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Swami Rama of the Himalayas is founder of the Institute and our spiritual guide in all our teachings. This rare yoga master was born in the Himalayas and raised by the saint, Bengali Baba. He spent his life connecting east and west, utilizing the science of yoga to shape the future for many. He built hospitals and colleges, wrote books and sang songs, always offering love. |
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Swami Jaidev (Justin O’Brien, Th.D., Ph.D.) is a leading teacher in the tradition and a spiritual director of IHT. A disciple of Swami Rama, he has lectured internationally since 1967. Theologian, philosopher, initiator, professor, explorer in consciousness, and author of several award-winning books (Walking with a Himalayan Master, Wellness Tree), he lives for pure wisdom and shares it with all. |
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Ma Devi (Theresa King, M.A.) is a spiritual director of IHT and a life-long student of spirituality. She is a hatha instructor, initiator, writer, and international teacher of personal spiritual growth. She has authored award-winning books (The Spiral Path, Divine Mosaic) and poetry and is manager of Yes International Publishers and editor of the IHT journal, Himalayan Path. |
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Manuraj (Maynard Speece) is a long-standing initiate in the Himalayan Tradition. He serves as president of IHT. He has worked in chemical dependency treatment facilities for many years, establishing ethics and working as a legislative lobbyist for patient care. He now works for United Care in the Twin Cities. Manuraj is a frequent writer for Himalayan Path. |
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Yogiraj Prem Prakash has studied with teachers from various yogic lineages and now co-directs the Green Mountain School of Yoga in Vermont. His writing on yoga has appeared in several publications. He is author of Three Paths of Devotion from Yes International Publishers and The Yoga of Devotion from Inner Traditions. He lives at Kailash Ashram in Middlebury, Vermont, with his wife and son. |
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Linda Johnsen, M.S., authored eight books including A Thousand Suns: Designing Your Future with Vedic Astrology, Daughters of the Goddess: The Women Saints of India and The Living Goddess: Reclaiming the Tradition of the Mother of the Universe. She is an editor for The Mountain Astrologer and Yoga Plus, and former editor of the American Council of Vedic Astrology Journal. |
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Martin Warren, Ph.D., associate professor of English at the U of St. Thomas, is a specialist in Chaucer and medieval literature. He has taught Arthurian literature, introduction to Linguistics, science/speculative fiction, Catholic literature, literary theory, and medieval roots of Tolkien’s fiction. He authored Asceticism in the Christian Transformation of Self in Margery Kempe, William Thorpe, and John Rogers. |
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Shirley Vedder has been a registered nurse for over twenty years. She has also been teaching Ear Coning since 1997. It all stated at age fourteen, she says, when she decided that her life would be dedicated to helping people. She volunteered in her hometown hospital and continued into nursing school. It was when her physician suggested that she have her ears done to help her sinus symptoms that she was hooked! |
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Katyayani Poole, Ph.D., is co-creator of Shruti Institute for Vedic Arts for sharing the knowledge of the Vedas. She has an M.A. in Sanskrit and a doctorate in Religious Studies from the U of CA. She lived in India for five years, studying yoga and Sanskrit and living with saints. She is author of a Sanskrit training program, Sanskrit for Yogis, and is a practicing Vedic astrologer (jyotishi). |
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Kate Poole was initiated into the Himalayan Tradition in 1998. After years of study, she assists in teaching at the center as a certified hatha yoga teacher in beginning and intermediate courses. She homeschools her children, is president of the Institute’s teachers association, and teaches prenatal, beginning, intermediate and advanced hatha yoga at IHT, winning all with her smile! |
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Dena Jackson came to IHT in 2002 as a certified yoga teacher searching for a true “yoga home” after she had studied hatha yoga and meditation for several years. She was then initiated into the Himalayan Tradition and became a certified hatha teacher at IHT. She serves as vice-president of IHT’s teachers association and as secretary of IHT’s board of directors. |
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Nandini (Nancy Avery) is a certified beginning hatha yoga teacher. A native of Portland, Oregon, she now is an assistant in the offices of IHT and Yes Publishers. She is one of our BETAR technicians and also serves as a photographer for IHT. Nandini lived as an Institute ashram resident for several years and still has a beloved patch of garden on the property! |
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Julia Phillips has been a student and teacher at IHT for several years. Her sunny smile and eagerness to help makes her always welcome. A greatly loved teacher of hatha yoga, she also sews the breathing sandbags and the meditation cushions for the IHT bookstore. Julia is also a certified beginning yoga teacher. |
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Barbra Bloy has taught yoga to students aged 5 through 75 for the past several years. A long-time student of hatha yoga, she came to the Institute in 2002 and has completed her IHT first hatha certification. Barbra is also a massage therapist trained in Esalen, deep tissue massage, shiatsu, and reflexology. She is also an artist and a cat lover in her busy life. |
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Alida Winternheimer has been a student at IHT for several years, attending classes and teacher training. She is a certified beginning and intermediate hatha teacher, and the secretary of IHTTA, the institute’s teachers association. Alida is a mother, a student, a writer, and a book reviewer for Himalayan Path as well. |
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Kaitlin Fuller came to IHT in 2003 after teaching hatha yoga for several years. She was initiated in 2004 after her pilgrimage to India with Swami Jaidev and Ma Devi. A certified massage therapist for seven years until the birth of her daughter, she has recently completed her study in IHT beginnning hatha yoga and is a certified instructor. |
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Lynette Nyman is a certified beginning hatha yoga teacher in the Himalayan Tradition through IHT. She was initiated into the tradition in 1998. Lynette holds an MA in cultural anthropology and is a communications professional in the Twin Cities. The beauty of her own hatha yoga postures inspires the students to keep working! |
