Courses

Learn the most ancient science of Yoga for holistic healing through Asana, Pranayama, Mudra, Bhandana, Dharana, Dhyana and Yoga Kaya Chikitsa (Masso Therapy). This course will be immensely useful for all types of people including therapists, physiotherapists, ayurveda therapists of pancha karma, yoga teachers, sport and exercise coaches, fitness trainers, traditional healers, doctors, and for people in general.

Yoga Masso Therapy is a solution for all muscular, skeletal, digestive, respiratory, reproductive, and nervous system related problems. This is one of the rarest opportunities for anyone to learn such a system which has hitherto been unavailable in any prevailing traditions of yoga. 

The course covers the progressive stages of purification, working at all levels: physical, cellular, and with the conscious, subconscious and unconscious mind. As a student you will work with the physical body through asana and with Vedic science through the application of Yoga Kaya Chikitsa i.e., Yoga Kaya Samvahana (physical manipulations) and Yoga Kaya Samvadana (oil manipulations). Students will work on the subtle cellular body with pranayama practice, and on purifying the mind through correct practice of meditation which deconditions mind of its accumulated impurities and by cultivating discernment about different techniques of meditation and their effects. The course also covers nutritional aspects of therapeutic nutrition and performance nutrition for recovery of both therapist and patient. Learning these techniques under an enlightened guru has a positive ripple effect on all aspects of life. This course will teach you to be selfless and egoless.

What is not suitable for a healer, therapist or doctor is ego. To be able to teach or heal, firstly, you need to heal yourself and then you can heal others. If you heal others with ego, when you touch them, what will you be transferring to them? You need to come to the level of a ‘super conductor’ where you can remove others’ heat and impurities without absorbing anything from them. A Yogi is called a super conductor. A Yogi does not boast of qualifications, but works selflessly like a Jesus, a Prophet, Buddha, Patanjali, Brihaspati, Dhanvantari or Socrates who never claimed anything. Boasting about your PhDs and other qualifications is ego, making you ineligible to be a healer or a therapist.

Wisdom is understanding that the cause of unhappiness is a delusion, worshipping taste, ego, finding happiness in your taste, in ego, is a slow poisoning. This is the cause of every disease, every suffering. We must learn to shun the ego mercilessly, shun our taste mercilessly. No-one who worships these will ever be happy. A yogi is a super-conductor who makes your entropy zero. For soul seekers, the entire world is their family. Every movement is to achieve highest level of conductance. This is the eligibility to be a healer.

Therapy is a Sanskrit word. “Tera” means noble/enlightened person and “Apy” means the one who removes the heat by throwing water on the fire. All teachers under the Buddha are called Teras. Tera means the one who has become completely selfless and a noble person. There is no ego. Tera also means it is all yours and nothing is mine. Whatever you eat, wear, etc., is not yours, so why hold onto pride? You are dependent on everyone for your living. How can you be great? The one who is making you survive is the greatest.

Such techniques should be administered as learnt from a Yogi, who programmed their 73 trillion cells to conserve oxygen (prana), and who aimed to become a human with unconditional love, selflessness, attitude of generosity, feeling of giving off everything, the wish to serve others and sprouting positive qualities – How can I serve? How can I give away everything? Even if I give away everything, it is nothing compared to what these lineages have given me.

The course covers therapeutic, restorative and rejuvenating techniques of yoga. This course is for serious aspirants who look for transformation, purification and liberation of the body, mind, and soul under the expert guidance of an accomplished and fully enlightened Guru. The course follows the strict ethos of the lineages and traditions of Indian Vedic Ashrams.

Not only professional therapists but all family members of an ordinary aspirant can benefit from the program as these advanced therapy techniques can help their spouse, children, and parents keep all ailments away. Even if administered once a week, this advanced therapy can provide a single remedy for all kinds of maladies that modern lifestyles expose you to.

Offered by Yoga Healing Foundation on a voluntary donation basis for students who fulfil the course criteria. Yoga Healing Foundation / Traditional Yoga was established to restore the noble legacy of Yoga, in its wholeness and undiluted purity, and to maintain its highest standards.

