Symphony of Yoga - Program Experts

Dr. Amala Guha
Dr.Amala Guha, Assistant Professor of Medicine and the Program Director, CASC (Complementary and Alternative Supportive Care), at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. Specializing in Cancer Immunology, Dr. Guha regularly delivers lectures in Ayurvedic Medicine. She has also been a reviewer for the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, a branch of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She is also the Editor-in-Chief for the journal "Elements".

At the Symphony of Yoga 2009, Dr Amala will focus on Cancer Immunology through Ayurveda, Yoga and the importance of diet in well being.
Dr. Srinivas Gunukula
Srini currently practices interventional cardiology at Dallas Regional Medical Center and The Heart Hospital Baylor Plano. He is also the director of Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory at Dallas Regional Medical Center and also going to serve as Chief of Medical Staff for 2009 at the Dallas Regional Medical Center. Srini is a regular speaker, writer and radio host on many issues related to health and wellness being. He is passionate about his work and hosts a weekly radio show "The Doctor Is In" on radio salaam Namaste (104.9 FM). He is also active member of Texas Indo American Physician society. He Serves as a board of director in non-profit charitable organization IAEO (Indo American Eye Care Organization).. He is also serving as a chair of Observer ship program (Dallas Chapter of American Association of physicians of Indian Origin). Srini has a fellowship in critical care medicine from Miriam Hospital/Brown University, Rhode Island. He also has a fellowship in cardiology and interventional cardiology at St.Vincent Hospital/University of Massachusetts.

At the Symphony of Yoga 2009, Dr Srinivas will focus on preventing Heart problems and managing Heart related problems through Yoga and will also moderate the panel discussions.
Dr. David Frawley
Dr. David Frawley is the author of over thirty books and several training programs in the fields of Yoga, Ayurveda and Vedic astrology, which have been developed over the last twenty five years. His work aims at promoting higher education in the Vedic sciences, showing their roots in Veda and Vedanta, taking an integrated approach with different Vedic disciplines. Dr David Frawley is the director of the American Institute of Vedic Studies in Santa Fe, New Mexico, which is affiliated with many Vedic organizations worldwide. He travels and teaches in North America, South America, Europe and India.

At the Symphony of Yoga 2009, Dr David will focus on Anger Management, Stress management and achieving internal peace through Yoga and Meditation.
Yogini Kaliji
Kali Ray (Swamini Kaliji) is internationally renowned as a yogini and founder of TriYoga®. She has taught on a daily basis for over 30 years, traveling extensively to share TriYoga. Featured in many magazines and other media, she has presented 30 keynote addresses at yoga conferences and other venues worldwide. She is viewed daily by millions on Chinese television. Kaliji was featured in the book Secrets of the World's Inspirational Women, with portraits of the women in the National Portrait Gallery in London.
Guided since 1980 by kriyavati siddhi (kundalini-inspired hatha yoga), Kaliji has systematized asana and pranayama, and over 1000 hasta mudras have expressed through her. TriYoga, which includes the full range of yoga practices, is taught in more than 30 countries by over 500 certified teachers, and 30 TriYoga Centers have been established. Kaliji's presence and the ageless wisdom inherent in TriYoga have inspired countless people worldwide.

At the Symphony of Yoga 2009, Kaliji will speak on yoga sadhana relating to health of the body/mind.
Dr. Indranill Basu Ray
Dr. Indranill Basu Ray is a trained Cardiologist and Electro physiologist. He is the Director of The Centre for Research in Invasive Cardiac Electrophysiology Research and also a practicing physician and was also a full time faculty at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School. Dr Basu Ray's has had a brilliant career in medicine winning a number of awards and laurels. He has been called to deliver talks on his research in various parts of the world particularly at major universities in the US and Europe. His research interest spans one commonest arrhythmia and the other the largest killer in the planet. Atrial Fibrillation is one of largest epidemic affecting the population of this country today. Sudden Cardiac Death with other forms of cardiovascular mortality being the largest cause of death in this country. He has made significant contributions to the field of Cardiology and invasive electrophysiology at both the level of theory and application. He has helped to develop some of the newer techniques of Atrial Fibrillation ablation. He has contributed many invited reviews on this topic that has conducted lectures and workshop the world over. He is also in the editorial board of a number of these journals. Dr Basu Ray's interest spans both on the frontiers of western medicine and integration of Meditation, Ayurveda and Vedanta Philosophy for the prevention and treatment of diseases. Dr. Indranill had a brilliant track record and academic credentials with specialty and super specialty training in Medicine and Cardiology respectively from the St Michaels Hospital, University of Toronto, Canada.. Further he received training in interventional electrophysiology research at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School.

