Yoga Therapy International Guest Speakers

Aggie Stewart

Aggie Stewart is a C-IAYT (Certified Yoga Therapist), accredited Buteyko Breathing Method (BBM) provider, and certified iRest Yoga Nidra meditation teacher. Aggie studied BBM with Robin Rothenberg and internationally acclaimed BBM provider and educator Patrick McKeown. She has presented on the BBM at the Integrative Medicine for the Under Served conference in 2017. Aggie specializes in the therapeutic application of breathing practices and is especially interested in their efficacy for people who have experienced trauma and have been diagnosed with autoimmune conditions. In 2019, Aggie published Yoga as Self-Care for Health for Healthcare Practitioners: Cultivating Resilience, Compassion, and Empathy with Singing Dragon, an imprint of Jessica Kingsley Publishers in the UK and US. A writer and writing teacher, she also teaches the use of writing as a yogic tool of self-reflection and healing. She is currently pursuing an MFA in creative writing in the Newport MFA program at Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island.

Jaisri M. Lambert Ayurvedic Practitioner and Consultant – Facial Diagnosis in Ayurveda

Jaisri M. Lambert, Ayurvedic Practitioner and ConsultantJaisri Lambert has been practicing and teaching natural therapies since l983, studied first for her own debilitating migraine headaches. In 1989 she met Vaidya Vasant D. Lad, B.A.M.S., MA.Sc., renowned Ayurvedic physician and author, in Victoria, B.C., an event that influenced her life deeply.

Once her migraine syndrome was understood and managed, her study of the broad philosophies of Ayurveda began with her classical twelve-year apprenticeship in Ayurveda under Dr. Vasant Lad. Jaisri also studied the Vedic culture in its origin, which emphasizes that human and divine experiences are related, and that as we achieve individual balance, we also realize more spiritual harmony and a state of unity that feels natural.

Jaisri has authored many articles and training manuals in Ayurveda and Turiya Therapy, and travels internationally to introduce the theory and practice of this ancient wisdom to delighted students of all levels.

Now in her mid-60s, Jaisri is an innovative healer who has developed new techniques in Energetic Healing and Invisible Anatomy. Her success is due to the comprehensiveness and effectiveness of Ayurveda and to the public’s sincere search, like her own, for holistic health through natural methods. Her gift of teaching Ayurveda at all levels is unique, bringing this knowledge to students internationally.

Contact Jaisri at http://www.ayurveda-seminars.com/contact-ayurveda-seminars.htm

 

Shauna Elton, BFA (Contemporary Dance), E-RYT 200, CNP Nutritional Practitioner

Shauna Elton’s lifelong endeavour has been to blend a tapestry of mindfulness and movement holistic practices to help individuals achieve mind-body health. She is an independent dancer, choreographer, and contemporary dance teacher for professional and pre-professional dance classes in the dance community, including Simon Fraser University Contemporary Dance program and for various training programs in Vancouver. She has been active in the dance world for over 25 years and worked and toured with numerous acclaimed choreographers from Canada and abroad.

Her yoga studies brought her to Thailand and India to certify in the traditional 8-limbed Ashtanga Yoga system. Her curiosity led her to delve deeply into contemplative meditation practices. She has attended three Vipassana 10-day silent retreats in Merritt BC, and yes, she will go again.

She has completed courses in ACT (Acceptance Commitment Therapy) and Mindsight- Interpersonal Neurobiology and is completing her certification in MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction).

Shauna graduated from the Institute of Holistic Nutrition as a Certified Nutrition Practitioner and incorporates the effects of food on mind and body in her teaching. She offers a ‘Radiance & Resilience’ program that builds a personal practice tailored to the individual and their specific needs.

As a specialist faculty member, Shauna offers classes in mindfulness meditation on Thursday evenings from 7 to 8:30pm.

Todd Caldecott Dip. Cl.H., RH(AHG), Ayurvedic Practitioner, Medical Herbalist – Food as Medicine

Todd CaldecottTodd Caldecott Dip. Cl.H., RH(AHG) is a medical herbalist and practitioner of Ayurveda, with close to 20 years of clinical experience. Leaving behind a career as a film and television actor, Todd began his healing journey traveling overland throughout West Asia in 1989, surviving on only few dollars a day, exploring remote locations including the famed Hunza valley in northern Pakistan, and studying meditation in Sri Lanka sand Bodhgaya (India). Upon return to Canada in 1990, he began studying Ayurveda with Dr. T. Sukumaran, and completed his training as a Western medical herbalist at the Coastal Mountain College in 1996. He continued his training in India, studying Ayurveda and Yoga at the Arya Vaidya Chikitasalayam in Coimbatore, where his wife later gave birth to their second son.

Upon return to Canada in 1997, Todd opened a clinical practice and manufacturing business in the West Kootenays of British Columbia, and worked as a consultant for a community forest project, conducting sustainable harvest research trials on non-timber species. In 2000, Todd became the clinical director of Wild Rose College (Calgary), where he developed and taught a three year clinical program in herbal medicine. In 2005, Todd relocated to Trinidad and Tobago, and provided clinical services in Chaguanas and Port of Spain, mostly attending complications of chronic diabetes. In 2006 he published his first book, Ayurveda: The Divine Science of Life, and returned to Canada to continue practicing. In 2009, Todd traveled to Nepal to complete work on Ayurveda in Nepal, a text authored by the late Vaidya Mana Bajra Bajracharya, a hereditary Buddhist priest and Ayurvedic physician of the Kathmandu Valley.

In 2011, Todd published his second book, Food As Medicine: The Theory and Practice of Food, and in 2012, founded the Dogwood School of Botanical Medicine, which provides distance learning and mentorship training in Ayurveda, nutrition, and herbal medicine. Todd has been an active member of the American Herbalists Guild since 1997, and lives in Vancouver with his wife and three children. Beyond teaching and his clinical work, Todd is currently working on another book on the treatment of cancer in Ayurveda, based on Vaidya Mana's work, in collaboration with his son, Vaidya Madhu Bajra Bajracharya, and Alan Tillotson Ph.D. Recently, Todd was honored as the 2014 Mitchell Visiting Scholar at Bastyr University.

To contact Todd, visit http://toddcaldecott.com/food-as-medicine/

Viji Vasu

Viji Vasus, BEd, MEd, Diploma in Yoga (KYM), CYT, E-RYT 500 was teaching at a prestigeous school in Chennai, India for 14 years before completing her Diploma in Yoga from the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram (KYM) where she worked as a senior Yoga Therapist and Yoga Teacher for 13 years. Viji had the great honour of studying directly under Sri T.K.V. Desikachar during that time.

Viji Vasu and D.V. Sridhar went on to co-found Yoga Raksanam in 2002. In addition to delivering private Yoga Therapy and classical Yoga group classes, she taught in Yoga Raksanam's Yoga Teacher Training Diploma. She specialized in the art of Viñyāsa Krāma (sequencing) as well as analyzing classical postures versus their modification for therapeutic purposes. Viji is also very adept in her knowledge and practice of Meditation and the Bhagavad Gita. She recently retired after almost 20 years of service, a beloved Teacher by many.

Viji continues to teach her private students online, as well as for other programs around the globe including Yoga Therapy International. We are honoured to have her shining presence with us during our new online Term 1 as she introduces us to the Bhagavad Gita, one of Yoga Philosopy's most important texts.