This is a rare opportunity to make a soul journey with Dr Kumar, the Guru who is grounded in the ancient traditions and the pure science of Yoga, who has explored the entire field of consciousness and gone beyond, to realize Singularity, enlightenment. This journey cannot be made without the guidance of a teacher who has accomplished it.

You will complete the course with a changed perspective on life, a deep understanding of the traditional culture and practice, and a profound respect for the lineage of Yogis who have selflessly preserved and passed on this precious wisdom for thousands of years.

The journey is to live in our hearts, not in our egos, to silence the chatter of the brain and discover overflowing gratitude, kindness, compassion, and unconditional love within when the mind becomes still and pure. In crystal clear waters you can see hundreds of metres depth, free from mud and the suspended particles of brain noise, reactions, emotions, and stress. A bright, clear mind and a light body are attained with conservation of breath.

As Vasishta teaches Rama, without understanding the link between body, breath, and mind there is no Yoga at all. The journey of the mind further dives deep down into the unconscious, to remove habit patterns of suffering by working with the DNA to change our gene expression at a root level. This requires serious practice. Observation, known in Sanskrit as Darshana is at the heart of Yoga. 

With the expert guidance of Dr. Kumar you will learn how to be observers within. As per the traditions and lineages the technique is always transmitted by sound in the form of chanting, having practiced in the most traditional schools and original forms, the teachings from his voice and mastery of the sound of silence will tune us to experience deep peace, purification and transformation. Every scripture of yoga or spirituality was transmitted down in the form of sound. The tradition is always “as I heard”, “Evam Sutam” “Tvam Shrutam”, so also when learning from Dr Kumar.

Every step given by Patanjali will be practiced on this course, so students must commit to a strict code of conduct starting with Yama and Niyama. The last of the Niyama’s of Patanjali is Eeshwara Pranidhanaha, surrender to an enlightened teacher. The course will uphold this essential aspect of the Yoga tradition in order for students to gain maximum benefit.

Testimonial from a yoga and meditation teacher on the RYT500

“A few years ago, I took a short meditation course with Traditional yoga under the guidance of Dr Kumar.

I’d never met anyone from the tradition before, so it was a bit of a leap of faith.

I’d suffered a back injury and knew that a regular meditation practice would help with managing the pain.

Initially I had no intention of teaching meditation but the positive changes that I was experiencing just had to be shared. My students included busy mums like me, stressed out blokes and health workers with high blood pressure.

And by teaching I was doing!

I’m now taking the online trainings with Dr Kumar, and I cannot recommend them highly enough.

His teachings and practices have massively improved my health and the health of my family.

I feel I’m becoming a better person, a kinder person, a more compassionate human and this positively impacts in all of my relationships.

Don’t hesitate to sign up for this training, take that leap because it could be just what you need.”

The continuous series of online courses in Yoga and Meditation offered by Traditional Yoga form a comprehensive and ongoing Online Yogi Training Program for students and teachers. 

Each online course will have its own specific focus on aspects of Yoga and/or Meditation, and its own related certification should the aspirant choose to apply for certification.

Alternatively, aspirants may elect to undertake a course to learn and develop their understanding, and not apply for certification. All online courses are integral to, and address, the Yogi Training Program.

An aspirant can join at the beginning of any course. The courses are structured and delivered to enable beginners as well as more advanced yoga practitioners and teachers.

All students are assigned a Mentor appointed by Dr. Kumar, and these Mentors maintain regular communication with students via WhatsApp. Mentors in turn communicate through an appointed Senior Mentor, who is answerable directly to the Guru.

Throughout the year there are a three in-person meditation retreats. Students’ performance on the online courses are a pre-requisite for successful application and selection to attend a retreat.

To fully benefit from the vast knowledge and experience of a fully enlightened Guru like Dr. Kumar it is recommended that serious aspirants who look to Yoga for complete transformation, purification and liberation of the body, mind and soul remain on the continuous stream of courses and take the opportunity of further deepening their practice through attending meditation retreats.

All courses follow strict ethos of the lineages and traditions of Indian Vedic Ashrams. To become a student of such a teacher is a great privilege and an incredibly rare opportunity, the criteria to join is not payment (the course is offered free), but suitability based on the attributes of a student outlined by the great Indian Saints and Gurus of the Yoga tradition including gratitude, humility, devotion, interest and a positive attitude.

