Meet the Founders

Pranamaya founded in 2002 by Mark Holmes and Ian Albert. Friends for over twenty-five years, Mark and Ian both achieved success in the film and television industries before realizing that their deepening commitment to yoga combined with their professional experience gave them a unique opportunity to share these powerful practices with the world.

“In a way,” says Ian, “the Pranamaya catalog of yoga videos is a record of our own personal journeys on the yogic path. We've personally studied with each and every one of the teachers on our roster, often for many years, and have found resonance between their teachings and our own practices. And as our practices evolve, so do our needs and interests and the teachers that we seek out. We're firm believers that no single specific practice is suitable for all yoga practitioners, nor even for one person at all times. Whether through age, injuries or sensitivity to the changing needs of the moment, we've found ourselves on a rather eclectic but productive and profound path of self-transformation. We're grateful to each of our teachers for their help along the way.”

“We're also highly sensitive to the sometimes contradictory goals of yoga and commerce,” says Mark. “Commerce is often about selling products to people whether they need them or not, using methods that often take advantage of our insecurities and our desires. We especially take issue with the selling of yoga as fantasy--the tropical beach, sexy perfect body style of presentation. This has nothing to do with the very real and profound benefits that yoga can have for people of all walks of life, no matter their age, fitness level or whether they have a 'yoga body' or not.”

 

The Pranamaya Mission

Pranamaya, Inc. collaborates with the world’s best yoga teachers to create compelling media products that inspire vibrant, integral health and self-transformation.

Pranamaya's vision is to be a leading, trusted resource for effective tools that inspire authentic and lasting physical, emotional and spiritual transformation. To this end, we have developed a roster featuring some of the most respected and forward-thinking teachers in the world, including Paul Grilley, Gary Kraftsow, Sarah Powers, Sri Dharma Mittra, Edward Clark, Andrey Lappa, Nischala Joy Devi, and Jill Miller. The Pranamaya library of releases features unparalleled richness and depth of instruction for everyone from the beginner exploring yoga for the first time, to the experienced yogi who wants to expand their practice and knowledge base.

Pranamaya DVDs are now sold not only in English-speaking countries like the US, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand, but also in Indonesia, Singapore, China and other locations around the world. Special Japanese-language editions of several titles are now available in Japan.

 

What's in a name?

The Pranamaya kosha is the 'vital energy body' through which our life force moves. In hatha yoga, we use the physical body to activate this energy for the purpose of transforming consciousness. We like the name Pranamaya because it suggests our mission: the energetic activity of creating and transmitting information in the service of transformation of consciousness.