About Us

Dada Jyotiriishananda

Dada Jyotiriishananda was ordained as a yogic monk in the 1980s in India. Since that time, he has taken posts in various overseas countries, often in senior leadership roles.

 

Additionally, he has taught natural heath and spiritual philosophy courses in several countries within Asia, South, North and Central America as well as in Australia and currently runs online courses that attract a global audience. His course titles include “Microvita: The mysterious Link between the Subjective and Objective World”, “Ananda Sutram” (philosophy) and “Sentient Health”.

 

He has authored a book called, Sentient Health: A Blissful Life Through Water and regularly delivers educational seminars for teachers-in-training.

Liila (Lee) Hass

Liila first came to Martha's Vineyard as a two-year old and has been returning on and off ever since. She currently resides on the island state of Tasmania, Australia, but returns frequently to the U.S.

 

Liila has been practising and teaching yoga and meditation for over 30 years. Trained in India and the Americas, she has delivered classes and workshops in schools, universities, prisons, adult education settings, hospitals, and online, She holds a Master's degree in Counselling, for which she wrote a thesis on the efficacy of yoga therapy for anxiety. Her research work was featured on Southern Cross Television in Australia.

 

Liila runs yoga and meditation retreats in Australia, Bali and the USA. She also leads tours to India that include visits to some of the planet's most inspiring spiritual hotspots (see onenessworldtravel.com for more information).

Charles Silberstein

For 25 years Charles Silberstein was the only psychiatrist at Martha's Vineyard Hospital.   He is currently the medical director at Island Counseling Center at Martha's Vineyard Community Services.  Starting in his teen years, he studied and practiced yoga, visited ashrams and at 18 traveled to India where he spent several months.  Distracted by medical studies and training, he lost his focus on spirituality until 2008 when he experienced transcendence through holotropic breathing.  He subsequently wrote an academic chapter and an article for the Martha's Vineyard Times on Psychiatry and Spirituality. Since 2012 he has been training in Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS).  He will be leading a workshop using IFS techniques to explore spirituality.

Arthur Pacheco (Aloka Deva)

Arthur Pacheco (Aloka Deva) is a recent immigrant to the US from Brazil, and has been teaching yoga, and specifically Ananda Marga style, for over 15 years. He has organized many retreats and trainings in meditation, dance, spiritual philosophy, and a social change theory called PROUT. He has also helped lead several community sustainability projects in and around São Paulo. Arthur’s favorite way to practice his English is to watch Big Bang Theory.

Anna Gibson (Anandii)

Anna Gibson (Anandii) has been practicing yoga and dance for the past five years. She lived in Brazil and taught yoga online during the pandemic, and is now back in her hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia, getting her Masters in Social Work. Anna is also a poet and musician, and loves to take long walks in the woods.