James has returned to India 20+ times since living there for a year in 1989.

James has led dozens of tours to India, helping hundreds of people fulfill their dream of experiencing sacred India. As a young, adventurous traveler in his 20s, James traveled much of India for a year by train, bus, and on foot. He lived in rural villages and intentional communities, took Hindi immersion courses in the Himalayas, stayed in ashrams and family homes, hiked the mountains of Nepal, hosted five species of parasites in his gut, visited the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, temple hopped his way through the south, survived the 2005 tsunami at Ammachi’s ashram in Kerala, practiced yoga and meditation, slept on train station cement floors, studied Ayurveda with his teachers, and fell in love with a country and people that are as diverse as any place on the planet.

During his travels to India and Africa in his mid-20s, James was healed of malaria with traditional African medicine and intestinal infections with Ayurveda and Tibetan Medicine. These experiences would forever change his understanding of the human experience and the nature of medicine and healing. He was later guided to study the natural healing methods of Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). James is now a third-generation medical practitioner with 35 years of practice as an Ayurveda Doctor, TCM acupuncturist, medical herbalist, and Yoga teacher trainer. He directs and practices Ayurveda at Sevanti Practice.

He is the founder and current director of Sevanti Institute, Sevanti Practice, Sevanti Wellness, and Sevanti Adventures.

Tawny Sterios has returned to India eight times as part of Sevanti Adventures.

Tawny is an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (AMFT #155683) in California whose work sits at the intersection of body, mind, and spirit. Under the supervision of a licensed therapist, she has spent the past two years exploring the wholeness of being human and tending to the animus mundi — the soul of the world.

With over twenty years of experience teaching yoga, leading circles, retreats, and rituals, Tawny creates spaces that invite participants to reconnect with themselves, the earth, and the unseen. As a yoga teacher, Qoya dancer, and somatic depth-oriented psychotherapist, she supports travelers in cultivating presence, intuition, and embodied insight, allowing the journey to reveal its deeper meanings. She is thrilled to guide participants on the 2027 Journey to India, helping each traveler engage fully with the adventure, sacred spaces, and rich cultural experiences.

A 500-hour yoga teacher, Tawny began her practice in 1990 and co-opened mBODY, a movement studio she ran for eight years in San Luis Obispo, California, alongside her husband, Peter Sterios, yoga teacher and founder of Manduka. She is certified in Kundalini, Hatha, and Prenatal/Postpartum Yoga, a Birth and Postpartum Doula, holistic sex educator, and Qoya dance teacher.

Tawny recently graduated from Pacifica Graduate Institute, where she studied Jungian psychology, myth, and depth psychology. She has taught on the faculty of LEVITYoga’s Teacher Trainings, Esalen Institute’s Movement Program, and was invited to teach yoga at the White House for Michelle Obama’s anti-obesity initiatives.

Tawny’s guidance is gentle, embodied, and soul-centered, offering a grounded space for transformation, reflection, and renewal.

Learn more about her work at www.tawnysterios.com.