Sarita-Linda Rocco

The Nest is both a landing pad and a launchpad—a place where teachers and students reconnect with their bodies, steady their nervous systems, and live yoga as an embodied, practical, everyday experience rather than a performance or ideal.Everything I offer now—yoga, Ayurveda, sound, meditation, teacher training, and mentorship—has grown from decades of lived practice, curiosity, injury, experimentation, and deep study.My name, Sarita, was given to me in 1996 by my spiritual teacher Maya Tiwari. It means “a sacred river”—the flow of consciousness through daily life. I’ve come to understand that name less as an identity and more as a way of living: letting the teachings move through ordinary moments, relationships, and challenges. That understanding continues to shape my teaching.Ayurveda has been my primary spiritual and clinical study since 1996. I was personally trained and mentored by Maya Tiwari, founder of the Wise Earth School of Ayurveda, and hold the title of Master TeacherI currently train Wise Earth Ayurveda practitioners worldwide and continue to be mentored in this living lineage. In 2010, I was honored with the designation Sādhaka-Adept, recognizing the application of Yoga and Ayurveda as conscious daily living—seeking the simplest, most sustainable responses to life while maintaining inner steadiness.My yoga teaching is deeply informed by nervous-system awareness, spinal health, and meditation readiness. I currently teach Svaroopa Yoga, a therapeutic approach that emphasizes structural support, release rather than effort, and the cultivation of inner awareness. This work supports students dealing with stress, pain, injury, and the cumulative effects of modern life.Before yoga became my central path, I spent nearly a decade in the fitness world (1986–1995), training instructors and working with athletes who wanted smarter, safer, more mindful ways to move. Long before it had a name, I was blending strength, breath, focus, and “meditation in action.” A knee injury in 1991 pushed me to look beyond conventional rehabilitation and toward yoga, Ayurveda, and somatic healing—setting the course for everything that followed.Over the past three decades, my training includes more than 3,000 hours across multiple traditions, including Bikram Yoga, Freedom Style, and Svaroopa Yoga. Along the way, I’ve been an innovator as well as a student. I created Yoga on the Ball® in 1997 to support students who struggled with classical backbends and spinal loading, and later developed The Original Superblock®, an oversized yoga prop designed to make poses safer and more accessible. Both are still used internationally.My work has also been shaped by long-term study in sound and symbol. A three-year immersion with Silvia Nakkach deepened my understanding of sound, vibration, and consciousness, while a grant-supported study with Rajita-Judith Cornell explored mandala and yantra as supports for healing and recovery.What matters most to me now is not how much I know, but how effectively the teachings meet real life. I teach for people who want their yoga to help them live better—more regulated, more present, more connected to themselves and others.My teachers remain my greatest gifts. My work is simply an offering of what has been lived, tested, and integrated—shared with honesty, humility, and care. CERTIFICATIONS: 1996 Yoga College of India – Bikram Hatha Yoga 750 hour 1997 Yoga College of India -Advanced Bikram Hatha Yoga 500 hour1998 Eric Schiffman Freedom Style Hatha Yoga/ Vinyasa Flow 200 hour1999 Master Yoga Teacher Institute Svaroopa® Yoga Teacher 700 Hour 2000 Master Yoga Teacher Institute Svaroopa® Yoga Business 2000 Master Yoga Teacher Institute Embodyment® Practitioner 2003 Master Yoga Teacher Institute Meditation Teacher 2007 Wise Earth School of Ayurveda Advanced Teacher 1000 hour2008 VOX Mundi School/ Yoga of Sound2008 Grant Study- Dr Judith Cornell/Mandala/Yantra Group Facilitation2009 Vibration & Mantras of Ayurveda/SVA Health2009 Prana/SVA Health 2009 Award Sadhaka-Adept Wise Earth School of Ayurveda2010 Shaka Vansya Ayurveda Health Practitioner2010 Wise Earth Ayurveda Master Teacher 2015 Shanka Vansya Ayurveda Pranavidusi/Pulse & Marma2016 Awake Living with Cate Stillman/Yogahealer2017 Living Ayurveda Course with Cate Stillman/Yogahealer2020 Chakra Balancing Course Certification/Annodea Judith2020 Certified Svaroopa Online Therapeutics2024 Svaroopa®️ YogaBody®️ Classroom Therapeutic2016 Awake Living with Cate Stillman/Yogahealer2017 Living Ayurveda Course with Cate Stillman/Yogahealer2020 Chakra Balancing Course Certification/Annodea Judith2020 Certified Svaroopa Online Therapeutics2024 Svaroopa®️ YogaBody®️ Classroom Therapeutic AWARDS/ACCOMPLISHMENTS2009 Award Sadhaka-Adept Wise Earth School of Ayurveda2010-2014 Wise Earth Ayurveda Practitioner Trainer2017 Mentor in Living Ayurveda (Family Healer Path)2018 Mentor in Wise Earth Ayurveda Kitchen Sadhana2018 Awake Living Course with Cate Stillman/Yogahealer2018 Mentor in Living Ayurveda (Family Healer Path)2018 Body Thrive Course with Cate Stillman/Yogahealer2019 Mentor in Living Ayurveda (ProHealer Path)2020 Mentor in Living Ayurveda (Pro healer Path)2020 Yoga Alliance approved 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training Program CONTINUING EDUCATION COURSES2/20/98 ATT 51 Experiential Anatomy3/24/98 ATT 50 Embodyment8/15/98 SUM: YTT Intensive3/5/99 *TP: Teacher Practicum5/14/99 ATT 52: Yoga Business Skills6/22/99 ATT 60: Yoga Therapy 16/22/99 ATT 60: Homework1/24/00 *TP: Teacher Practicum7/15/01 DTS Mentor Training1/2/02 *DTS 1 G: DTS Week 11/8/02 *DTS 2 R: DTS Week 2 Repeat1/7/03 DTS 1 R: DTS Week 1 Repeat1/10/03 *MTT: Meditation Teacher Training3/15/03 *MMZ: Meditation Made Easy3/18/03 *TP: Teacher Practicum1/3/04 DTS 3 G: DTS Week 31/4/04 DTS 4 G: DTS Week 41/6/04 DTS 2 R: DTS Week 2 Repeat9/10/04 YTT Level 29/26/04 *TF: Teacher Forum10/8/04 Embodyment Weekend1/28/05 *MTT: Meditation Teacher Training1/28/05 *MTT: Homework7/24/05 *Yogini Conference10/13/05 *Sutra Studies11/4/05 SAT Conference11/16/07 *Conference a la Carte11/18/07 *Harmonium Course7/9/08 EYTS: Foundations Review10/13/08 EYTS: Level 2 Ext: Enliven & Advance1/28/11 ATT 51: Experiential Anatomy10/21/11 *Partial Conference a la Carte 5/18/12 DTS Level 41/5/13 ATT 201: Teaching Half-Day Workshops3/19/13 *TS1: Teaching Yoga Sutras 15/27/16 Teaching Review6/24/18 *ATT 402: Lower Spinal Release12/22/20 Online Svaroopa®️ Therapeutics4/8/24 Svaroopa®️ YogaBody®️ Classroom Therapeutics