Certified Teachers

Meg Artley

Meg’s physician suggested that she take up yoga to navigate a chronic illness. That was over 15 years ago. Not only did Meg find healing in the practice of asana yoga, she also found a new calling as a yoga teacher, receiving her 200 HR Yoga Teacher Certification in 2012 and her 500 HR Certification in 2018. When she took the Vishoka Meditation Master Course in spring of 2020, she finally understood why and how the mat and the meditative seat lead people to healing, wholeness and joy. As a yoga teacher at age 57, she is always teaching what she is learning.

Contact:

[email protected]
https://lostandfoundyoga.com/

Michael Nickel

Michelle Ostermyer

Michelle Ostermyer is a E-RYT 500 HR Yoga Teacher who has been practicing yoga for more than a decade. Michelle started out as a dancer and studied yoga and dance in NYC with master teachers. She was amazed at how the practice of yoga helped to alleviate the stresses of city living and bring a sense of balance to her life. In 2015, Michelle earned her 200-HR Yoga Teacher Certification. Shortly after, she became certified in Aerial Yoga and bodyART (a functional and holistic movement program that combines strength, flexibility, cardio and breath work). She also has received specialized training in myofascial release for asana classes. Michelle is proud to have completed her 500-Hour Yoga Teacher Certification and Vishoka Meditation Teacher Training at the Himalayan Institute.

Outside of the yoga studio, Michelle loves to connect with nature. She is extremely passionate about living a healthy lifestyle and wants everyone to feel good in their body/mind. Michelle’s yoga and meditation classes focus on exploring inner awareness. She hopes that her students leave her classes feeling empowered and nourished with a deeper connection to themselves. Check out her instagram at www.instagram.com/belleyogi and website at

Contact:

[email protected]
https://www.belleyogi.com/

Natalie Backman

Devoted to the Divine Mother, Natalie shares what she knows of the wisdom of the sages as an unveiling of her heart. Rooted in the Himalayan Tradition, Natalie guides informed and embodied experiences of yoga asana, pranayama, yoga nidra, Vishoka Meditation, and Yoga Sutra based practices of contemplation and self-inquiry – all with the aim of generating true transformation culminating in ultimate freedom and lasting fulfillment. She also offers mentorship to those craving a personalized deepening in their practice and teaching. Based in California, most of Natalie’s offerings are now happening live, virtually, to an international community of seekers and practitioners. Held in grace, Natalie endeavors to live her life as an integrated offering to the Divine. Jai Maa!

Contact:

Natalie Backman Yoga
nataliebackmanyoga.com
[email protected]
(646) 262-4415

Natasha Dooley

Natasha’s yoga journey began over eighteen years ago, shortly after moving to Colorado. Natasha completed her 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training with Adi Amar in Jackson Hole, WY and now practices and studies in the Himalayan Tradition with the Himalayan Institute.
Natasha was born in Yekaterinburg, Russia and now lives in beautiful Larkspur, CO on a small hobby farm, with her husband, and two dogs. Natasha currently teaches yoga, meditation, and Yoga Nidra at the Woodmoor Country Club in Monument, CO and to private clients.

Contact:

[email protected]

Nicole Taylor

As a life-long seeker, Nicole Taylor has extensively studied and practiced Ayurveda, yoga, and meditation. In addition to being a newly certified VMT, Nicole is a NAMA-certified Ayurvedic Health Counselor and a 500-hour trained yoga teacher. She was initiated into the Himalayan Tradition in 2011. Her life’s purpose is to support people in claiming their innate joy, wholeness, and ability to thrive. She plans to share Vishoka Meditation in private sessions, group workshops, and corporate wellness programs.

Contact:

[email protected]
https://www.ajoyfulpause.com/
(215) 499-6154

Nomita Kapur

A citizen of our global and modern world, Nomita remains rooted in the ethos of the Eastern culture and its knowledge base. An economist by training, Nomita began her career in the corporate sector. Always interested in human behavior, she soon forayed into being a corporate trainer and thereafter a professor of Organizational Behavior.

Having taught and trained individuals across different age groups, she now shares her love for teaching through her writings and coaching. Nomita offers sessions on Neuro Linguistic Programming as well as Vishoka Meditation. She is the author of “Drop by Drop” the culmination of her own journey of self-inquiry, successfully merging modern life with ancient wisdom.

Contact:

[email protected]

Pamela Meriwether

Pamela began her yoga and meditation practice in 1999, during her first pregnancy, and her passion for this path of yoga grew from there. Her studies, curiosity and heart have led her to India, Cameroon and to most corners of the US, to seek, serve, learn and teach. The alchemy of everything along her path led her to discover the inherent joy within, through Vishoka Meditation.

