The Science of Yoga Initiative Members

 

Initiative Chair, Leah Nduati

CEO, Certified Yoga Instructor

Leah Nduati is Chair of The Science of Yoga Initiative (TSYI) at the Global Wellness Institute (GWI), where she advances the integration of scientific research, traditional wisdom, and modern therapeutic application of yoga. Her work focuses on positioning yoga therapy as a credible, evidence-informed, multidimensional wellness modality for the 21st century. She is also a member of the Africa Wellness Initiative at GWI, contributing to greater representation and growth of Africa within the global wellness economy. Leah is the Founder and CEO of Yoga Experiences Africa (YEA), positioned as the digital pulse of African yoga and the operating system for Africa’s rapidly growing wellness industry. YEA addresses a fragmented and often opaque market by building a trusted, technology-enabled ecosystem that connects wellness seekers to verified teachers and curated experiences across the continent. Designed as a dual-sided marketplace, the platform solves critical pain points for both consumers and providers—driving transparency, trust, and scalable income opportunities. Under her leadership, YEA has onboarded instructors from more than 20 African countries and won the 2023 Shark Tank of Wellness at the Global Wellness Summit in Miami. With over a decade of experience in venture building, Leah has worked with the Africa Leadership Group and ALX, supporting founders and high-growth ventures across the continent. A certified yoga teacher and mother, her personal health journey informs her commitment to making wellness accessible, culturally relevant, and economically viable across emerging markets.

Vice-Chair, Bija Bennett

Author, President, BijaB, Yoga Therapist, United States

Bija Bennett is an internationally respected author, speaker and business leader whose practice focuses on the tenets of mind-body health. Her innovative teachings are derived from ancient yoga traditions as a form of preventive and integrative medicine that fosters healing. She has developed pioneering programs for Fortune 500 companies and written four influential books on health, healing and personal growth. Under her holistic wellness brand, YogaAway LLC, she has provided programs, products and consulting services to major hospitality brands worldwide. Currently, she is partnering with global corporations on a project that merges healthcare, hospitality and wellness for a major medical center.

Dr. Amulya Murthy Aku

Dr. Amulya Murthy is an Ayurvedic physician, researcher, Founder of AyuCulture, and Global Wellness Institute Susie Ellis Scholar. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Ayurveda (Department of Swasthavritta & Yoga—Ayurvedic Public Health-Preventive-Lifestyle Medicine, and Yoga), with a research focus on sleep science and obesity. She holds an MD in Swasthavritta & Yoga and has completed yoga certifications and internships at S-VYASA. Trained in multiple IAYT-based yoga therapy techniques, including MSRT and PET, she brings strong practical grounding in therapeutic yoga and mind–body interventions. Clinically, she specializes in obesity, diabetes, PCOS, women’s wellness, mental health, and neuromodulation, offering a holistic and evidence-informed approach to patient care. Through AyuCulture—a multi-vertical Ayurveda–yoga–wellness initiative—she provides strategic consulting for organizations seeking to integrate authentic Ayurvedic frameworks into their products and wellness models. She also offers personalized clinical guidance for individuals. With expertise in Ayurvedic herbs, formulations, and raw materials, including advisory support for businesses developing herbal supplements and sourcing high-quality ingredients. Her work bridges traditional Ayurvedic wisdom with modern scientific rigor to create sustainable, integrated wellness solutions. Her interests include metabolic and lifestyle disorders, Ayurveda nutrition–dietetics, yoga therapy, and sleep science, circadian biology, chronobiology, chrono-nutrition, seasonal physiology. Dr. Murthy has 15+ publications and has presented research at 50+ national and international conferences, earning multiple best paper awards. She has participated in 300+ seminars, trainings, and field programs, strengthening her ability to translate knowledge into meaningful clinical and research practice. She unites Ayurveda-Yoga and science to drive preventive and restorative health.

Teresa Bergen

Teresa Bergen began studying yoga in 1992 and became a certified yoga teacher in 2003 under Kathy Elder of Hawaii. She has taught extensively in gyms, studios and corporations around Portland, Oregon and beyond, specializing in slow flow and yin. Teresa is also a journalist and author who covers wellness, veganism, outdoors adventure, eco and sober travel. Her work appears in many magazines and websites. She’s the author of Easy Portland Outdoors, Sober Travel Handbook, Meditation for Gym Yogis and Sober Yoga: Yamas and Niyamas for Recovery.