At the Symphony of Yoga 2009, Dr Indranill will focus on managing Heart diseases, cancer and other critical elements through Yoga and Meditation.
Dr. Sudha Rajan
Dr. Sudha Rajan has practiced family medicine in Houston since 1983.. Dr. Rajan is active in the Baylor and UTMB medical student training program, where first year medical students spend time working with the physician in real-time clinical practice. Her practice philosophy isto treat the patient as a whole and to include, when advisable, the use of scientific alternative medicine. She is a firm believer in inner healing and helps her patients draw upon their inner resourcesto promote their well-being. Dr. Rajan is the president of VYASA, a yoga research organization that studies the effects of yoga on wellness and illness. Dr. Rajan received her medical degree from Bangalore Medical College (India) with top honors and was awarded the Gold Medal in Physiology. She completed one year of pediatric internship at the District ofColumbia General Hospital, followed by a three-year family practice residency at the University of Maryland Hospital. Dr. Rajan is board-certified by the American Board of Family Practice and is amember of the American Academy of Family Physicians. She was awarded the Texas Gulf Coast Medical Group Doctor of the Year award in 2002

At the Symphony of Yoga 2009, Dr Sudha will focus on wellness, stress and managing Diabetes through Yoga and meditation. She will also focus on the scientific aspects of alternative medicine.
Dr. Sheela Chokshi
Sheela Chokshi, M.D., an internal medicine physician, is the physician leader of the Integrative Medicine Program at Tampa General Hospital. She completed an Integrative Medicine Fellowship at the University of Arizona, and a Medical Acupuncture for Physicians Program at Stanford University in California. Her background allows her to combine the science of medicine and technology with the philosophy of the mind-body approach to self-care, self-healing and well-being. Over the past five years, her program at Tampa General Hospital has grown significantly, providing Integrative Medicine care to Cardiac and Lung Transplant patients, Trauma, Burn and Post-Surgery Patients, Patients recovering in Rehabilitation Unit as well as Pediatric patients.

At the Symphony of Yoga 2009, Dr Sheela ill focus on mental disorders, wellness, self healing for fatal diseases through Yoga and meditation. She will also focus on the scientific aspects of alternative medicine.
Dr. Saurabh Chokshi
Dr Saurabh Chokshi is a practicing Interventional Cardiologist and Electro physiologist at Tampa General Hospital in Tampa Bay Area. He has been serving as the Director of Cardiac Catheterization laboratory of Tampa General Hospital and as Clinical Assistant Professor of University of South Florida (USF) He has published more than 75 papers in peer reviewed journals and book chapters. He has earned a MBA degree from USF He has been involved in teaching nurses, medical students, residents, fellows and colleague physicians on a routine basis. He propagates his passion of holistic approach to health throughout Tampa Bay area and across the continent. He has extensively researched the role of music in health and healing.

At the Symphony of Yoga 2009, Dr Saurabh will focus on the role of music for health and healing and in managing heart diseases.
Dr. Miguel Rivera
Dr. Rivera is Medical Director of Mental Health and Well-Being at 9 assisted living and long term care facilities in Sarasota, FL. For the last 7 years he has been dedicated full time to the care of residents in these unique settings where the patient population ranges from the early twenties to the early one hundreds. Dr. Rivera initiated the use of "Calming Rooms" in his facilities, where modalities like music, aromatherapy, color, and massage are used to improve mood and anxiety symptoms and to reduce agitation, resulting in less prescription drug use. Dr. Rivera offers education on medication awareness, in particular medications that affect memory and behavior. He also shares on the importance of yoga lifestyle choices and how these affect the way that we think, feel, behave, and remember. Dr. Rivera is a native of Puerto Rico, where he lived until moving to the US in 1985. In 1997 he graduated from the University of Missouri School of Medicine in Columbia, and in 2001 graduated from Psychiatric Residency Training at the University of South Florida in Tampa.