Pamela is a devoted student of Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, of the Himalayan Institute, and a humble steward of Sri Vidya and the Himalayan Tradition. Pamela founded The Sakhi Yoga School, in Columbia, South Carolina, where she lives with her husband and where they raised their children. Her life’s purpose is to share the teachings that she has been blessed to experience, with anyone who is willing to receive them.

Contact:

[email protected]
https://www.sakhiyogaschool.com/

Raksha Khushalani

Raksha took the first Vishoka Meditation Teacher Training in November 2021. An economist by education, she is also a Certified Vishoka Meditation Teacher Training as well as a Certified Yoga Teacher and Yoga Therapist.

Contact:
[email protected]

Rayne Watkin

Rayne began practicing yoga at a young age. She also is a practicing Osteopath and feels that the two modalities were made for each other. Her main passion is to share the ancient teachings in order to empower her students. Rayne wants to help her students share their unique gifts with this world and assist them in creating an everlasting relationship with their inherent luminosity. It is with so much joy that Rayne shares this incredible meditation with her community.

Contact:

[email protected]
+ (614) 0812-8237

Regina Pietersen

Regina turned to yoga in 2013 as a means of warding off sports-related injuries from overusing muscles in triathlon training. She found yoga to have many other benefits – in managing her stress related to attending graduate school, having two young children, and a full time job. She soon found other healthful side benefits such as reduced stress, ability to think more clearly, a more positive outlook, and a sense of overall well-being and happiness. Regina is committed to sharing these benefits with others and is particularly interested in the mind-body-breath connection and Vishoka Meditation. She wants to bring a deeper, more subtle awareness to a student’s practice.

Regina Pietersen received her 500 HR Teacher Training through the Himalayan Institute under the tutelage of Panditji Rajmani Tigunait, Ishan Tigunait, Sandra Anderson, Judy Molton and Shiva Tigunait.

Regina is now a Certified Vishoka Meditation Teacher – having completed the Vishoka Meditation Master Course and currently enrolled in Sri Sukta and Sadhana Immersion, she looks forward to immersing herself into the Nexus of Sri Sukta and Vishoka Meditation to discover the unique intersection of these two ancient practices.

Contact:

Breathe Life Sangha
[email protected]
(732)-600-8030

Riccardo De Paolis

Riccardo received his masters degree in Electronic Engineering in 2007, and after 8 years working for a major IT corporation, he decided to change careers. He realized his major passion was in holistic therapies, and thus, pursued training in yoga and therapeutic massage. He is both a yogi and a yoga and meditation teacher (E-RYT 500 & YACEP, Purna Yoga, Byron Yoga Center, Byron Bay, Australia). Riccardo teaches in several yoga studios in Rome, teaches for companies in Italy and in Europe, and usually runs international retreats and workshops. Riccardo is a qualified Mindfulness teacher having received a Master Degree in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Protocol (MBSR) at the Department of Psychology of La Sapienza University, Rome. He organizes MBSR protocol and workshops for corporations.

Riccardo’s vision is to make yoga accessible to everybody — he believes that yoga is also a moment of joy and fun, in which we are able to facilitate a deeper connection with our own true self. He is honored to share the deep and effective practice of Vishoka Meditation as a Certified Vishoka Meditation Teacher with his students.

Riccardo loves staying in contact with nature, surfing, traveling around the world and creating a positive connection with people and their different cultural backgrounds. Diversity and compassion is part of his personal path and for this reason it is also part of each of his classes and treatments.

Contact:

https://www.onebodymind.net
[email protected]

Richa Eland

Richa has a sincere desire to show all ages the benefit of the Vishoka Meditation practice, and is honored to be able to share stories of the sages who have preserved for us the wisdom of Vishoka—bringing us greater joy and contentment as we age. Being over 50 herself, and active in the Himalayan Institute for over 40 years, Richa’s teaching focuses on introducing her students to the profound tools of Ayurveda for better health, and meditation for improved well being. She is ready to show you the tools to improve the JOY in your life!

Currently living in residence at the Himalayan Institute campus in Honesdale, PA, Richa has over 40 years of practice and study with Swami Rama and Pandit Rajmani Tigunait in Honesdale, PA, Khajuraho, India and Rishikesh, India. She is a Certified Yoga Therapist with the International Association of Yoga Therapy (C-IAYT), a Licensed Social Worker (LSW, state of MN), Certified Classical Homeopath with Council for Homeopathic Certification, a certified Jin Shin Do Bodymind Therapy practitioner and instructor, a Certified Reiki Practitioner Level 2, and a graduate of the Northwestern Academy of Homeopathy, a four year program of Classical homeopathic remedies, philosophy and Materia Medica.

