Meet the Surya World Team
Stéphane Chollet
A tireless researcher on the path to well-being and the elevation of consciousness, Stéphane Chollet began his exploration of Asian territories, schools and lineages in the 1980s. He began with the Chinese martial and internal arts in the 80s. At the end of the 1980s, he discovered yoga alongside Jean Villetelle, a student of Gérard Blitz in the tradition of Krishnamacharya of Madras, and was decisively introduced to India and yoga when he met Michel Coquet, a leading practitioner of the Japanese Katori sword school and author of numerous books on spirituality. These “initiatory” encounters enabled Stéphane to discover India from the inside, a country rich in profound tradition.
In the space of a few years, he visited the great Indian yoga schools, meeting among others Pattabi Joïs, Iyengar, the descendants of T.Krishnamacharya, the Shivananda Ashram, the Bihar school of Yoga and finally Swami Yogeshwarananda’s Yoga Niketan in Rishikesh.
Seeking to immerse himself even more deeply in the spiritual aspect of the practice, he spent more than thirty years visiting India’s greatest Sages in turn.
At the same time, he developed his personal practice, practicing and exploring all 4 corners of India, right up to the snowy caves of the Himalayas, where he experienced the life of the Himalayan Sages and Hermits and their practices of resistance to the cold through breath. Over the course of time and experience, he shaped and perfected what would become Surya Raja Yoga, otherwise known as “Suryashtanga Yoga”, a balanced, rich and complete practice, an integral synthesis capable of accompanying beginners through to advanced levels of mindfulness practice.
Constantly deepening his personal practice and research, Stéphane continues to explore India and other territories every year. Teaching yoga since 1990, he now limits his classes to close students, and regularly graces us with his presence at yoga masterclasses and retreats around the world, as well as at training courses. He is always ready to offer his students invaluable advice on deepening their personal practice, and our group discussions on theory and philosophy are frequent.
