Meet Our Authors

Dr. Sundar Balasubramanian is a Cell Biology researcher currently studying cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in resistance to cancer therapy at the Medical University of South Carolina. He is also a Yoga Biology researcher and is the Founder and Director of PranaScience Institute. Sundar’s yoga research has provided scientific evidence on how yoga breathing practices may promote wellbeing in health and disease. His first book is PranaScience: Decoding Yoga Breathing, and his latest book is Mind Your Breathing: The Yogi’s Handbook with 37 Pranayama Exercises. He also recently produced an audio album, Chanting Is Pranayama

Muni Natarajan is an artist, writer, teacher, and musician. His work is deeply influenced from his thirty-seven years of practicing yoga and meditation as a monk in a monastery on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. The primary focus of his monastic life was a deep study of the Vedic origins of Hinduism as well as an ancient and traditional practice of yoga, deeply rooted in the time-honored traditions of India’s ancient Vedic past. 

During his monastic years, Muni served as a primary teacher of younger monks. He conducted workshops for seekers visiting the monastery and was a teacher and guide on the monastery’s travel/study programs to India and other global destinations. Muni also worked as a graphic designer and editor for Hinduism Today magazine, and studied the Indian musical system of ragam and talam while learning tabla and mridangam drumming and classical Indian singing.

Barrie Risman is widely regarded as one of Canada’s most highly-skilled yoga educators, teacher-trainers, and mentors. She is well known for her ability to convey the essence of the wisdom teachings of yoga with exceptional clarity, insight, and relevance to students of all levels and from all walks of life. Teaching for close to two decades, Barrie shares the depth of her experience and knowledge to reveal a uniquely accessible, authentic, and integrated approach to yoga. She empowers students with tools to deepen their understanding and inspires them to embrace asana as a path for expansive self-discovery and inner growth. 

Barrie is the creator of The Skillful Yogi, a thriving online practice and study community of yoga students and teachers with members from nine countries on four continents. Her book, Evolving Your Yoga: Ten Principles for Enlightened Practice, with foreword by Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, is a guide for teachers and continuing students to deepen, expand, and integrate the benefits of yoga in their lives.

Blog:   www.barrierisman.com/blog

Rachel Scott is a teacher-trainer and author with more than 4,500 hours under her belt. Rachel is committed to helping her students uncover and express their voice, passion, and potential. After directing the Teachers College for a national yoga company for more than seven years (YYoga), Rachel left her corporate position to pursue a new mission—helping yoga teachers and studios around the world thrive in their businesses by elevating the quality and potency of their education offerings. She leverages her extensive academic training (MSci Instructional Systems and Learning Technologies, BA Columbia University) with more than two decades of yoga practice and business experience to help yoga studios and teachers reach their potential. She is a business thought partner and ally and brings more than fifteen years of experience as a teacher, teacher manager, studio director, program developer, and departmental director to the table. In addition to offering one-on-one coaching and mentoring, she offers several products to help trainers get their programs off the ground.

rachelyoga.com