Rina Deshpande, Ed.M., RYT-500 believes in the beauty of cycles. She grew up with yoga philosophy shared by her parents in her own Florida home, rediscovering it again in her adult life when she began as a New York City public school teacher in 2004. Getting to know her own students’ identities and cultures, she was inspired to reconnect with her own roots in India.

Forevermore, she practices yoga and meditation, completing her 500-hr yoga training at Ishta Yoga in NYC and earning her masters degree in the Mind, Brain, and Education program from the Harvard Graduate School of Education where she studied the psychological, physiological, and academic effects of yoga and mindfulness. A lover of academics and arts since childhood, Rina helped found an elementary teaching masters program in New York City – Relay GSE – and recently wrote and illustrated her first children’s book, Cupcake and writes and illustrates mindful, whimsical poetry @RinaThePoet on Facebook and Instagram.

Rina shares research through her articles for practical wellbeing at Headspace, The Huffington Post, Sonima.com and Learning & the Brain.  She also serves as Clinical Research Coordinator for Dr. Sara Lazar at Harvard Medical School, where she designs yoga-based interventions for scientific research. She currently holds a fellowship with HGSE Research Schools International under Dr. Christina Hinton, where she is training preschool principals and administrators in mindful practice.

Rina teaches yoga in New York City at ISHTA, LoveChild, and Naam Yoga and on special visit at the Breathing Room, Boston. Check out her updated teaching schedule here! She also presently teaches private sessions and hosts large-group yoga in corporate and graduate school settings, available by request.