Jennifer Cohen

Holistic Mental Health Practitioner and Relationship Wellness Expert, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Yoga Therapist, United States

Jennifer Cohen, LMFT runs a successful Holistic Mental Health practice based in Southern California. As a lifelong student of yoga, religious studies, and human behavior, she has built her business on incorporating all these modalities into a wellness practice that meets the needs of a large variety of individuals and couples. Having worked in the holistic mental health field for over 20 years, Jennifer combines Western Psychology and Eastern Philosophy as both a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Yoga Therapist. She brings a unique and highly effective approach to treating the mind, body, spirit, as well as relationships, and provides specialized workshops on the therapeutic use of yogic techniques to improve overall wellness.

Dr. Mounia MOALLA

Hospital Pharmacist, Yoga Therapist, Author, Founder of Moon Yogatherapy Academy, France

Dr. Mounia Moalla embodies the bridge between conventional medicine and clinical yoga therapeutics. With 25 years as a hospital pharmacist and as yoga therapist, she has developped a unique evidence-bases approach. A pioneer in integrating yoga therapy within French hospital settings, she is the founder of MoonYogatherapy Academy. She also teaches at three French universities where she trains healthcare professionals and yoga practitioners in clinical integration and trauma-informed approaches. As an author and researcher, Dr. Moalla actively contribute to the scientific recognition of the discipline. She published “Traité de Yogathérapie”- “Treatise on yoga therapy”- (Dunod, 2025) in French and was the first to publish a book on yoga therapy in arabic تحرر العقل والجسد – اليوغا أسلوب حياة وعلاج (Freeing Mind and Body: Yoga as Lifestyle and Therapy, Arab Scientific Publishers, 2024), thereby making evidence-based practice accessible to Arabic-speaking communities worldwide. Her clinical expertise focuses on trauma-informed yoga therapy and the developpement of hospital integration protocols. This skills have been honed through extensive humanitarian work with refugees and vulnerable populations across multiple countries. Combines her deep background in pharmaceutical sciences with wisdom of yogic therapeutics, Dr.Moalla designs programs that meet the most rigorous medical standards while honoring traditional practices. Operating in three languages (French, English, Arabic), she shares her educational content
through multiple platforms including social medias, masterclasses, and specialized training programs. Her work advances the scientific recognition of yoga therapy within healthcare systems and promotes its integration as a credible, evidence-informed practice practice for
mental and physical health.

Felicia Tomasko

President, Bliss Network LLC, United States

Felicia Tomasko combines decades of study in the traditional philosophies of Yoga, Yoga Therapy and Ayurveda with experience in modern Western biomedicine as a registered nurse. As an entrepreneur, she is the president of Bliss Network, LLC, a boutique independent media company who publishes LA YOGA Magazine with a home base in Los Angeles. Felicia is on faculty at Loyola Marymount University in the Yoga Therapy RX and Yoga Studies programs. Her interest in the modern-day application of these stress-relieving and resilience techniques has taken her throughout the world and her passion for integrating ethical business practices with cutting-edge scientific wellness informs her work.

Winnie Xu

Winnie is a global citizen, somatic life coach, yoga teacher, and psychotherapist-in-training, and the founder of Whole Heart Winnie, a trauma-informed coaching and wellness practice. She supports purpose-driven leaders navigating self-worth challenges, burnout, and major life transitions, guiding them back into a more grounded, confident, and self-compassionate way of living. Her work weaves Western psychology with Eastern wisdom. She integrates Internal Family Systems (IFS), Somatic Experiencing, Somatic Breathwork, Co-Active coaching, and yoga into a coherent, body-based approach to healing. Winnie’s lens is shaped by her 200-hour yoga and meditation teacher training in India, the teachings of elders in South America, and her ongoing discipline as an avid Vipassanā meditator, having completed four 10-day silent retreats. Over the past several years, she has designed and facilitated intimate retreats, experiential workshops, women’s circles, and corporate wellness experiences across Canada, the United States, and Latin America. Her spaces invite participants to gently reconnect with their bodies, explore inner child themes, and cultivate emotional resilience through contemplative, relational, and movement-based practices. As a contributor to the Global Wellness Institute’s Science of Yoga Initiative, Winnie focuses on bridging emerging research with lived, embodied practice by clarifying how yoga, breath, and mindful awareness can support trauma healing, self-worth, and collective wellbeing in diverse cultural contexts.