People working with the Life Foundation UK

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Ganga Marvin

Senior tutor for the Teacher Training Courses, touring extensively through Britain, Europe and India and currently Administrator for the Welsh Teacher Training Course.

In 1981 I was very affected by a non-accidental injury film about family violence and did a long distance sponsored walk to help finance the NSPCC. Previously, I had been a legal secretary and witnessed the emotional unheaval of families breaking up through divorce proceedings. Having two children of my own, I decided to work with yoga so that I could teach stress management and relaxation to parents. I signed up for the first Dru Yoga course in the Midlands and have been teaching Dru Yoga ever since. As walks organiser for the Life Foundation I have been involved in many walking tours and peace projects.

In the field of Dru Yoga I have developed a special interest in energy block release, pranayama and meditation, and have furthered my understanding of natural healing through therapies, supplements and many other methods. During 25 years of personal transformation through yoga I have witnessed the amazing effect of yoga on thousands of people, especially in my 20 years with the Life Foundation.

Padma McIntyre

International yoga and health lecturer with the International School of Dru Yoga

I began my career expressing my passion for cultivating health awareness and a love for movement by teaching Physical Education and Creative Dance for seven years. Feeling the need to make a greater impact on people’s health and well-being I later trained in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shiatsu and Dru Yoga, all of which I now integrate into my practice as a health and well-being practitioner.

I currently work as part of a team to develop and teach undergraduate and post graduate teacher training programmes in Dru Yoga and Meditation.

I have been always been enthusiastic about maintaining a high level of personal health and encouraging others in this too. All my courses and workshops furnish people with practical tools for attaining optimal health and vitality. Teaching Dru Yoga is my perfect solution for achieving all of this.

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Peter Noordemeer

Shiatsu and Dru Therapist, buildings manager

My background includes many years in the building trade, as well as many years in the personal development world.

A real turning point for me was when I ate the first meal during the my first seminar with my Japanese Shiatsu teacher. It was the nicest meal I had ever eaten in my life and when I went to the kitchen to ask for the recipe they said it was not possible to give me the recipies because they were based on a way of living. So i decided then and there to also study macrobiotics at the same time as Shiatsu.

When you put diesel fuel in a petrol car it will run not very well! Similarly, when you put cola or junkfood in a body it will react in the way the food is made.

I am fascinated with how people respond to their environment, their food and the kind of thoughts they have. Since joining the Life team in 2001, I have found many arenas to explore this in! I often support courses and conferences in the UK and on the Continent as a therapist, and I’m also works manager for some of our buildings. Both these roles give me endless contact with our course participants, and the opportunity to make many and varied friendships.

Petie Opsteeg

Senior tutor on the Dru Yoga teacher training course, financial controller, Dru Yoga teacher trainer, singer and sound workshop leader, lawyer.

I first encountered Dru Yoga 12 years ago, through a friend who suggested it might work well for me.

A major turning point happened the day I was advising some clients about a legal problem they were having. Although I could tell them that their legal position was very strong, the news didn’t seem to take the weight of worry off their shoulders; in fact they were still as upset when they left my office as they were when they had come in. Had I really helped them? In that moment I knew, that I could actually help people more deeply by teaching them Dru Yoga, than I could as a lawyer. I enrolled on the Teacher Training course – and now a Dru Yoga Teacher Trainer and still teaching various yoga classes locally, I continue to see and enjoy the power of Dru Yoga being effective for each of our students.

When I’m not teaching yoga, I manage the Life Foundation’s daily financial accounts – all those years of study and training have come in very handy, as you can imagine! Those who know me will tell you that another of my passions has been leading group singing and chanting sessions, which I have been doing for 15 years now. This year, I’ll be giving yoga and chanting workshops on tour around the UK.

Evi Op de Beeck, MD

Finance Manager, course tutor for Anatomy and Physiology modules

I first experienced Dru Yoga a few months before I graduated in medicine at the University of Antwerp in Belgium.
I was so impressed with the mental, emotional and physical benefits of this form of yoga, that I decided to pursue this further instead of taking up the specialisation place I was offered.

Besides my finance work, I teach Dru Yoga, as well as Anatomy and Physiology on the Dru Yoga Teacher Training Course. I love teaching people tools they can use to transform themselves, as well as giving them an understanding of how it works.

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Mansukh Patel

Co-founder of the Life Foundation, Author and International Speaker

A self-help approach to living is embedded in my heritage and for as long as I can remember I have wanted nothing more than to establish ways to help people feel empowered to express their own strengths. At the University of Bangor I teamed up with my friends John Jones, Chris Barrington, Annie Jones and Rita Goswami and began to develop ways to make this possible, under the guidance of my parents.

After gaining my doctorate in cancer toxicology we began teaching in classes and then in seminars around the UK, until in 1987 we were able to run our first teacher training course. Today we have many hundreds of teachers worldwide, and during this time, my colleagues and I have criss-crossed the globe taking these methods into most of the world’s cultures, and notably into conflict zones in Bosnia, the North Caucasus, Northern Ireland and in Africa.

As Dru Yoga became firmly established with so many highly skilled and accomplished teachers throughout the world, I have had the privilege of being involved with projects such as the World Peace Flame and peace walks throughout Europe. A peak experience has to be participating in the World Peace Flame Pathway in The Hague, NL, where distinguished representatives from 197 countries and regions came together in a combined demonstration of our common vision for unity and peace.

Joshna Patel

Co-manages Life Foundation activities in the Midlands, including yoga courses, post-graduate trainings, meditation, stress management, personal development courses, personal mentoring.

I have worked as a Staff Nurse with the elderly and with children, and enjoy working with clients for personal mentoring and teaching yoga to young people with special needs. I also teach seminars and weekend workshops on themes like stress management, women’s health, relaxation, yoga, communication and nutrition.

