INTEGRAL YOGA THERAPY - Key Persons
Ausra Duverge, C-IAYT, started teaching yoga in 2015. After an initial 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training in Dubai, UAE, she has continued to expand her knowledge in Ayurveda and Yoga Therapy. In 2017 she completed an Ayurvedic Health Counselor program at Kerala Ayurveda Academy in Fremont, California. Ausra is a Certified Yoga Therapist from the Stress Management Center of Marin in Larkspur, CA.
Christopher Kavi Carbone (E-RYT500, C-IAYT) has been involved with yoga practice, in the practice, teaching and therapeutic elements, for over 20 years now, beginning with his time in New York City and the wonderful IYI there- and continuing onwards as yoga educator, yoga therapist, performing artist, and creative arts therapist. His yoga therapy practice has focused in several areas: with elders and those with physical limitations, being able to guide adaptive yoga for a variety of conditions including heart conditions, stroke recovery, and any conditions that benefit from managing stress and cultivating a more balanced nervous system. So, for that practice, focus goes more into the subtle aspects of yoga, including pranayama, mindfulness practices, raja yoga, nada yoga, japa yoga, and gentle movement, rather than an intensive focus on asana. In addition, he has worked extensively with children with developmental delays and disabilities, infusing the yoga therapy practices with a sense of play and creativity that the children benefit from. Kavi, along with his wife Katherine, is co-founder and co-director of "Present Moment Arts Center" and"Arts-in-Celebration!", based in Newport, RI, offering programs in the creative & healing arts for individuals and groups of all ages. He also serves as faculty member for Salve Regina University's Graduate Department of Counseling, Leadership and Expressive Arts, with his work focusing on approaches to transformation and wellness through the arts and holistic practices.
Diana Meltsner, e-RYT500, C-IAYT, offers yoga therapy sessions privately and at Integral Yoga Therapy Clinic in San Francisco. She has worked in the clinical setting for Kaiser Permanente since 2005 as a yoga teacher, yoga therapist, and health educator. Her clients are often post-injury, post or pre-surgery, have chronic pain and other chronic conditions, and in the clinical setting are often recommended by Kaiser Permanente physicians. She focuses on the healing aspects of yoga on the mind as well as the body by applying the teachings of Raja Yoga and practices of breath-control, mindfulness, and meditation. Diana helps her clients to find healing and the ability to move through life with increased ease, stress resilience, and intuition.
Diana Meltsner works as a programs manager and serves on the board of directors at Integral Yoga Institute, an urban ashram in San Francisco where she is a lead yoga teacher trainer for the 200-hour Meditation Teacher training.
Judi Hamsa Spagnola, C-IAYT, RYT/TRM, is an Integral Yoga certified teacher and has been teaching various styles of Yoga for more than 30 years. She created and developed the Gentle/Chair Yoga Teacher Training Program & Manual for Integral Yoga International and teaches for the MS Society. She teaches stress management, meditation, and offers Reiki Healing Circles throughout New York and New Jersey. Judi is a Traditional Reiki Master and Interfaith Minister of Spiritual Healing, who shares her knowledge with compassion and an open heart.
Kamala Itzel Hayward is a Yoga therapist, Yoga teacher trainer, Integral Yoga minister, founder of Integral Yoga SF's BIPOC Basic Teacher Training, and fierce and compassionate advocate for love. Kamala has personally experienced the transformative power of integrative wellness to care for the whole person-body, mind, and spirit. She's also witnessed it professionally, including in her work as a Stress Management Specialist for the Preventative Medicine Research Institute, as well as in previous work as a Senior Trainer Adjunct Faculty/Stress Management Specialist for Ornish Lifestyle Medicine at Sharecare and as the Ornish Lifestyle Medicine Stress Management Specialist at the MarinHealth Medical Center cardiac rehabilitation program. In addition to sharing integrative therapies with individuals, Kamala is the founder of Attuned Living, through which she offers social justice and allyship programs for organizations seeking to bring an anti-racist and mindful lens to the work they do. Her unique work is based on the teachings of yoga, mindfulness, and compassionate communication. If you are BIPOC and are committed to using Yoga Therapy to mediate the impact of white supremacy, heteropatriarchal culture, and/or global capitalism on BIPOC, queer folks, and other marginalized people individually and collectively, please contact Kamala for her availability.
Laura Uma East (she/her), is an innovative holistic yoga therapist and certified personal trainer. Uma's first love was activated when she discovered raja yoga as a teenager via sacred books. Since 2003 she has been teaching yoga and received her C-IAYT in 2013. She thrives in teaching diverse populations and creatively designing yoga therapy programs. With a wide breadth of experience serving in community health programs, in local hospitals, working with insurance companies, medical spas, wellness and physical therapy studios, public libraries, government agencies, urban and rural communities, non-profits, and in free community clinics. She pioneered the transition for online teaching at her local hospitals via zoom to keep her students safe.
