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Meet Zena
"The gifts that Zena provides include her extensive knowledge of yoga poses, philosophy and history, her wonderful giggle and her healing touch. Her students often comment on Zena's wonderful ability to know exactly how they need to stretch, or what they need to hear, to make each class rewarding. Her passion for yoga is contagious!" -K.K. On August 2, 2009 the president of the World Yoga Council (Swami Maitreyananda) conferred Zena with Honorary Membership status on the World Yoga Council in the International Yoga Federation. From 1998 to 2002 Zena was Secretary of the Yoga Association of Alberta and she is now one of their senior teachers. She is a YAA Certified Hatha Yoga Teacher, with International Yoga Teacher Certificates from Ananda Ashram (India), Patanjali Yoga Center and Sapta Yoga (Kathmandu, Nepal). Zena taught for ten years at the Okanagan Summer School of the Arts in Penticton, B.C. and also numerous yoga classes and workshops in Australia, USA, Canada, Germany, Japan, India and Nepal.
Zena quit university in 1969 and followed the Beatles to India! She traveled overland by bus In exotic Kathmandu, Nepal, for over seven years Zena was administrator and assistant teacher When Zena returned to Canada from Nepal, she studied the Native traditions with a shaman for In Edmonton from 1997 to 2004 Zena taught for the YMCA, The City of Edmonton, From 2004 to 2008 she owned Dakini Yoga Centre and is now free. Zena teaches yoga classes Teachers
Nine years later in 1989 Zena was invited to New Delhi, India to receive the titles of Yogacharini (Yoga Master), Yoga Maha Ratna (Great Jewel of Yoga) and an Honorary Doctorate of Dance from Vishwa Unnyayan Samsad (World Development Parliament). Dr. Swam The sage and yogi Swami Divyananda Saraswati Maharaj came into Zena's life in 1997 in Canada. He was 85 years old and had spent 40 years in the Himalayas in a hut at 12,000 feet. Before his renunciation he had lived and worked with Mahatma Gandhi. Guruji's wisdom and joy were amazing. He had few wrinkles and said that he never invited wrinkles into his life! Guruji expressed love and respect for all of life and could speak on any topic very eloquently. Zena received mantra initiation from him and the name "Sumangala Devi" (Auspicious Goddess). He died in 2000. For over three years Zena studied with a Cree Shaman and in 1998 in North Battleford, Saskatchewan with three elders in attendance, she received the name "White Buffalo Woman". On her 52nd birthday she received the gift of her own sweat lodge. She was taught that gifts do not come from a person, they come directly from Creator. When Zena went to visit Whitehorse, Yukon in 1999 she was invited to lead a sweat lodge where Cree, Iroquois and Dene elders confirmed that she was qualified. |
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"My doctor just told me that I have the body of
a person fifteen years younger! That is the gift
of doing yoga for almost 40 years. I love sharing
yoga and offering helpful hints for a healthy, balanced life."
Near Pondicherry, South India in 1969 Zena studied with Dr. Swami
Gitananda, who was a disciple of Ram Gopal, the Sleepless Saint, mentioned
in the book Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda. With
endless energy and enthusiasm Swamiji taught Raja Yoga, the royal path,
or, as he called it, Rishi Culture Yoga. It included Hatha Yoga, Pranayama
(the science of breathing), Bhakti Yoga (devotion), Mantra, Mudras (energy
controllers), Yantra (Mandalas), Chakras, Yoga Chikitsa (therapy), Laya Yoga
Kriyas (advanced techniques for longevity), Hindu Numerology, and more.
Swamiji has passed away and his system of yoga is now called Gitananda
Yoga. His talented, dedicated wife Yogacharini Meenakshi Bhavanani and his
son, Dr. Ananda Bhavanani run ICYER (International Centre for Yoga
Education and Research). 
Zena's next teacher came nine years later. Zasep Tulku Rinpoche was born
in Tibet and is the thirteenth incarnation of the Abbot of Zuru Monastery.
She studied with him in Nelson, British Columbia from 1980 to 1989 and he
introduced her to the intricacies of the mind and Buddha's path to
enlightenment. Two of Rinpoche's teachers are the Dalai Lama and the late
Ling Rinpoche who was the Dalai Lama's teacher. Rinpoche's' supreme
wisdom, patience, perseverance and fun-loving, childlike attitude showed
her the blending of Buddha's great teachings with lightheartedness. His
teachings of Buddhist Tantra gave her the discipline that is needed to pursue
the spiritual path. At the end of great retreats with Rinpoche, rainbows
appear. He has twelve centers around the world and he gave Zena the name
"Tenzin Padma" (Lotus Protector of the Dharma).
i Gitananda had recommended her for the honors. At the conference in New Delhi, she met Yogacharya Dr. Sushil Bhattacharya, who was also a student of Swami Gitananda. In 1983 Sushil won the All-India Yoga Competition and in 1989 was second at a world yoga competition. Zena was administrator and assistant teacher at Patanjali Yoga Centre in Kathmandu, Nepal for seven and a half years, where she assisted in teaching twelve one month International Yoga Teacher Training Courses and one Sapta Yoga International Teacher Training Course. The classes included beginner, intermediate and advanced asanas, Sun Salutations, Pranayama, Mudras, Kundalini Chakra Meditation, Shat Kriyas (Six Cleansing Methods), Fasting and Sapta Yoga Therapy and massage, Bhajans (devotional songs), and Yogic vegetarian cooking. Sushil gave Zena the title "Nritya Yogini" (Dancing Yogini).