Surya Little has been a devoted student and teacher of Yoga, macrobiotic healing and meditation for over 15 years. Her first Yoga training was in Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga. She lived in Nepal for two years and traveled twice to Mysore to study with K. Pattabhi Jois. More recently she has studied intensely in the Iyengar system, primarily training under the guidance of Aadil Palkhivala.

Surya teaches the nutrition segment of the teacher trainings, showing students the therapeutic value of food for the yoga practice. Surya's teaching style is dynamic, in-depth and devotional, guiding students to deeper levels of understanding.

Nicolai Bachman, MA, RYT has been teaching Sanskrit since 1994. He has studied extensively with Vyaas Houston, director of the American Sanskrit Institute and Vagish Shastri, director of the Vagyoga Institute in Benares, India. He graduated from the Ayurvedic Institute in Albuquerque and received his M.A. in Eastern Philosophy from St. John's College in Santa Fe.

He has produced several Sanskrit audio/visual learning tools including 108 Sanskrit Flash Cards, The Language of Yoga and Vedic Astrological Terminology. Nicolai currently teaches Sanskrit, chanting, yoga philosophy and Ayurveda nationally while pursuing a graduate degree in Nutrition at the University of New Mexico.

SanskritSounds.com

Elesa Commerse is a beloved meditation teacher, known for her ability to demystify the practice and facilitate breakthrough experiences on the journey to authenticity. She has been teaching since 1977 and has been meditating for as long as she can remember (even though she didn’t call it that).

Elesa feels blessed to have studied with such profound teachers as the Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, don Miguel Ruiz, Goswami Kriyananda, the poet Sonia Sanchez, Donna Farhi, Sharon Salzburg and Joseph Goldstein. Her teaching is informed by the lives and writings of her mother, Evelyn Winslow, Martin Luther King, Jr., the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa and Pema Chödrön.

A graduate of the Temple of Kriya Yoga Meditation Teacher Training Program, Elesa also holds two Certificates in Advanced Yoga Studies for completing Donna Farhi’s Yoga Teacher Training Program. She is a Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude graduate of Smith College, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology. Elesa earned an MBA in Marketing and Entrepreneurial Management, from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and studied Japanese Garden Design at the Kyoto College of Art and Design in Kyoto, Japan.

The Founder of National Meditation Month, Elesa was named the 2006 Artist in Residence at the Yaxche Learning Center in Taos, New Mexico, where she joyfully taught children in grades K-8, parents and teachers. In her hometown of Chicago, Elesa teaches ongoing meditation classes at the Northwestern Memorial Hospital Wellness Institute, the Swedish Covenant Hospital Galter Life Center; and for the Mercy Hospital Whole Women, Whole Health Program.

Please visit Elesa's web site at: www.thedeepcalm.com