Swamini Shraddhananda Saraswati

She is an ordained monk in the Saraswati Dasanama of Sanatana Dharma, as well as a 500E-RYT (registered yoga teacher), an Ayurveda Health Consultant, and a Professional Yoga Therapist. She began practicing yoga in her early twenties and has found it to be a continually transformative, reaffirming and uplifting lifestyle, one which continues to help her integrate and reconnect more deeply. A few of the training programs she has completed include: Ayurveda Health Counselor (500), Kripalu Ayurveda Yoga Teacher (600), IYT Integrative Yoga Therapist (1000), Kripalu Yoga Teacher Training (500), Anusara Yoga (500 hours Certification & Mentorship), Sivananda Yoga (250), Hatha Yoga Teacher (200), Thai Yoga w/Kam Thye Chow, and Level II Reiki w/Reiki Master Rupa Majundar. Swaminiji directs a Yoga Alliance listed RYS (Registered Yoga School) and trains individuals in the various techniques of Yoga so they too can share these practices mindfully, safely and with integrity. Additionally, Swaminiji founded two hospital based Yoga programs where the trainee interns she trains in Yoga Therapy receive hands on as well as classroom training applying the techniques of Yoga in special circumstances. For over two decades, she has worked with abused and neglected children, at-risk teens, abused women, families in crisis, as well as individuals seeking spiritual clarity in their life and relationships. Her experience and validity as a teacher, guide, and advisor are grounded in decades of education and research inclusive of, but also beyond what listed above. In addition to teaching Yoga, Swaminiji holds a PhD in Anthropology (expertise Biological Archaeology and Osteology) and has been a Professor of Yoga and Meditation at Georgian Court University on the graduate and undergraduate levels. Swaminiji previously taught Cultural and Evolutionary Anthropology at Temple University and Monmouth University. Her academic research focused on and she has published scholarly articles on ancient diet and it's relationship to health. Her academic work required her to have advanced knowledge of human skeletal anatomy and she is considered a expert in her field. Having a deep appreciation for the arts, Swaminiji composed, produced and recorded three CDs of intellectual experimental folk rock, she is an artist in several mediums including computer graphics, pencil and acrylic, she writes daily and has published poetry, as well as created designs for yoga inspired tee shirts. Swaminiji has acted on stage and screen and is an animal, social and environmental advocate.