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Swami Sivananda (1887–1963)

Was one of the great yoga masters of twentieth-century India:

  • Humanitarian work as a respected doctor in Malaysia
  • Intensive study and practice of yoga and meditation in Rishikesh, Himalayas
  • Founded the Divine Life Society in Rishikesh (an ashram that later developed into an international organisation)
  • Published more than 200 books in English on all aspects of yoga
  • Trained outstanding yoga masters, who would be instrumental in giving classical yoga the great reputation it now enjoys throughout the world
  • Established the Yoga Vedanta Forest Academy in Rishikesh, which would become the model for the first Yoga Teachers’ Training Course in the West
  • Carried on personal correspondence with yoga students worldwide
  • Swami Sivananda integrated all known yoga systems, teaching a yoga of synthesis which is the basis for the modern practice of yoga in the West

"Serve, love, give, purify, meditate, realise” – these teachings are the spiritual strength behind the Sivananda Yoga Centres and have inspired spiritual aspirants around the world to live a life of brotherly love and spiritual unity

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Swami Vishnudevananda (1927-1993)

  • Is an internationally recognised authority on yoga and the founder of the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres
  • Training and intensive practice as a close disciple of Swami Sivananda

  • Professor for Hatha Yoga at the Yoga Vedanta Forest Academy in Rishikesh, Himalayas

  • “Go to the West. People are waiting” – in 1957, Swami Vishnudevananda leaves India on the instruction of his teacher; over 35 years of pioneering work in spreading yoga across the globe begins

  • The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga,  a best-selling book for the modern yoga practice, is published in 1960

  • His mission: Universal peace. He was convinced that outer peace cannot exist without inner peace. He became the first yoga master in the West to develop a comprehensive training programme for yoga teachers, who would then inspire countless numbers of people in turn

  • In 1969, the first Yoga Teachers’ Training Course in the West (Canada); today, some 1,000 students graduate each year

  • 1970 marks the beginning of symbolic peace flights to the world’s trouble spots (Northern Ireland, the Middle East, divided Berlin) under the motto: “Man is free as a bird.” His appeal to mankind: “Man is free as a bird, overcome man-made borders with flowers and love, not with guns and bombs!”

  • The first Sivananda Yoga Centre in Europe (Vienna) is established in 1974; today there are more than 70 Sivananda Centres and Ashrams worldwide

  • In 1985, the first Teachers’ Training Course in Europe (Spain)

  • Swami Vishnudevananda taught classical yoga in five basic points:

    1. Proper exercise (Asanas)
    2. Proper breathing (Pranayama)
    3. Proper relaxation (Savasana)
    4. Proper diet (vegetarian)
    5. Positive thinking and meditation (Vedanta and Dhyana)

  • “Health is wealth, peace of mind is happiness, yoga shows the way.”

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