Over the years I have taught seminars in many parts of UK, Scotland, Ireland and India and have managed a health food shop for several years. I enjoy many sports including swimming, walking, cycling and badminton, and play various musical instruments such as the guitar, flute, tablas and tampura. I also enjoy promoting a vegetarian diet for healthy living, particularly in seminars that draw on my mother’s indigenous wisdom to bring alive the rich tradition of Indian cookery.

Russell Roberts

Sound engineer and recording production manager for the Life Foundation. Runs own recoding company and produces professional and broadcast quality CDs and DVD music, mixing products in North Wales and The Netherlands. Offers mobile recording and event sound production for talks, conferences, bands and solo singers.

I worked for the BBC and in 1990 joined the Life Foundation to fulfil my aspiration to help the world become a better place – more peaceful and friendly, my way of helping the starving and war trodden. I love meditation, yoga and being in the mountains (top to bottom!) and my vegetarian lifestyle. In addition, I like to specialise in recording Indian ragas and bhajans, as a variety from the many other wonderful products and events I create sound for.

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Sheila Roberts

Assists with course administration and educational projects.

I live in Caernarfon with my Welsh husband, and our two grown-up children live nearby.

Until retiring recently was working as a teacher for the Local Education Authority. My job, which involved helping children with special needs who were not able to attend school, was very enjoyable and rewarding. At the same time I have been working on various Life projects, most prominently the World Peace Flame (WPF) initiative. My dream is eventually to see educational initiatives like this established across the globe. I truly believe that every individual can make a difference, and that many small acts of care and kindness add up to big changes for the better on a global scale.

It was especially exciting some years ago to see local villages linked by walks on which the WPF was carried across the mountains and valleys. On one of these walks my husband was stopped by some puzzled hikers who wanted to know what on earth he was doing carrying a lighted miners’ lamp above ground and in broad daylight! They were very interested and inspired to hear that the little lamp was carrying a Flame of Peace.

Elizabeth Rowan

Dru Yoga Teacher Trainer currently supervising Scottish and Post Graduate activities. Trained Nurse, specializing in Oncology, as well as Health Educator with children aged 5-16 years

When working as a trained nurse I began to explore the relationship between orthodox and complementary medicine. This journey lead me to discover the physical, mental, and emotional benefits that yoga can affect for all ages and all states of wellness.

I worked intensively in the field of oncology and found the combination of visualization, meditation, gentle yoga movements and certain pranayama practices a powerful tool for healing.

My speciality lies in teaching teachers and although I have been teaching for so many years in England, Scotland, America and Australia it never ceases to amaze me that each day I discover new depths to the benefits that Dru Yoga brings to all who practice it - and I am still learning.

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Julie Seth

Supports in human resources and network liaison

If there is anything my long experience in nursing has taught me it is that people for almost anyone to find a deep peace within themselves. As a long-term Ward Manager and also as a trained counsellor, I’ve seen many remarkable cases of people regaining their ‘wellness’ through this capacity we all share.

Consequently, my work with the Life Foundation gives me fascinating opportunities to support people – either in their healing journey or in their movement towards fulfilling a much greater potential.

I have a keen interest in complementary approaches to health, as well as expressive therapies, drawing and art.

Shanil Seth

Dru Yoga teacher and administrator for the Professional Register of Dru Yoga Teachers.

After graduating from university I worked as an accountant for several years before entering secondary education in 1983 to teach mathematics and information technology. Dru Yoga and the philosophy of yoga as taught by the Life Foundation have helped me in communicating and understanding children and staff in a compassionate way.

I discovered Dru Yoga 14 years ago and found many benefits. I incurred a minor back injury 17 years previously which had left me with back ache on most days. Dru Yoga eased away the pain within a year. Since qualifying as a Dru yoga teacher, I have taught Dru Yoga for 8 years in Manchester and North Wales in evening classes and in schools to pupils and staff.

Keith Squires

Currently running the café in the Life Foundation Centre in North Wales. This has just undergone a major transformation and we are gearing up for a new season offering more variety, choice and service.

I first got involved with the Life Foundation 23 years ago following an interest in yoga and meditation. I soon became involved in providing food for Life Foundation members, visitors, volunteers and eventually course participants.

I quickly realised that food was also a ‘yoga’ in itself, and became interested in the spiritual aspect of food and feeding people, as well as in the healing aspect of food. In 1999, I graduated as a master herbalist, using nutrition and herbs for healing.

Over the years my work has involved teaching vegetarian cookery and nutrition. At the moment we are running a course on health and beauty and I am involved in teaching diet, detoxing and herbs. I have also produced recipe books on vegetarian cooking and books on Anna yoga, the yoga of food and the spirituality of feeding people.

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Yamuna Loyal

Co-ordinates Dru Yoga Midlands as well as teaching Meditation seminars, running Sound & Meditation tours and specialising in Meditation in Business. Freelance writer, singer and songwriter.

Apart from writing magazine articles, I have helped compile and edit many of the Life Foundation’s books such as The Dance Between Joy and Pain, Face to Face with Life, The Peace Formula, Crisis and the Miracle of Love, The Bhagavad Gita (3 volumes), Believe in Yourself, which have helped people all over the world including war zones, to manage their lives skillfully and with precision.

I love teaching others what I have learned from my training as part of the Life team – to share the experiences that mean the most to me. There is nothing greater, I feel, than to use your knowledge to help others, in whatever way, to move forward in life. One of my greatest joys is to sing and encourage other people to sing with me. Singing together as a natural part of life, is something which has become somewhat lost in our culture. There is nothing so healing or indeed so bonding as people coming together to allow their voices to become one universal song. We all need a dream!

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