Savitri, born in India and raised in Bombay until the age of 7 before relocating to America, is the visionary behind Heartfull® Meditation and Lifestyle. She is the founder of Heartfull® Meditation & Lifestyle, and co-founder of Alive & Shine® Center and the Purna Yoga® College. Despite facing profound personal tragedies, including a coma-inducing head injury, the sudden loss of her parents, and the deaths of her sister and best friend, Savitri's journey led her to develop Heartfull® Meditation in 1985. This unique practice, focused on connecting with unlimited love through active meditation techniques, transformed her life and inspired her to help others find similar inner peace and healing.
Savitri & Aadil established Alive & Shine® , a renowned yoga studio, and co-founded the Purna Yoga® College, setting high standards for yoga and meditation instruction worldwide. A powerful energy worker and intuitive healer, Savitri shares her wisdom and blessings with a diverse clientele, including business professionals, celebrities, and underprivileged individuals through her non-profit foundation, Heartfull® World Foundation. Through Heartfull® Meditation, she offers practical techniques to unite body, mind, and soul, enabling others to live heartfully and embrace the light and love within.
About Aadil
Aadil's journey into yoga began with the dedication of his devout Parsee parents, who, after struggling with infertility, turned to yoga under the guidance of B.K.S. Iyengar. Encouraged by Iyengar's teachings, they soon welcomed Aadil into the world in Bombay. Aadil's immersion in yoga began at the tender age of seven, initially with asana practice under Iyengar and later with the profound teachings of Purna Yoga by Sri Aurobindo. Over the years, Aadil has become renowned as a "teacher of teachers," imparting his unique blend of melodious instruction, poetic insight, and humor to yoga practitioners worldwide.
As the co-founder of Purna Yoga, Aadil has established himself as a leading figure in the global yoga community. Together with Savitri, he founded Alive and Shine Center in Bellevue, Washington, and developed the Purna Yoga College, offering comprehensive teacher training programs. Aadil's expertise extends beyond yoga, encompassing various healing arts such as shiatsu therapy, hypnotherapy, and Ayurvedic medicine. An author and prolific writer for Yoga Journal, Aadil's passion for yoga, coupled with his diverse interests in the arts and healing, continues to inspire students and audiences internationally.
Natalie Cielle
Natalie has been practicing yoga for over 15 years, and is a Certified Purna Yoga Instructor at the 500-Hour Level. Passionate about integrating spirituality into real life, Natalie co-founded Seattle nonprofit Yoga Behind Bars in 2008 and is currently Board President of the Alive & Shine Foundation, bringing meditation to people experiencing homelessness and trauma.
Natalie has special training in kids yoga, prenatal yoga, and trauma-informed teaching. She learned the Heartfull Meditation techniques directly from Savitri, creator of Heartfull Meditation, and has been an ongoing student in Savitri's weekly meditation classes since 2008.
"These practices have deeply enhanced my experience of being alive, and I've witnessed so many quiet revolutions in my students over the years. Sharing these tools is an incredible honor and joy."
Stephanie Angeline
Stephanie is a 2,000 hr Certified Purna Yoga Instructor. She has been a student of yoga since 2007 and has been teaching since 2012.
She loves helping students dive deeper into their practice and create a stronger connection with their heart regardless of what stage they are at.
When she was working in the advertising industry, she was searching for an outlet to bring balance and strength into a chaotic lifestyle. She not only found an engaging practice, but also found a deeper connection with herself - the missing link. Purna Yoga has helped create profound shifts and awareness within herself that continues to shape, develop, and bring out the best of her abilities.
Stephanie also has a bachelors degree in communication from Purdue University.
Angelica is a Certified Purna Yoga Instructor at the 2,000 hour level and an IAYT certified Yoga therapist. She has been a student of yoga since 2003 and has been teaching since 2005.
She is a former Microsoft employee so she understands the stress of corporate careers. Through Purna YogaTM and HeartfullTM Meditation she was able to bring back vitality and health in her life after working through various health issues. This led her to leave her job at Microsoft to become an instructor so she could share the benefits of yoga and meditation with others.
She taught the first several 200 teacher trainings and after her maternity leave, she is now back assisting in the 200 hr teacher training and teaching several ongoing classes.
Angelica loves to draw and illustrated the images in her husband, Erin's book of short stories called Allegory. She enjoys homeschooling her daughter, Aurelia and spending time with her husband, Erin.
Erin Honeycutt
Erin is a Certified Purna Yoga Instructor at the 2,000 hour level. He has attended the College of Purna Yoga for his 200 hour, 500 hour and 2,000 hour teacher training courses. He also assists in the 200 hour teacher training program.
He is a senior software developer at Microsoft and understands the stresses of corporate life. Through Purna Yoga® and Heartfull® Meditation he has learned to mitigate much of the stress and create a more balanced lifestyle.
