Gary Kraftsow has been an innovator in the transmission of yoga for health, healing, and personal transformation for over 40 years. He began his study of yoga in India with T.K.V. Deśikāchar in 1974 and received a Viniyoga Special Diploma from Viniyoga International in Paris, France in 1988. 

Gary received his master’s degree in psychology and religion from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1983 and opened the Maui School of Yoga Therapy around that time. 

In 1999, he founded the American Viniyoga Institute, LLC. Since then, he has become a renowned speaker and teacher of the Viniyoga methodology at many conferences and schools nationally and internationally. Gary developed protocols for two National Institutes of Health studies, one on yoga for chronic low back pain and one on yoga for anxiety. He also helped develop a clinical trial on mind-body stress reduction in the workplace.

He is the director and senior teacher at the American Viniyoga Institute (AVI^®), author of the books Yoga for Wellness and Yoga for Transformation, and the educational DVDs Viniyoga Therapy for Low Back, Sacrum and Hips… Viniyoga Therapy for Upper Back, Neck and Shoulders… Viniyoga Therapy for Depression… and Viniyoga Therapy for Anxiety. 

He has also produced multiple online workshops and is in the process of creating the AVI Digital Library, which offers both live and on-demand classes.