Although the courses are part-time, it will be powerful and in-depth. Applicants should be ready to immerse themselves deeply in a rigorous, challenging and life-changing experiential training program.

Dr. Kumar has been leading in-person yoga and meditation teacher training courses and meditation retreats for over a decade in India and the UK, and online for the past couple of years. Students on the online 200 hour, 300 hour & 500 hour Yogi and Meditation Training courses have experienced how profound even the online experience of learning and meditating with Dr Kumar can be.

Every course offers a point of entry for new students and the option to apply for RYIT 200 or 300 certification upon successful completion and through meeting all criteria for assessment. Every course offers an option for old students to work towards completion of one of the RYIT 200 or 300 or 500 hour certifications. Alternatively, new and old students are welcome to undertake the courses on an ongoing basis to learn and acquire new knowledge and experience.

Testimonial from Rosemary Bennett (British Wheel of Yoga Teacher Trainer)

“Very many thanks indeed, respected Sir, for the fine teacher training course that has taken place over the last five months.  Every day brought something new, a fresh topic, a new angle on something familiar.  It has been inspiring and refreshing.  Your limitless generosity knows no bounds as you nurture your students and do everything you can to lead us to experience Pure Consciousness for ourselves.  This has not been taken for granted.  We remember, it is not enough to have a good, an enlightened teacher, there also has to be a good student for learning, for progress to happen.  When you have these two things, an alchemical combustion takes place.  May we walk in your footsteps and be worthy of your instruction.  Sincere thanks and deep gratitude.”

The teachings of Yoga do not exist without enlightened teachers to convey them, and the teaching of the guru is transformative if the student is able to listen unconditionally and in ‘surrender’. This means putting aside one’s expectations, preferences and perceptions, previous knowledge and intellectual conditioning and just being open, keeping the mind as an empty cup to be filled with the purity of the teachings.

All the courses will be thorough, detailed and comprehensive yet there will be no pre-published curriculum, modules or electives. The course teaches us adaptability, flexibility and responsiveness. In life we never know what each day will bring, similarly it is part of the training to approach each class without any preconceived notions or expectations of what will be covered. The abundance of knowledge, insight and experience could never be anticipated. 

The courses are not a commodity and students are not customers. The course will be taught in the ancient tradition of going to a Guru to choicelessly learn whatever that Guru teaches. The daily class will vary in length so each student needs to have some degree of flexibility about time commitment, any missed portions of classes can be caught up with on non-class days.

The teaching style will be very strict, in line with the culture of Traditional Ashrams. Yoga is to be learned orally and experientially, not intellectually or through reading. For thousands of years, Yoga/ Vedic traditions are called Sruthas, which means only by listening. This entire tradition is based on listening, the quickest way to learn more, absorb and adapt to be transformed.

You cannot learn yoga overnight or even in a year or two. A Yogi is not produced overnight. A monk takes a minimum of 25 years to become a Lama. Yoga is also a journey which has to be learnt from an Acharya. For this reason, serious aspirants remain on the continuous cycle of courses and benefit from attending meditation retreats. If a serious aspirant is fortunate enough to find a fully enlightened Guru, they will remain with that Guru for life.

Offered by Yoga Healing Foundation on a donation basis for students who fulfil the course criteria. Yoga Healing Foundation/ Traditional Yoga was established to restore the noble legacy of Yoga, in its wholeness, undiluted purity and highest standards.

All courses are conducted in Purvashrama Sampradaya, the traditional system of Guru Shishya Parampara of Shrutha Sampradaya, which means the oral tradition, ‘as heard from Gurus.’ Every word spoken by Dr Kumar, honors the pure lineages which he graciously represents in absolute gratitude and reverence.

Students on any of the online courses are entering into a virtual ashram and should be prepared to conduct themselves with utmost caution, discipline and awareness.

When one enters the gates of an ashram, they must leave their intellectual baggage and prior learning at the door regardless of qualifications, experience or status, and enter in humility, as a beginner, an empty cup ready to be filled with the purest of pure teachings.

