Yoga Teachers Biographies | Yoga Society of San Francisco

Briksha Mahendra – Breathwork, Vinyasa

Mahendra Briksha born in the small village of Himalayas, is a yogi, a certified Rebirthing Breathwork practitioner, Integral coach and raw vegan chef. Mahendra Briksha combines Vedantic-Yogic practices, Buddhist wisdom and Integral insights in his teaching. He has been teaching and leading breathing sessions and meditation classes for 10 years.
He is a graduate of the yoga teacher-training program at the Vivekananda Yoga Research Center in Bangalore, India and holds certificates in Integral Yoga from California Institute of Integral studies, and Yoga Therapy from Purusha Yoga, and has over 200 hours of Yoga Teacher training through Urban Flow with Rusty Wells. Briksha is a resident teacher and manager of the Yoga Society along with co-teaching the 200hr TT. He also co-teaches the 200hr TT for Seaside Yoga Sanctuary.
Briksha’s main mission to share his knowledge and experience is to help people awaken in their body, breath and mind and learn to live a peaceful, and evolutionary life in the midst of busy world.

Marcelo Carvalho, M.A. – Pranayama

Marcelo Carvalho began teaching yoga in 2001. His yoga classes include asana (poses,) pratyahara (internalizing the focus of the mind and the senses,) and pranayama (expansion of primordial energy – prana.) He emphasizes meditation, yoga psychology, and Self-knowledge as principle tools for personal transformation and healing. Marcelo studies Sanskrit with Dr. Ram Karan Sharma and the Yoga Society Sanskrit faculty. An active member of the Yoga Society of San Francisco, Marcelo has been on the board of directors since 2000, and is elected Board member for the term 2012-14. Although he did not meet Shri Brahmananda during his lifetime, he has embraced him as his Guru.

John Paul – Weekend Warm-Up Yoga

John Paul is a constant explorer who has been studying various body-mind, movement and healing practices since 2005. In his studies, yoga has remained a constant source of fascination. He finds that yoga allows him to flow with the ever constant changes of life, allowing him to “ride the waves” rather than be consumed by them. He hopes to impart on his students a similar feeling of openness and fortitude on many levels of their being.

Frances Kelly – Kundalini Yoga

Frances grew up on a farm in West Cork, Ireland, where she roamed barefoot close to nature and solitude. As a young adult Frances took her wanderlust to New York City where she lived for many years and enjoyed running the NYC streets and in 1992 ran the NYC marathon. In 2000, love took her to San Francisco where she took her first yoga class and has since maintained a steady yoga practice. Always looking to explore and develop her practice, years later she discovered Kundalini Yoga, as Frances recalls it “awakening a deep inner joy in herself.”

Her love for Kundalini Yoga led her to pursue her teacher training in 2016 at Guru Ram Das, San Francisco (Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan, 200 RYT). Frances describes her classes as a blend of spiritual and physical practices, which incorporates movement, dynamic breathing, meditation, and chanting of mantras. The goal of the practice, as Frances likes to say “is to re-set the nervous system and awaken your inner joy.”

Sharon Hawley – Beginner’s Iyengar Yoga

“Balance does not mean merely balancing the body. Balance in the body is the foundation for balance in life. In whatever position one is in, or in whatever condition in life one is placed, one must find balance. Balance is the state of the present – the here and now. If you balance in the present, you are living in Eternity.”
~ Light on Life, B.K.S. Iyengar, 2006

Profoundly influenced by the referenced book, I began studying the eight limbs of yoga in the method of B.K.S. Iyengar shortly after its publication. In the ensuing years, I have been privileged to study with numerous senior teachers in the system as well as with members of the Iyengar family here and in India. I continue to apprentice with several highly knowledgeable and gifted teachers to whom I am indebted. But my greatest debt of gratitude goes, ultimately, to my students who teach me the most. To quote the 16th-century poet Louis de Camoes, “the more I give you, the more I owe you.” Namaskar.

Franceasca Seiden – Ashtanga Yoga/Sound Healing

Franceasca Seiden is a filmmaker, writer and founder of Sexual Alchemy Healing Arts (SAHA.) SAHA is a traveling workshop that combines esoteric meditation, magick and vibrational sound therapy via 7 crystal bowls to turn trauma into power. Seiden works with sexual dysfunction, trauma, toxic, shame, PTSD.

She became certified Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga teacher in 2005 she is also is a sound healer, using the crystal bowls to provide Vibrational Sound Therapy and is a lifelong student of the occult arts and sciences conducting full moon/new moon rituals, is an intuitive tarot reader and can read natal charts. Currently she is getting certified in rebirthing breathwork as is part of the residency program at The Yoga Society of San Francisco.

Franceasca has been featured in Discover Hollywood Magazine, iGoLive Video Blog, Occulture Podcast episode #69 and has been a guest twice on The Holy Sessions on Jolt Radio.

Savitri – Hatha Yoga

Savitri started yoga at age 15, by studying ashtanga yoga through Mount Madonna Center in Santa Cruz California. She traveled and deepened her practice, residing in the Himalayas of India and receiving a training in classical hatha yoga.

While also earning a formal education, she served as an assistant to the director of the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center in San Francisco for many years. During her time with SYVC, she developed yoga workshops, and in-house training courses, including advanced meditation, advanced hatha yoga, studies of marma point therapy, Sanskrit, yoga therapy and Ayurvedic courses.

Savitri is currently the founder of the Yoga Medical Organization, partnering with hospitals and private medical groups to help with the change from sickness-based to wellness-based medicine.

Gloria Purnā – Yoga Core

Gloria Purnā has been practicing yoga since she went on around the world trip in 2001. During that trip, she also experienced a long meditation retreat in Thailand, and she has been practicing Vipassana ever since.She became a certified yoga teacher in 2015. What Gloria Purnā loves the most about yoga is the energy created in a group setting, the yoga teachings, and the integration of body, mind, and soul that yoga brings. Her approach to yoga is harmonious, creative and joyful. In her class, you will be lead through simple yet challenging asanas, as well as gentle and restorative practices such as pranayama and yoga Nidra.