Swami Swaroopananda's Birthday Celebration

Dr. John Douillard, DC, CAP, is a globally recognized leader in the fields of Ayurveda, natural health, nutrition, and sports medicine. With 40 years of experience, he has helped over 100,000 patients. Dr. John is a renowned Ayurvedic educator, host of the Ayurveda Meets Modern Science podcast, and bestselling author of seven health books, including Eat Wheat and 3-Season Diet. He is the creator of LifeSpa.com, where he proves ancient Ayurvedic wisdom with modern science in articles published weekly. With its thousands of free educational articles and videos, LifeSpa.com is the leading Ayurvedic health resource on the web with 500,000+ social followers and newsletter readers.

Rob and Melissa are kirtan singers and yoga teachers devoted to sharing the heart-opening practices of Bhakti yoga and kirtan, call-and-response chanting. Kirtan with Rob and Melissa is a fresh take on an ancient practice, where Sanskrit chants blend with modern, accessible melodies and lush harmonies to create an atmosphere that has been described as “joyful medicine,” “heart-opening bliss” and “love and devotion materialized!”

When Rob and Melissa first met, neither of them sang kirtan nor practiced Bhakti yoga. By the time they married two years later, love and devotion had become the foundation of their partnership. As these seeds of devotion to each other grew, Rob and Melissa’s Bhakti yoga practice blossomed, as well as the desire to share this love with others. Their music, teachings, and storytelling create a space of comfort, discovery, and deep joy.

Rob and Melissa are based in Seattle, WA, but their music keeps them on the move, sharing kirtan as far away as India, Europe, and Central America. When they aren’t on the road, the couple leads regular kirtans in the Pacific Northwest. In addition to sharing their music at yoga studios and festivals, they teach Bhakti yoga workshops, kirtan trainings, provide live music for yoga classes and lead retreats around the world.

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Prantik Kundu is a neuroscientist and biophysicist with specialities in magnetic resonance imaging and psychiatric disease. A senior scientist in a startup to make MRI technology more accessible, he draws from years of expertise from many years in academia and research.
He was an assistant professor in psychiatry and radiology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine for several years, where he still serves as adjunct professor.

Prantik received his training at the Brain Mapping Unit at the University of Cambridge, UK, and the Section on Functional Imaging Methods at the National Institute of Mental Health in Washington, DC. His papers have been published in Cerebral Cortex, NeuroImage, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Kundu also has strong interests in Indic philosophy, having completed an undergraduate independent study on the theoretical implications of Kali and having been a Research Fellow at the Mind and Life Summer Institute, where the interface between the Buddhist philosophy and the neurosciences is investigated and practiced.

Menas C. Kafatos, PhD, is a quantum physicist, cosmologist, his work also emphasizes natural and anthropogenic hazards for the Earth. He works as researcher and philosopher extensively on consciousness and the nature of the mind. He studied with renown physicist Philip Morrison at M.I.T., who was a student of J. Robert Oppenheimer. He has 50 years of experience in undergraduate and graduate teaching and research.

Menas is the Fletcher Jones Endowed Professor of Computational Physics and Director, Institute for Earth, Computing, Human and Observing at Chapman University in California. He is foreign member of the Romanian Academy of Science and the Korean Academy of Science and Technology (KAST); an international scholar working with the Division of Environmental Science and Ecological Engineering also having served as an advisor on the BK21 Plus Eco-Leader Education Center at Korea University in Seoul, Korea and in the past, an affiliated researcher at the National Observatory of Athens, Greece.

Menas has authored 350-plus articles and published or co-authored 26 books, including The Conscious Universe, Looking In, Seeing Out and Science, Reality & Everyday Life and has many social media and blogs. He is often interviewed for international television networks, newspapers, and radio.

Suba Ramesh Parmar, Founder, Shubanjali School of Performing Arts, NJ is a highly sought after dancer, teacher, and choreographer, and a proponent of the vintage Pandanallur style of Bharatanatyam. She is the recipient of many prestigious awards including the Presidential Scholar’s “Most Influential Teacher Award” (2015) by the Obama Administration and the most recent “Lifetime Achievement Award” by Spandana, NJ. She has received rave reviews for her exemplary original dance productions, including ‘Santa N’ Shiva,’ Rendezvous with Shubanjali’, ‘Splash the Wonder,’ ‘Tales of Krishna,’ ‘Chauladevi,’ ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ ‘Lured by the Myths’, ‘Oneness’, ‘Tribute to the Legends’, ‘Tattva Tapas Tejas”, TATHASTU, among many others. She has been regularly performing for the Sivananda Organizations worldwide for over 29 Years in US, Canada, Bahamas, South America and Europe.  She is an excellent storyteller and through the medium of Indian classical dance, brings to life the philosophy and stories from Mythology making them understandable to global audiences.

https://www.facebook.com/Shubanjali/

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Ramesh Parmar is a successful entrepreneur with a history of establishing, operating, and selling mobile software companies. He is a graduate of the Sivananda Yoga Teacher Training Course.  He has been seeking peace and well-balanced living using various meditation techniques.  He believes that sustained practice of Vipassana promises to offer long lasting peace and contentment.

