster Mahavatar Baba, known as Babaji of the Himalayas. Swami Rama’s master wanted him to learn and experience the many different methods and techniques of yoga. From his early childhood Swami Rama practiced the various disciplines of yoga science and philosophy in the traditional monasteries of the Himalayas. From 1938 to 1944 Swami Rama taught Hindu and Buddhist scriptures in several monasteries. Throughout his childhood and adolescence Swami Rama lived and traveled with the saints, yogis, and fakirs of Garhwal, Kumaon, the Kangra Valley, Kashmir, Ladakh, and Tibet, with retreats in other parts of India. Swami Rama studied closely with many spiritual adepts, including Maharshi Raman, Sri Aurobindo, Anandamoyee Ma, and Rabindranath Tagore At the young age of 24 years Swami Rama became Shankaracharya of Karvirpitham in South India, succeeding Dr. Kurtkoti to one of the highest spiritual positions in India. He renounced the dignity and prestige of this high office in 1952 to return to the Himalayas to intensify his meditative practices in the monasteries. While Swami Rama founded many worldly organizations, his greatest gift to humanity was in his bringing the depths of the wisdom of the ancient sages to the modern seeker in highly accessible ways. He did this through his writings and his lectures, and most importantly through his individual presence when training students one at a time.
Swami Veda Bharati has spent the last 53 years as a teacher, lecturer and writer. He was raised in a family of Sanskrit-speaking scholars in India. He attained degrees through the Ph.D. level in the 1960s at the University of London. He was a professor of Sanskrit and Indian religions at the University of Minnesota from 1965 to 1973. He has written numerous books, including an exhaustive commentary on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Swami Veda was initiated into the Dhyana (meditative yoga) tradition in 1969 by H.H. Sri Swami Rama, his spiritual teacher. Since then he has been instrumental in setting up and providiing spiritual guidance to yoga meditation centers throughout the world. He is the spiritual head of an ashram in Rishikesh, India; a 200-acre medical complex near Dehradun, India; and this Meditation Center in Minneapolis, MN. In March 1999 the Shankara Order of Swamis in India conferred on Swami Veda the title of Mahamandeleshvara - he is one of 30 or so Indian Swamis to hold this honor. Swami Veda has spoken before the United Nations and met with the world's major religious leaders, including the Dalai Lama. He understands 17 languages in varying degrees of fluency. Please visit www.swamiveda.org for more information.
Swami Ritivan Bharati has worked with both Swami Rama and Swami Veda for the past 30 years. He is a highly trained yoga and meditation teacher. Swami Ritavan holds a master's degree in management specializing in non-profit organizations, a master's degree in education and one in holistic philosophy. He joined the Dhyana Mandiram (Meditation Center) Ashram in 1970. Swami Ritavan has helped teach many yoga and meditation teachers in the past 25 years. He has led silence retreats throughout the world on behalf of Swami Veda and travels extensively throughout the world. He is a registered yoga teacher through Yoga Alliance.
Jim Nelson, M.A. is a faculty member of the Association of Himalayan Yoga and Meditation Society International (AHYMSIN) who has taught yoga for 30 years. He helps emotionally disturbed youth at the Anoka-Hennepin School District and has a private counseling practice. Jim has a master's degree in education and counselling. He served five terms on the Blaine, MN city council and taught social studies and coached tennis at the high school. He was a consulting psychologist for the Family Life Mental Health Center in Anoka for more than 10 years. Jim has lectured throughout the Midwest on social and mental health topics.
Mary Bowman-Cline, E-RYT 500 has been teaching yoga for over 20 years in Michigan and Minnesota. She is a certifiedyoga teacher with the International Himalayan Yoga and Meditation Society Association and a Registered Yoga Teacher in the Yoga Alliance. She loves to bring laughter into her classes and encourages students to incorporate yoga and inner awareness into their everyday lives. In April this year she will be a certified Massage Therapist and is looking forward to a new career which will allow her more time for yoga teaching, here at The Center and around the Twin Cities area. In March of 2007, Mary completed the 600 hour study program in Yoga and Meditation through the International Himalayan Yoga Teacher Associatioin (IHYTA).
Michael Smith, E-RYT 500 is certified by the Himalayn Institute Teachers Association, the Behram Guard School of Yoga Meditation (an Iyengar-based Hatha Yoga School) and is curriculum coordinator for the International Himalayan Yoga Teachers Association. He is a retired public school teacher and has taught yoga for more than 30 years. His thesis topic was "Sources of Stress". He has edited and illustrated books on yoga. In the Twin Cities area, he has lectured o nyoga, holistic health, and stress management.
