World Yoga Day
This is a non-profit project with NO commercial interest involved. The writers of the web content were very careful not to violate any copyrights. However, if you feel any copyrights are violated please contact us.
Björn Wyrich, [email protected]
Website www.wyrich.de
Region coordinators will support you in your reason and language with questions or ideas you want to bring to the table.
Martin Combrinck is one of the founder members of Ananda Sanga Educational Institute and holds a BSoc.Sc degree. After spending 12 years in the information and research industry, he decided to remodel his focus to mind/body strategies. He is a qualified Yoga, Relaxation and Meditation Instructor, and has been teaching meditation for the past 14 years. He presently teaches and conducts various workshops at their centre in Somerset West, South Africa. He specialises in education and training in Ayurveda, Meditation and Yoga to national and international students. He is registered as a Yoga Therapist and a Ayurvedic Consultant with the Allied Health Professionals Council of South Africa.
Contact Martin by email: [email protected]
Alex Grant - coordinator for Australia
Alex discovered yoga in 1996 at the Integral Yoga Institute in New York City. He went to Mysore in 2002 and 2008 to practice Ashtanga with Sherath at the Ashtanga Yoga research Institute.
He completed his teacher training in 2002 at Yoga Arts in Byron Bay and taught at various yoga schools in Sydney for 5 years before moving to Byron Bay where he continues to teach. His teaching combines the Ashtanga Vinyasa system with more traditional Hatha yoga poses. He believes that yoga does not have to be serious, and thinks that having a strong home practice is very important.
Contact Alex by email: [email protected]
Sonja Eigenbrod - coordinator for Germany 
Sonja had her first impressions of yoga as a child observing her mother
during the practice and looking at her yoga books. But it was not until the
90ies that she started her own serious practice on the mat followed by a
three year yoga teacher training in Rishiculture Ashtanga Yoga, better known
as Gitananda Yoga. Not only interested in yoga philosophy and ayurveda she
also visited India several times to get a better understanding of the
culture. During this time she also assisted in publishing the book "Raja
Yoga" by the Bihar School of Yoga. In 2004/05 she continued with further
teacher trainings in Santa Monica and Berlin in Forrest Yoga® and Anusara
Yoga®.
When she is not teaching yoga classes she is also offering bodywork and massage for the body flow. As a part-time Office Manager she is taking care of the work flow in the back office of a design agency.
Contact Sonja by email: [email protected]
Hiram Tinoco - coordinator for Guatemala 
Hiram was born in Nicaragua and spent most of his youth in Costa Rica. It was here that he started practicing Sivananda yoga, a form of Hatha yoga in which the training focuses on preserving the health and wellness of the practitioner. At the beginning of 1990 he goes to Guatemala to continue his graduate studies. He remains with his meditation and vegetarian practices, leaving aside the practice of yoga postures, and begins to work in different gyms, and privately, as a certified personal trainer.
With the spreading knowledge of the benefits of the yoga practice, at the end of the 90´s, Hiram begins his training in gymnastics styles of yoga and obtains his certification from Reebok University and from the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America (AFFA). At the same time, he begins studying Ashtanga yoga and Power yoga. Feeling the need to reunite with his spiritual yoga roots, he flies to Costa Rica, and learns about Anusara Yoga, that gathers the spiritual internalization and physical force that he was looking for in his personal practice, and goes back to start teaching it in Guatemala and spreading its philosophy.
At present, he teaches Anusara at Namasté Yoga and is working on his certificate as Anusara-Inspired yoga instructor. Hiram is a student of natural medicine and pranic healing. He is also an advanced student of shiatsu therapy. .
Christophe Mouze - coordinator for Ireland and FranceChristophe started practicing and studying yoga in Ireland fourteen years ago and has since studied with a number of senior yoga teachers all over the world. He is a trained Iyengar teacher, but his daily practice and his teaching have been influenced by a number of other yoga styles, particularly ashtanga, Shadow yoga, and the atma vikasa style of Venkatesh.
A few years ago, he gave up a promising career managing a small IT company, and now runs a yoga centre on Clare Island, a small island off the West coast of Ireland. He still works with computers, though, as he is the webmaster of the yoga-ireland.com and yogaholidays.net sites.
Contact Christophe by email: [email protected]
Rossella Baroncini - coordinator for ItalyRossella Baroncini was born and lives in Florence where she was trained as a yoga teacher. She has been teaching classes, private lessons, workshops in Italy and abroad from 1987. Rossella is a direct long time student of Vanda Scaravelli (author of Awakening the Spine, 1991) she started to study with her in 1983 at the age of 26 having individual lessons until 1999. Now Rossella continues to explore the teachings she has received from Vanda maintaining his simplicity and freedom. She likes to share the beauty of a practice that reaches you in a natural way.
Contact Rossella by email: [email protected]
Marek Bednarski - coordinator for Poland
Yoga teacher from Wrocław (West of Poland) who's got an international certificate for the level Introductory II. His inspiration and master is legendary yoga teacher B.K.S. Iyengar (the founder of Iyengar Yoga). That's why his first steps in this magic world of yoga were connected with „Light on Yoga” - famous Iyengar's book. Marek started practicing yoga in 1992, but soon discovered that more interesting than asans are for him the meditation's methods. 2005 he began his career as yoga teacher. Natural therapy is also one of his interests. 2002-2006 he participated in rei-ki course, which he graduated getting the titul of master in natural therapy. 2004 he began with job as a teacher of meditation in Natural Therapy Center in Wrocław. Marek is still participating in different yoga courses to improve his talent and develop his yoga method. He was taught by different teachers from abroad (Gabriella Giublilaro - Italy, Corine Biria - France, Lois Steinberg – USA). 2008 he opened his own yoga center – Fabryka Energii in Wrocław - where he teaches and helps people with his yoga therapy. If you have any problems with your spine – he will help you practicing yoga.
Contact Marek by email: [email protected]
Anke Mein - coordinator for The NetherlandsAnke was born in Berlin and moved to The Netherlands many years ago. Here she discovered yoga through her husband who'd been a yogi for more than 35 years. She's mainly trained by Godfrey Devereux who developed the Dynamic yoga teaching method; besides that she loves Ashtanga yoga which she practiced with various teachers all over the world. Together with her husband she's running a studio in The Hague, which is a result of consequent self-study through a consistent yoga self practice. Her classes are based on her own individual experiences and passion, enthusiasm and confidence in the power of yoga.
Contact Anke Mein by email: [email protected]
Mat Witts - coordinator for United KingdomMat made a personal commitment to adopting a Buddhist way of life in 1990. He has worked as general manager at a Buddhist retreat centre and is Co-founder and Chairman of the European Yoga Network (www.yoga-eu.net) - the worlds first 100% Solar Powered Yoga Network, run by the worlds first Yoga Community Interest Company. He has internet design, programming and marketing skills and also holds financial qualifications.
Contact Mat by email: [email protected]
Brooke Riglin - coordinator for USA
I was introduced to yoga for the first time when I was in 10th grade through my cheerleading advisor and through my belly dance teacher. I loved how it helped both of those activites but most of all it helped me find myself. I was always the weird kid and really self conscious and when I was doing yoga, I was able to let go of that. After college, I decided to pursue training as a yoga teacher at the Himalayan Institute in Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh & Honesdale). I attended as many additional trainings and work shops as I could and still do. I also completed my Master of Science degree in Exercise Science and Health Promotion with a focus on Rehabilitation Science because I thought it could benefit me as a yoga instructor. I'm in the process of opening Karmady Yoga in Baton Rouge, LA and I am very excited.
Contact Brooke by email: [email protected]