Website: MelissaForbes.net or email: melissaforbes8@gmail.com
For the last 23 years, Melissa Forbes has been a student and teacher of Hatha Yoga. Her interest in yoga became more singularly focused after finding inspiration in the tradition of scholar and yogi Shri T. Krishnamacharya (1888-1989). Beginning in 1990, she had the opportunity to study directly with both his student K. Pattabhi Jois (1915-2009) and his son T. K. V. Desikachar in Mysore and Madras, India, respectively. Both Desikachar and Jois are credited with fueling the resurgence of Hatha Yoga in the Western hemisphere in recent decades. She is presently studying Viniyoga, which means according to the needs of the individual, with Gary Kraftsow.
As a yoga instructor, Melissa Forbes began her career teaching Desikachar style yoga in 1997. She later became a co-founder and certified yoga instructor of the internationally renowned Heart of Yoga. She also has taught yoga in numerous schools throughout the United States, including the Omega Institute in upstate New York and the Olive Leaf Wholeness Center in New York City, where she worked closely with Dr. Rudolph Ballentine, a student of Swami Rama who founded the Himalayan Institute. From 2002 to 2007, Melissa Forbes had the privilege to travel with the Indian sage UG Krishnamurti (1918-2007) during the last five years of his life. Forbes completed, “No Teaching Yoga”, published by Gatherinsights, which was inspired by her time with Krishnamurti.
Melissa’s passions include painting, design, dance and movement. She completed formal studies in textile design at the Moore College of Art, studied printmaking at the National Academy of Design. She received the Pollock-Krasner grant, and has been engaged in a lifelong study of Vedic yantras. She maintained a studio for many years in New York City while traveling and painting in special locations around the world, including India, New Zealand, Italy, and Switzerland. Her art has been exhibited at galleries in New York City, Philadelphia, and the United Nations. In 2014, solo exhibitions have taken place at the Way Back Gallery inTroy NY, Affirmation Arts in NYC and the Union Arts in Sparkill, NY.
Melissa is a certified Ohashi shiatsu practitioner, an NLP practitioner under Richard Bandler, studied Continuum with Emilie Conrad, certified Light Language and Divine Intervention teacher under Star Fuentas and Four Winds Society trained energy healer. She currently lives in upstate New York and teaches as an Adjunct Professor at the University of New Haven, Connecticut. Melissa Forbes continues her development in the disciplines and practices of yoga and art, as an avid student, teacher, and painter. Learn more about her work and her books at GatherInsight.com or www.MelissaForbes.net.