Our Teachers

Learn all about the Himalaya Yoga Valley Team

Meet the team​

All of our teachers are qualified to the highest standards in their chosen fields. Even more importantly is the passion they carry for the subjects they teach. We believe that the best teachers are eternal students and our team are always refining their skills, improving their knowledge through study channels and undertaking professional development through our company and with their peers in their own communities. Our program is unique as we have teachers specifically dedicated to each subject which ensures localized teachings that come from an expert background. Trainees benefit greatly from lectures and classes taught by teachers dedicated entirely to their chosen subject.

Play Video
Yogacharya Lalit Kumar

Yogacharya Lalit | Founding Director

Lalit is the Founding Director of Himalaya Yoga Valley and leads all 200 & 300 hour Teacher Training Programs at our school. You can find out more about Lalit on his bio page. 

As lead teacher on all Himalaya Yoga Valley educational programs, Lalit divides his time between the Goa centre his European centre in Ireland working on 200 & 500 hour trainings.

Lalit began studying at traditional Indian yoga schools known as Gurukulams at the age of 7 and he is honored to have studied yoga under some of the most well-known and respected yoga Masters in India. Lalit was initiated by Swami Veda Bharti of the Himalayan tradition in 2003. He has spent nearly a decade studying numerous traditional styles and disciplines at various Ashrams in North and South India. He studied Ashtanga Yoga in Mysore at Ashtanga Yoga Nilaya and Shri Parakala Mutt. Lalit has also studied at the Sivananda Centre in Trivandrum and spent his formative spiritual years at Swami Ram Sadak Gurukulam in Rishikesh. Lalit has studied under Sri BKS Iyengar and Sri K Pattabhi Jois, Sri Sharath Jois and Sri BNS Iyengar in Mysore and. Lalit continues to train in the Mysore with Sharath Jois as a humble and devoted student.

MAeve O'Brien Yoga Teacher

Maeve | Programme Director

Maeve is originally from Ireland , then after spending a considerable number of years in Australia now divides her time between Ireland and India. She is a 300 RYT, graduating from the 200 & 300 Hour Teacher Training with Himalaya Yoga Valley.

As Program Director of Himalaya Yoga Valley (India & Europe) she is responsible for course and syllabus development for Level 1 & 2 Teacher Training courses. She coordinates the international training and retreat programs, ensuring that students and yoga guests receive the best learning and yoga holiday experience possible. During the Level 1 & 2 Teacher Training programs she teaches Yoga Business, Ethics for Yoga, Classroom Management, Communications and Teaching Methodology. Using her previous experience in business strategic planning and management which encompasses 23 years in Western Australia’s Department of Justice, she is able to pass on her knowledge and skills to trainees who wish to pursue a yoga business upon graduation. She has also lectured in Justice Studies at Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia for eleven years and brings her tertiary teaching experiences to the yoga shala. Maeve holds a B.A. (Hons) Justice degree from Edith Cowan University, a Business Diploma and a Masters in Leadership and Management from Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia.

Certifications

– 2015 – 300 Hr Teacher Training, Himalaya Yoga Valley, Goa, India
– 2007 – 200 Hr Teacher Training, Himalaya Yoga Valley, Goa, India
– 2007 – Masters Leadership and Management, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia
– 2006 – Graduate Diploma Business- Curtin Business University, Perth, Western Australia
– 2004 – BA Justice ( Hons) at Edith Cowan University Perth, Western Australia

Our philosophy teacher Viriam

Viriam | Philosophy Teacher

Viriam has been teaching yoga philosophy for Teacher Training courses with Himalaya Yoga Valley since 2011. She is from the UK and has lived in India for the last fifteen years. Having trained with the SKY School of Kundalini Yoga in the UK in 2003, she is now a registered Senior Teacher with Yoga Alliance Professionals UK .She has furthered her studies of yogic philosophy with the Oxford College of Hindu Studies, with Embodied Philosophy and Christopher Hareesh Walllis. Before travelling to India, she did a ten-year apprenticeship with spiritual teacher and author Amoda Maa, culminating in a deep meditation and self-enquiry intensive under Shiva’s mountain at Mt Arunanchala.

In 2005, she completed a Diploma in Ayurvedic Studies with the School of Ayurveda and Panchakarma in Kannur, Kerala and as well as training in Ayurvedic Yoga Massage, she holds her ITEC Diploma in Holistic Massage and Anatomy and Physiology. Viriam has recently completed a foundation course in Yoga Nidra with Uma Dunsmore Tulli and Breathe to Heal with Max Strom. She is currently enrolled in a distance learning programme with the American Institute of Vedic Studies under David Frawley.Viriam is also a writer and contributes regularly to Yoga Magazine (among other well-known publications) on yogic lifestyle and philosophy.

