Affiliated Teachers
Nicolai Bachman, MA, RYT
Nicolai has been teaching Sanskrit, chanting, yoga philosophy and Ayurveda since 1994. He has a knack for synthesizing and organizing complex topics into simple and understandable presentations. His education combines informal, traditional study with the academic rigor of university classes. He has studied extensively at the American Sanskrit Institute, the Ayurvedic Institute, the American Institute of Vedic Studies and the Vedic Chant Center. He holds an M.A. in Eastern Philosophy, an M.S. in Nutrition, and is RYT500 certified. Nicolai has authored several Sanskrit book/CD learning tools including 108 Sanskrit Flash Cards, The Language of Ayurveda, and by Sounds True, The Language of Yoga (2005) and The Yoga Sutras: An Essential Guide to the Heart of Yoga Philosophy.
Edwin Bryant, Ph.D.
Edwin Bryant received his Ph.D in Indic languages and Cultures from Columbia University, taught Hinduism at Harvard University for three years, and is presently the professor of Hinduism at Rutgers University where he teaches courses on Hindu Philosophy, Bhagavad Gita, Sanskrit, Yoga, and other related subjects. He has received numerous awards and fellowships, and is the author of six books and dozens of articles. Edwin's Penguin World Classics translation of the Srimad Bhagavata Purana, which is the traditional source for the story of Krishna's incarnation, is aimed at the general public interested in Hinduism, as well as the yoga community. His translation of and commentary on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (North Point Press, a division of Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2009) is specifically dedicated to contributing to the growing body of literature on yoga by providing insights from the major pre-modern commentaries on the text with a view to grounding the teachings in their traditional context. Edwin has been personally involved with yoga as an initiated practitioner in a traditional Vaishnava sect who has practiced bhakti yoga for 25 years, a number of them in India.
Lou Benson, RMT
Lou Benson has been studying the anatomy, physiology and kinesiology of the 3-dimensional moving puzzles we call our bodies for over 28 years, first as an athlete and amateur bodybuilder and beginning in 1990, as a student of massage therapy. She has developed and taught beginning and advanced courses in anatomy, bodywork, and movement awareness for massage therapists and yoga teachers for many years. Lou is a certified practitioner of both Aston Patterning and Kinesis Myofascial Integration (KMI). She has also had extensive training in orthopedic work for soft tissue injuries, with an emphasis on myofascial and neuromuscular applications. Lou maintains a private practice in Cambridge, MA, where she still loves working with the puzzles of posture, movement, injury, and the deep, restorative healing Swedish massage can provide. Lou's goal as a therapist and teacher is to infuse her work and that of her students with increasing sensitivity, specificity, curiosity and consciousness.