Her strength is in working with women dealing with various medical conditions. She has worked with those suffering from neck and back pain, scoliosis, spinal stenosis and osteoporosis, balance and strength challenges, depression, anxiety, heart disease, and cancers. Her Integral Yoga training includes Cardiac Yoga®, Neuroscience, Yoga and Mindfulness, Yoga for Arthritis, and Intermediate Teacher Training. Her education outside of Integral Yoga includes over 15 other certifications ranging from Pelvic Floor Health Coach to P90X.
Marie Prashanti Goodell (C-IAYT and E-RTY) has been teaching yoga and meditation since 2012. Prashanti teaches Hatha, restorative, gentle, wheelchair yoga, stress management, and meditation classes in both health care and corporate settings.
She incorporates many dimensions of yoga to support healing and wellness, including movement, breathwork, meditation, imagery and visualization, energy work, mantras, gentle touch, yogic lifestyle, and yoga philosophy. Both 1-1 sessions and group classes are tailored to meet individual needs to facilitate optimal health.
As a yoga therapist, Prashanti works with clients recovering with or living with conditions, such as Alzheimer's Disease, dementia, traumatic brain injury (TBI), brain tumors, stroke, heart disease, Parkinson's Disease, Ehlers-Danlos Disease, Parkinson's Disease, breast cancer, arthritis, chronic fatigue, chronic pain, PTDS, depression and anxiety.
Prashanti is secretary on the Board of IYI San Francisco and serves the broader IYI community by presenting workshops and mentoring trainees. She has written several articles for the Accessible Yoga Association, where she served as past president of the board.
Prashanti credits her daily meditation practice as the foundation for her personal and professional life. It provides her with the opportunity to reflect on past experiences, inspire future dreams, and remain grounded in the present moment.
Peter Karow is a long-time practitioner of yoga and meditation. He is a Yoga Alliance certified yoga
teacher and is certified by the International Association of Yoga Therapists as a Yoga Therapist. He has
Rev. Brahmi Romero began her Integral Yoga studies in 2002, achieving Advanced Hatha, Raja, Meditation, and Stress Management certifications, and was ordained in the Integral Yoga Ministry in 2021. She is a C-IAYT Yoga Therapist, assisted in the accreditation of the Integral Yoga Therapy program, and serves as a mentor, staff and clergy support for the program. Rev. Brahmi served as the Yoga therapist for the DC Family Court Residential Drug Treatment Program for Women, and also as the Director of St. Mark's Yoga Center on Capitol Hill. She currently sees clients for individual and group Yoga Therapy, instructs private and group Yoga classes, and is an adjunct instructor for Prince George's Community College teaching Therapeutic Yoga to seniors. Program participants seeking confidential guidance for their spiritual needs or solace may contact Rev. Brahmi via email. Phone or virtual appointments may be made on request.
Sandra Susheela Gilbert is the director of YCat: Yoga Therapy in Cancer and Chronic Illness. She has spent the last thirteen years as Senior Faculty of YCat and facilitating YCat programs alongside her mentor, colleague, friend and YCat creator, the late, Jnani Chapman.
Sandra is a highly recognized Integral Yoga teacher holding advanced training certificates in Stress Management, Integrative and Mind/body therapies and Patient Navigation. Sandra was a Yoga teacher, stress management educator and group support facilitator for Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehabilitation at Beth Israel Medical Center in NYC and taught the YCat curriculum for the Mount Sinai Breast Health Resource Center and in the NYC Ruttenberg Oncology infusion center. Sandra has taught Yoga at retreats and trainings for the Omega Institute, for the Center for Mind Body Medicine and for Chai Lifeline. In addition, she was one of the first trained Urban Zen integrative therapists in practice in NYC for their 2008 initiative and research. Sandra currently teaches in Yoga research at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing in Nashville, TN. Her work at Vanderbilt includes participants diagnosed with breast cancer, head and neck cancer and children with cancer and their caregivers. Sandra is appreciated for her patience, presence and dedication to the whole person who is going through the experience of cancer and cancer treatment. She says "Wherever you are, Yoga is there for you."
Sarala enjoys teaching restorative yoga and partners with local musicians to bring a
sound healing experience to students. She has taught both in the studio and privately,
as well as corporate settings and leads group retreats. She is the mother to two young
Satya Greenstone, C-IAYT, E-RYT500, has been a student of Sri Swami Satchidananda for over 40 years, sharing the teachings of Integral Yoga in many diverse settings with students of all ages and backgrounds. Since 1999 she has been a primary teacher for the Basic Yoga Teacher Training program. While serving as Teacher Training Coordinator, she helped to develop and teach the Integral Yoga Gentle Yoga Teacher Training program. Satya has been practicing and teaching Restorative Yoga for many years, gently adapting the Yoga practices to any individual needs and always finding a way to encourage and inspire.
