Swami Nishchalananda is the spiritual director for this Yoga Teacher Training Course (YTTC). He will also give regular teaching input. Swami Krishnapremananda will give the day to day direction and also be one of the tutors. The other tutors will be Tara Rupa (Heather Donovan) and Hridaya Purna (Monica Douglas-Clarke).

Swami Nishchalananda has enormous expertise in training Yoga Teachers, in India (where he was involved in a number of YTTCs), France (where he ran two) and here in the ashram (where he has conducted four 2-year courses since 1995).

Swami Krishnapremananda has been living, practising and studying within the ashram for over 10 years. In 2007 he participated in a 12-month Vedanta Course in India under the guidance of Swami Anubhavananda. He is a graduate of the ‘99-’01 ashram YTTC, and has been a tutor on the last two ashram YTTCs.

Tara Rupa (Heather Donovan) trained as a Yoga Teacher with the British Wheel of Yoga (BWY), going on to complete BWY pregnancy, pranayama and meditation modules. She is a Diploma Course Tutor (DCT) and successfully conducted a YTTC. A chartered physiotherapist, she has a special interest in the energetic body working with shiatsu, acupuncture and reiki.

Hridaya Purna is a graduate of the 2002-04 ashram YTTC, and a tutor on the previous ashram YTTC. She is a BWY Foundation Course tutor and is experienced in teaching and managing yoga programmes in a variety of settings, including drug rehabilitation groups, schools, adult education and the Satyananda Yoga Centre, Birmingham.