Biographical Info
Lizzie Nichols is Program Director of the Healing Yoga Foundation. A founding team member, she's worked at HYF since the fall of 2006. Prior to the HYF, she owned and operated Open Door Yoga studio in the Noe Valley neighborhood of San Francisco.
In 2003, a few years after founding the Open Door Yoga studio (and years of daily practice) she was inspired to study the Yogasutras more deeply and found Kate Holcombe. The power of the teachings as taught by Kate in the tradition of TKV Desikachar had an enormous impact on her daily life and business.
When Kate Holcombe described her vision for the Healing Yoga Foundation, Lizzie wanted to contribute. Having been part of the Yoga business community, she was especially excited by the unique vision of a non-profit supporting the healing power of yoga in the tradition of TKV Desikachar
Before Open Door Yoga, Lizzie was the Director of Marketing for Sparks.com, an e-tailer.. She managed all marketing initiatives, including marketing communications, customer loyalty and public relations; and also played a role in product and business development.
TKV Desikachar, son and student of the legendary Yoga master, T Krishnamacharya, is one of the most respected Yoga teachers and healers of our time. Over the course of his thirty years of study with his teacher, Mr. Desikachar learned the complete practice and application of the tools of Yoga, as well as the classical Yoga texts, including Yoga Sutra-s of Patanjali, Yoga Rahasya of Nathamuni, Yoga Yajnavalkya Samhita, HathaYoga Pradipika, Siva Samhita, Gheranda Samhita and many others. He also studied Vedanta Philosophy, Ayurveda, Sanskrit, Mimamsa, and many other teachings with his father, who, in addition to being a master of Yoga, was also a renowned expert in the six Indian philosophical schools and other Indian healing and teaching traditions.
Mr. Desikachar is the author of several chanting CDs, as well as books on Yoga and allied subjects, including The Heart of Yoga, Health Healing and Beyond, and Reflections on the Yoga Sutra-s of Patanjali. He lives in Chennai, India with his family.
Kausthub Desikachar, son and student of TKV Desikachar, is an internationally renowned Yoga teacher. He began studying Yoga when he was nine years old. After completing his dual masters degree, he committed himself to becoming a full time student and teacher of Yoga. Currently, he is working on his PhD in Psychology at Madras University, where he is researching the role of Yoga in enhancing quality of life.
Kausthub is Chief Executive of the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram (KYM), where he is also a Senior Teacher and Yoga Therapy Consultant. He founded KYM-Mitra, a philanthropic wing of the KYM, which brings Yoga to children with special needs, as well as many in the community with limited economic means. Kausthub is also a patron of the British Wheel of Yoga and an advisor to the International Association of Yoga Therapists. He is co-founder with his father of the Krishnamacharya Healing and Yoga Foundation.
In addition to co-authoring two books with his father, Vedic Chant Companion and The Viniyoga of Yoga, Kausthub has also authored a book on teaching Yoga to children that was published in French. His most recent book, released in 2005, is The Yoga of the Yogi: The Legacy of T Krishnamacharya.
Kausthub lives in Chennai, India with his wife and daughter, and he continues to study with his teacher on a daily basis.
Amy Wheeler, PhD has been studying Yoga since 1992. She is a student of Kausthub Desikachar of the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram and Krishnamacharya Healing Yoga Foundation. Amy works at California State University San Bernardino and conducts research on Yoga and healing. She is interested in studying the link between Yoga, stress levels, and chronic disease. Amy has also worked as a Sport Psychology Consultant and Yoga Teacher to many elite-level athletes, including the Los Angeles Lakers and U.S. Olympic/ National Teams. Currently, Amy resides in Lake Arrowhead, CA with her husband and their two dogs.
Marcel Albritton, PhD, has over ten years experience in Yoga and Yoga Therapy, including studies at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram (KYM) in Chennai, India. Presently, he is completing the four year Krishnamacharya Healing and Yoga Foundation (KHYF) Yoga Therapy training program. He has studied with his teacher, Chase Bossart, since 2006. Marcel has taught classes and workshops at Health Clinics, The Green Gulch Zen Center, and Stanford University. His areas of focus are Yoga, Therapy, stress management, and workplace wellness. Marcel is also Co-Founder of Sustain Well, a management consulting company focused on people, strategic alignment, and personal development.
