Contact us
Ahimsadhara
Region: TAS Metro/City
Suburb: South Hobart
Phone: 0474 321 784
Website: www.shyam.net.au
South Hobart Yoga & Meditation (SHYAM) founder, Helen Cushing, also known as Swami Ahimsadhara, is an internationally renowned yoga teacher and presenter, including in yoga for trauma recovery. Ahimsa's vision is for SHYAM to respond to offer traditional, holistic yoga to meet the needs of the local community. To do this, she has brought together a team of highly trained teachers with a range of skills, interests and personalities. You can find out about them on the SHYAM teachers page.
Ahimsa has practised yoga for most of her life and has been teaching since 2003. For many years she was manager of the Hobart Yoga & Meditation Centre, a busy yoga hub providing a wide range of classes, workshops and retreats. From 2011-13 Ahimsa spent most of her time living at Bihar School of Yoga, India. When she returned she foundedLife Beyond Trauma and SHYAM.
Yoga for PTSD
For more than a decade Ahimsa has taught yoga to war veterans, refugees and others with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety and depression. She has consulted to a Colombian study on yoga for PTSD and and gives presentations, workshops and retreats on this topic around the world.
In 2014 Ahimsa produced an award-winning documentary, Heroes of Peace, about the experiences of veterans involved in the yoga program she teaches. View it at the Life Beyond Trauma website.
Her unique book, Hope: How Yoga Heals the Scars of Trauma offers holistic solutions to post-trauma suffering, showing how yoga heals the nervous system and gives skills for managing the mind and emotions.
Author
Prior to teaching yoga Ahimsa worked in the media, including in publishing and with ABC TV. Her interest in writing led her to write articles and books on yoga, including for Australian Yoga Life, Yoga Magazine and elsewhere. During several years as a resident of Bihar School of Yoga (BSY) in India, Ahimsa worked in the publishing division, editing an extensive range of books and contributing as an author under the direct supervision of the head of BSY, Swami Niranjanananda. She continues to write about the benefits of yoga for spiritual living and for specialised applications.
Touring and teaching
Ahimsa has instructed on yogic studies and yoga teacher training courses Australia and India.
Internationally she has taught a variety of yoga programs in India, Singapore, UK, Europe and Colombia.
Yoga Books by Ahimsa
Yoga Day by Day: A Guide to Holistic Practices for Healthy Living
Hope: How Yoga Heals the Scars of Trauma
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