International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers

The International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers (ISYVC) are an organisation that operates yoga and retreat or training centres (ashrams) in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. These Centres are the trademark holder of 'Sivananda Yoga', which is, amongst practitioners, widely perceived as a distinct style of Hatha Yoga and they credit the ISYVC as the legitimate bearer of this tradition or ‘lineage’. The organisation prides itself in teaching ‘traditional yoga’ and propagates neo-Hindu teachings, referencing the guru- parampara tradition (guru lineage) of Swami Sivananda (1887-1963) and Swami Vishnu-devananda (1927- 1993). The main teachings concern the practice of the “4 paths of yogas” and the “5 points of yoga”, as well as a sequence of 12 yoga asanas (postures) commonly referred to as ‘Sivananda sequence or ‘Rishikesh series