Certifications

– 2015 – Oxford College of Hindu Studies (OCHS) UK, Bhagavad Gita
– 2014 – Oxford College of Hindu Studies (OCHS) UK, Philosophy of Yoga
– 2008 – ITEC Diploma in Holistic Massage
– 2007 – Sun Yoga Kids, Yoga Teacher Training
– 2003 – KYTA (Kundalini Yoga Teachers Association) UK, Level 1 Kundalini Yoga Instructor

Adam Divine Yoga Teacher

Adam | Anatomy Teacher

Adam hails from the UK but has lived in India for 10 years. He has been teaching Anatomy with Himalaya Yoga Valley since 2010 and is a valued teacher and team member. Adam is a massage therapist and body mechanic. He trained extensively in the UK and is certified through ITEC (International Therapeutic Examination Committee); he has also trained with Ayurvedic doctors in India and monks in Thailand. Since 2011, he has been teaching Ayurvedic Yoga Massage, an Iyengar-inspired massage trans globally certified by the complementary therapists association. 

Adam’s most recent training in Anatomy Trains (Thomas Myers) has taken his awareness of what is happening anatomically with the body to a new level – he specialises in structural bodywork, body reading and the art of realigning. He is an avid yoga practitioner and shares his knowledge and passion for yoga-focused anatomy with the Himalaya Yoga Valley 200 and 300 hour trainees through his lively and interesting lectures.

Certifications

– 2014 – Thomas Myers structural balance and breath
– 2012 – Soft Tissue Release
– 2011 – Cameron Reid-Cert of Training (Neck Pain)
– 2010 – Thomas Myers, Body 3
– 2009 – Kinesis, Myofascial Meridians I
– 2008 – ITEC Diploma in Holistic Massage.

Dr Rohit | Ayurveda Teacher

Dr. Rohit was born in Goa and completed his Bachelor of Ayurveda Medicine and Surgery (B.A.M.S.) degree at Goa University. He practices medicine in his North Goa clinics, renowned as an Ayurvedic physician, panchakarma and yoga specialist, with over a decade of experience in these areas.

Dr Rohit travels extensively around India and Europe, Consulting, studying, lecturing and conducting workshops on ayurveda, yoga and allied subjects. Himalaya Yoga Valley was one of the first yoga training schools to include Ayurveda in its syllabus and since 2008, Dr Rohit has been at the forefront of educating Himalaya Yoga Valley teacher trainees from all over the world on traditional Ayurveda and its relation to therapeutic yoga. He is a very popular lecturer with trainees, inspiring many to continue further studies in Ayurveda medicine. He says: “Ayurveda, the science of life, is a boon to the science of healing and to seekers of health, rejuvenation, longevity and well-being”

Certifications

– 2006 – Diploma in Yoga, The Yoga Institute Academy of Yoga, Santa Cruz Mumbai India
– 2004 – Bachelors of Ayurveda Medicine and Surgery, Goa India

Tony Healy Yoga Teacher

Tony | Senior Yoga Teacher

Tony first encountered yoga while on a working holiday in Australia in 1995. After numerous trips to India he decided to combine his passion for yoga and teaching by completing a two year hatha yoga Teacher Training Course with Yoga Therapy Ireland in 2007 and commenced yoga teaching from that point onwards. He has spent time at a number of centres in India such as the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre (Kerala), Iyengar Yoga Centre (Goa), Osho Centre (Pune), Mother Amma (Kerala) and taken meditation courses at the Vipasana Meditation Centre (Aurangabad) and Bodhi Zen Meditation Centre (Kodaikanal).

Further yoga study in 2010 brought him to Goa where he studied with Lalit and in February of that year he graduated from Himalaya Yoga Valley. He returned to Goa later in the same year to take part in the internship program and subsequently managed and taught members of the public in the Yoga Shala. As a senior teacher with the Centre, he works closely with trainees in Goa and Ireland.

Tony has a wide range of teaching experience from primary level, through high school up to second year University students and in addition has taught yoga classes in a range of locations from Cairo to the Falklands. Apart from teaching, he has worked as a web designer and has also spent a number of years working in administration at an Irish university.

Certifications

– 2016 – Educational Leadership (American University of Cairo)
– 2013 – 300hr Teacher Training (Himalaya Yoga Valley, India)
– 2013 – Ayurvedic Yoga Massage (Goa, India)
– 2012 – Thai Massage (Wat Po, Bangkok, Thailand)
– 2010 – 200hr Teacher Training (Himalaya Yoga Valley, India)
– 2007 – Yoga Teacher Training (Yoga Therapy Ireland)
– 2006 – Reiki Level II (Reiki Yogam, Kerala, India)
– 2001 – M.Sc. E-Commerce (Dublin City University)
– 1997 – Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (Higher Colleges of Technology, Abu Dhabi)
– 1996 – H.Dip. Education (University College Dublin)
– 1993 – B.E. Electronic Engineering (National University of Ireland, Galway)

Yogita | Senior Yoga Teacher

Yogita was born in Delhi and studied Arts at Kurukshetra University graduating in 2007. She gained her Diploma in Yoga & Alternative Therapies from Dev Sanskriti Vishwvidyala (D.S.V.V.s). Yogita is a RYT 300, having completed 200 and 300 hour and Teacher Training courses with Himalaya Yoga Valley in Goa. Yogita pursued her professional development while participating in Himalaya Yoga Valley’s Internship Program (2013), after which she became a permanent and highly accomplished member of the teaching staff at the Centre.

