ABOUT US
Towards wellness, wholeness & wisdom
YogaVahini is a vibrant and growing community of Yoga practitioners, students, teachers, and therapists. At YogaVahini, we are all co-learners. The student and teacher facilitate each other’s learning and growth. We strive to provide an environment such that our personal learning flows into daily life seamlessly, manifesting as coherent and harmonised action.
Founders
Saraswathi began her journey in the path of yoga and healing 25 years ago. She studied and trained under Sri TKV Desikachar for over 17 years in the tradition of Sri T Krishnamacharya that is strongly founded in the teachings of Patanjali and specializes in adapting yoga to the unique needs and abilities of each individual. She holds two Masters Degrees (in Nutrition and Psychology) and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Yoga. She has served as a yoga teacher, consultant, trainer and therapist for close to two decades at Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram in Chennai and has also been actively involved in yoga research bringing the much-needed scientific perspective to yoga therapy.
In 2010, Saraswathi, along with her husband Sundar, founded YogaVahini, dedicated to Specialised Yoga Training, Therapy & Research with centres in Chennai and Hyderabad and runs regular training programs for lay practitioners, teachers and therapists. Her dream is to bring personalised yoga therapy into mainstream health care in India and is seriously working towards that mission.
Sundar completed his Post-graduate Diploma in yoga studies at Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram (KYM) and studied with Sri TKV Desikachar and other teachers in the same tradition. He was associated with the KYM since 1992 while pursuing a full-time profession as an archivist in a Research library in Chennai. He has keen interest in yoga, Indian philosophy and traditional chanting.
Chennai
After graduating with a master’s degree in Economics, giving up a career in advertising and briefly teaching at a Montessori school, Anupama decided to get back to studying. Completing the Post Graduate Diploma in Yoga from Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram (KYM), she has since then been teaching individuals and groups at seminars and training programs, Yoga therapy and chanting, as well as assisting in the administrative work.
Calm and well-grounded, she draws inspiration from the yogasutras and people whom she connects with. ” It’s great being part of YogaVahini. Having worked with Saraswathi when she was heading the Research Department at KYM, I can say that she is a role model many ways – she gives freely and there are no strings attached; that in itself represents yoga.”
A computer engineer turned yoga teacher & therapist, Jyothi first completed her Yoga Diploma at Yoga Rakshanam in Chennai in the tradition of Sri T Krishnamacharya. She has been teaching for the past 13 years and being a very enthusiastic teacher and learner, she continues to expand her repertoire of skills offering group and individual classes, workshops and corporate training. Since 2012 she has been teaching a group of special children and their families every Saturday, popularly called the Special Yogis. At YogaVahini she is serving as a teacher, therapist, trainer and mentor.
Mrinalini is a yoga teacher and is training to be a yoga therapist following the Krishnamacarya tradition at YogaVahini. She has been teaching group yoga classes for dancers in particular besides general audiences. She is currently the student coordinator for the various training programs at YogaVahini. In her past professional life, she worked as a senior software developer at Cognizant Technologies. She deeply believes in the power of yoga for human transformation and is committed to a socially and ecologically conscious life.
Partha is a yoga practitioner, teacher and software developer. He is currently exploring Yoga Therapy at YogaVahini. He is also a member of the community Ritambhara where he actively explores the question of meaningful living guided by the mentorship of Raghu and Sashi. He is deeply interested in holistic and responsible living.
Savithri is a Yoga practitioner and a trained Yoga teacher in the tradition of Sri Krishnamacharya since 2002. She has done her Masters in Yoga, holds a PG Diploma in Yoga studies and a PG diploma in Yoga therapy from this tradition.
She has been learning Vedic Chanting from senior teachers of this tradition for fifteen years and will be a certified Healing Chanting Teacher from Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram by April’17 with the purpose of using healing chants for yoga therapy.She will be graduating as a IAYT certified Yoga Therapist from Yogavahini in Dec’16.
Currently she teaches Yoga, Vedic chanting and consulting as a Yoga therapist under the auspices of YogaVahini, Chennai. She is a lover of nature, travel and adventure. She believes Yoga is life itself and wishes to remain a humble learner in life’s journey.
Uttara Venugopal has studied in most of the traditional yoga schools in India. She has been teaching since 2006 and has found that teaching others has been the best and constant reminder of why she is on this path. She truly believes that the practice of yoga can bring great changes to the individual, to experience life in a deep meaningful way. She cherishes the Krishnamacharya tradition.
Hyderabad
Krishnaveni Alluri has been practicing yoga for over 12 years and teaching for 6 years. She is a certified yoga therapist from Yogavahini and facilitates YogaVahini training programs at Aviraam in Hyderabad. She believes it is her strong spiritual connection that keeps her alive and inspired in everything she is engaged with. She has the ability to connect with people joyfully and helps them connect with their own joyful potential. She lives in Hyderabad with a loving and supportive family and teaches at Madhapur and Gachibowli.
Passionate about spreading health and fitness through yoga, Kamala is a senior yoga teacher and therapist with extensive experience in healing and benefitting students through yoga therapy. She as she teaches and helps people heal themselves, she is also deeply committed to her own path of self-actualisation. She is currently a very busy therapist in Hyderabad and also supports YogaVahini Hyderabad’s courses as a trainer.
Mamatha Talluri, a yoga therapist trained by Saraswathi Vasudevan has been teaching yoga for seven years now. She was introduced to yoga as a child and to yoga therapy when she was in acute pain. A Computer Science major by education and a CPA by profession,she quit her work to train as a yoga teacher and subsequently a therapist when she experienced the healing power of yoga. She believes that her years journey as a teacher has taught her to look at different dimensions of herself. Her intention “I am healing even as I act as an instrument of healing”
Padmaja got introduced to Yoga for healing herself at the age of 15 yrs and has been teaching Yoga for the last nine years for individuals of different age groups, conducts community yoga classes and also works with autistic children. She holds a Master’s degree in English Literature.
She is grateful to Yoga in her life and is committed to learning as she is teaching and is passionate about helping people transform from within. She draws her strength from the teachings of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo.
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Delhi
Apoorva has been studying and teaching yoga for over ten years now. She is a certified yoga therapist and is passionate about helping people break through their limitations and move towards their goals using simple practices. She is also a Reiki Master and a Breathwork Therapist and brings all her tools together when working with students. She teaches in Gurgaon and New Delhi and offers her services through one on one sessions, workshops, and teacher training programs.