Kevin Petrini
MS, RYT-200, and certified Sivananda Yoga Teacher

Born in Connecticut, Kevin is the youngest of three children. He spent the four seasons exploring the river and nearby woods beside which he grew up. From a young age he wanted to make a difference in the world. His first experience of trying to better the world in an organized way was in the 6th grade, when he conducted a raffle for a “We Are the World” record single and over $100 was collected and donated to UNICEF. Since then his sharing and compassionate nature has expanded into his current work as a diversity and cross-cultural trainer, yoga teacher and Raw Shakti Yoga Adventure travel company Co-Director.

During Kevin’s teenage years, he excelled at mathematics and chemistry that led him to attend Worcester Polytechnic Institute for undergraduate studies. He majored in Chemical Engineering and minored in English. He went on to study for his Masters in Chemical Engineering at the University of Colorado, Boulder, with a focus on Air Quality. Kevin always tried to apply his knowledge to solve problems associated with the environment. While at Boulder, Kevin loved hiking in the mountains and reaching the numerous mountain peaks over 12,000 feet. Throughout his academic studies, he was also interested in literature, and that lead to his interest in reading spiritual texts from many religions that helped guide him toward his peace promoting life.

After graduate school, Kevin spent 3 months traveling in his 1974 Volkswagen bus to Central America. Kevin describes this as his “Walden on Wheels” time of his life. He spent time writing and experiencing the Mayan culture and he enjoyed the freedom to explore the world at the mindful pace of a Volkswagen bus. He drove 15,000 miles at 55 mph from Colorado to Guatemala then back to New England. Kevin has dreams of one day having a Raw Shakti Yoga Tour in his bus traveling from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego!

After the bus tour, he wanted to focus his life on serving other people, so he applied to become a Peace Corps Volunteer. He spent two years volunteering as a science teacher in the seaside village of Fatuvalu, which translates as Eight Hearts, on the island of Savaii in Samoa. He spent time learning traditional way of life and became fluent in the Samoan language. He lived a few feet from the ocean that has a seasonal surfing wave he learned to surf on. He also enjoyed mountain biking on the numerous unpaved plantation roads that wound into the Samoan rain forest. His home was set below the over 6000-foot high Mount Silisili, the highest point in Samoa. He continued studying in depth both physics and spirituality during this time. It was at this point, he had a realization that although he could intellectually come to an understanding about the concepts of relativity, it was not satisfying his deeper questions.

Since 2001, Kevin has been studying and living the yoga lifestyle that was introduced to him by his wife, Taialofa. He has studied with Kripalu,Vinyasa, Sivananda, Iyengar, Bikram and Astanga teachers. He was certified to teach yoga at the Sivananda Ashram in Kerela, India. He spent time in India learning from Amma and other teachers. He also taught his first yoga class in India! His classes filled up. He has a daily sadhana, which includes mantra, pranayama, mudras, meditation, asana and svadyaya (scriptural study). He enjoys studying yoga texts daily. He is particularly interested in the Yoga Vasistha. Kevin’s daily practice is the most important part of the day as it brings inner balance and abundant joy.