The path to enlightenment can only be taught by one who has achieved it. Going to such a Guru should only be undertaken if one is able to surrender one’s own perceptions and judgments and to understand that everything being taught is necessary for the goal to be achieved. What is taught comes direct from the Pool of Consciousness exactly as it should be in order for us to break out of the bondages of our conditioning.

In every traditional ashram in India, the student is at the lotus feet of the Guru in unquestioning devotion and surrender. The Guru is a representative of the Pool of Consciousness and a conduit to Singularity/ Holy Spirit/ Parabrahma/Paramatma/ Allah/ Non-Entropy and the way to connect is through the grace of the Guru’s teaching and voice.

These courses are not for those who learn from the head, approach the courses as an intellectual pursuit, or consider it their right to critically evaluate, judge or take a position of agreement or disagreement on the teachings, as one might do in other educational contexts. Neither is it correct to learn conditionally, partially or on one’s own terms. The only way to learn in such a setting is unconditionally, non-judgmentally and choicelessly, to learn from the heart not from the head, and to establish a sense of connectedness to the Guru so that what flows through him can flow through you.

An enlightened Guru is a super-conductor. Any positive conduct as a student under such a Guru is like planting a mango seed in fertile ground that will bear hundreds of sweet fruits, however, any negative conduct is like planting a bitter seed in fertile ground that will bear hundreds of poisonous fruit. This is the reason why the Code of Discipline & Joining Agreement is strictly enforced in any ashram in which the technologies of enlightenment are being taught, it is for the protection of the student, the protection of the community and the protection of the traditions.

Course Timings:

Daily classes with Dr. Kumar will be every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in India time zone, it is strongly recommended that you watch them live or on the same day as broadcast but if this is not possible you can complete the missed portion of the class on non-class days.

It is not compulsory to watch live, but it is recommended for those in Time Zones where it is possible. Classes will be streamed live starting at 5am Indian time, then they will be available as a recording on your course page to watch at your convenience any time afterwards.

The classes have no fixed duration and will vary in length each day, minimum 3 hours.

A sincere student, who is willing to dedicate 4 to 5 hours every day so as to complete and assimilate the daily classes and practice sessions are suitable for this course.

200 & 500 Hours Certification (Accredited with International Yoga Alliance)

Certification is optional and you are also welcomed to just attend the course for your own personal learning.

For those taking the certification, a Traditional Yoga 200/500-hour certificate will be issued for those who maintain the code of discipline and who complete all the required elements of the course including assignments, plus any additional tasks and homework given by Dr. Kumar in the classes at the end of each course.

Traditional Yoga is a registered Yoga School with International Yoga Alliance (IYA). Therefore, the certificate issued to you at the end of each course can be used to register with IYA if you wish to apply for their accreditation.

As a student, what is important is to have the right intention, the right attitude and the right devotion in order to benefit from this rare and precious opportunity. The teachings of Yoga do not exist without enlightened teachers to convey them and the student-teacher relationship (Sanskrit: Guru Shishya Parampada) is everything. Even though the course is online this is still very relevant as consciousness has no barriers.

The attitude of a student is of paramount importance when taking a course of this nature. This is for your own benefit and in respect for the Guru and great lineage of enlightened teachers who have preserved these teachings.

These courses are for those aspiring to follow the highest path of Yoga, who wish to make a soul journey under the expert guidance of an accomplished and fully enlightened Guru. The aim is to become completely selfless, thereby liberating the soul from the ego.

To become a student of such a teacher is a great privilege and an incredibly rare opportunity, the criteria to join is not payment, but suitability based on the attributes of a student outlined by the great Indian Saints and Gurus of the Yoga tradition.

The opportunity is to learn Yoga within its authentic Indian cultural context.  In the Indian system a Guru teaches not just techniques but guides one on every single aspect of life, teaching us how to live in purity for the perfect health and happiness of the individual and for the rebalancing society as a whole.

Although courses last a few months, the tradition of going to learn with a Guru is to find a guide for a lifetime because this journey is not easy or immediate. Deep transformation takes dedication, perseverance and a burning desire to pursue the path. As long as Dr. Kumar is willing to teach, students who uphold the code of conduct can continue their journey with him on an ongoing basis.

