Swami Sitaramananda
Swami Pranavananda
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Krishna Darshan
Satsang Hall
Class Outdoors
Yoga Platform
Yoga on the Platform
The main teachers of the Sivananda Yoga Teacher Training Course are direct disciples of Swami Vishnu-devananda and have more than 30 years experience in teaching. They are sannyasis (monks) or dedicated Yogis: Swami Sitaramananda, Swami Padmapadananda, and Swami Pranavananda.
They are supported by Swami Omkarananda, Kailas Chaitanya, Ananta Chaitanya, and at times Krishna Darshan and Mahashakti as well as the entire Yoga Farm Staff Teachers. Also, during each TTC there are many invited special guest speakers and teachers.
The training schedule and methods come from Swami Sivananda and Swami Vishnu-devananda's legacy.
Swami Sitaramananda is a Yoga and Meditation teacher for more than 25 years. She is presently the main teacher of the Yoga Teachers Training Courses offered at the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Farm, Grass Valley, CA where she is serving as the director. She also teaches at other Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Ashrams & Centers in India and Nassau, Bahamas, Asia, as well as Centers along the West Coast USA, including her birth country, Vietnam. She is a direct disciple of Swami Vishnu-devananda. She was nominated by her teacher as Goraknath acharya (spiritual teacher, one of the holders of the lineage) in 1989. Her lectures are based on the four classical paths of yoga as well as the 5 points of Health.
Swami Padmapadananda was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and began his yoga practice in 1970. He is a senior disciple of Swami Vishnudevananda and was initiated as a sannyasi in 1979. Noted for his heart and humor, he is by nature a 'Bhakta', one who is easily drawn to Bhakti Yoga (the yoga of devotion). Swami Padmapadananda has directed/co-directed Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers in Israel, London, New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and the Yoga Ranch in upstate New York. He presently resides at the Sivananda Yoga Farm.
Swami Pranavananda took the vow of Sannyas in 1995. He is a gifted teacher who is the main hatha yoga teacher at the ashram and teaches the Anatomy and Physiology section of our Teachers Training Course. He co-directed the San Francisco Center for five years. A talented musician, he enjoys leading kirtan and bhajan chanting sessions during satsang.
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Swami Omkarananda is a radiant Yogini renunciate who has more than 20 years of experience in Yoga and meditation. She is the current director of the Sivananda Los Angeles Yoga Center and was assistant director at the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Farm for many years. She had a medical background in England and hails from Australia originally. She earned her Certificate in Permaculture Design and Advanced Permaculture from Mid West Permaculture and is now passionate about bringing Yoga and the Environment together at this exciting time of Transition. Her practical lectures are about Yoga philosophy, Vedanta and how to deal with emotions and mind in times of transition.
Krishna Darshan, who hails from Uruguay, is a direct disciple of Swami Vishnudevananda and has been a yoga and meditation teacher for more than 24 years in South America, Europe and USA. He has been the main Hatha Yoga instructor in numerous International Yoga Teachers Training Courses and has an in depth knowledge of the practice of Hatha and Raja Yoga and Vedanta philosophy. He is an able yogic sadhana counselor and he is Jyotish teacher and consultant, certified by the American College of Vedic Astrology (ACVA). (levels 1 and 2) and also by the council of Vedic astrology (CVA) "Jyotish Visharada" and "Jyotish Kovid" www.9graha.com
Mahadevi (Nicola Skop) hails from Germany. She is a long-time Sivananda Yoga teacher with 10 years of experience teaching in USA, India, Japan, Taiwan, Vietnam and Germany. She had her training in Grass Valley, CA and has been traveling with Swami Sitaramananda as her assistant for many years. She has been the director of the Yoga Shala, a yoga center dedicated to teaching the Sivananda tradition in Hanover, Germany, for many years. She is graduated as Yoga teacher from the Sivananda Yoga Teachers Training Course (TTC) at Sivananda Ashram Yoga Farm, Grass Valley, Advanced TTC from Sivananda Ashram in South India and "Sadhana Intensive Course" from Chateau du Yoga Sivananda at Orleans, France. Mahadevi is a very dedicated and genuine practitioner of the tradition and a well-liked asana teacher.
Kailas Chaitanya is one of the main teachers of Hatha Yoga and Meditation at the ashram. He graduated from the Sivananda Yoga Teacher's Training Course in 2007. He was assistant director at the Los Angeles Sivananda Yoga Center for 2 years. Since 2009 he has been assistant director of the Sivananda Yoga Farm in Grass Valley, CA. In 2010 he took the first step in becoming a renunciate monk of the Sivananda order. He is interested in yoga psychology and yoga philosophy and enjoys teaching positive thinking courses.