Retreat Staff
Dr. Rosy Mann
A beloved teacher known for her grace, wisdom, and humility, Dr. Rosy Mann, BAMS, is one of the founding faculty of the Kripalu School of Ayurveda and has dedicated her life to upholding the integrity of the Ayurvedic curriculum. She trained in her homeland of India under the guidance of renowned Ayurvedic physicians and received a Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery degree with distinction in 1994 from Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar. Before moving to the United States, Dr. Rosy and her husband Dr. Sukhpal Mann, MD, had an integrated medical clinic where they successfully treated patients holistically.
Dr. Rosy has more than thirty years of experience as an Ayurvedic doctor specializing in women’s health, panchakarma therapy, and Ayurvedic herbology and nutrition. She offers educational courses, lectures, and workshops on these subjects. Her deep respect and love for the practice of Ayurveda had been appreciated by hundreds of students in her twenty years with the Kripalu School of Ayurveda. She has also led panchakarma retreats with both Kripalu and Lakshmi’s Garden.
Dr. Rosy currently lives in the Berkshires with her family, where she teaches and provides Ayurvedic consultations.
Erin Schwartz
Erin Schwartz has devoted her life to healing, wellness and spiritual practice. A true traveler of darkness to light, her inquiry into holistic healing brought her to Kripalu, where she not only trained in Ayurveda and Pancha Karma, but went on to become the lead Ayurvedic therapist. Erin has assisted several Pancha Karmas at Lakshmi's Garden and Kripalu. Falling deeply in love with the radical transformation of body and soul, Erin then shifted into advanced training in Shamanic work, herbalism and most recently, Embodiment and Polarity. Erin combines these healing arts to go as deep as possible, unlocking the power and magic of each unique soul to heal, practicing Ayurveda and giving Shamanic readings. Erin is honored to be a part of Lakshmi's Garden with her beloved Berkshire community.
Bart Staub
Bart Staub is an Ayurvedic Diet & Lifestyle Practitioner, Ayurvedic body worker, Licensed Massage Therapist, and certified 200-hour Kripalu Yoga Teacher. He spent the last 18 years studying in-person and online Indian philosophical and metaphysical systems with a traditional Indian Guru, Satya Narayana Dasa, and Ayurvedic medicine with Dr Partap Chauhan in India. Bart loves to educate, inspire, and motivate his students and clients to achieve optimal health through simple practices, Ayurvedic bodywork especially. He teaches periodically in Northern India. In his free time, he researches current global health perspectives and how they resonate with traditional Indian sciences.
Kristen Timchak
Coming Soon!
Simeon Bittman
Chef Simeon Bittman, a native of Berkshire County has dedicated a good deal of his life to cooking. He lived in Boston, the Bay Area of California and Vermont before deciding to come back home, start a family, and explore an approach to cooking that embraces mindfulness, local and seasonal ingredients and the approach of food as medicine. Simeon started a catering and home delivery business called Folklore. He was the chef at Sterling college in Vermont focusing on sustainable food systems, he’s been chef di cuisine at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health and was head chef at a local and seasonally focused treatment center. Simeon has spent alot of time at Lakshmi’s Garden and has experienced deep healing from bodywork and guidance through cleanses over the years. Simeon utilizes his skill and the passion he has for his craft to more deeply nurture the people eating his food. You can find out more about his approach to cooking and teaching as well as his special projects on his instagram page @chefsimeon.