Bend it like Buddha Yoga

L. Farrah Furtado is Canadian-Portuguese and is a Yoga Alliance E RYT 500 Ashtanga Vinyasa teacher, author of three spiritual best-selling award winning books, and director of Kaohsiung Yoga School and Bend it like Buddha Yoga in Portugal. She has lived in Asia for over 14 years, studying the healing arts in Buddhist monasteries in Taiwan, Balinese healing with energy healing masters in Ubud, and has trained in the traditional Ashtanga Vinyasa system and pranayama with BNS Iyengar, the lineage of Pattabhi Jois and Krishnamacharya in India. Farrah is a third degree Usui Reiki master.

Kanchen started practicing yoga two decades ago and has been teaching professionally for over 10 years, Kanchen has studied with many eminent teachers about asanas and adjustment and is well versed in Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga and Hatha yoga. Kanchen has studied with Balaji Rao thombre and pranayama, mantra, mudra, and philosophy with Sri BNS Iyengar in Mysore. Kanchen has also won many prizes at district and state level competitions. She established and has been running successfully the BNS Iyengar Khrisnamacharya School in Mysore for over a decade.

Srimathy holds a post-graduate diploma in yoga studies from the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram (KYM). Srimathy Gopalakrishnan’s association with yoga began nearly 14 years ago. In 2003, after a long stint as a teacher in KYM, Srimathy began learning and practicing classic Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga. Having learned the ropes from Guruji Pattabhi Jois himself, now he is continuing to study with Shri Sharath Jois and Mrs. Sarashwathy.

Reshy has assisted and also led several 200-hour yoga teacher training programs in India and Thailand for different schools. She has registered her yoga school, Yoga Space, with Yoga Alliance and offers 200-hour yoga teacher training in Hatha and Vinyasa flow yoga. Reshy trained in the discipline of yoga under two very experienced teachers, Sujata Nerurkar and Dr. Renu Mahtani at Param Yoga, in Pune, India, where she completed her foundation in Hatha yoga teacher training and medical yoga therapy in 2011. She trained further in Vinyasa yoga, prenatal yoga, science of pranayama, and Viniyoga.

For any student who is truly interested in learning Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga and learning all the philosophies and interconnected practices such as Pranayama, Mudra, etc., Sri BNS Iyengar is a gem. Sri BNS Iyengar is “the last link to the real deal”. He is the oldest living teacher of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga. He carries an authenticity that comes with his age, background, and lifelong dedication to yoga. At the age of 87 he continues to conduct his classes daily with passion, humor, and inspiration at Mysore Krishnamacharr Yoga Shala.

Tori Mitchell is an expert in Ashtanga Vinyasa and the founder and main instructor at Vibe Yoga, Taiwan. Her most recent background training is in the advanced teacher training in anatomy and adjustments with Arielle Nash at Centered Yoga in Koh Samui, Thailand. Tori Mitchell also studied Ashtanga Vinyasa with Manuel Ferreira, an authorized teacher from KPJAYI and also completed a two-week immersion with Iain Grysak in Ubud, Bali on pranayama, philosophy, and Ashtanga Vinyasa. She's trained in asana and pranayama in Mysore, India with the last living legend of Ashtanga, Guruji BNS Iyengar.

Fabrizio is a qualified and registered Ashtanga and Vinyasa Teacher with Yoga Alliance and he continues his journey by learning and sharing with other fellow yogis and everyone who wishes to explore Yoga. Fabrizio is Italian-German, an ardent traveler and surfer who also has a great passion for cooking! Fabrizio is very passionate about yoga philosophy, meditation, and pranayama practices as well as the health aspects of this discipline. His self-practice, classes, and lifestyle reflect his passion and dedication.

Mafalda Rodriguez started practicing yoga about 11 years ago and soon realized how yoga is transforming, how it brings people back to their center and allows them a universal and conscious view of Life. In 2008, she completed the yoga course in the Samkhya Line by FLY-Lusa Yoga Federation and in these nine years of experience teaching, learning a lot and continuing to learn through her students' needs, and with the challenges she is encountering on the way.