The courses follow the strict ethos of the lineages and traditions of the noble ones, the Yogis. This is in order to uphold the sanctity, purity and undiluted teachings of those Yogis who selflessly sacrificed their secrets of practice and path, in absolute trust, in order to benefit their devoted students.

What will be taught is the highest science given by enlightened Yogis, not by those who are still seekers or teachers at the stage of exploring mind and body having not yet attained full liberation. The course will teach the pure technique of Self Realisation (Sanskrit: Siddhantha Vicharana / Vidya Paddhathi) as practiced and realised by every Yogi and Saint in India for thousands of years, such as the great Nachiketa, Brigu, Yagnavalkya, Vasista, Vyasa, Krishna, Buddha, Patanjali, Adi Shankara, Jesus, Guru Nanak, Mohammad Prophet.

The following are the expected qualities of a student (Shadguna) as given by Adi Shankaracharya and other important points.

Damamu: Not becoming distracted

Shamamu: The ability to focus

Uparathi: The ability to sustain concentration

Titiksha: The ability to avoid reacting

Shraddha: Total surrender, self-motivation, devotion and interest

Samadhana or Gratitude:  The development of humility, ego-lessness and selflessness

Also, Mumuksha: The burning desire to become enlightened. The realisation of Allah, the Holy Spirit, Paramatma, requires perseverance in spiritual progress.

The course is suitable for those who are able to seriously commit to working deeply with Dr Kumar, following the highest level of discipline, dedication and devotion to the teacher, the lineage of Yoga and the teachings. Previous experience is not a requirement.

This course is an opportunity for deep, holistic, and experiential learning, grounded in the purest traditions and lineages, underpinned by profound explanations of the science of body and mind. The course will be a wonderful journey for those who are seeking authentic knowledge and will be rigorous and challenging in order to make maximum progress. We welcome you to join no matter what stage you are at in your journey.

Suitability is based on agreement to uphold the strict code of discipline based on the Course Ethos below.

1. Work hard without expectation/ Nishkaama Karma Yoga and Karmaphala Sanyasa Yoga: The fundamental yogic principle to stay happy is to have ZERO expectation, so that anything thus given gives complete satisfaction, happiness, and gratitude. Do not come with any preconceived notions of what ‘should’ be taught. If what you expect is to be taught, then why is a Guru or tradition required? This amounts to not learning. Dr. Kumar will teach what we need to become Yogis as per the traditions, not what we think we need or want. A Karma Yogi appreciates and has gratitude for everything they receive and accepts challenges smilingly.

    

2. Live in the present with an open mind, accepting each moment of the teaching as it comes. This will enable you to get maximum benefit from the spontaneous and dynamic way in with Dr. Kumar teaches. A Guru is a clean water pipe through which the water of the teachings flow, don’t look for a set package or timetable of teaching that would block that flow, just drink the water and trust that it will nourish and purify you. Yoga is to live in this moment, accept and adapt, instead of having any expectation about this moment. Because this moment is not created by you or for you but for everyone. Like any other species, instead of questioning what is given in this moment and becoming unhappy, the best way is to accept it.

3. Surrender to the Guru/ Bhakthi Yoga: Surrender is your strength and protection on the path to enlightenment. Take refuge in the Guru. Don’t question or argue with the Guru mentally. Whatever is not understood just leave it be, don’t react. Learn to listen without bringing the filter of subjective interpretation based on past conditioning. Just absorb without putting an intellectual filter of preconceptions and previously learned notions. In order to learn we must unlearn and relearn. As Shankaracharya says, once you have used right discernment to choose an enlightened teacher, then that is it. What the Guru teaches should not be questioned. The student is at the lotus feet of the Guru. If you trust your own perception more than the Guru’s teaching, then why go to a teacher in the first place? This is ingrained in the traditions. Respecting the authority of the Guru is central to the path and if one is not comfortable with this, the course is not for you.

