TYS Sevites

Traditional Yoga Society

Traditional Yoga Society and Shakti and Bhakti come from a living tradition over 5,000 years old. We adhere to the classical approaches to yoga and are very much believers in selfless service. It was ubiquitous to hear Swamiji tell his students, "I want you to be happy." It doesn't take long to examine Swamiji's life to see he was a genuinely content and happy person. Swamiji had dedicated his entire life to selfless service. Therefore, when listening to him lecture, reading one of his books, or talking with his students, one can quickly deduce that his happiness came from serving selflessly. To serve selflessly, one must know one's Self, which comes from constant practice. At TYS and Shakti and Bhakti are committed to our practice both individually and as a group. You will find us chanting, meditating, singing, studying scriptures, practicing asana and pranayama, cleaning, working on the mandir grounds, and eating together. We strive to take our practices seriously and grease all of our actions with love knowing that we are here to serve the sages of our tradition by serving all beings.

As our closing prayer says,

  • Let me Cherish those that God Cherishes

  • Let me forgive those that God forgives.

  • Let me Serve those that God Serves.

  • Let me love those that God loves.

With this in mind, we consider ourselves Sevites which means we practice seva yoga—the yoga of selfless service. Everyone you see teaching, singing, cleaning, and working on the technology is doing it out of love and dedication to making themselves better humans. No one on the TYS or Shakti and Bhakti "staff " receives payment; we are here to serve Swamiji, the sages of the tradition, and all beings.

As you peruse the sevite pages, read the biographies of this committed group of aspiring yogis and yoginis. And if you have any desire to serve or volunteer, reach out to us. We always have jobs that need attention.

Selfless Service Opportunities

Organize Yearly Service Events

Are you an organized person who loves to plan events and gatherings but would like the events you plan to have more meaning and purpose? If you answered yes, then TYS has the perfect service opportunity. Each year, we plan events for the TYS community and the community. Some of these events include our nine-day Navaratri celebration, rededication week, Mother's Day celebration for mothers who have lost their children, making bags for the homeless, and many other events throughout the year. Through volunteers like you, TYS succeeds because your role as a volunteer is crucial in making our events a success.

Organize Seva Days

TYS adheres to seva for others and is a steward of the land. That means we plan regular service days at TYS and on the land in Kentucky. This involves clearing the land, making trails, pollinator gardens, and contemplation areas for spiritual aspirants. All sevites will be fed and watered.

Organize Fundraiser Campaigns

TYS is very active in the service arena, helping local non-profits with their work—after all, yoga says to clean up your own backyard first—and fundraising for campaigns that are near and dear to our hearts. Some of these fundraising campaigns include raising money for animal sanctuaries, shoes for the shoeless, adopting an inmate, and restoring the land in Kentucky to make it a place for healing for anyone who wants to go there.

Website and Social Media

Are you tech-savvy and passionate about our cause? We're looking for volunteers to manage our website and social media pages. This role is crucial in spreading awareness about our events and campaigns, and we'd love to have your skills on board.

Ranjani

Ranjani Powers knew that it was her dharma to teach for as long as she can remember. She just didn't think it was to teach yoga until yoga found her again in 1998. Since then, she has been studying and sharing yoga. In 1998 Ranjani left her teaching position to live and study yoga with Sri Swami Satchidananda at his ashram in central Virginia. During this time, she received her name (Ranjani, which means who is full of joy and brings joy to others) and the blessings of Sri Swami Satchidananda to share and instruct yoga. Since then, she has continually sought out the company of bona fide yoga masters to deepen her knowledge and practice of yoga. Ranjani considers herself to be an eternal student of yoga. Anything good from her comes from her teacher Sri Swami Rama of the Himalayas, and anything less is from her lower self. Ranjani is dedicated entirely to yoga as she has witnessed its effect on her daily life, and it has only been by her practice and the grace of her teacher that she has made it this far in life. Ranjani has had the karma to live in many places in this lifetime, and as a result, she has had the opportunity to teach, train, and inspire many yoga teachers and yoga students. She has taught over 10,000 yoga classes all over the United States of America and abroad. Ranjani fondly remembers Sri Swami Rama of the Himalayas, who took her flying through the multiverse and appeared to her in dreams since she was a child guiding her life. She owes everything to him, including the greatest worldly gift Swamiji has ever given her, her husband, Riley. They live in Dayton, O, where they practice yoga and kirtan together and raise their three four-legged boys (Rishi, Rumi, and Ravi).

Riley

Riley was born and raised in the great state of Ohio and has lived in Florida, Texas, and Margarita Island (a small island off the coast of Venezuela) but made it back to Dayton, Ohio. Many try to leave Dayton, but Dayton has a way of bringing her kids back. Riley feels that TYS has created its blue zone (a region where people live longer lives due to eating whole foods (as much local as possible), physical activity, low stress (TYS is all about meditation), and social interactions (we spend loads of time together). Riley not only directs the kirtan band Shakti & Bhakti but is the resident chef for our seva dinners and our vegan pop-ups; you need to try his pongol. Riley's biggest job is the way he supports and loves Ranjani on this journey. Riley's story is interesting because it shows how yoga came into his life (when it was out of control) and changed it in ways that he didn't realize were possible at the time. Besides yoga and his practice, Riley loves music, supporting animal rescues (they are sentient beings), and prison reform (prisoners are sentient beings, too!).

