Beryl Bender has been teaching yoga and meditation since l971.  She is the best-selling author of several books on yoga, including Power Yoga, Beyond Power Yoga, and Yoga for Warriors.  A former biofeedback researcher with a degree in English and philosophy from Syracuse University, she has been an avid student of classical yoga, Buddhism, meditation, and the study of consciousness since l971. She traveled to India in l974 to further her studies and has been training yoga students and teachers through her school, The Hard & The Soft Yoga Institute, for nearly 50 years.  She is a long time leader in speaking out on the critical importance of practice, activism, and service, and for the past few years has been teaching Yoga & Longevity, a yoga lifestyle retreat that focuses on plant based eating, movement, meditation, community, & purpose.  She is also the co-founder (2007) of the Give Back Yoga Foundation. Beryl lives in the Berkshires with her husky, Teddy, and volunteers at the Berkshire Humane Society.