Paul Emerson PhD. is a biomedical engineer with a Ph.D. He is the authority on the physiology of breathing for The Meditation Center and has been teaching yoga for over 30 years. Paul has worked as a research scientist, has been a manager of clinical research with a major biomedical company and a university instructor. In addition, he holds eight patents in the areas of dialysis and sleep therapy. he is a scholar of ancient yoga texts. Paul was certified by the Rockford School of Yoga and began teaching in 1975.
Stephen (Stoma) Parker PsyD, E-RYT 500 is a Sanskrit scholar and a leading teacher of yoga and meditation under Swami Veda. He is a licensed psychologist with a private practice in St. paul, MN. Stoma did his doctoral training under Bradford Keeney PhD., a family therapist acclaimed for experience with indigenous healers. He is an adjunct assistant professor at Saint Mary's University and at the University of St. Thomas School of Professional Psychology. Stoma has lectured throughout the world on yoga. In addition, he has remainedan active member at Spirit of the Lakes United Church of Christ.
Sig and Rosann seem to be joined at the hip. They've both been practicing yoga since the 1980s. The became kalyanamitra (spiritual friends) at Teacher's Training in 2001, when they discovered they'd grown up 10 miles from each other near La Crosse, WI. They've enjoyed teaching the Wednesday morning Gentle Yoga class for the past 5 years. Join this Wednesday group for a truly relaxing experience!
Veena Haasl-Blilie Initiated in the Himalayan Tradition in 1985 by Swami Veda, Veena has lived in the ashram on two occasions, completed the Teacher's Training Program (TTP) in 1998, and completed the Teacher's Training and STP Programs at the Himalayan Institute in Honesdale, PA. Veena has worked with The Center's Board of Directors since 2001, becoming a member in 2002 and currently serves as its President. Veena holds a Master's Degree in non-profit management and conflict resolution from Hamline University and prior to starting a family she was a director of MAP, a consulting firm that serves other non-profits.Veena is an Ayurvedic Practitioner providing consultations and treatments in NE Minneapolis and Stillwater, MN through Saumya Ayurveda.
Eric Ness has been teaching meditation and yoga for over ten years. His teaching is based on the experiences that he had while immersed in a meditational environment. He deepened his study of meditation while participating in the residential program at the Meditation Center. He also trained for three years at the Swami Rama Institute for Meditation in India. His calm teaching style brings students the tools they need to move toward a peaceful state of mind.
John Ekholm graduated from the University of Minnesota and Graduate School in psychology at St. Thomas, and has over 30 years of social work experience in child protection in Hennepin, St. Louis, Washington and Ramsey counties in Minnesoat. He and his wife have been parents, foster parents and adoptive parents. He has worked on the Boise Forte Indian Reservation and has extensive work experience with clients of different cultural backgrounds. John has worked with adolescent groups and helped develop the "Hero's Journey" for adolescents, using talking circles, the Labirynth, the Medicine Wheel, storytelling and the arts. He is a published poet and winner of the Loft Mentor Series in 1989 and the Loft-McKnight International program with Claribel Allefria in 1996. John has bee associated with The Meditation Center for 30 years and frequently leads the Thursday evening meditations.
Tom Kelly graduated cum Laude from St. Joseph's College in Renesselear, Indiana with a mmajor in accounting. He was employed in numerous positions in the accounting profession for 40 years with professional emphasis on international Business. Tom began his studies in yoga in the Himalayan tradition in 1984 and took teachers training with Rolf Sovik and other Center staff from 1987 to 1989. He also studied with instructors in both the Iyengar and Swami Gitananda traditions during this time. He has taught basic Hatha classes for the last 15 years around the Twin Cities.
Daniel Hertz (RYT 500) has an MS Degree in Counseling and is a long-time employee of the Minneapolis Public Schools. He has been giving Yoga and Meditation classes in the U.S., India, and Panama since 1995. He is also Nationally Certified (BCIAC) as a Biofeedback Practitioner and offers individual Biofeedback sessions at the Meditation Center. See the the Biofeedback link on the Center website for more informaton.