Contact:

[email protected]

Rita Salamone

Rita has been a seeker all her life, as well as a student & practitioner of meditation, Yoga, Tai Chi, QiGong, Vedanta, and ancient wisdom traditions. Ever so grateful for the transformative, healing impact that Vishoka Meditation has had on her own life, Rita’s mission, now that she is retired, is to be of service. By partnering with local yoga studios and elder community centers, she hopes to empower others with the tools for cultivating a connection to their own intrinsic inner luminosity, a connection to who they are at the core of their being.

Rita is excited and honored to introduce the beautiful practice of Vishoka Meditation to friends, family, and the ever widening circle of meditators. She looks forward to sharing Vishoka Meditation, furthering the worldwide mission of the global Himalayan Institute community.

Contact:

[email protected]
(724) 494-0672

Sarah Hutchinson

Sarah, who has been a Registered Nurse for over 40 years, is also a life-long student, fascinated with the interface between mind, body and health. As she grows older and wiser, her meditation practice of 20 + years takes on new meaning in creating vibrant health for herself, her family and her students. Sara is the founder of Yogabeyondtheposes.com, a mother and a delighted grandmother who makes her home in the wilds of Western Colorado.

Contact:

[email protected]
(970) 778-0253
https://yogabeyondtheposes.com/

Shanti Nolen

Shanti has been practicing meditation for 28 years and has been teaching meditation and yoga asana for 20 years. Contemplation, meditation, and pranayama have been the main focus in her personal practice as well as in how and what she offers as a teacher. She has trained in Ashtanga Yoga, and received her 500hr training from the Himalayan Institute. Due to a number of physical injuries and surgeries, she has a special skill in working with meditation and breathing for healing and overcoming pain. Her life long passion for a higher consciousness infuses every aspect of her life and teaching. Shanti is honored to have been trained and certified to teach Vishoka Meditation through the Himalayan Institute. She is the owner of Keller Yoga studio and leads teacher trainings, workshops and classes to uplift and enrich the lives of everyone seeking to come into a deeper understanding of their Self through yoga.

Contact:

Keller Yoga
http://www.kelleryoga.com/
[email protected]
(817) 591-1702

Shauna Gilsdorf

Shauna discovered her passion for the spiritual discipline of meditation and yoga at a young age. Born into a family who believed in the power of the mind/body/spirit connection, she was intrigued and compelled to learn all she could. Shauna became a yoga teacher over a decade ago and has since received her 500hr training from the Himalayan Institute. Dedicated to a life of service, Shauna is a Mental Health Professional and works on an adolescent inpatient psychiatric unit where teaches yoga and meditation to youth in crisis. This work led her to take additional trainings in yoga for trauma, which led her to teaching meditation to recovering addicts in long term residential treatment. Shauna also leads teacher trainings, yoga classes, and workshops while teaching from her heart. Constantly inspired by her teachers and students, Shauna continues her study of yoga and believes the best teachers remain lifelong students.

Contact:

[email protected]
(419) 376-4793

Shelly Craigo

Shelly Craigo, a lifelong seeker, is a student of Pandit Rajmani Tigunait. A resident of the Himalayan Institute for 20+ years, she has been engaged in the study and practice of yoga, meditation, tantra and Sri Vidya. She is a 500 RYT and has a BS in Biomedical Communications, MS in Preventive Medicine.

A spiritual activist at heart, Shelly frontruns in the yoga community group practice initiatives for constructive change in collective consciousness, personal transformation, and the rebalancing of nature especially in these challenging times. During her tenure, she has led the Himalayan Institute’s spiritual excursions, Pandit Tigunait’s national book and lecture tours, and taught hatha yoga and meditation. In an assisting role to Pandit Tigunait, she continues to work in service to students and members of the Himalayan Institute.

On-the-ground exposure to indigenous communities in Colombia, Uganda, Cameroon, Nepal, Tibet, China, and India with Panditji’s revealing insights inspired Shelly’s supportive engagement in the Himalayan Institute’s humanitarian work worldwide. While furthering her socio-anthropological interests in cultures of the Himalayas and Asia, she maintains her earliest promptings as a pilgrim to the shrines sacred to the Tradition.

Contact:

[email protected]
(570) 290-1778