MEET THE FACULTY

The Founders
Happy Jack and Hanna

Happy Jack Yoga is an educational institute and high-vibe community of yoga teachers, practitioners, and spiritual seekers.

In 1980, due to his smiling and joyful presence, Happy Jack was aptly named by his parents. Interestingly, the goal of yoga is to reveal our blissful true nature.

However, as Happy Jack grew up, he was bullied and ultimately lost touch with this blissful nature. Years later, burdened by the stress of a corporate career, his Mom recommended he try yoga. You guessed it, he fell in love!

In 2010, inspired to share the transformational practice of yoga with others, Happy Jack Yoga was born.

Whether you're here to deepen your yoga practice or eager to be a certified yoga teacher, we offer a rich array of immersive courses and a vibrant, supportive community.

We're thrilled that you're here. 😍

Hanna von Hafenbrädl

Co-Founder and Director of Education, Happy Jack Yoga
Graphic Designer (Istituto Europeo Di Design | Milano, Italy)
Grief Support Practitioner
Integrated Yoga Psychotherapist in Training
E-RYT 500

Hanna von Hafenbrädl is the co-founder and creative director of Happy Jack Yoga. Hanna’s yoga journey began in 2007 when she unexpectedly lost her husband to a virus. The sudden loss turned her life and her future upside down, yet today she sees her grief process as her superpower.

When Hanna found yoga, she immediately fell in love with the philosophy and the physical practice. Today she creatively uses yogic tools to address trauma, loss, and mental health by offering yoga teacher training online and around the world with Happy Jack Yoga.

Hanna recognizes that healing happens gradually, and knows that she wouldn’t be who she is today without a deep desire to study yoga, mental health, and spirituality. Through the grief process, as well as combining therapy and yoga, Hanna has reconnected the dots from her childhood difficulties and found her inner power.

Hanna has dedicated her life to being of service to others. She's fluent in seven languages and aims to create a welcoming space for everyone she meets.

Hanna studies under both Western and Eastern yoga masters. She's currently studying grief therapy and a Master's in Integrated Yoga Psychotherapy in London, UK.

Live calls where you'll meet Happy Jack every week:

• RYT-200-Hour Hero's Journey
  
  • Sundays (11 am EST)
  • Wednesdays (6 pm EST)
• Live Yoga (Fridays 8 am EST)
• HJY Podcast (Tuesdays 10 am EST)
   

Dr. Edwin Bryant, PhD

Professor of Hinduism, Rutgers University

Edwin Bryant received his Ph.D in Indic languages and Cultures from Columbia University, where his thesis culminated in his first book: The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture (Oxford University Press, 2001). He taught Hinduism at Harvard University for three years, and is presently the professor of Hinduism at Rutgers University where he teaches courses on Hindu philosophy and religion. He has received numerous awards and fellowships, published eight books, and authored a number of articles on the earliest origins of the Vedic culture, yoga philosophy, and the Krishna tradition. These include a Penguin World Classics translation of the story of Krishna’s incarnation, from its traditional source the Śrīmad Bhāgavata Purāṇa.

As a personal practitioner of bhakti yoga for over 45 years, a number of them spent in India studying with traditional teachers, where he returns yearly, Edwin strives to combine academic scholarship and rigor with appreciation towards traditional knowledge systems. His teaching method is to allow the ancient texts to speak in their own voice and through their own terms and categories.

Edwin’s translation of and commentary on the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2009) is specifically dedicated to contributing to the growing body of literature on yoga by providing insights from the major pre-modern commentaries on the text with a view to grounding the teachings in their traditional context. Edwin’s most recent published work is a sequel to this by the same publisher entitled Bhakti Yoga: Tales and Teachings from the Bhāgavata Purāṇa (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2017). This work, too, seeks to ground the practices of bhakti in the traditional Krishna-centered framework of the Vrindavan devotional traditions.

Edwin is presently working on a translation of the Bhagavad Gītā with a commentary based on the insights of the principle traditional commentators (viz, in the same vein as theYoga Sūtras commentary). The Gītā‘s teachings in many ways serve as a link between those of theYoga Sūtras and those of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa in the Bhakti Yoga volume, and upon completion will conclude Edwin’s vision of a Trilogy of Yoga texts offered to scholars, students, practitioners, and the intellectually curious.

He is also co-authoring a book entitled ‘In Defense of a God with Form,’ and working with his sister on translating his Penguin translation of the 10th book of the Bhāgavata Purāṇa into Italian (their mother language). 

Dr. Harsh Agarwal

Graduate Degree in Ayurveda Medicine and Surgery

B.A.M.S (Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery)  Gurukul Ayurveda College Haridwar, India - Kanpur University

Founder of Vardan Ayurved Niyalam, Rishikesh, India

Ayurvedacharya Dr. Harsh Agarwal is a well-known name of International repute and highly respected in the field of Ayurveda and Yoga Consultation and Spiritual Healing. 

Dr. Harsh comes from a family of Doctors, whose Grand Father was a very famous Ayurvedacharya during the 1970s. He carries a rich experience of over 15 years in the field of chronic disorders and their treatment through Ayurveda stream. He has been a pioneer in Rishikesh Medical fraternity and more than 20,000 patients from India and abroad.

Dr Harsh has been an active participant of multiple medico-social initiatives e.g. Social Welfare Camps, International Ayurvedic Exhibitions, Health Fairs, Seminars, Symposiums and other activities of Shanti Kunj, Clinical Research for Ayurveda wing. He has also been a calming influence and great helping hand in the face of various natural disasters by being an active member of the Disaster Management Team for catastrophes like Gujarat Earthquake and Cloud Burst in Sri Nagar.  

Sarah Beth Yoga

Online Yoga Teacher
1.7M YouTube subscribers

With 14 years of experience teaching millions of yogis around the world, Sarah Beth helps students and yogis to stretch, strengthen, tone, de-stress and peel back the layers to becoming your best self through yoga. 

With a background as a chiropractic assistant, functional movement is intertwined into all of her sequences. Sarah Beth has also had an autoimmune disease called Ulcerative Colitis for most of her life—making stress and anxiety relief with mindfulness, breathing exercises & body awareness a top priority of her videos.

Sarah Beth has recently released her first book, Trauma Alchemy. 

Jen Mark, RKin, BSc., CAT(C), RYT-200

Athletic Therapist

​Jen has a BSc in Kinesiology & Psychology from York University, Canada and Athletic Therapy at York University, Canada.

Jen is currently an Athletic Therapist and Wellness Coach at Everest Academy in Toronto. She has served as the Head Therapist and Director of Holistic Health with the Field Hockey Canada Junior Development Program and as the Head Therapist with the Markham Majors 2005 and 2006 teams.