About us
Yoga Academy of North America (YANA) is not just a “yoga school”.
Our courses are for serious students who want a very strong theoretical and practical knowledge of all aspects of yoga and are open to the possibility that their lives will be profoundly transformed by this knowledge.
These trainings are inspired by the tradition that creates the Bihar School of Yoga series of books – including Yoga Nidra, Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha, Four Chapters on Freedom and Kundalini Tantra.
YANA also offers learning opportunities through shorter workshops and yoga classes.
We encourage service (seva) projects to improve the quality of life for those less fortunate through our seva initiative.
We are part of a lineage that is thousands of years old and which has living masters that continually adapt ancient teachings for modern life.
The proliferation of yoga in modern day society has taken on many forms. Now, more than ever, individuals seek personal growth. Yoga is a tool for the development of the personality with the aim to bring about greater awareness. Yoga is about creating balance and harmony in one’s life. Our tradition contributes to the peace, prosperity and, ultimately, the betterment of the world.
Explore what YANA can do for you!
Our Team
Sannyasi YOGATARA
(L. Alessandra Gautschi)
President
Sannyasi Yogatara first encountered Yoga when she arrived in Nepal in 1996 to work in public health. By 2002 she was at the Bihar Yoga University in Munger, and in 2005 completed a graduate Diploma in Applied Yogic Sciences (yoga therapy).
In 2007, with the blessings of Swami Niranjanananda, Yogatara opened the Isha Institute, a center of yogic learning & conscious living in Nepal.
Yogatara spends her time as a yoga therapist & holistic counsellor with a specialisation in trauma resolution. She offers her services in Nepal, her home for over 20 years, and now travels internationally to share her understanding and experience of the Yoga Vidya of the Satyananda Yoga Tradition..
Yogatara has a BA in biochemistry, a Masters in Transpersonal Psychology, and is a certified Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP). She regularly spends time in Munger and Rikhia ashrams to continue to learn, grow, offer seva and be inspired by the living tradition of the Bihar School.
Jignasu Karunadhara
(Kristine Fondran)
AYT, E-RYT 500 - Board Secretary
Jignasu Karunadhara first came to Satyananda Yoga® in 1998 for physical flexibility and to manage stress in her life. Since that time she conducted her Masters thesis at Cleveland State University (CSU) on a twice daily Surya namaskara practice and has been a co-investigator on additional studies involving yoga. For the past 14 years she has been happily teaching yoga to students, faculty and staff at CSU providing them with various tools to manage the stress and anxiety that is so prevalent in our culture today.
In 2019, Karunadhara accompanied Swami Atmarupa to the first International Yoga Nidra Conference as a co-presenter. Motivated and inspired by this auspicious opportunity she is currently conducting a pilot study with CSU military veterans practicing Satyananda Yoga Nidra.
Karunadhara is registered with the Yoga Alliance at the E-RYT 500 Level, RCYT (children’s yoga) and YACEP (Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider).
When not teaching yoga, Karunadhara can be found on the ice teaching the yogic concepts of body and breath awareness to hockey players of all ages, or delivering skating certifications internationally with her company the Inline Certification Program.
Swami Atmarupa
(Beverly Roberts Singh)
Education Director
Swami Atmarupa Saraswati began studying Satyananda Yoga® in the early 1980’s. She is the Founder of the Atma Center, a Satyananda Yoga® center established in 1997 Cleveland Heights, Ohio. In 2015, Swami Niranjanananda named her as a founding Yoga Acharya of the Yoga Vidya Council representing the yoga teachings of the Bihar School of Yoga in India.
Swami Atmarupa has taught internationally in Australia, Colombia, Mexico, and India as well as presenting weekend programs at the Omega Institute and Himalayan Institute in Pittsburgh. She presented at the Yoga Alliance conferences in 2011 and 2012. She was one of the primary presenters at the first International Yoga Nidra Conference held at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in 2019.
Swami Atmarupa is registered with the Yoga Alliance at the E-RYT 500 level, RPYT (prenatal yoga), RCYT (children's yoga) and YACEP (Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider).
Prior to following her passion for yoga teaching, Swami Atmarupa was a certified registered nurse anesthetist for over 25 years.
SannyASI
Satchidananda
(Kaanchan Adhikary)
E-RYT500, Board Member
Satchidananda fell into the yogic path in 1998. He landed in his guru's ashram in 2006. Since then, he has been studying, living, and teaching in Satyananda Yoga® centers and ashrams around the world. He completed the 4-month residential Yogic Studies and 3-year Sannyasa training courses in Ganga Darshan Ashram (Munger, India), and the 3-year Teacher Training Diploma in Australia. He is registered with the Yoga Alliance at the E-RYT 500 Level and is a YACEP (Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider).
Formally trained in Computer Science with a B.S. from U.T. Austin and as a certified secondary education Science teacher via the New Teacher Project, Satchidananda has been involved in numerous ashram-initiated technology projects focused on widening accessability of yogic resources to the digital dimension.
Satchidananda currently lives in Nepal. He continues to devote much of his time to supporting technology related yoga initiatives, training sincere students, teaching to the local community, and organizing projects for creation of yogic resources in the Nepali language.
Sannyasi Shambhavi
(Alden Caldwell)
AYT, E-RYT200, RYT500, C-IAYT, LTM
YANA Board Treasurer
Sannyasi Shambhavi has traveled annually since 2010 to India and the Sivananda Ashram in Rikhiapeeth as well as the Bihar Yoga University in Munger where she has studied various yogic courses and experienced ashram living. As well as being a certified yoga therapist, Shambhavi is a licensed massage therapist and maintains her private practice in Baltimore, Maryland. She co-facilitates the Wise Heart Community for Devotional Study and Practice.