Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD
Spiritual head of the Himalayan Institute, Pandit Rajmani Tigunait is the successor of Sri Swami Rama. He holds two doctorates, one from the University of Allahabad in India and the other from the University of Pennsylvania. He is a regular contributor to Yoga+ Joyful Living magazine (formerly Yoga International), the author of fourteen books, including Touched by Fire and the best-selling At the Eleventh Hour: The Biography of Swami Rama, and the force behind Sacred Link®—The Healing Revolution. Read More

Sandra Anderson
Sandra Anderson is the co-author of the award-winning Yoga: Mastering the Basics, and is on the faculty of the Himalayan Institute, where she is a resident. Turning to yoga practice after years as an environmental geologist, Anderson was initiated into the Himalayan tradition in 1988. She teaches subtle body yoga, meditation, and spiritual ecology in nation-wide workshops, and is the co-director of the Himalayan Institute’s Teachers Association (HITA). She is also a senior editor for Yoga+ Joyful Living magazine.

Mary Cardinal
Mary Cardinal is a yoga teacher and therapist, and educator. She has studied yoga and yoga therapy for 11 years, and serves as a yoga therapist for the Center for Health and Healing at the Himalayan Institute’s international headquarters in Honesdale, Pennsylvania. She also holds degrees and certification in both traditional and Montessori education.

Carrie E. Demers, MD
Board-certified in internal medicine, Dr. Demers is a holistic physician who blends modern medicine with traditional approaches to health. After receiving her medical degree from the University of Cincinnati and completing her residency at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago, Dr. Demers went on to study massage, homeopathy, nutrition, herbal medicine and ayurveda. She is a faculty member of the Himalayan Institute, and has been the Director of the Institute’s Center for Health and Healing for the last 12 years. Dr. Demers has been interviewed by numerous newspaper, magazine, and book editors regarding her holistic approach to health, and has been quoted in Time Magazine. She has written articles for Yoga+ Joyful Living and other magazines, and lectures nationally on ayurveda and holistic health.

Michael Grady, C.M.T.
Michael Grady, C.M.T. lives and teaches yoga at the Himalayan Institute Headquarters. He has studied and taught hatha yoga, pranayama, and yogic cleansing practices in the Himalayan lineage for nearly 30 years. He is a graduate of a holistic health program at the University of Minnesota, and serves as a certified massage therapist at the Himalayan Institute Center for Health and Healing.

Luke Ketterhagen
Luke Ketterhagen, a yoga practitioner for 10 years, Luke graduated magna cum laude from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with a degree in Biomedical Sciences. A certified yoga teacher since 1999, Ketterhagen authored the Asana Basics column for Yoga International (now Yoga + Joyful Living) magazine from December 2003 to December 2004). Luke appeared as a model in numerous editions of the 16-year-old publication as well as in the best-selling book, Yoga: Mastering the Basics. Former owner and director of Uptown Yoga in Dallas, Texas, Luke was Director of Programming and principal teacher at East West Yoga in Manhattan during its relaunch. Currently on staff at the Himalayan Institute in Honesdale, Pennsylvania, Luke is the program director at the Main Street location and is a member of the Himalayan Institute’s Teachers Training Faculty.

Patrick Klein, R.Ph.
Patrick Klein, R.Ph. is a practicing pharmacist who earned his pharmacy degree from North Dakota State University and his M.S. from the University of Minnesota. He has worked in the field of natural medicine for the past 20 years and currently operates Wellspring Homeopathic Pharmacy in Honesdale, PA. He lives at the Himalayan Institute where he teaches holistic health.

Irene (Aradhana) Petryszak
Irene Petryszak is chairman of the Himalayan Institute and a senior editor of Yoga+ Joyful Living magazine. She has studied the deeper aspects of yoga for 30 years in the United States and India with master teachers in the Himalayan lineage. She holds degrees in Eastern studies and English literature, and lives and teaches at the Himalayan Institute headquarters in Honesdale, Pennsylvania.

D.C. Rao, Ph.D.
D.C. Rao, Ph.D. has an extensive background in the Sanskrit scriptures and texts of the yoga tradition. He has a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania, and retired in 1995 from the World Bank to pursue his study of the yogic spiritual tradition with the Himalayan Institute. Dr. Rao has traveled widely throughout the world, and is a Trustee at the Chinmaya Mission, Washington D.C., and a Board Member of Interfaith Conference. He teaches yoga philosophy for the Himalayan Institute Teachers Training program.

Rolf Sovik, PsyD
Rolf Sovik is the spiritual director of the Himalayan Institute and a clinical psychologist in private practice. He has studied yoga in the United States, India, and Nepal, and holds degrees in philosophy, music, Eastern studies, and clinical psychology. Co-director of the Himalayan Institute of Buffalo, he began his practice of yoga in 1972, and was initiated as a pandit in the Himalayan tradition in 1987. He is the author of Moving Inward, co-author of the award-winning Yoga: Mastering the Basics, and a frequent contributor and columnist for Yoga+ Joyful Living magazine

Ishan Tigunait
Growing up at the Himalayan Institute, Ishan Tigunait received his first lesson in personal development and progressive leadership from the illustrious master of the 21st century, Swami Rama of the Himalayas. After receiving his BS in computer engineering, he joined the corporate world working for IBM. But he soon moved on to fulfill his ambition of establishing a business model where corporate profitability is guided by a higher vision of self-empowerment and social regeneration. He is a founding director of Human Energy and a board member of Roshini Biotech, market leaders in large-scale biofuel plantations based on sustainable community models in Africa and India, respectively. He is also director of the Himalayan Institute’s Global Humanitarian Initiative.

Deborah Willoughby
Deborah Willoughby is the President of the Himalayan Institute and founding editor of Yoga + Joyful Living magazine. She holds degrees in English literature, and after a career in Washington, D.C. as a writer and editor, turned her attention full time to the practice of yoga. She has studied directly with Swami Rama, the founder of the Himalayan Institute, and his successor, Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, in both the United States and India. She lives at the Himalayan Institute where she teaches yoga meditation and philosophy.

Virat Xavier
Virat Xavier has taught raja yoga and meditation for more than 30 years. He is currently on the faculty of the Himalayan Institute and teaches at Himalayan Institute Main Street in Honesdale, Pennsylvania. He was formerly Director of Himalayan Institute branch centers in New York City, Buffalo, New York, and Glenview, Illinois. Mr. Xavier lived, studied, and taught yoga in India and managed Hansda Ashram in Nepal. He holds a Masters degree in Educational Counseling from Niagara University

Year-Long Meditation Faculty & Guest Speakers