Brian Hoffman
Lori Beron graduated from the College of St. Catherine with an MA in Holistic Health Studies and is employed as an RN on a surgical oncology unit at the University of Minnesota-Fairview. She is an initiate and certified teacher through the Himalayan Yoga Tradition and is a Certified Healing Touch Practitioner. In addition to teaching hatha and meditation classes, she serves on the Meditation Centers Board of Directors as secretary, and also serves as volunteer coordinator for the Center.
Rodney Huff first came to the Center in January of 2000 and quickly took as many classes as he could. Since then he has traveled to India to study at Sadhana Mandir and Sadhaka Grama in Rishikesh. He began teaching Hatha yoga in 2003 and has been a regular teacher of Hatha Yoga (I & II) as well as Meditation I. Rodney is grateful for the opportunity to teach at a place as special as the Meditation Center. The teachings he received transformed his life, and he hopes that each of his students can have an equally rewarding experience.
Tom Carlson
Juliet Young
The Center's Teachers are experienced and certified instructors under the International Himalayan Yoga Teachers Association (IHYTA) training program, while some are additionally certified under Yoga Alliance. Out teachers come from all walks of life and teach within the 5,000 year old unbroken spiritual tradition of Raja Yoga.
INTERNATIONAL TEACHERS
Ma Sewa Bharati received the gift of sannyasa initiation from Swami Veda Bharati in 1998, and since then has lived in India and the US sharing the teachings and blessings of Sri Swami Rama of the Himalayas. Ma Sewa is also helping with social projects near Guru Deva, Swami Rama’s home village in the Himalayas, and is the Vice Chairman and Spiritual Director of the Swami Rama Nishkama Karma Yoga Trust, founded by the late Sri Swami Hariharananda. Currently, the Trust is running the Swami Rama Institute of Vocational Education and Research, a grade school, industrial training institute, and Ayurvedic medicinal herbal garden, in the Himalayan Hills.
Ma Radha Bharati earned an M.A. in philosophy and commenced doctoral studies in Eastern and Western philosophy with emphasis on views of the self and mind. She has taught philosophy at a number of schools including the University of Hawaii. She received a fellowship from the Humphrey Institute in Public Policy. Ma Radha was initiated by H.H. Sri Swami Rama 33 years ago and has been an active member of The Meditation Center community ever since.
Ashutosh Sharma is an expert hatha yoga instructor who has been practicing and teaching yoga for more than 12 years. Sharma was born in 1972 in Rishikesh, India. While growing up there, he studied asanas, pranayama and relaxation techniques in different schools. In 1992 he met H.H. Sri Swami Rama and was introduced to the Himalayan Tradition. He has studied meditation techniques more intensively with Swami Veda. Since 1996 he has traveled throughout Europe, Asia, and North America to teach yoga on behalf of the Tradition. He currently lives in Berlin, Germany, with his wife.
Maya Balog E-RYT 500, is a former nurse and an internationally recognized Hatha Yoga instructor in Edmonton, Canada. Since 1962 she has studied yoga, meditation, traditional hatha and the Iyengar system, theosophy and the healing arts of naturopathy, homeopathy and Ayurveda in Europe, Canada, India, and the US. She has been teaching classes, teacher training workshops and retreats for over 20 years. Since 1981, she has been a student of the Himalayan Tradition and was initiated in 1983. Each year since 1998 she has been studying and teaching in India and the US. She established the East-West Society of Himalayan Yoga and Meditation.
Anne Glazier Ph.D. is a Sanskrit scholar and researcher who teaches at Swami Veda's centers around the wold. She was initiated into the Himalayan Tradition of Advaita Vedanta meditation and philosophy in 1963. Anne studied and later taught Sanskrit at the University of London. She is working on the spiritual practices section of the forthcoming Encyclopeadia of Hinduism to be published by the University of South Carolina and has been published in a number of academic journals. Her editing duties include work on Swami Veda's books and on the Sanskrit Manuscript Research Project.
Pandit Dabral has been a student of Swami Veda Bharati for over 15 years. He was recently appointed by Swami Veda to serve as the spiritual director of the Association of Himalayan Yoga and Meditation Societies (AHYMS). As such, he is second to Swami Veda in guiding the International Himalayan Yoga Teachers Association (IHYTA). Pandit Dabral was born into a family of Sanskrit scholars in India. He has a master's degree in Sanskrit literature and a Ph.D. in Indian philosophy from the University of Garhwal in India. He has worked throughout the world as a lecturer and meditation instructor. He is based in Calgary, Canada. He is a registered yoga teacher through Yoga Alliance.
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