Leadership & Staff

Nayaswami Hriman (Terry) McGilloway

Hriman and his wife Padma, are the spiritual directors and Kriyarcharyas of Ananda in Washington State. Hriman came to Ananda in 1977. Director of finances for Ananda’s worldwide work in the Eighties, and then manager of the Expanding Light Retreat in California, Hriman and his wife Padma were asked by Swami Kriyananda to serve in Seattle in 1993. Hriman’s studies in Catholic theology have given him a profound respect for the essential truths and the practical benefits of raja yoga and for the underlying universality of the scriptures of East and West. Students appreciate not only the wisdom of yoga that he shares but the gentle humor and the useful insights into daily life that he offers. Hriman is an ordained Lightbearer-Minister of Ananda Church of Self-Realization.

 

Nayaswami Padma McGilloway

Padma and her husband Hriman are the spiritual directors and Kriyarcharyas of Ananda in Washington State. Padma found Ananda 42 years ago and moved to Ananda Village in 1973. Her service to Ananda has been in the areas of publishing, teaching, counseling, and ministry. Padma & Hriman raised their children at Ananda Village in California, learning to balance parenting, meditation and service. As manager of Crystal Clarity Publishers for Ananda for nearly 10 years, she worked closely with Swami Kriyananda during some of his most prolific years of writing. She still travels internationally to meet with publishers around the world who might be interested in publishing books from Ananda. Now such publications can be found in 32 languages. In classes and at spiritual gatherings she weaves her love for God and for truth through memorable stories. Padma also coordinates the ongoing study programs for those who practice Kriya Yoga. Padma is an ordained Lightbearer-Minister of Ananda Church of Self-Realization.

 

Nayaswami Jamuna (Jacqueline) Snitkin

Jamuna has been involved with Ananda since the early 70′s, teaching meditation and classes on spiritualizing daily life for more than 25 years. She co-managed the first East West Bookshop for Ananda in Menlo Park, CA. She has been teaching, counseling, and serving at both Ananda and East West Bookshop (in Seattle and Bothell) since 1996. Jamuna’s warmth and openness characterize her ‘Say Yes to Life’ spirit and are her gifts to all who participate in her classes and enjoy her company! Bringing spirit into the workplace and into relationships is Jamuna’s specialty. Jamuna is an ordained Lightbearer-Minister of Ananda Church of Self-Realization.

 

 

Nayaswami Nivritti Steenstra

Nivritti co-founded the Seattle East West Bookshop in 1989, and served as the manager of Ananda’s publishing (Crystal Clarity, Publishers) at Ananda Village in California during the mid-90’s. Nivritti has been teaching meditation and other subjects for over twenty-fivr years. Nivritti is also a certified Ananda Yoga teacher. As a former school teacher and school administrator, Nivritti has combined her love for meditation and yoga with her former skills to help launch and guide Ananda’s Living Wisdom School in Shoreline as its director. Nivritti is an ordained Lightbearer-Minister of Ananda Church of Self-Realization.

 

 

Nayaswami Susan McGinnis

Susan is the manager and one of the co-founders of East West Bookshop of Seattle. Whether managing the store or teaching a class, Susan uses her background and talents in the graphic arts to express inspiration creatively, by example, and with practicality. Susan is a certified Ananda Yoga teacher, and teaches classes in meditation, philosophy, and the art of spiritual living. Susan is an ordained Lightbearer-Minister of Ananda Church of Self-Realization. 

 

Tyagi Larry Rider

Larry is manager of the Ananda Community in Lynnwood, a teacher, and is a Tyagi member of the Nayaswami Order. Larry and his wife Prem-Shanti moved back to Ananda in Seattle in 2008 after having founded and operated the Ananda Retreat Center in Rhode Island and having served Ananda’s work on the east coast for nine years. Larry moved to Ananda Village in 1979. He has served in a number of Ananda businesses including the East West Bookshops in Menlo Park CA and in Seattle (in the 90’s). Larry combines a happy spirit, a musical talent that is expressed on various instruments, and deep devotion to God. Larry is an ordained Lightbearer-Minister of Ananda Church of Self-Realization.

