Mark Stevens
Mark started practising Yoga at art school in 1986 after a career in motorcycle road racing which left him with a body badly in need of rehabilitation!
After leaving art school he worked as an artist for many years whilst sustaining a regular yoga practice and studying in the Sivananda and Iyengar traditions. Gradually the medium shifted from painting to yoga. Mark has an MA in Fine Art.
In 2003 he undertook Sivananda teacher training in Kerala, southern India and met his teacher Swami Govindananda; it was a life-changing experience and on his return he converted part of his home into a Yoga studio and has been teaching there ever since.
Mark qualified in Yogic Meditation with Swami Saradananda in London in 2006.
Back to India for advanced teacher training with Swami Govindananda in the Himalayan Ashram on the banks of the Ganges in 2007.
By this time Mark had also discovered Jivamukti Yoga, and new inspiration in the form of modern day Yoga masters David Life and Sharon Gannon. He undertook teacher training with them in New York in 2009 discovering a new Yoga family.
Mark is also inspired by the teachings of Tirumali Krishnamacharya and undertook a short Vinyasa Krama Teacher Training and workshops with his long term student Srivatsa Ramaswami in 2014.
The teaching and books or Gregor Maehle also inform Marks practice and teaching, especially the systems of Pranayama and Yogic Kundalini Meditation that he has codified for us from the traditional scriptures.
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Mark offers love, gratitude and all his efforts to the teachers and students who have guided him on the path of yoga;
Swami Sivananda. Swami Vishnu Devananada. David Life. Sharon Gannon. Yogeshwari. Swami Govindananda. Ruth Lauer-Manenti. Prahlada. Swami Kailasananda. Swami Tattvarupananda. Swami Saradananda. Srivatsa Ramaswami and Gregor Maehle.
Kane Rogerson
On a path to find truth within himself Kane was connected with yoga whilst looking to deepen his meditation practice back in 2012, and came to love yoga soon after, realising that the practice gave him the ability to lead a more conscious lifestyle.
A typical class with Kane, includes mantra, philosophy, asana, pranayama and meditation. "I feel like yoga is a ritual — one where you bring all the elements into it, a kind of alchemical mix, a fine blend where if all aspects are handled correctly the results are truly remarkable" he says. His asana teaching is based on Jivamukti Yoga, a style developed by NYC based yoga teachers Sharon Gannon (a.k.a. Padma Ji) and David Life, constructed as a pathway to help all beings elevate themselves,
In 2018 Kane went to India to study directly under Jivamukti founder Sharon Gannon and alongside Yogeswari Azahar, and Moritz Ulrich, and certified himself in the role of a Jiva (individual soul) Mukti-(liberation/enlightenment) teacher thus - an individual soul on a pathway to liberation and returned home with a new perspective. "When I got back yoga was peace and unity, you get a true understanding of how divine and precious life is, and an internal fuel to help and serve others in finding happiness and inner peace. I see no greater reward than this," he says. "For me, yoga has become a vehicle to convey some of the oldest teachings of peace and samadhi (liberation/enlightenment) to a society exactly in need of that."
After travelling Asia, taking classes at every opportunity in all countries and locations and years of study with Sivananda, Jivamukti teacher Mark Stevens. Kane absorbs all useful skills, techniques, how to put them into practice and offers his teaching in the spirit of Karma Yoga, selfless service..
Yoga, Meditation, Pranayama, Scripture, and if you're lucky even Savasana massages. "hopefully people realise and are able to see the bigger picture, at how the yoga community can help the larger community through seva [selfless service]," he says. Down the line I see people really defining yoga practices as selfless services to others of a journey to your highest potential not merely a physical exercise, come practice some yoga and free your mind.
Ommmmm Shanti