Madge Gahagan studied and practiced various approaches to yoga for many years before becoming a student of Kate Holcombe in 2000. She is a graduate of the Healing Yoga Foundation Teacher Training program and has studied at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram in India. Madge teaches the Community Class, the Yoga for Anxiety class, and teaches students individually. Having found support and increased ease with physical limitations and life's challenges, madge wants to share the personal and holistic tools of this yoga tradition she's found so valuable.
Norma Hoshide has taught yoga for more than ten years and has been working with the therapeutic application of yoga for healing for over four years. She is a certified yoga teacher by the Krishnamacharya Healing and Yoga Foundation (KHYF) in Chennai, India, and the American Viniyoga Institute, and is in the final year of the four-year KHYF Yoga Therapist certification program. Norma studies with Kate Holcombe and conducts Individual Therapy work at the Healing Yoga Foundation.
Nilay Martin discovered YOGA as a means for reducing stress in 2004. She graduated from Healing Yoga Foundation Teacher Training Program in 2010 and continues to study with her teachers Chase Bossart and Kate Holcombe. Nilay is interested in studying the link between body and mind. Her classes are designed to reduce stress, overcome depression and anxiety, help people with addictions to increase self-awareness, and connect to their inner spirituality. Beside teaching yoga, she is an addiction counselor and studying toward obtaining MA in Somatic Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies.
Kate Holcombe is a Yoga Teacher, and Founder and Executive Director of Healing Yoga Foundation (HYF) in San Francisco, California. Kate has studied with Mr. TKV Desikachar since 1991. Kate is a KHYF certified Yoga Teacher Trainer and continues to study regularly with her teacher. In conjunction with her studies in India, Kate studied Sanskrit at UC Berkeley.
Chase Bossart is a Senior Yoga Therapist and the Therapy and Education Director for the Healing Yoga Foundation - San Francisco. He is a long time, private student of Mr. TKV Desikachar and a KHYF certified Yoga Teacher Trainer. Chase has an M.A. in Religious Studies from UC Santa Barbara, where he wrote his thesis on Patanjali's Yogasutra, and he is also a faculty on the Loyola Marymount University's Yoga Therapy Rx Program.
Lizzie Nichols is Program Director of the Healing Yoga Foundation. A founding team member, she's worked at HYF since the fall of 2006. Prior to the HYF, she owned and operated Open Door Yoga studio in the Noe Valley neighborhood of San Francisco.
In 2003, a few years after founding the Open Door Yoga studio (and years of daily practice) she was inspired to study the Yogasutras more deeply and found Kate Holcombe. The power of the teachings as taught by Kate in the tradition of TKV Desikachar had an enormous impact on her daily life and business.
When Kate Holcombe described her vision for the Healing Yoga Foundation, Lizzie wanted to contribute. Having been part of the Yoga business community, she was especially excited by the unique vision of a non-profit supporting the healing power of yoga in the tradition of TKV Desikachar
Before Open Door Yoga, Lizzie was the Director of Marketing for Sparks.com, an e-tailer.. She managed all marketing initiatives, including marketing communications, customer loyalty and public relations; and also played a role in product and business development.
TKV Desikachar, son and student of the legendary Yoga master, T Krishnamacharya, is one of the most respected Yoga teachers and healers of our time. Over the course of his thirty years of study with his teacher, Mr. Desikachar learned the complete practice and application of the tools of Yoga, as well as the classical Yoga texts, including Yoga Sutra-s of Patanjali, Yoga Rahasya of Nathamuni, Yoga Yajnavalkya Samhita, HathaYoga Pradipika, Siva Samhita, Gheranda Samhita and many others. He also studied Vedanta Philosophy, Ayurveda, Sanskrit, Mimamsa, and many other teachings with his father, who, in addition to being a master of Yoga, was also a renowned expert in the six Indian philosophical schools and other Indian healing and teaching traditions.