Eddie

Eddie was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio, but his career has taken him to Nashville for the last decade, but that does not keep him from being active in the Traditional Yoga Society. He drives back from Nashville for every kirtan to help set up, run the slide show, and tear down. Ed is an animal lover; every dog he has owned has been rescued, and he has even had a few follow him home from walks that made it to their forever home. They could feel his love and knew if they made it home, they had made it home! Ed loves to ride his bike and rides in Tour de Donut and Tour de Nash yearly. Ed enjoys music; you can find him singing on all the Shakti & Bhakti recordings. If you ever visit the ashram, look at all the rock gardens; the rocks are from Ed. Ed is also the grill chef and gladly stands in the heat; rain, it doesn't matter the weather, to grill us some delicious vegan burgers with grilled peppers and onions on the side.

We look forward to him returning to Dayton as soon as he retires.

Linda

Linda hails from Hawai, lived in Asia for several years, and had many spiritual experiences that would ultimately lead her to yoga. Linda started her yoga practice in this lifetime in 2016 when fate brought Ranjani to Linda after a long thoracic nerve injury where Linda shared her physical therapy skills (she is, after all, a physical therapist) with Ranjani. She has been a faithful and devoted student of this living tradition since the first day she walked into class. Linda completed the 200-hour yoga teacher training in 2016 under the guidance of Ranjani. Linda freely shares her knowledge of anatomy with her fellow TYS family by teaching anatomy for the teacher training program. She is a master at kinesiology tape and can often be seen taping Someone before or after class. Linda lives in Beavercreek with her husband Jay (don't tell him we said anything, but he happens to be one of the funniest men around), her two amazing sons, and her ever so sweet four-legged boy named Koa (Koa means the valiant one). Linda says she will be forever grateful for the blessings of the continued teachings and honored to be able to share them with others. 

Lisa

Lisa was born and raised in Tipp City, Ohio, and lived in Florida, but she moved back to Dayton after Hurricane Irma hit. Her two cats (Cleo & Callie) and many others were forced to evacuate, so she loaded her car and her babies and drove from Florida to Dayton. Dayton has a way of bringing her children back home! It is quite the story. Ask her sometime. If you are ever looking for a fun meetup group to join, Lisa runs the Dayton Vegan Meetup. She has a wealth of knowledge on veganism and Canva. She designs TYS flyers and keeps TYS busy joining meetups with Dayton Vegan Meetup. She is a physical therapist daily and brings this knowledge to her classes. When Lisa is not on the mat practicing yoga, she shares her advertising and design talents with TYS, organizes vegan meetups, plays in the percussion section, and sings in Shakti & Bhakti.

Alex

Alex was born and raised in Fukuyama City, Japan; he speaks fluent Japanese and currently lives in Dayton, Ohio. Alex describes his interest in TYS as one that focuses on a complete approach.TYS looks at life on a reductionist and holistic basis, which is crucial to go beyond our conscious level. For example, it is not just yoga as in the physical component; it also focuses on the environmental impacts, working with charities, doing inner work and mental health-related, promoting veganism regarding health and ethics, and chanting Shakti & Bhakti to spread the message of awareness and love. All of these caught Alex's interest and motivated him to serve TYS and elevate humanity for the better. Alex decided to try yoga because he had heard that it is one of the healthiest and most effective ways to work on personal development and inner transformation, so he gave it a go and realized it aligns with who he is. Now, he is the foreman of our recycling and composting department. Alex is very concerned with how his actions impact the environment. He has gone vegan, riding his bike instead of driving, recycling, or composting everything he can. Alex loves to work on his art projects, mechanics, cycling, personal development, and contemplation. When we asked Alex about his favorite TYS memories, he said, "TYS people have funny behavior and are often unpredictable. You just don't know what's going to happen next, lol. Vegan potluck was also great!" We love having Alex around. He has become an integral part of our community with his sense of humor and work ethic.

Kali

Kali was first introduced to yoga in PE class during her first year of high school. She enjoyed the asana practice, but it was not until years later that she learned there was so much more to yoga than just the asanas, and that came many years later when she walked into Yoga XTC (the precursor to Traditional Yoga Society). Kali's first class at Yoga XTC brought tears to her eyes, and Kali knew that she had discovered what had been missing in her life: yoga. Kali has been practicing yoga for seven years now. Kali sings in Shakti and Bhakti as well as in the percussion section, manages the social media pages, and works in the ashram gardens. Kali has completed two teacher training courses at TYS, developed a personal practice, and nurtured a deep love and respect for the tradition. Kali aspires to grow her practice and use it as a tool for change for herself. Kali feels the desire to share the yoga practice and lovingly serve the Traditional Yoga Society and the tradition.