A highly respected and credible Senior Teacher, she has a warm and endearing teaching style, ever supportive and intuitive towards the needs of her students. Yogita imparts her experience and knowledge across a range of subjects including meditation, mantra chanting, pranayama, kryias and yoga asana during the Teacher Training programs and Yoga holiday retreats. Yogita is a keen Iyengar and Ashtanga yoga practitioner.

Certifications

– 2015 – Masters in Yoga Therapy (pursuing) at Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana University, Bangalore, India
– 2014 – Yoga instructor course (YIC), at S-VYASA, Bangalore, India
– 2010 – Certificate in Yoga and Alternative Therapy at Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya, Shantikunj, Haridwar, India
– 2010 – 200 hr Teacher Training at Himalaya Yoga Valley, Goa India
– 2007 – Bachelor of Arts at Guru Nanak Khalsa College, Yamuna Nagar, India

Mandep Kaur Yoga Teacher

Mandeep | Yoga Teacher

Mandeep was born in Punjab and grew up in the northern Indian town of Dharamsala, nestling on the foothills of The Himalayas. Mandeep’s Yoga journey started in 2003 while recovering from severe back pain when she was flying as a cabin crew. 

After spending 15 years in the Airline industry Mandeep dived deeper into Yoga studies and completed her Level 1 200 hr Teacher Training course with Himalaya Yoga Valley Goa in 2017. She continued her learning and completed her Internship program the following year with Himalaya Yoga Valley. 

Mandeep joined HYV as Yoga teacher and Program coordinator in March 2018 and she currently teaches Pranayama, Chanting, Kriyas and assists in Asana classes on 200 and 300hr trainings and Yoga retreats. She also looks after the office administration and student enrolment process.

Certifications

– B.A – English Literature 2004
– 200hr Teacher Training Himalaya Yoga Valley Goa, India 2017
– Yoga Teacher Internship Program Himalaya Yoga Valley Goa , India 2018

Tomoe Yoga Teacher

Tomoe | Yoga Teacher

Tomoe is originally from Japan where she started yoga practice. She noticed yoga was turning her curiosity to the world into herself slowly, and that was when she decided to take the 200h teacher training with Himalaya Yoga Valley in 2012, exploring what lies behind the practice. 

While she started to hold yoga classes in Tokyo on her return, she enjoyed polishing her value, which is to be a good observer of our own, with Vege Sato and a variety of teachers, both in and outside of Japan. 

After 7 years, she returned to Goa to take part in our internship program and then joined the Himalaya Yoga Valley teaching team.

Certifications

– 2012 – 200 Hr Teacher Training, Himalaya Yoga Valley, Goa, India
– 2019 – Yoga Teacher Internship Programme, Himalaya Yoga Valley, Goa, India

Lisa | Senior Yoga Teacher

Lisa is from Cork Ireland where she commenced her yoga practice in 2007, initially to help with back problems. Following a yoga lifestyle is now an integral part of Lisa’s daily life and she believes that practicing yoga in all its forms is essential for managing the stresses and strains of modern living. Her love for yoga deepened immensely during her first time in India in 2011 where she completed her 200 hr Teacher Training course with Yogachara Lalit Kumar at Himalaya Yoga Valley Centre in Goa and she has practiced and studied closely under Lalit ever since. On her return from her training in India, Lisa immediately took up her new teaching career in Cork and quickly developed to full time teaching.

In 2012, Lisa joined Himalaya Yoga Valley Centre in Cork as Senior Yoga Teacher where she teaches a wide range of classes including pregnancy yoga and assists Lalit with in-house training to the other teachers. Following her Internship and Teaching Assistant role on Himalaya Yoga Valley Teacher Training courses in India and Ireland with Himalaya Yoga Valley, Lisa’s role expanded to Senior Yoga Teacher for Europe based trainings giving her the opportunity to share her experience and knowledge with trainee teachers.

Certifications

– 2015 – 300 Hr Teacher Training Himalaya Yoga Valley Ireland
– 2011 – 200 Hr Teacher Training, Himalaya Yoga Valley, Goa India
– 2007 – Applied Social Studies in Social Care