Dr. Seth Powell

Founder & Director, Yogic Studies

Seth Powell is a scholar of Indian religions, Sanskrit, and yoga traditions, who earned his PhD in South Asian Religions at Harvard University. His dissertation comprised a critical edition, translation, and detailed study of a 15th-century Sanskrit yoga text from south India known as the Śivayogapradīpikā—which uniquely combines yoga, ritual, and devotion. He also works extensively on the visual and material culture of yoga in premodern India, uncovering yoga's past through temple sculptures.

As an educator, Seth is passionate about sharing the latest academic research on yoga's vast history and philosophies and is gifted in his ability to present the ancient teachings of yoga clearly in an accessible, light-hearted, and inspiring manner—while maintaining a rigor and sensitivity to traditional Indian knowledge systems. He founded Yogic Studies in 2018 as a way to bridge academia with the broader yoga world. 

Dr. Varun Khanna

Visiting Professor, Classics and Asian Studies, Swarthmore College

As a pre-med undergrad student, Varun Khanna accidentally stumbled into Sanskrit when he tried to learn Āyurveda during a study abroad program in India. After learning to speak and becoming fluent in the language, he changed direction and became a full-time student of Sanskrit and Indian philosophy. He then traveled through various jungles and cities in India to learn from different Sanskrit gurus, specializing in Pāṇinian Sanskrit grammar. Varun later earned both his master’s degree in Sanskrit and his PhD in Hinduism (studying consciousness in the Upaniṣads) at the University of Cambridge. He has been teaching spoken Sanskrit, Pāṇinian Sanskrit grammar, and topics in Indian philosophy since 2008, and is now a Visiting Assistant Professor of Classics teaching Sanskrit at Swarthmore College.

Varun’s research interests lie in the intersection of Sanskrit grammar, Vedānta philosophy, and social justice. His latest work centers on the perspectives that ancient Sanskrit literature offers for thinking about equality, freedom, and justice. He is also working on a new Sanskrit primer that incorporates Pāṇinian grammar in order to help students learn the exact boundaries of the rules of Sanskrit.

Varun has been teaching Vedānta and spoken Sanskrit in camp settings to youth and adults all over the world since 2008.

Nikki Costello

Senior Iyengar Yoga Teacher, Certified Yoga Therapist

Nikki Costello is an educator with 30 years of teaching and training experience in the Yoga and Wellness industry. She works at the intersection of social justice and Yoga with a focus on facilitating new models of embodied leadership. Nikki is a Senior Iyengar Yoga Teacher (Level 3-CIYT) and a Certified Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT). In 2013-2014, she was a contributing editor at Yoga Journal, writing the magazine’s “Basics Column,” and in 2016, Nikki was named one of the 100 Most Influential Teachers in America. She is the featured Iyengar Yoga teacher on GLO.

Nikki holds an MA in Traditions of Yoga and Meditation from SOAS, University of London and is currently a PhD student in Anthropology and Social Change at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Since 2020, Nikki has taught weekly online Yoga and Meditation classes at Nikki Costello | The Practice. To learn more, visit Nikki's website.

Shemaia Skywater

Shemaia is a multi-instrumentalist musician, composer, kīrtan band leader, sound healing events producer, Āyurvedic chef, and yoga teacher for over four decades. She has spent the past 25 years exploring music as a healing force and sampling the healing music and movement of many ancient traditions--learning, exploring practicing, researching, and receiving training in sound healing modalities and therapeutics. 

We are thrilled to have Shemaia share with us the practice of kīrtan (call and response chanting) at this year's camp.