Sonia Sumar began teaching Yoga for children with special needs after her daughter Roberta was born with Down Syndrome in 1972. Sonia noticed many positive changes in Roberta from using Yoga, so in 1975 she became a Certified Yoga Teacher and in 1980 she opened the Integral Yoga Center of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Sonia published her book "Yoga for the Special Child" in 1983, which is now available in Portuguese, English (also e-book), Spanish, and Mandarin.
Sonia Sumar is the creator of Yoga for the Special Child®-The Sonia Sumar Method and offers her specialized training courses to Yoga teachers and other professionals. Programs are taught live in South America, Europe, United States and Asia, with online programs available worldwide (see www.specialyoga.com). Sonia's life dream is to help all the world's children achieve their full potential and become active and productive members of society.
Swami Karunananda served as president of Satchidananda Ashram-Yogaville in Virginia and in California, and as director of the Integral Yoga Institutes in San Francisco and Santa Barbara. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees and Spiritual Life Board at Satchidananda Ashram-Yogaville, Virginia.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director of the Integral Yoga Institute in San
Swami Ramananda is the Executive Director of the Integral Yoga Institute in San Francisco and a greatly respected senior teacher in the Integral Yoga tradition, who has been practicing Yoga for over 45 years. Ramananda offers practical methods of integrating the timeless teachings and practices of Yoga into daily life, and transforming the painful aspects of human experience into steps toward realizing one's full potential.
He leads beginner, intermediate and advanced level Yoga teacher training programs in San Francisco, and offers a variety of programs in many locations in the U. S., Europe and South America. Ramananda trains teachers to bring Yoga into corporate, hospital and medical settings and has taught mind/body wellness programs in many locations. He is a founding board member of the Yoga Alliance, a national registry that supports and promotes yoga teachers as professionals. His warmth, wisdom and sense of humor have endeared him to many.
Swami Vidyananda began practicing Yoga in 1969 and has been teaching Integral Yoga® and training Yoga teachers since 1973. She became a swami (monastic) in 1983. She has taught and trained Yoga and meditation teachers throughout the US and Canada, as well as Australia, Europe, and India.
She presently lives at Satchidananda Ashram-Yogaville, VA, where she teaches all branches of Integral Yoga, including Hatha, Raja, and Jnana Yoga, meditation, and yogic lifestyle. She continues to travel widely, training Yoga teachers and offering workshops on meditation, stress management, Yoga and the emotions, and mid-life meaning.
Before becoming a Yoga teacher, Vidyananda worked as a broadcast news producer and reporter. Since 1983, she has produced and edited dozens of Yoga videos and audio recordings for Integral Yoga including the best-selling Yoga with a Master with Swami Satchidananda. Vidyananda herself is featured in audios and videos, including Yoga for Stress Management, Hatha Yoga for the Emotions, and Deep Relaxation and Guided Imagery for Healing.
Over the years, Vidyananda has taught Yoga for many different populations, from college students to corporate managers, and children with Down syndrome. She has taught Yoga in therapeutic programs such as the Smith Center Cancer Retreats and Yoga for persons with eating disorders. She co-developed the Integral Yoga Stress Management Teacher Training. She trained as a hospital chaplain and is a certified Yoga Therapist. Vidyananda founded the Integral Yoga Teachers Association (IYTA), and currently serves as chairperson for the Integral Yoga Teacher's Council.
Swami Vidyananda served as director of the Montreal Integral Yoga Institute. For many years she traveled with Sri Swami Satchidananda, serving as his French translator. She taught and translated at the European Yoga Union Conference in Zinal, Switzerland, for ten years.
Vidyananda's wisdom and heartfelt enthusiasm have made her one of Integral Yoga's most widely traveled teachers. She has a practical approach to Yoga and spirituality, making it real for everyday life.
Swarupa Sky Oak Speaker, C-IAYT, E-RYT 500, YACEP has the honor of being a second generation initiate of Sri Swami Satchidananda; having been exposed to the Yoga practices and teachings from birth and throughout this life. He has been actively studying and teaching eastern and western methods of philosophy, health, wellness, and complementary care since 1991. In classes, private sessions, workshops, clinics, and teacher trainings Swarupa's heartfelt guidance of the Yoga journey is sure to be practical, transformational, and filled with appreciation for the beauty and diversity of the human experience.
His certifications include all levels of Hatha Yoga, Yoga Therapy, Yoga for Stress Management, Meditation, Yoga for Cancer, Gentle/Chair Yoga, Reiki MT, Yoga for Bone Health, Raja Yoga, and Teen Yoga. Swarupa is overjoyed to connect with and serve individuals, and communities of all sizes. You can learn more about Swarupa on his website sattviclife.com