Chinnamasta (C-IAYT) is the Director of the Yoga Therapy Center & Shiva Shakti Loka in San Francisco. With more than 30 years of experience, she is a Master Teacher and Guide in Radiant Health for people from all walks of life and in all stages of life. Chinnamasta started her professional life as an Intensive Care pediatric nurse, developing the skill to observe and interpret what the children weren’t able to verbalize. This continues to serve her today in understanding beyond what her clients are capable of seeing or telling.
After 12 years, she felt a strong calling to move into holistic healing. Over the next 25 years she studied Yoga & Ayurveda, the Eastern Medical Science of Health. While Western medicine taught her how to work with the physical structure, Eastern medicine deepened her understanding of how to help people gracefully deal with difficulty, prevent illness, and live a joyful life. By blending these two modalities, Chinnamasta guides her students and clients in how to become the masters of their own health and healing, leading to a purposeful life of deep contentment connected to the Self.
Together with her Beloved, Mukunda Stiles, Chinnamasta taught the ancient trinity of Yoga, Ayurveda and Tantra in the U.S., Europe, and India. Their teachings spread the insights and knowledge that fill the pages of his books: Structural Yoga Therapy, Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy, Tantra Yoga Secrets and the Sutra’s of Patanjali as interpreted by Mukunda Stiles. Chinnamasta edited Tantra Yoga Secrets, and wrote a chapter on Structural and Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy in the new comprehensive book Yoga Therapy and Integrative Medicine. Mukunda left his physical body February 18, 2014.
Chinnamasta continues sharing these teachings across the U.S, Europe and India, guiding people in profound healing through in-depth Yogic, Ayurvedic and Tantric workshops, personal retreats, private sessions, and apprenticeships. She also mentors yoga teachers during monthly sessions to elevate their own Sadhana and guide their clients. Her private practice is based in San Francisco.