Mr. Desikachar is the author of several chanting CDs, as well as books on Yoga and allied subjects, including The Heart of Yoga, Health Healing and Beyond, and Reflections on the Yoga Sutra-s of Patanjali. He lives in Chennai, India with his family.
Kausthub Desikachar, son and student of TKV Desikachar, is an internationally renowned Yoga teacher. He began studying Yoga when he was nine years old. After completing his dual masters degree, he committed himself to becoming a full time student and teacher of Yoga. Currently, he is working on his PhD in Psychology at Madras University, where he is researching the role of Yoga in enhancing quality of life.
Kausthub is Chief Executive of the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram (KYM), where he is also a Senior Teacher and Yoga Therapy Consultant. He founded KYM-Mitra, a philanthropic wing of the KYM, which brings Yoga to children with special needs, as well as many in the community with limited economic means. Kausthub is also a patron of the British Wheel of Yoga and an advisor to the International Association of Yoga Therapists. He is co-founder with his father of the Krishnamacharya Healing and Yoga Foundation.
In addition to co-authoring two books with his father, Vedic Chant Companion and The Viniyoga of Yoga, Kausthub has also authored a book on teaching Yoga to children that was published in French. His most recent book, released in 2005, is The Yoga of the Yogi: The Legacy of T Krishnamacharya.
Kausthub lives in Chennai, India with his wife and daughter, and he continues to study with his teacher on a daily basis.
Amy Wheeler, PhD has been studying Yoga since 1992. She is a student of Kausthub Desikachar of the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram and Krishnamacharya Healing Yoga Foundation. Amy works at California State University San Bernardino and conducts research on Yoga and healing. She is interested in studying the link between Yoga, stress levels, and chronic disease. Amy has also worked as a Sport Psychology Consultant and Yoga Teacher to many elite-level athletes, including the Los Angeles Lakers and U.S. Olympic/ National Teams. Currently, Amy resides in Lake Arrowhead, CA with her husband and their two dogs.
Marcel Albritton, PhD, has over ten years experience in Yoga and Yoga Therapy, including studies at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram (KYM) in Chennai, India. Presently, he is completing the four year Krishnamacharya Healing and Yoga Foundation (KHYF) Yoga Therapy training program. He has studied with his teacher, Chase Bossart, since 2006. Marcel has taught classes and workshops at Health Clinics, The Green Gulch Zen Center, and Stanford University. His areas of focus are Yoga, Therapy, stress management, and workplace wellness. Marcel is also Co-Founder of Sustain Well, a management consulting company focused on people, strategic alignment, and personal development.
Madge Gahagan studied and practiced various approaches to yoga for many years before becoming a student of Kate Holcombe in 2000. She is a graduate of the Healing Yoga Foundation Teacher Training program and has studied at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram in India. Madge teaches the Community Class, the Yoga for Anxiety class, and teaches students individually. Having found support and increased ease with physical limitations and life's challenges, madge wants to share the personal and holistic tools of this yoga tradition she's found so valuable.
Norma Hoshide has taught yoga for more than ten years and has been working with the therapeutic application of yoga for healing for over four years. She is a certified yoga teacher by the Krishnamacharya Healing and Yoga Foundation (KHYF) in Chennai, India, and the American Viniyoga Institute, and is in the final year of the four-year KHYF Yoga Therapist certification program. Norma studies with Kate Holcombe and conducts Individual Therapy work at the Healing Yoga Foundation.
Nilay Martin discovered YOGA as a means for reducing stress in 2004. She graduated from Healing Yoga Foundation Teacher Training Program in 2010 and continues to study with her teachers Chase Bossart and Kate Holcombe. Nilay is interested in studying the link between body and mind. Her classes are designed to reduce stress, overcome depression and anxiety, help people with addictions to increase self-awareness, and connect to their inner spirituality. Beside teaching yoga, she is an addiction counselor and studying toward obtaining MA in Somatic Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies.