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Ministers and Teachers
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- Ministers and Teachers
Nayaswamis Jyotish and Devi
Nayaswamis Narayan and Dharmadevi
Nayaswamis Narayan & Dharmadevi are disciples of Paramhansa Yogananda. At Swami Kriyananda’s request, they moved to Los Angeles and became the spiritual directors of Ananda LA in 2010.
Prior to that, they lived at Ananda Village in Northern California. There, Narayan helped manage the publishing arm of Ananda, Crystal Clarity and Dharmadevi started Ananda Online Classes (now called Online With Ananda) and the Ananda Virtual Community.
Narayan and Dharmadevi were made Ananda ministers, Lightbearers, and Kriyacharyas by Nayaswamis Jyotish & Devi. They are both long-time meditators and Kriyabans, as well as certified Ananda Meditation & Yoga Instructors.
It is their joy to be of service and they are available to meet in person or talk over the phone.
Paul Fetler
Paul is an Ananda Minister and a certified Ananda Yoga and Meditation Instructor. He has offered yoga classes weekly at the Ananda South Bay Center for over ten years, and continues to lead regular yoga and meditation workshops in the South Bay area. He also has been serving as an instructor and meditation group leader with Ananda Los Angeles since its inception in 2007. More recently, Paul has been helping teach The Art and Science of Raja Yoga Class series. He also offers inspiring yoga workshops that combine practical wisdom, storytelling, spiritually focused asana, and meditation. These carefully selected modalities work together to facilitate a child-like sense of exploration to feel the spaciousness of body and mind. Visit Paul’s website to learn more about the yoga classes he offers.
Robert “Ram” Smith
Ram has been an Ananda Minister for over 35 years. He has presented Paramhansa Yogananda’s and Swami Kriyananda’s teachings of Self-Realization around the world. Ram was a founding member of Ananda Assisi, Italy in 1987 where he lived for seven years and met Pope John Paul II at the Vatican in 1989. Ram helps to inspire great devotion and spiritual understanding during his classes.
Dikshini Smith
Dikshini was raised in Hungary. Having read Autobiography of a Yogi in 2004 changed her life dramatically to the extent that she left Hungary and flew straight to Ananda Village to get Kriya initiation. She served there for 4 months and then moved to Ananda Assisi for 7 months. In September 2005, Dikshini returned to the U.S., and she and her husband, Ram, were married. They served together in Ananda Rhode Island for 5 years. In 2010, they moved to LA to support Ananda LA.
Keshava Betts
Keshava was born and raised at Ananda Village. Taught to meditate before he learned to read, he was steeped in the teachings of Yogananda from birth. He began playing music when he was very young, learning the cello under David Eby, long time head of Ananda Music world-wide. He now serves as assistant to the spiritual directors in Ananda LA, and is the head of the music ministry. Keshava leads the Ananda LA choir (please inquire if interested in joining), teaches meditation, and energization classes.
Aryeh Kraus
Aryeh is a Peaceful Lion born and raised in the concrete jungle of Los Angeles roaming the streets for years on a skateboard. Led to yoga in high school with the thought flexibility and balance would support his passion for skateboarding. Years of flow classes brought him a desire to become a yoga instructor, but he wanted something deeper from the practice. He found what he was looking for in the practice of Ananda yoga and is now a 200hr certified instructor in the practice of Ananda yoga for higher awareness. He is grateful for the opportunity to bring light, love and healing to all great souls through the practice of yoga. He wants to remind you to breathe, be humble, enjoy the asana, and smile forever. Life is a beautiful journey and it is all practice.
Padma Haldar
Padma has been a member of the Ananda South Bay Center since 2004. She is an Ananda Minister and leads Sunday Services, teaches, and assists with Sunday School at the Center. As a disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda, she tries to live His teachings the best she can. She is grateful for the spiritual friendship and community she enjoys at the Center. Padma lives in Rancho Palos Verdes with her husband and two daughters. She is also a high school science teacher.
Andra Denslow
Andra is a Certified Yoga Therapist, Registered Yoga Instructor (RYT), and Certified Level 1 & 2 Meditation Instructor, through the Ananda School of Yoga & Meditation. She has been teaching yoga since 2001. Andra lived at the Ananda community in Seattle for several years. An experienced musician and performer, she enjoys playing live harp or tanpura for the deep relaxation portions of her yoga classes. Andra has had an active healing practice since 2001. Please visit andradenslow.com for more information about her healing practice and other classes in the LA area.
Akemi Rico
Akemi is a Los Angeles native, a Libra, and she truly loves to balance the scales. She is a healer, and to please her intellectual side, she went to school and got her doctorate in physical therapy. Yes, you can call her Doc! On the other hand, she is also an artist, and now makes healing gemstone jewelry to release the creative energy that lay dormant within for many years. And finally, to combine both sides, she is in the Ananda Yoga Therapy Program, where she gets to combine her extensive scientific knowledge of the human body, biomechanics and kinesiology with the wondrous beauty of healing with energy, sound, music and color.
Aaron Resendiz
Aaron is a young devotee from Monterrey, Mexico who was transformed after reading Autobiography of a Yogi and was inspired to travel to Ananda Village, where he spent a year immersing himself in the teachings of Paramhansa Yoganada. There he got certified as an Ananda Yoga® teacher as well as an Ananda Meditation Teacher and became part of the staff in the Expanding Light Retreat as a Sadhana Leader (Yoga Instructor). He has been traveling throughout the west coast to visit all Ananda communities and is currently residing in Los Angeles and serves through the Spanish Ministry.