4. Inflammatory response is required for growth. Tarka/ Vitarka: A true Guru is not a pleaser or pamperer and is prepared to shake us out of our conditioning even though it is very difficult. A much easier option for a Guru is to only say what we like and avoid saying thing that we don’t like, but with this approach we would never progress.  A Guru shouts and admonishes us in order to bring deep change and clear our karma, this is sometimes called ‘tough love’. Be prepared to go out of your comfort zone. The path to enlightenment takes courage, faith, resilience, and dedication. If something being taught triggers a strong emotion in you, that is an opportunity to observe the reaction and learn more about your own unconscious habit patterns. If something has triggered you (perhaps because it challenges your prior learning, perceptions, cultural values, or views) don’t create a conflict in your mind or dwell on it, just think ‘I don’t yet understand this’. Live in the present and stay open-minded. A Yogi has a 360 perspective, far greater insight and sees the subtleties of reality that we miss. If a lesson is being taught it has a purpose and a context, it is our job to understand the purpose of the lesson.

5. Be patient / Sahana and Samyama: If you don’t understand something be patient because learning deeply is like slow cooking, the results are nutritious and tasty. Don’t look for fast food.  If you have specific theoretical questions try to wait, you may find they are answered in another class, or you may realize that they are no longer important or necessary. Stay calm and quiet and reflect on whether it is really a worthwhile practical question or just a conceptual one. If it is a valid question, you can ask a course volunteer, or if you just want to reach out and connect with a volunteer for a chat that’s fine too.

6. Have humility/ Aham Brahmasi:Traditional yoga is a charity: The teaching and the entire course is being given freely and generously by Dr Kumar, supported by volunteers, and what is being given is immeasurable. Please do not ask for more or extra than what is freely given. Please value the time of the volunteers and remember that you are a student not a customer. Please bear with any technical glitches or other course issues that arise, everyone is working very hard to ensure things go smoothly but this can never be 100% guaranteed.

Practice with awareness/ Sati/ Sadhana/ Abhyasa. Please approach your practice with awareness of your individual physical limits and go at a pace that is appropriate for you. Practice meditation as per the course guidelines and if you need help let a volunteer know. If you experience any insomnia let a volunteer know immediately.  

Please Click here for Code of Discipline and Joining Agreement

Dr. Kumar is widely recognized as an inspirational Yogi, trainer of yoga teachers and an award-winning scientist. He began his yoga journey at the age of 11 years and attended more than 87 traditional ashrams, learning directly under the expert guidance of great teachers such as Satyananda Saraswathi Maharaj, Krishnamacharya and all the seven students of Sivananda, as well as in many Himalayan traditions.

Dr. Kumar is a nuclear scientist and holds two PhDs in Chemistry and Yoga. He is also a trained Merck pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals formulation specialist. His teachings are not only limited to yoga and meditation, but he has authority in science based functional and performance-based nutraceuticals both macro and micro nutrition. He practices preventive and therapeutic nutrition dealing with phytoextracts to nutrigenomics and peptide-based solutions for gene related problems. He is the founder of Vedic Nutraceuticals and The Yoga Healing Foundations of UK, U.S and India. He is a recipient of the prestigious Homi J. Bhabha award for innovations in nuclear science and technology.

In 1992, Dr. Kumar suffered multiple fractures in his lower spine, hip bones, and pelvic bones, and lost control over his lower torso when he had a road accident. His urethra was ruptured, and he was told that he would not be able to have children and may not walk again. After a year of experiencing no progress, he began practicing yoga and started treating himself. After two years of practice, he could run, perform all asanas, and also had his first child in 1994.

This was a turning point for him, and he decided to devote his time besides his work to promote the correct understanding of the traditional methods of yoga for body and mind. This includes all physical yoga practices as taught by well-known teachers from whom he learned directly, including Krishnamacharya, Vishnudevananda, Satyananda Saraswati, B.K.S. Iyengar and Pattabhi Jois. Also, mind-fitness (meditation) programs in Hindu, Tibetan and Theravada traditions, taught at a deep level with a science-based approach for rapid progress. His teachings include progressive practice starting with mantra, through to the highest-level mindfulness culminating in self-realisation, actualisation, or singularity.

In essence, he teaches a scientific way of life for total health. He shows us how to live with absolute scientific standards from dawn to dusk. He strongly believes that subjective, perception-based living is the root cause of our problems at both a physical and mental level.

Dr. Kumar is also a practitioner and teacher of Kayachikitsa. Kayachikitsa is an ancient science focused on the treatment of physical and mental illness. He is one of only three people in the world to have been trained and currently practice in this particular system.

