Amba Jaya Bhagavati

Amba Jaya has been a student of Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati since 1974. As the head kirtan wala of Kashi Ashram, she has been in charge of kirtan for all the weekly gatherings, holy days, and festivals for over 25 years. She has studied with sound masters in India and the United States since 1975. Amba has shared her love of sound and chanting by leading kirtan and conducting workshops around the US and abroad in France, Italy, Spain and South Africa. As a certified Senior Instructor of Kali Natha Yoga she has facilitated and led dozens of programs in Yoga; Pranayama; and Meditation. She executive produced and performed on the Kashi Ashram CD “Songs of the River”. She is currently being certified as an Ayurvedic Yoga Specialist and an Ayurvedic Practitioner by the Kripalu School of Ayurveda.

Amba teaches Sunday, 9am

Swami Anjani

Swami Anjani is Kashi’s Director of Community Relations. She served as the River School’s Principal for 24 years and helped organize the Treasure Coast Teen Institute, a youth leadership camp. In ’02, the Congressional Youth Leadership Council in Washington recognized Swami for her contributions as an advisor. Swami Anjani currently serves our community as Treasurer of the Board of Directors of the Economic Opportunities Council, a member of the Sebastian Advisory Council of the Boys & Girls Club, and President of Sebastian Clambake Foundation. Swami Anjani is a devotee of Hanuman, the Hindu God of humility and service. As a Hanuman Pujari, she has taught the Hanuman Chalisa and the Hanuman Ashtok, which are Hindi songs in praise of Hanuman, and she performs a hawan, or fire puja, at Hanuman Jayanti each year. Swami Anjani teaches an interfaith meditation class on Sunday mornings at the Kashi School of Yoga.

Swami Anjani teaches Tuesday, 7 am

Babaji

Babaji was serving as a 20-year-old U.S. Marine in Vietnam in 1965 when he received a wake-up call saying, “Hey, you’re responsible for your own life!” In San Francisco in 1970, he experienced the darshan of Swami Muktananda, Ram Das, and Swami Rudrananda (Rudi). Living in the Catskills at Rudi’s ashram, Babaji learned the discipline of karma yoga while building and learning all aspects of restaurant operations. Rudi taught Babaji his first breathing and meditation practices. In 1977, Babaji met Ma Jaya and knew immediately that he was home. Since that time Babaji has lived and served in Ma’s ashrams, first in Queens and then at Kashi Florida. He is a certified nursing assistant whose current passion is developing Kali Natha Yoga classes for the elderly, which anyone and everyone can do. His yoga practice emphasizes breathwork, balance, and moving awareness.

Babaji teaches Sunday, 3.30 pm

Swami Dhumavati

Born and raised in England, Swami Dhumavati has traveled and worked around the world. She has studied and taught in Japan, run a guesthouse for women and started a preschool in Nepal, photographed for an international youth project in Chile, developed housing for single mothers and run an Asian import business in Taos, New Mexico. Since moving to Florida to study with Ma Jaya in 1992, Swami Dhumavati has been deeply involved with service work in the HIV/AIDS community; she operates the Ashram spiritual gift store, serves on the Board of Directors, and runs Kashi Rainbow, the Ashram’s Gay and Lesbian organization. Swami Dhumavati facilitates workshops and intensive retreats. She is a kirtan walla, and a pujari for Durga Puja fire ceremonies and was honored to take her vows of sanyassin from Ma Jaya in 2005. Swami Dhumavati has been teaching weekly yoga classes since she graduated Kali Natha Yoga Teacher Training in 2006 and works in the Kashi office. Swami Dhumavati is a breast cancer survivor.

Ganga Mayee Jaya

Ganga Mayee Wasserman is a Registered Yoga Teacher with the Yoga Alliance. She has been training in Kali Natha Yoga for over 16 years and has been teaching it for 3 years. Her study of interfaith spirituality at Kashi Ashram began in 1977 and became more focused since 1989. She also has had 30 years experience in ballet training, teaching, and performing. In addition, she has 11 years training and teaching Tae Kwon Do and has attained a 3rd Degree Black Belt. Ms. Wasserman has been an LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker) since 1986 with her own private psychotherapy practice. This combination gives her a broad range of knowledge about the body’s abilities and limitations and the interaction of mind, body, and spirit.

Ganga Mayee teaches Monday, 10 am

Swami Himalaya Jaya

Swami Himalaya began yoga practice in the late 1960s with Indra Devi in her native Southern California. She spent a year in India living at the ashram of Sattya Sai Baba before moving to New York where, while studying with Hilda Charlton in 1972, she met and became one of the first students of Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati. In 1976 Himalaya moved to Florida with Ma and was one of the founding members of the Kashi community. She has since represented and shared Ma’s teaching with presentations, conferences, and retreats in the U.S. and abroad. As a senior Kali Natha Yoga practitioner and instructor who has experienced this yoga’s evolution since the “early days in Brooklyn”, Swami Himalaya emphasizes the importance of bringing spirituality into everyday life and work. The physical practice offers tools for going within to experience the depth and flow of meditative space. A practicing licensed massage therapist and reflexologist in Indian River County, Florida, Swami Himalaya offers yoga, pranayama, meditation, and spiritual counseling for individuals and small groups in home settings.