Swan Michelle is a Yoga and Holistic Educator, Sound Therapist, Wellness Event Director, and founder of Swan River Yoga, one of the Gulf Coast’s largest wellness and yoga centers. She has been teaching yoga, meditation, sound, and energy practices since 1998.

Her work weaves together Yoga, Sound Therapy, Heart Coherence Meditation, restorative practices, and transformational retreats inspired by nature and the ocean. She leads Yoga Teacher Trainings, Sound Therapy Trainings, sound bath concerts, and immersive wellness experiences worldwide.

Swan has traveled extensively to sacred sites and ashrams to study Yoga, Ayurveda, Bhakti Yoga, and energy healing. She has studied with renowned teachers including Ram Dass, the Dalai Lama, Jai Uttal, Krishna Das, Shri K. Pattabhi Jois, and Judith Hanson Lasater.

She currently serves on Dr. Joe Dispenza’s Global Team as a Certified Neuro Change Solutions Consultant (2024) and presented a TEDx Talk at TEDx NOLA in 2026.

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Krishnan Namboodiri is a Tantric priest from South India, trained in the classical tradition of mantras (sacred sounds), pujas (prayer ceremonies), homas (fire rituals), and yantras (sacred geometric designs). He performs many daily and special rituals for the ashram.

Our beloved senior teachers play a central role in teaching at the ashram. Please note that their participation depends on their availability and cannot be assured for every program.

Swami Hridyananda

Swami Hridyananda is a direct disciple of Swami Vishnudevananda and senior staff at the  Yoga Retreat. She has spent over 35 years teaching different aspects of yoga, as well as teaching in Sivananda Yoga Teacher Training Courses. She also teaches meditation, thought power, chanting, and supports individuals on their inner transformative journey.

Swami Brahmananda

Swami Brahmananda is Manager of the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat and senior staff of the Sivananda organization. A long-time practitioner of yoga, he regularly teaches yoga philosophy and meditation for the Sivananda Yoga Teacher Training Courses as well as meditation immersion courses. He is a much-loved, inspiring, and knowledgeable teacher.

Swami Shambhudevananda

Swami Shambhudevananda is a senior staff member at the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat Bahamas and a practitioner of yoga and meditation for more than 30 years. A member of the Sivananda organization since 1995, Swami Shambhudevananda regularly teaches Hatha Yoga and Raja Yoga philosophy for the Sivananda Yoga Teacher Training Courses and advanced courses. He is a much-loved, knowledgeable, and inspiring teacher.

Swami Paramananda

Swami Paramananda is a monk and senior teacher of the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers. Swami Paramananda joined the Sivananda organization in 2006 and was initiated into Sannyasa (monasticism) in 2016.

A long-time practitioner of yoga, meditation and philosophical studies, he regularly teaches in the Sivananda Yoga Teachers’ Training Courses as well as the Advanced Yoga Teachers’ Training Courses. He also teaches online courses and guides students from around the world in their practice and study.

A much-loved teacher admired for his humor, warmth, and devotion to the practice, he seamlessly weaves classical yoga teachings into modern daily life.

Rukmini Chaitanya

Rukmini Chaitanya is a senior staff member of the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat Bahamas, and the personal assistant to Swami Swaroopananda, the Acharya, or spiritual director of the Ashram. She regularly teaches the Bhagavad Gita during the Sivananda Yoga Teacher training as well as other courses on the Bhagavad Gita, Vedanta, positive thinking, meditation, and yoga philosophy.

Rukmini Chaitanya is known for her enthusiastic and inspiring teaching style as well as for her devotion to the lineage and the scriptures. She is dedicated to each of her students and has an innate desire to share knowledge with them. She brings a great deal of clarity to every topic and is highly appreciated for her capacity to unfold complicated topics and present them in a coherent and pure way.

Rukmini Chaitanya was interviewed on The Spiritually Inspired Show

Jnaneshwari Chaitanya

Jnaneshwari Chaitanya is a senior staff member and teacher of the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat. An experienced and devoted practitioner, she is an inspiring and insightful teacher of Yoga and Vedanta in Yoga teachers training courses and many of the ashram programs. Jnaneshwari Chaitanya is known for her clear and pure way of communicating the knowledge and its application in daily life, and is especially known for her skill in teaching the Bhagavad Gita.

Parvati Chaitanya

Parvati Chaitanya is a senior staff member of the ashram with many years of experience teaching, studying, and practicing yoga. She currently serves the ashram as caretaker of the gardens.

Krishna Chaitanya

Krishna Chaitanya is a physical therapist, senior staff member of the Yoga Retreat, and senior instructor of Hatha Yoga in the Teacher Training Course and other courses. He has taught for more than 20 years and specializes in working with the elderly population. He teaches Adaptive Yoga, Chair Yoga, and has many years experience helping individuals with all kinds of physical limitations.

Bhargavi Chaitanya

Bhargavi Chaitanya is an experienced yoga teacher and has been a staff member in the Sivananda organization since 2006.  Bhargavi Chaitanya teaches courses on yoga, meditation, positive thinking, the power of thought, cooking workshops, advanced yoga courses, yoga for adolescents, and more. She is known for her gentle teaching style and for the inner peace and love her students are experiencing while taking her classes.