Gary Kraftsow
About Teacher
Gary Kraftsowthe founder and director of the American Viniyoga Institute, has been a pioneer in the transmission of Yoga for health, healing, and personal transformation for more than 40 years. He began his study of Yoga in India with T.K.V. Desikachar in 1974 and received a Viniyoga Special Diploma from Viniyoga International in Paris, France, in 1988.
Gary graduated with a B.A. from Colgate University in 1976 and received his master’s degree in psychology and religion from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1983. Around that time, he opened the Maui School of Yoga Therapy, and in 1999 he founded the American Viniyoga Institute™, LLC. Since then, he has become a renowned speaker and teacher of the Viniyoga methodology at many conferences and schools nationally and internationally.
Gary has successfully developed the protocol for two National Institutes of Health studies: “Evaluating Yoga for Chronic Low Back Pain” and “Yoga Therapy for Generalized Anxiety,” as well as for the “Mind-Body Stress Reduction in the Workplace” clinical trial for the Aetna insurance company.
He is the author of two books published by Penguin, Yoga for Wellness and Yoga for Transformation, and the author of four educational DVD’s: Viniyoga Therapy for Low Back, Sacrum and Hips and Viniyoga Therapy for Upper Back, Neck and Shoulders, Viniyoga Therapy for Depression, and Viniyoga Therapy for Anxiety. He has also produced several online workshops: Pranayama Unlocked, Meditation Unlocked, Yoga Therapy for Depression, Yoga Therapy for Better Sleep, Yoga Therapy for Anxietys and Āsana Unlocked.