2027 Global Integral Yoga Celebration

Swami Ramananda, C-IAYT, E-RYT 500, is the Executive Director of the Integral Yoga Institute in San Francisco, C-IAYT, 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 co-developed the Stress Management Teacher Training program with Swami Vidyananda, has trained many teachers to bring Yoga into corporate, hospital and medical settings, and has taught mind/body wellness programs in many locations. He is a certified Yoga therapist and founding board member of the Yoga Alliance, a national registry that supports and promotes yoga teachers as professionals. He co-founded The Spiritual Action Initiative (SAI), which brings together individuals committed to working for social justice for all beings and for the care and healing of our natural world. His warmth, wisdom and sense of humor have endeared him to many.

Swami Asokananda took his monastic vows in 1975 from his Guru, Sri Swami Satchidananda. Known for his warmth, intelligence, and good humor, Swami Asokananda’s teachings come from his own practice and experience while absorbing the wisdom of his Guru. He is one of Integral Yoga’s primary instructors for Intermediate and Advanced Hatha Yoga Teacher Trainings. He is currently serving as President of the Integral Yoga Institute in New York City. Prior to this, he served as the President of Satchidananda Ashram - Yogaville, and Integral Yoga International.

Nalanie Harilela Chellaram is a modern spiritual teacher—a true soul doctor dedicated to selfless service. She travels the world to spread a message of wisdom, compassion, and love based on the philosophy of Yoga.

Nalanie attended university in the United States where she studied philosophy, psychology, and fine arts. Later, in 1986, she became a disciple of His Holiness Sri Swami Satchidananda “Gurudev”, one of the leading lights who brought Yoga to the West and who was also affectionately known as “the Woodstock Guru” after he gave the opening address at the famous Woodstock Music Festival held in New York state in 1969. Under His Holiness’ guidance Nalanie studied the science of Yoga while at the same time continuing her study of philosophy and psychology. She has been accredited by Satchidananda Ashram–Yogaville in Virginia, USA to teach asanas, pranayama and meditation. She is also an accredited Integral Yoga teacher trainer and a Yoga therapist under the British School of Yoga and the International Association of Yoga Therapists.

Her popularity as a counselor has also increased in recent years and she now offers personal consultations worldwide for which she does not charge but rather prefers to work on a donation basis.

Nalanie currently serves as Chairwoman of the Integral Yoga Centres in Sotogrande Alto, Spain and Gibraltar, where she regularly gives talks (satsangs) on spirituality and the science of the mind. She frequently leads Raja Yoga teacher training courses and is becoming increasingly popular as a speaker both locally and internationally.

She is also the founder of the Service in Satchidananda (SIS) initiative, a nonprofit international collective of charities established in honor of Sri Swami Satchidananda and based on his core teaching of selfless service.

Nalanie is highly regarded as the first of a new generation of spiritual teachers. Her particular upbringing and education have given her a special insight into both Hinduism and Christianity, inspired by her beloved Gurudev. Her example as a wife, mother, businesswoman, and now grandmother, who has devoted her life to God and His service, has been a beacon to her students. She shows that it is not necessary to withdraw from life in order to find the “God within”.

In March 2008, Nalanie received an award in recognition of her services to humanity from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and in October of the same year she was also awarded a Humanitarian Award from Satchidananda Ashram–Yogaville in Virginia, USA. In 2022 she received the Mayor’s Award for services to the community from the Mayor of Gibraltar.

Nalanie has also published several booklets dealing with different emotional subjects, a collection of affirmations and poems under the title Divine Grace, and a book entitled Loss, Life, Love that relays her personal journey through grief to love.

Swami Karunananda has had 50 years’ experience teaching all aspects of Yoga. She designed and conducts teacher training programs in Raja Yoga and in Meditation. She served as president of Satchidananda Ashram in California and in Virginia, and as director of the San Francisco and Santa Barbara Integral Yoga Institutes. She compiled and edited The Lotus Prayer Book and Enlightening Tales as told by Sri Swami Satchidananda. Her book, Awakening: Aspiration to Realization through Integral Yoga, makes the Yoga teachings accessible and provides inspiration and guidance for the spiritual journey.

Avi Gordon is the director of the Integral Yoga Teachers Association, a global organization of over 10,000 yoga teachers, and is host of the Integral Yoga podcast. Avi teaches yoga and meditation and has also written a novel, A Light in the Tunnel, which is a story that imagines a better future. He’s been a school teacher in Taiwan, South Korea, Israel, and the US. He has a passion for silence, nature, writing, and self-care practices.