Narayan is a 500-hour Sivananda yoga acharya, as well as a master-level martial artist.  He holds Bachelor’s degrees in Philosophy and English from the University of Vermont, and a Master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling from Johnson State College.  His parents, Frank and Judith Foti (both 500-hour Dharma Mittra teachers) are his loving Gurus, and his friends Sofi Dillof, Mahadev Chitananya, Will Duprey, Simon Park, Miv London, Maheshwari Knox, Dr. Paul Epstein and Andrei Ram-Om are his teaching inspirations.  World-renowned Vedanta teacher, Swami Swaroopananda shared the gifts of the yogic teachings with Narayan and ordained him to pass them on, which he strives to honor through his daily practice and in the space he holds for those willing to go within.

“As a child growing up in Florida, I was unaware that the Ocean was my first yoga teacher.  Now, though, I can see it so clearly as I reflect on the smiling boy slicing through, ducking under, and riding with the frothy waves – exploring the wonders of flowing prana.  I learned to be with my breath and use it to overcome fears, bowing to the floor beneath the surf for what often felt like eons before being reborn to the surface, springing freely towards the sun’s rays completely inspired!  The ocean led me to understanding that I was both as tiny as a drop of water and as majestic as the mighty sea, and that the form I took was utterly dependent upon my willingness to surrender to my imagination and allow myself to be wild and free.

Years later, I was a businessman in NYC and somehow the lessons of my wonderful teacher had been echoed out by a less enlightened, more imprisoned shadow of myself.  Of course, a part of me was yearning for more, roaring at my higher Self to turn and face the wave of ignorance that was about to crash upon me and perhaps drown me forever.  So I listened…

When I began my formal yoga training, I was reunited with the abyss of bliss that fuels my Soul.  I regained my beginners mind and was filled with childlike liberation.  I remembered that the mighty sea dwelled within and around me, and I tapped into a profound balance between physical movement and mental stillness.

As I invite others to join me in the ongoing Odyssey of Self-realization, I do not consider myself a teacher of yoga so much as a channel for sharing experiences of what is, was and always will be – infinite cosmic love.  In the quest for inner rhythm, I cannot tell others what to see or feel or do.  I simply show them where to look and how to inspire themselves to unite with their intuition and compassionately remove barriers that divide them from seeing the oneness in all things.  Like you, I am merely a vessel for which our teacher, the Ocean of Love sends its messages.”