#85 – Keen on Yoga Podcast with Tara Mitra

Tara has been a dedicated practitioner of yoga for over 18 years. She has been blessed to practice with some of the most dedicated ashtanga teachers in the world. Studying with Johnny Smith, Tim Miller (completing both his primary and intermediate series trainings), R. Sharath Jois & R. Saraswathi Jois. She has apprenticed with only certified teachers (6 years) with R. Saraswathi Jois for 4 of those years in her very busy Mysore shala where she assisted up to 200 students a month for nine months of the year. Tara has a special bond with Saraswathiji and is one of the few students authorised by her to teach.  Tara is also a Certified Yoga Therapist in the tradition of T. Krishnamacharya & his son T.K.V. Desikachar in Chennai, India. Her interest in yoga therapy is a focus to help heal others from injury and imbalances within the body. She has helped many students learn to understand their bodies while bringing back health and stability through yoga therapy, diet and lifestyle changes.  She has studied Pranayama with Sri O.P. Tiwari, Philosophy with Prof. Nagaraja Rao and Vedic chanting with Dr. Vigneshwar Bhat and Madhavi Kotha in the lineage of T. Krishnamacharya.  Tara has been studying ritual, chanting and Vedic chanting for the last 7.5 years and is a long time Vipassana Meditator. Both R. Saraswathi Jois, Saraswathi Vasudevan & Vigneshwar Bhat have given her blessings to share the teachings as taught to her through parampara.  Other interests Tara’s curiosity for understanding the mind and body led her to study psychology (since 1993) and nutrition (since 1999).  She is a trained Chef, has worked with many healing modalities, and has recently spent 5 years living in Mysore, India in order to seek and learn pure knowledge directly from the source and continues to visits India every 6 months to be with her teachers. Tara has also studied classical Carnatic music with two of Mysore’s greatest teachers and she has and continues to study Ayurveda with Dr. R. Padmini. Tara believes that to be a good teacher one needs to be a good student. Therefore, she continually expands her knowledge on the subjects of yoga, health, nutrition and healing through sound and other methods. She teaches in a traditional yet playful manner incorporating the teachings of her teachers. Tara now lives in Sicily with her husband Dr. Rob Lamport of @morethananatomy  You can find Tara on Instagram @taramitrayoga and on her website.