Mark Whitwell

Mark Whitwell was born in Auckland, Aotearoa/New Zealand and educated at Auckland University. He first travelled to India in 1970, navigating his way through and meeting known and unknown saints and sages in the search for useful teachings. In 1973, he began what would be a life-long study with Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (1888–1989) and his son, T.K.V. Desikachar (1938–2016), of Chennai, India. Mark witnessed their great friendship and collaboration with J. Krishnamurti (1895–1986) and U.G. Krishnamurti (1918–2007), and dedicated his life to furthering the resulting communication in his own form in modern times.

He lives in Los Angeles and Auckland, and is the author of Yoga of Heart: The Healing Power of Intimate Connection, The Promise of Love, Sex, and Intimacy, and the Hridayayogasutra, as well as the editor and contributor to T.K.V. Desikachar’s The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice. Mark is committed to clarifying the essence of teachings so they are relevant and accessible to everyday people while retaining their potency, and to deconstructing disempowering hierarchies. The founder of a non-profit organisation dedicated to bringing peace practices to troubled regions, Mark facilitates gatherings of friends around the world, helping people to connect with their breath and “stop looking, start living.”

For more information, see www.heartofyoga.com