Draft:Chase Bossart

Chase Bossart (born Friday, April 10th, 1970 in Seattle Washington) is a Yoga Therapist and Teacher in the Viniyoga tradition of Śrī T. Krishnamacharya and Mr. T.K.V. Desikachar. Through the Yoga Well Institute, Y.A.T.N.A (Yoga as Therapy North America) , and the Healing Yoga Foundation San Francisco, Chase has trained a large number of Viniyoga Teachers and Yoga Therapists. He is also the author of numerous articles on Yoga, Meditation, and the therapeutic application of Yoga.

Early life and education
In the fall of 1991, as a Senior at Colgate University studying Philosophy and Religion, Chase joined a study abroad program and traveled to Chennai, India. As part of this program, Mr. TKV Desikachar (son of Tirumalai Krishnamacharya) taught a twice-weekly course on Yoga Theory and Philosophy. Through this class, which included separate twice-weekly practice sessions at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram, Chase became fascinated with the practical, embodied philosophy of Yoga.

After graduating from Colgate in 1992 with a BA in Philosophy and Religion, Chase traveled to Sri Lanka with Colgate Professor John Ross Carter to study Buddhist Meditation. From Sri Lanka, Chase returned to Chennai for 5 months of one-to-one studies with Mr Desikachar and became his personal student. For the next two decades, Chase continued to pursue studies in Sanskrit and Indian Philosophy while remaining Mr. Desikachar’s personal student and immersing himself in Viniyoga.

Between 1999 and 2010, Chase traveled to Chennai frequently to study with Mr. Desikachar and his family, including studying Vedic Chanting with Mr. Desikachar’s wife, Menaka, and participating in Kausthub Desikachar’s long-running Saṅga study group.

Chase lived full-time in Chennai from March 2003 to December 2004. During this time, he was a teacher at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram (KYM) where he was given individual Yoga Therapy clients and overseen by Mr. Desikachar and the KYM’s senior teachers.

In 2006, Chase was awarded a Master’s Degree in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara. His Master’s Thesis was titled: The Cessation of Cessation: Re-Envisioning Patañjali’s Definition of Yoga and Vyāsa’s Commentary on Sūtras I.2, I.3, and I.4.

Chase remained Mr. TKV Desikachar’s personal student for over twenty years. Mr Desikachar passed away on August 8th, 2016.

In addition to Yoga, Chase has also studied Chinese Buddhism. He reads and chants Sanskrit and speaks Mandarin.

Career
In 1995, after two years of graduate studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara’s Religious Studies Department, Chase moved to Beijing, China, where he worked as a manufacturer’s representative for water-related equipment.

During his time in China, Chase made numerous trips to India to study with Mr. Desikachar. In August 2003, Chase co-taught a three-day workshop on Meditation at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York, with Mr. Desikachar and his son Kausthub. This marked the beginning of Chase’s teaching in the Viniyoga Lineage in the United States.

At the end of 2004, Chase moved back to the United States at the behest of Mr. Desikachar who tasked Chase with teaching in the United States. After spending a year in Santa Barbara to write his Master’s thesis, Chase moved to San Francisco and helped found the Healing Yoga Foundation with another of Mr. Desikachar’s students, Kate Holcombe. Chase served as the Director of Therapy and Education there until 2012.

In September 2009, when Mr. Desikachar was the keynote speaker and primary presenter at the Yoga Journal Conference in Estes Park, Colorado, as well as at a separate week-long workshop in San Francisco the following week, Chase was frequently called to the stage by Mr. Desikachar to teach with him. The exposure from Mr. Desikachar’s support increased Chase’s profile as a teacher in the Viniyoga Lineage and students began to travel from across the country to study with him in San Francisco.

In 2012, Chase established the Y.A.T.N.A. (Yoga as Therapy, North America) Yoga Therapist Training with Dr. Dolphi Werterberger and Amy Wheeler in Nashville, TN.

That same year, Chase also founded the Yoga Well Institute to support the practice of Viniyoga in the United States. As the Institute's Executive Director, Chase plays a pivotal role in advancing the organization's vision of creating a safe, supportive, and caring community in Yoga, where people come out of physical and emotional suffering, experience sustainable transformation, and learn how to help others do the same.

In addition to his role with the Yoga Well Institute, Chase maintains a private Yoga Therapy practice, where he provides individualized Yoga Therapy to clients seeking holistic approaches to health and well-being.

Family
He lives with his wife and daughter in Washington State.

Works
Bossart has authored articles