Dr. Kumar leads intensive training in meditation (raja yoga) theory and practice leading to profound insight and liberation. This is taught as per the Yoga Shastras, and Yoga Sanhitha given by Yajnavalkya and later by Patanjali in the form of Yoga Darshana. Besides his regular yoga training courses that take place throughout the year, he teaches three immersive residential courses annually, a 10-day course in the UK, a 10-day course in India in the summer and a 15 day course in India for international students in the winter.

Dr. Kumar is a consultant trainer at Yoga campus in London. Having trained yoga teachers for the last four decades both in person and online, drawing on his experiential wisdom and knowledge developed from living and learning in many different ashrams, ancient traditions and teachers, he teaches yoga for mind and body with authority.  He was invited by the United Nations, International Labour Organization in Geneva, to lead celebrations for International Yoga in 2017 and 2018. Outside of reputed Indian institutions, he has also given lectures at Oxfords Brooks University, Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, Imperial College London, and Kyungpook National University School of Medicine in Daegu-Korea.

Education

Rather than belonging to any one school, Dr. Kumar’s teaching adheres to the genesis of yoga and its many components.

Dr. Kumar’s first teacher cautioned him to avoid being limited to the methodology of only one school, realising that each ashram preserves only a few limbs of yoga. This is something Dr. Kumar has followed throughout his life, allowing him to keep an open mind, and continuously learn and expand his knowledge, respecting all traditions.

As a child he began his formal studies at the Sivananda Ashram under Swamy Vishnudevananda. He was initiated by Swami Chinmayananda, Sachidananda & Omkarananda and later under Swami Rama and Satyananda Saraswathi. He also learned asana practice with BKS Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois, Desikachar among other renowned teachers as well as unknown but equally accomplished Himalayan masters and monks. He learned powerful health rejuvenating pranayamas in Shakthi traditions of Tantra such as Prakrithika (external respiratory techniques), Vaikrithika (internal respiratory techniques) and Kevala (natural respiration). Other schools include Kaivalyadhama-Lonovala, Ananda Ashram-Himachal and Kriya Yoga traditions such as Babaji Kriya Yoga, Yogoda, Mangeshda. His theoretical studies of Hatha Yoga have explored Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Hatha Ratnavali, Gheranda Samhita, Siva Samhita, Hatha Yoga Rahasyam, Kurantaka Yoga and Kapala Kurantaka Yoga and he has translated many of these original texts for his training program.

Dr. Kumar has studied meditation in Hindu, Yoga, Mahayana, and Theravada Buddhist schools including monastic traditions in Thailand, Burma, Sri Lanka, and Tibet. His mastery of meditation, honoring the lineage of Patanjali is central to his teaching. He reads Sanskrit and Pali and has sourced and translated rare texts, exploring the relationship between Yoga, Buddhism and Vedanta.

Yoga used to recover from an accident

Dr. Kumar’s personal experience of the therapeutic benefits of yoga inspired him to teach. In 1992 Kumar was involved in a road accident. He suffered multiple fractures in the lower spine, hip, and pelvic bones. He also lost control over his lower torso and his urethra was ruptured. Having just got engaged, he was told that he would not be able to have children and may not walk again. He was airlifted to his wedding. After being bed-ridden for two years and being told that doctors had little hope for his recovery, finally he used his deep knowledge of yoga to design a systematic program of treatment for himself with asana and pranayama practice. By the following year, he was mobile and in two years he could run. He resumed practicing around 300 asanas and had his first daughter in 1994. In gratitude for the benefit, he has received he has volunteered his time to teaching yoga and meditation for free to thousands of people in India and reviving the ancient system of yoga therapy, Kaya Chikitsa.

“Yoga is many limbed and is not to be confused with any form of religion. My aim is to restore the understanding of the relationship of different branches of traditional yoga so as to enable each person to make swift and effective progress” 

– Dr Kumar

Here are some public webcast links to view on YouTube:

Five styles of Yoga as per Krishnamacharya

Yoga Kaya Chikitsa & its limbs

Guided meditation

Brahma Viharas

The Path to Enlightenment

Nutrition and food combinations

Webcast that includes discussion of discriminatory wisdom, followed by asana practice