Navtej Johar is a yoga exponent whose practice and teaching are both enriched by his training and experiences as a renowned Bharatanatyam dancer. A student of the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram (KYM), Chennai, Johar is a KHYF (Krishnamacharya Healing and Yoga Foundation) certified teacher. He has been teaching yoga since 1985 in both India and the USA. Firmly grounded in the tradition of Sri Krishnamacharya and Sri Desikachar, Navtej's yoga focuses on the breath, mind as much as on the physical posture. For him, yoga is a holistic practice that conjoins the body, breath and mind to enhance physical, mental and spiritual well-being. With no reference to or association with any religious belief, Navtej's work seeks to lead to an experience of calming and engaging the mind positively. His work is fluid and freely adapts the yoga asanas with pranayam, Vedic chanting, sound and imagery, to bring about a sense of calm and inner quiet. As many a student has discovered, this quietude is a space of meditation or prayer — a space that allows the mind to rise above the "noise" and connect to the self.

Navtej founded Studio Abhyas in New Delhi in 2001. A serene place in the bustling capital, the Studio attracts diverse professionals, housewives, senior citizens and children. In keeping with the tradition of KYM, the Studio has resisted being labeled as a place for any "form" of yoga, and as such blends beautifully into the lives of its members from varied backgrounds and beliefs. The Studio offers general and intensive yoga group classes, yoga therapy, Vedic chanting and runs a Yoga Sutra study group. As part of its outreach programs it offers workshops in schools, colleges and other institutions. Since last year, the Studio has begun offering yoga retreats in the Himalayas, taking its work to places of amazing energy and heightened experience.

 

Monica Chand received her training in the Krishnamacharya tradition of yoga under Navtej Johar at Studio Abhyas and also trained in Yoga Therapy from the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram, Chennai. She is also trained in Hatha Yoga and is a certified Pranic Healer. She has been training and teaching for the past 8 years and now teaches Yoga for Children, Advanced Yoga for Adults, Pre and Post Natal Yoga and is consultant for Yoga Therapy at Studio Abhyas. Monica's classes are challenging and invigorating and involve detailed work on the body, breath and mind. In her experience, the emphasis on breath while doing the asanas; and the precise combination of breath, movement and sound can give the practitioner an experience which is both physical as well as spiritual, and can be truly transformative!

Sunaina Mathur
Sunaina came to Studio Abhyas in 2004, looking for a physical practice for aches, and a body much in need of a systematic regime. She found a remarkable response in Yoga, coming from not just the ease and flow she felt physically, but from the calming and meditative quality it brought both during the practice and beyond.

With a background as a clinical hypno-therapist and a counselor, Sunaina works with several alternate therapies, and has integrated Yoga and Pranayam into her therapy practice and personal lifestyle. She firmly believes that the first step for overall well being begins with the breath and the body; and that a regular Yoga practice largely reduces the need for other interventions.
Sunaina has recently started taking Yoga classes at the Studio. Her focus is on the experience of both the physical and meditative aspects of the practice, that she herself finds the most impressive benefit of this form of body work over several others.

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