He enjoys writing and even has a published book of short stories called Allegory. He also likes to play bass guitar. He loves to spend time with his wife, Angelica, who is also a favorite instructor at Alive & Shine Center and play with his daughter, Aurelia.
Aurora is a highly qualified yoga instructor, holding certifications as both a 4,000-hour Certified Purna Yoga Instructor and a Certified Yoga Therapist by the International Association of Yoga Therapists. Her journey into yoga began after graduating magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania in 1993, where she majored in English and minored in German and Theater Arts. Introduced to yoga by Aadil Palkhivala, she considers her true education to have commenced with her yoga studies, later advancing to meditation under the guidance of Savitri in 1997 and obtaining her yoga instructor certification in 1998.
With a diverse skill set and a profound understanding of yoga, Aurora has become a respected figure in the yoga community. She has been featured as a model for Yoga Journal and has made multiple trips to India to deepen her practice. Fluent in German and known for her poetry, which reflects her spiritual journey, Aurora brings a holistic approach to teaching, offering workshops on various topics such as physical wellness, nutrition, and lifestyle practices derived from her Purna Yoga training. She finds joy in sharing the transformative power of yoga and meditation, believing them to be invaluable tools for healing and self-discovery, enriching the lives of her students with their profound teachings.
Nitika Kohli
Nitika is a 2,000 hr Certified Purna Yoga® Professional and IAYT certified Yoga Therapist. She began studying Purna Yoga® and Heartfull® Meditation in 2006 and began teaching in 2008. She is also the Studio manager at Alive & Shine® Center since 2015 after many years of working as an IT Project Manager.
She currently teaches at Alive & Shine Center and has taught yoga and meditation classes at various corporations such as Microsoft, Google, CyberArk. She loves feeling the joy and gift of life. Every class is different bringing elements of what the students in the class need.
Nitika is also a licensed massage therapist. She is trained in traditional massage, is a certified craniosacral therapist and also has a license in intraoral massage. She loves to travel and is also fluent in Hindi. She loves to learn new things and is currently learning Bollywood dancing, how to sew and trying new cooking recipes.
Marchella
Marchella Yokoyama is a certified 2,000 Purna Yoga® teacher, an E-RYT 500 and a Yoga Therapist. She began studying Purna Yoga® and Heartfull® Meditation in 2001 and began teaching in 2006.
Marchella is an instructor at Alive & Shine Center in Bellevue and has been a faculty member of the Purna Yoga College® as a Lead Instructor in the 200 hour program since 2009. Prior to teaching yoga, she became a Licensed Massage Therapist and brings her love of massage into her yoga classes through simple therapeutic techniques and gentle stretching. She has training in Swedish massage, deep tissue and reflexology.
She is on the board of the Heartfull® World Foundation that offers Heartfull® Meditation workshops to empower the underprivileged in our world with self-confidence, happiness and clarity. She also loves to travel and is fluent in Japanese.
Lynne Aebi
Lynne is a Certified Purna Yoga Ambassador at the 2,000 hr level and registered with Yoga Alliance. She has taken an additional 160 hours of specialty coursework in yoga for people with particular health conditions and is enrolled in both Savitri and Aadil’s ongoing meditation and asana classes. She has practiced yoga since 1996 and been a teacher since 2011.
“I enjoy making yoga accessible to people of any age and fitness level. I cherish those moments when a student’s eyes light up and they have an "Ah Ha" moment as a part of their body opens for the first time, a pain is relieved, or a stressed body is able to relax. Purna Yoga is a life-long journey of self-discovery, of overcoming fears and limitations we place on ourselves and of bringing love and joy into every aspect of our lives. I wake up every day thankful for its gifts of physical freedom, mental stimulation, and spiritual insights. I listen to and observe students to craft varied classes that are safe, challenging and joyful.”
Lynne has a Master’s degree in International Relations and is an athlete and former soccer coach. When she is not in a yoga studio, Lynne enjoys traveling, hiking, reading, photography and trying to keep up with her busy family of 5.
Bella Fleur
Bella has been studying Heartfull Meditation and practicing yoga since 2000, teaching Purna Yoga and Heartfull Meditation since 2006 and is a 2,000-hour certified Purna Yoga Teacher.
She was a massage therapist for 20 years and her classes are therapeutic - with a focus on anatomy, alignment, lengthening and strengthening. She specializes in yoga for the shoulders, neck, upper back and posture for pain relief, injury prevention and recovery.
Bella does marketing and content development for Alive & Shine Center, is a professional soap-maker and avid crafter.
Zofia
Zofia is a Certified Purna Yoga Instructor at the 2,000 hour level. She has been a student of yoga since 1995 and a teacher since 1998.Along with teaching regular yoga classes, Zofia also loves to cook organic foods, and likes to travel. She has a son who is now an amazing young man and is a grandmother to two darling little girls.
"I love asana and meditation because they help me work on my fears. And by working on my fears, I am able to feel more freedom in my body, mind and life."