Tradition

Gurus

Swami Sivananda (September 8, 1887—July 14, 1963), was a great sage and modern saint of modern India, he was the founder of The Divine Life Society (1936), Yoga-Vedanta Forest Academy (1948) and author of over 200 books on yoga, vedanta and a variety of other subjects. He established Sivananda Ashram, the location of the headquarters of The Divine Life Society, on the bank of the Ganges next to Rishikesh, India.Sivananda Yoga, the yoga form propagated by him, are now spread in many parts of the world through Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres. "Integral Yoga" is also a variation of the same yoga adapted to the western mind by some of his most brilliant disciples.

Swami Satyananda Saraswati (24 December 1923 – 5 December 2009), was a disciple of Swami Sivananda and a Yoga Master in both his native India and the West. He founded the International yoga Fellowship in 1956 and the Bihar School of Yoga in 1963. During the next twenty years Swami Satyananda toured internationally as the foremost inspirer of Yoga and authored over 80 books on Yoga and spiritual life. In 1984 he founded the Yoga Research Foundation, and Sivananda Math to assist the underprivileged. He renounced his mission in 1988 to live the life of an ascetic until his mahasamadhi in 2009.Swami Satyananda was Swami Brahmavidyananda's teacher and mentor, sending him to the west to spread the knowledge of Yoga throughout many countries in South America and the Caribbean.

Swami Brahmavidyananda Saraswati of Munger, Bihar, India is a disciple of Swami Satyananda Paramahamsa. For 40 years Swamiji has served as a guide to thousands of spiritual aspirants, health professionals and people from every walk of life who believe that life can be lived joyously, healthily and peacefully, even in a world of strife and disunity. He makes himself readily available to all sincere spiritual seekers who find his approach to life practical and dynamic. Ministering selflessly to the needs of devotees in cultures as diverse as those of India, Central and South America, the Caribbean region, Canada, Europe and the United States. After many countless seminars and International Yoga Conventions throughout the world, Swamiji settled in Miami and founded the Institute of Holistic Yoga of North America, Inc. (Satyananda Ashram), of which, he is the Director. He has directed yoga ashrams and centers in India, Aruba, Bolivia, Colombia, Dominican Republic and Miami. For more information about the Institute of Holistic Yoga, please check: www.omsatyananda.com

Yogacharya Saraswati Saraswati is a disciple of Swami Brahmavidyananda. She started her yogic studies in 1975 and in 1983 founded the "Centro de Yoga Integral Satyananda" in the Domenican Republic under the supervision of Satyananda himself. She's been a disciple of Paramahansa Satyananda and Swami Brahmavidyananda for over more than 30 years. Heidi Depradel Fonk is a brilliant scholar and an absolute expert in many fields, included but not limited to metaphysics, mysticism, philosophy, history, religion, martial arts, nutrition and all the healing arts. An absolute genius in the field of Yoga Therapy she teaches the most comprehensive courses on Yoga Therapy in the Western Hemisphere.