Nischala Joy Devi

Swami Nischala Joy Devi is an international yoga teacher and healer, respected for an innovative way of expressing Yoga and its subtle uses for spiritual growth and complete healing. Her teachings reflect a heart-centered perspective on spirituality and scripture, and she aims to let them reach beyond the boundaries of any one tradition.

She spent over 25 years as a monastic disciple of Yogiraj Sri Swami Satchidananda, receiving his direct guidance and teachings, and she also studied with Yoga masters in the US, India and elsewhere. She is now an independent Swami (Parivrajaka) dedicated to service.

Originally trained in Western medicine, she brought it together with Yoga. She developed the yoga portion of The Dean Ornish Program for Reversing Heart Disease and co-founded the Commonweal Cancer Help Program. Drawing on her work with people facing heart disease and cancer, she created Yoga of the Heart, a training and certification program for yoga teachers and health professionals. She also created Healing Relationships, a training for yoga therapists, and serves on the Advisory Council of the International Association of Yoga Therapists.

She is the author of The Healing Path of Yoga (2000), The Secret Power of Yoga: A Woman's Guide to the Heart and Spirit of the Yoga Sutras (2007) and The Namaste Effect (2019). The audiobook of The Secret Power of Yoga won a Nautilus Book Silver Award in 2009. She is dedicated to bringing the Feminine back into spirituality and the scriptures, and she co-hosts the podcast A Woman's Gita with Kamala Rose. Her teaching and writing are shared through Abundant Wellbeing, a non-profit spiritual organization.