Benjamin Finnerty is a certified Anusara yoga teacher based in Shanghai China and is the director of the Jayarasa Yoga Kula.  He first moved to Hangzhou China to teach at a Yoga Studio next to the ancient and famous West Lake.  For more than half a year he walked the same paths that numerous Chinese Emperors have enjoyed.  This began Benjamin's immersion into the ancient history of the Chinese civilization.  Now the seeds of Anusara Yoga are being planted in this ancient country as Benjamin travels to many cities all over China.  Anusara Yoga was created by John Friend in 1997, and has grown to be one of the most influential schools of Hatha Yoga in the world. 

Benjamin's yoga journey began as a child with his mother and 'Yoga with Lilias.'  Throughout his childhood he practiced Bhakti yoga singing the songs of praise in various churches. After practicing as a child, Yoga was a part of Benjamin's life in the background until the late 1990's. While taking graduate school preparation classes at Central Michigan University, Benjamin returned to the practice as he participated in some Hatha Yoga classes which were calming, as well as physically opening. At this point he recognized the benefits of Yoga Practice, and he started to seek a yoga book trying to find a way to begin practicing yoga on his own. After searching at a few bookstores in this small town, he found The Sivananda Companion to Yoga, which he spent the next few years with going cover to cover many times.

In September 2001 the world changed when hatred brought down the twin towers in New York City. On September 12 Benjamin dropped out of graduate school and continued his yoga practice in his living room seeking higher guidance for what direction his life should go, and how he could be the change he hoped to find in the world.  This opening to grace brought growth, and one day the light switch turned on. How in the world does a person become a Yoga teacher? After some time in contemplation he went back to the Sivananda Companion to Yoga and found a website to learn to be a yoga teacher in only a month! 

After realizing his skills were not enough to teach yoga after this month training, he continued asking the question how to become a yoga teacher. In the fall of 2002 he met Sandra Carden in Traverse City Michigan, who helped him to find Rodney Yee and the Piedmont Yoga Studio where he spent 18 months with 4 teachers, including certified Anusara teacher Maritza. In the San Francisco bay area, he also found Iyengar Yoga teachers Manouso Manos, Ramanand Patel, Richard Rosen, Jinsung, and vinyasa teachers Rusty Wells, and Jamie Lindsay. How fortunate he was to spend 4 years in this amazing Yoga Mecca. He was steeped thoroughly in the Anusara method thanks to Maritza, and has been strongly influenced by the system since.

After San Francisco he went to Shanghai China where Benjamin first met John Friend personally. At this time Anusara became the practice as well as the teaching. He has spent his time after their meeting pursuing depth in his practice, knowledge as a teacher, and all the time nourishing his connection to his highest self. 

Benjamin's studies continue to take him all over the world as he teaches teachers and spreads the Anusara light in every way he can.  He has participated in more than 2000 hours of certification training for Yoga Teachers.  Recently he has also begun an in depth study of the teachings of Douglas Brooks, a professor at the University of Rochester, who lived for 7 years in his teacher's home in India, and spent nearly of 17 years studying with his Appa (his teacher's name meaning father) during his studies of the Rajanaka yoga tradition.  

Since beginning teaching in 2002, Benjamin has taught more than 5000 hours of public and private yoga classes, as well as more than 1000 hours of training teachers in the USA and China as well as Internationally.

Benjamin's Yoga and Therapy certifications and accreditations include:

Anusara certification

Rodney Yee and the Piedmont Yoga Studio 18 month Advanced Studies Graduate

Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center Yoga Siromani

Sarah Powers and Paul Grilley  Yin/Yang teacher training

Positional Release Therapy Level 1 Certification

Bowen Method Level 1 certification

“ Yoga teaches us that freedom is not something that we go out looking for. Freedom requires us to look inside and see who we are, as well as to understand who we are seeking to be, and to bring these ideas together into a state of union, in perfect harmony."