At the Symphony of Yoga 2009, Dr. Rivera will focus on Alzheimer's Disease.
Dr. Todd Pesek
Raised in the hills of Appalachia in rural Pennsylvania, Dr. Todd Pesek, M.D. embraced his calling of herbal healing and holistic health and wellness from an early age. His passion and purpose began with childhood rambles in those very woods, gathering comfort and learning truths from his elders and from nature, and have blossomed into extensive global studies with traditional healers. So inspired, Todd has dedicated his life to the pursuit of keeping people healthy by an immersion into the healing plants and practices of his own Appalachian tradition, as well as those traditions of other cultures. Dr.Pesek's work sheds light on deep healing traditions, how they have long helped us maintain personal health and wellness, and, most importantly, how they can help us stay healthy and filled with vitality now. Todd received his M.D. from the Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health and the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Pesek is a Health Sciences Professor at Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio where he serves as Director of the Center for Healing Across Cultures, which he founded to facilitate global health and wellness by learning from generations of tradition.

At the Symphony of Yoga, Dr Todd will focus health and wellness being, deep healing , stress, work life balance.
Mr. Rama Rao
Mr. Rao is a Yoga therapist at the Memorial Herman Hospital, Houston and an international coordinator of Vivekananda Yoga Anusadahana. Mr Rao conducts Therapeutic yoga Classes at Memorial Herman Hospital, Houston since 1999 and has taught over 500 patients of all ailments such as Arthritis, Hypertension, Asthma, GID and Back pain. Mr Rao conducted several training programs at various institutions such as MD ANDERSON CANCER CENTER as well as MEMORIAL HERMANN SOUTH EAST AUXILIARY HOSPITAL in respect of Cancer, Bipolar Disorders, Asthma and Psoriasis, Pain Management. Over the last few years he received several accolades and recognitions for his profound work on Yoga such as Houston Press– Best of Houston - Vintage 2005. Houston Chronicle's Unsung Hero Recognition. 2007.

At the Symphony of Yoga, Mr. Rama Rao will focus on the practical aspects of Yoga, Meditation , postures and healing
Mrs. Meera Rama Rao
Mrs. Meera Rao is a Yoga therapist, at Swamy Vivekananda Yoga Anusandha Samsthana Houston Center Offering Yoga Therapy to Patients with Stress related Psychosomatic Ailments. She is also a Yoga Therapist at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Offering Yoga Therapy to Breast Cancer Patients, under the guidance of Dr Lorenzo Cohen PhD. In 2005 , MD Anderson Cancer center in Houston has entered into a strategic alliance with the Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana (SVYASA Research Foundation), in Bangalore, India, to study the benefits of Hatha yoga for people with cancer. They are the largest yoga therapy research Health Home Arogyadhama in India. The foundation has published 45 research papers on yoga therapy and other yoga applications, trained nearly 3,500 yoga teachers and reached 20 countries with collaborative research projects in the United Kingdom and the United States. Mrs Meera Rao is engaged in Teaching Special Techniques of Yoga Meditation, Pranayama, and Simple Yogic Postures, and Guided imaginary Relaxation. She is incorporating yoga into the treatment plan for women with breast cancer undergoing radiation treatment. In a related line of research, she hopes to utilize brain-imaging technology to identify the cancerous areas.

At Symphony of Yoga, Mrs Meera Rama Rao will focus on the practical aspects of Yoga in alleviating cancer, health disorders in women and general wellness being.
Dr. Dheepa Rajan
Dheepa Rajan is a physician working for World Health Organization headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. After receiving her degree in both alternative and allopathic medicine from the University of Goettingen Medical School in Germany, she began working in international medicine and public health. She did her PhD research on yoga as a complementary therapy for type 2 diabetic patients in Bangalore, India at the Vivekananda Kendra Yoga Research Foundation. She attempts to combine her interests in public health and alternative medicine in her current WHO role working with Ministries of Health in Africa and Asia.

At Symphony of Yoga, Dr Dheepa Rajan will focus on the practical aspects of Yoga in alleviating Diabetes.
Margaret Stockley, R.N.
Margaret Stockley trained as a Registered Nurse in Scotland with a background in orthopedics, pediatrics and respiratory care. She also focused on the care of children from birth through age seven with physical or emotional problems. She has worked in general hospitals and health centers, specializing in respiratory care and asthma management. She assisted in setting up asthma clinics, training nurses, and using educational materials for asthmatics. She has also assisted in a nationwide asthma research study and liaised with FHSA Medical and Pharmaceutical Advisors on the preparation of educational materials and newsletters on drug abuse.
Margaret is a TriYoga teacher, and freelance writer. She has written for magazines on subjects such as health, yoga, and spirituality and contributed to a multi-reference encyclopedia for use by nurses and allied health professionals, writing articles on disease, biology, professional issues, and procedures. The articles involved research on causes and symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, health care team roles, prevention, and resources.

At the Symphony of Yoga 2009, Margaret will focus on the therapeutic effects of music and sound.