Swami Himalaya teaches Saturday, 9 am

Jayanta Paquette, RYT

Jayanta founded Victory Systems International (VSI) to share the principles and benefits of yoga with individuals and corporations alike through audio programs and workshops. Jayanta was a senior executive with a multi-billion dollar wireless communications firm and an entrepreneur with his own technology start-up company. His experience with corporate America taught him the importance of managing stress, conquering fear and cultivating creativity in the success of every business. Several years in the non-profit sector has taught him the importance of a service-oriented mission in the overall well-being of every individual. Jayanta is currently bridging both worlds as an educator, author and speaker in the field of yoga and personal development. He lives at Kashi Ashram where he serves on the Board of Directors, is a Senior Instructor of Kali Natha Yoga and continues to study with his guru, Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati.

Jayanta's audio programs include: Salutations to the SON: The Yoga of the Lord's Prayer and NAMASTE! A companion yoga program for ONE: The Art and Practice of Conscious Leadership by Lance Secretan. He has also created Taking AIM: A System for Conscious Living based on the principles of Kali Natha Yoga.

Jayanta teaches Sunday, 8 am

Mohini Jaya

Mohini began practicing yoga in 1983 and started teaching in 2001. Mohini holds a Master's Degree in Education and is working on a Ph.D. in Natural Health. She is an owner of A Better Way to Health in West Melbourne. Mohini is Yoga Alliance 500 hour certified. She is a certified Kali Natha instructor and also teaches Vinyasa Yoga. She has attended advanced training with Shiva Rea and has practiced with renowned yogis such as Bryan Kest, Mark Whitwell, and Sharon Gannon. Her two dogs, Yogi & Sandy, bring her great joy in life.

Mohini teaches Wednesday, 6 pm

Swami Moksha Ram Nityananda

Swami Moksha Ram Nityananda’s first influential teacher was the great Chinese mystic saint, Lao Tzu. Initially introduced to the meditation and pranayama of Southeast Asian Buddhism by his mentor, Young Ho Rhie, both continue to play an important role in his life today. Swami has explored poetry, philosophy, psychology and comparative religions at the university level. Neem Karoli Baba came into his life in the middle 1960’s through Ram Das’ writings, but the most profound and far-reaching influence on his spiritual life occurred in 1975. This was the year he felt his heart being called to join once again with his Guru; Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati. Swami Moksha Ram has been graced by the teachings of Ma Jaya for over 30 years. He currently lives at Kashi Ashram acting as the head pujari of Dattatreya Kali Temple and spiritual mentor to residents and guests from around the world. He teaches meditation classes weekly and assists in the facilitation of retreats and intensives at the Kashi Center for Spiritual Studies. He also conducts tours of Kashi conveying the living spiritual roots of shrines and temples, giving all visitors an individual opportunity to experience the spiritual essence of the many forms of God here at Kashi Ashram.

Swami Moksha Ram teaches Wednesday, 7 pm

Narayani

Narayani (Parthena) began her yoga journey in the late 70’s, but didn’t find her love until introduced to Ashtanga yoga in 2004. She’s kept up a steady practice ever since, studying with some of the most renowned Ashtanga yogis in the world including David Williams and Richard Freeman. She has participated in workshop trainings with senior practioners Annie Pace, Mark & Joanne Darby, as well as certified teacher Kino McGregor after six months of classes with authorized teacher Greg Nardi. She serves on Annie Pace's Shakti Sharanam's Yoga Advisory Council and, in 2006, completed a teacher training with David Swenson. She considers practicing with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and his family in NYC during his 2006 world tour a real blessing. Her goal is to share what she knows, to continue learning and training, remembering Guruji's words:  “Practice, practice, practice and all is coming!”

Narayani teaches Sunday, 10.30 am

Shakti Durgaya

Shakti Durgaya is a Senior Instructor of Kali Natha Yoga, trained by her Guru and the founder of Kali Natha Yoga, Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati. First certified as a Hatha Yoga Instructor in 1992 through the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers, she has been an active yoga teacher in both the U.S. and Canada for 15 years. She is a registered, professionally certified Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy practitioner, since 1996. She has assisted and helped run Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy Trainings in the United States. She currently continues her training in Kali Natha Yoga as a close student of Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati. She is a resident of Kashi Ashram and teaches classes at the Kashi School of Yoga. Shakti Durgaya is involved with developing and managing programs and events at the Kashi School of Yoga. Shakti Durgaya holds her degree in Education. Her experience in education and in teaching seminars to the public spans 20 years.

Shakti Durgaya teaches Monday, 6 pm

Tara Ma Marie Dickinson

Tara began yoga practice while growing up on Kashi Ashram when she first moved here in 1979. Having become a certified yoga instructor in 2006, she is a senior teacher of Kali Natha Yoga currently involved in the development of the Kashi School of Yoga. She holds a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts, is a certified Women’s Self Defense Instructor and a 2nd Degree Black Belt in the Korean martial art of Taekwondo. She works in the field of Marketing and Advertising, is Project Manager for the development of an affordable housing project for senior citizens and as well as teaching yoga at Kashi and at in the local community as well as at seminars around the country.