Yoga Vedanta Trust was founded in 2011 by Swami Gopal Sharma, a student personally trained by the masters of Swami Dayanand Ashram — the oldest continuously operating yoga ashram in Rishikesh.
The school was not created to serve the yoga tourism boom. It was created because Sharma saw that the ancient wisdom of the Himalayan tradition — the philosophy, the pranayama, the meditation, the complete way of life — was being reduced to stretching classes. Something had to hold the lineage.
Today, 2000+ students from 30+ countries have completed their training here. They teach in studios, hospitals, schools, and retreats across six continents. The lineage continues.
Maximum 15 students per batch. Always. This is not a business decision — it is an educational one. Real yoga requires real relationship between teacher and student.
Every teacher at Yoga Vedanta Trust trained personally in the ashram tradition. We do not hire teachers who learned yoga from YouTube or weekend workshops.
Yoga is a complete system for understanding reality, not just a physical practice. We teach the philosophy first — the poses are the map, not the territory.
We don't just train bodies. We help students understand their minds, their patterns, their conditioning. Real yoga training is a confrontation with yourself.
Every student lives, eats, and practices together for the duration of the training. The community itself is part of the teaching.
We have turned down the opportunity to expand many times. A school of 15 students serves differently than a school of 50. We choose to serve well.
Yoga Vedanta Trust is a Yoga Alliance USA Registered Yoga School for both 200-hour (RYS 200) and 300-hour (RYS 300) teacher training programs. This means our graduates receive internationally recognised certifications allowing them to teach professionally in studios and wellness facilities worldwide.