 

Tyagi Prem-Shanti Rider

Prem-Shanti Rider serves Ananda at the Meditation Temple in Bothell on staff and is a Tyagi member of the Nayaswami Order. Prem-Shanti’s smiling presence has been part of Ananda since moving to Ananda Village in 1988. With her husband Larry she has also lived at Ananda communities in Portland, OR, and on the East Coast. She and Larry founded and operated the Ananda Retreat Center in Rhode Island for many years. Her delightful voice and radiant good cheer have touched many hearts everywhere she goes. Prem-Shanti is an ordained Lightbearer-Minister of Ananda Church of Self-Realization.

 

 

Nayaswami Carole Bartoo 

One of the founding members of Ananda in Seattle, Carole now manages the Living Wisely Thrift and Gift and serves as an ordained Ananda minister. Carole practices “yoga” by balancing store management, special projects, and care giving with both her personal spiritual practices and yoga teaching!

 

Nayaswami Lajjana Beeninga 

Lajjana can be found on any given day at the Ananda Meditation Temple or the Ananda Community in Lynnwood, answering the phones, beautifying the altars, purchasing the supplies, cooking meals for large gatherings or coordinating volunteers. Lajjana is an ordained Lightbearer-Minister of Ananda Church of Self-Realization

 

Murali Venkatrao was born in India and lives now in the Seattle area. His is an active life balancing a creative and committed career in technology with regular visits to his family in India. Added to his dedication to the path of yoga, Murali shares in a creative, insightful, and playful style for which students are most appreciative. Murali directs the Ananda Yoga Teacher Training program with Michelle Marshall and several other classes at Ananda including the Hatha Yoga Intensive.

 

 

Michelle Marshall serves as an instructor and assistant director for the Ananda Yoga Teacher Training program. She teaches both Ananda meditation and Ananda yoga, including on-going classes, workshops and the Hatha Intensive program. Michelle appreciates the many opportunities she has to share the benefits of yoga, meditation and teaching with students at Ananda.

 

Nayaswami Dakshina Agee has been practicing the Raja Yoga techniques as taught at Ananda for over 10 years, living most of those years in Ananda’s intentional spiritual community in Lynnwood. Dakshina serves full-time at the Ananda Meditation Temple in Bothell, where she works as part of the administrative staff and teaches meditation.  She  enjoys sharing the joy of meditation with all who are open to the possibility of ever-new joy, energy, wisdom and vitality in their lives.

 

 

Tyagi Rick Johnston has been teaching meditation and other classes for as long as he has lived in Seattle, and before that in Santa Rosa, CA. An East West Bookshop favorite and an avid gardener, he is seen east, west, north and south tending the tender shoots and buds of life, and nurturing them into tasty edibles.

 

 

Tyagi Christy Johnston teaches the Meditation Level 1 classes and yoga at the Lynnwood Community. She enjoys the opportunity to help people find the joy and calmness in these practices that she herself has found. She lives at the Ananda Community with her husband Rick. 

 

Justin Maggart  teaches Ananda Yoga and meditation in Bothell at the Meditation Temple and in Seattle at East West Bookshop. As an experienced Spanish and English teacher, Justin dynamically leads classes that help students understand and daily practice the teachings of Raja Yoga.

 

Buddy Wilson teaches Meditation level I and assists with the Raja Yoga course. After several years practicing meditation under Theravada, Mahayana and Zen traditions, Buddy found a personal resonance with the devotional, energy-centered and highly practical approach of the ancient Yoga masters that is taught at Ananda. He now joyfully shares his love and enthusiasm for this meditation practice through teaching.

Masha Reichert  teaches the Meditation I series at the East West Bookstore in Seattle. Masha came to Ananda to learn meditation techniques after decades of struggling on her own. Through her teaching she hopes to share with others some of the joy that she has found in meditation. Masha has also taught Russian at college and university level.