Born in Kentucky and transplanted to south Florida, Sarah grew up exploring the Smokey Mountains and the warm Atlantic ocean. She was a quiet, contemplative middle child often appreciated for her insightful introspection. This led her to explore eastern religions and commit to a plant-based life early in life. Although she started out as a chemistry major, on track to be an environmental engineer, her variegated interests in philosophy, sociology, sports and nutrition led her to question her career choices and she ended up graduating in Family, Youth, and Community Sciences, hoping to contribute in some small way in improving the world. She is an avid cyclist having competed in regional and state biking competitions—and is also certified as a bike mechanic which came in handy as the co-owner of a high-end biking shop in Delray Beach, FL. Her interest and exploration of healthy nutrition and exercise was a natural by-product of her pursuance of a plant-based lifestyle, Brazilian martial arts, yoga and competitive exploits. Sarah graduated with her 200-hour teacher training in the spring of 2021 and currently lives with her charismatic labradoodle Shanti in New Vrindaban, WV where she manages the Palace Lodge, makes garlands for the daily worship, helps take care of Tulasidevi, and assists the priests in their sacred services.

Anuradha Imseng was born to an Indian family in an African hospital in the midlands of Natal, South Africa, where she grew up climbing trees, hiding newborn kittens in her room, and driving tires with sticks. She loves reading—and listening to audio books, teaching cooking classes, cooking brunches, and organizing meaningful events. She loves to cook for friends and family, regarding sharing sacred food as a means to healing the heart. She is able to quickly transform various recipes into delicious healthy plant-based dishes.  She studied yoga under Lex Gillan in Houston in 2005 and most recently received her teaching certification with Gopi Manjari Kinnicutt, owner of Bhakti Yoga DC. She entered into the Bhakti tradition in 1990 where she embraced the practices of meditation. She has lived and served in India and Europe and is now based in New Vrindaban, West Virginia, where she is married to Jaya Krsna Imseng who manages the Krishna temple in which they live. She is the Communications Director, organizes festivals, worships the Deities, and helps wherever needed. 

Originally from Moscow, Russia, Nikunja Vilasini is a dedicated yoga practitioner and graphic designer. She traveled all over the world from Hong Kong to Cuba before moving to New York City in 2014. Her yoga journey started in the Himalayan mountains in Rishikesh, India in 2016 and since then continued her traveling to embark on a deeper spiritual journey through bhakti and landed in America where she continues to practice traditional hatha yoga and vinyasa flow practices. Inspired by the inner dimension of yoga and the change that this ancient practice creates in the body and heart, Nikunja was eager to share her knowledge and practices with others so she joined the Bhakti Yoga DC training academy in 2019 where she completed a 200-hour yoga teacher training course with Gopi Manjari. She continued and deepened her studies taking 500-hour yoga teacher training, Yoga Nidra teacher training and Prana Vidya training with Yogi Charu, the director of the yoga studio at the Bhakti Center.  She leads soft traditional hatha yoga classes with elements of vinyasa flow, incorporated with breath work and kriyas (energetic exercises to release blocked energy). Her classes invites one to cultivate a conscious relationship between body, mind, breath and the source of happiness within.  Nikunja lives in New Vrindaban, West Virginia, where she also studies Vedic philosophy, practices mantra meditation, engages in support services to the worship activities, organizes festivals, and makes beautiful garlands for the deities. 

Vrindavan Priya is a multi-disciplinary artist —fluent in music and the visual arts. She is most known for her kirtan offering (an emerging genre based on ancient Indian mantras or chants). Although (or maybe because of) born in Czechoslovakia, in the heart of the communistic era, she was searching for the meaning of life since she was a teenager. She met practitioners of bhakti in 1989 when she was only 15 as the Iron Curtain was crumbling all over Eastern Europe. Captured by the mesmerizing chant she found their music unifying, soothing and transporting—a mix of participatory rhythm, song and dance. Soon she discovered that behind exotic music there was a whole spiritual culture, lifestyle and profound philosophy based on ancient scriptures like the Bhagavad-gita. She was drawn to the sound of the Indian drum (khol) and hand cymbals (karatalas) and over the years developed a deep interest in learning the tradition and science behind playing sacred music. Using eastern as well as western instruments, she performs regularly at venues like private homes, temples, yoga studios as well as at festivals and retreats. Vrindavan Priya loves bringing gatherings of people together in rhythmic singing of mantras or poetic names of God—which is an age old practice to connect with, to experience and to feel our soul and God. You can hardly find a more powerful medium which makes our hearts dance than in music. Vrindavan Priya lives in the bhakti ashram in New Vrindaban, West Virginia, where she studies Vedic philosophy, leads kirtan, trains members in the science of kirtan and how to play sacred instruments,  worships the Deities, and helps in the distribution of spiritual literature. 

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