Amrit Desai is a pioneer of yoga in the West, and one of the few remaining living yoga gurus who originally brought over the authentic teachings of yoga in the early 1960s.^[2][3] He is the creator of two brands of yoga, Kripalu Yoga and I AM Yoga, and is the founder of five yoga and health centers in the US. His yoga training programs have reached more than 40 countries worldwide and over 8,000 teachers have been certified.

Homegrown Gurus, published in 2013, states: "Although Desai has not received scholarly attention, he has arguably been one of the most influential and sought-after figures in the development of Hatha Yoga in America over the last 40 years."^[4]

Desai was born on 16 October 1932, the second son of Chimanlal, a village merchant, and Buribhen Desa in Pratappura in Gujarat, India. At age ten, the family moved to Halol. At age 15, he met his guru, Swami Kripalvananda (Bapuji), a wandering Shaivite monk and kundalini yoga master^[5] who was offering free talks on the Bhagavad Gita in Halol.^[6]

Desai taught himself yoga postures from a chart he found tacked to the wall of the local gym, and then began teaching others outside the cowshed where his guru lived. After the swami observed him teaching one day, he allowed him to witness his private sadhana. The swami went into a trance-like state and began to perform movements unlike anything he had seen on the asana charts. Desai said, "The pranic energy became so strong his body was hurled across the room with tremendous force. As I watched in awe, he was dancing, weaving in and out of complicated asanas."^[6]

After studying engineering and training with the Indian Air Force in Madras, Desai returned to Halol, where he took a job teaching art at the local high school. He married his betrothed, Urmila Shah, in January 1955. The following year, in 1956, the couple moved to Ahmedabad, where he earned his art diploma over the next four years.^[7] They had three children between 1959 and 1968.

Desai saved enough money to travel to the United States in February 1960, where he entered the Philadelphia College of Art with only enough money to cover his first semester's tuition and rent. By teaching yoga and washing dishes while at college, he eventually saved enough money to bring his wife and infant son to the U.S. two years later.^[7] Desai is a vegetarian and practices occasional fasting.^[8]

In 1964, he graduated with a degree in fine arts and design from the Philadelphia College of Art, and then began working at a textile firm. His watercolor paintings won awards at art shows, including at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. He created distinct textures and patterns with razor blades and eye-droppers.^[6] In 1961, while still a college art student, he played the flute in a "Music of India" concert at the Commercial Museum at the Philadelphia Convention Center.^[9] Desai also began teaching yoga in the early 1960s while still an art student.

Yogi Desai was initiated into the secrets of Shaivite kundalini yoga by his guru, Swami Kripalu (Kripalvananda), a master of tantric sadhana. There are numerous documented accounts of energetic transmission or shaktipat experienced in his presence.^[5]

D. R. Butler describes a meditation led by Desai at a week-long retreat with about 200 attendees at the 1973 ICSA Yoga Convocation, where Desai was an unannounced guest:

Clad in a flowing white robe and sitting before us, Amrit easily assumed the lotus posture, his body perfectly poised. He led us into a meditation and the first thing I noticed was a wave of euphoria permeating my body. Suddenly surges of energy like electrical charges streaked up my spine. These gradually evolved into a steady current of hot energy flowing from my tip of my spine to the top of my head... Brilliant colors stirred inside my head. I thought I would burst with happiness. Nothing had ever felt so good... In a few moments the place was a madhouse. People were crying hysterically, laughing uncontrollably, gasping for breath, even rolling on the floor. Apparently everyone was experiencing some manifestation of the same energy I was feeling... My feeling of euphoria continued for several hours and I knew I would never be quite the same again.^[13]

David Frawley stated:

Yogi Desai revived the ancient teachings of the millennial old Shaivite Yoga, rooted in the Lakulish tradition from Kayavarohan in Gujarat, one of the greatest centers of India's older Yoga practices… Yogi Desai has demonstrated a Prana Siddhi in which he can allow the Universal Prana to move not only through his mind and body but also through his environment and into the audience around him, awakening their own inner prana and spiritual intelligence.^[14]

In the afterword to Ancient Wisdom, Modern Master, Michael A. Singer described a meeting with Desai during which his heart chakra was "permanently opened" by "the simple touch of Amrit's hand."^[6]

The Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health was an Ashram. One of the spiritual practices that the single residents were expected to practice was celibacy (brahmacharya). Although sex within marriage was condoned at the ashram, after his third child was born in 1968, Desai declared that he would now practice celibacy too. A large celebration was held for this event. So important was this practice of celibacy that occasionally meetings were held and residents were asked to divulge anyone they thought might have violated that sacred practice. As a result, some residents were ejected from the community.

The irony was that the two most senior members of the community, including Desai, were practising adultery. After years of infidelity with numerous people, in 1994, it was revealed and admitted that Desai had had sexual contact with at least three female resident disciples and was forced to resign his position as Spiritual Director.^[15][16]

Then, in an open letter to the Kripalu community, Desai stated, "More than anything I want Kripalu to remain a spiritual home for many. I want you to know that we came to this decision together… I deeply regret any suffering I have caused to the people directly involved and to the entire Kripalu family."^[15]

When Michael A. Singer, a long-time supporter and host of Desai's seminars, heard that Desai had left the Kripalu community, he invited him and his wife to spend some quiet time living with the Temple of the Universe community in Alachua, Florida. The Desais arrived in December 1994 and stayed on the property for roughly three years.^[17]

In 1996, Desai resumed teaching at the original Kripalu Ashram in Sumneytown, Pennsylvania. After a couple of years, mostly in Pennsylvania, the Desai family relocated to Salt Springs, Florida in 2002, where Yogi Desai currently teaches at the Amrit Yoga Institute, a lakeside retreat on the banks of Lake Kerr in the Ocala National Forest. Amrit Yoga Institute is an ashram where the guru-disciple relationship continues to flourish and residents enjoy the benefits of a traditional yogic lifestyle. Programs of varying length are offered for yoga teacher training, ayurveda, and recovery.^[4] The Salt Springs property was sold in 2023, but AYI continues to hold online classes, as well as in person classes elsewhere, and Yogi Desai continues to teach.

While no longer an ashram, Kripalu continues to operate and is presently one of the largest yoga and health centers in North America, offering a wide range of programs and professional trainings in health, spirituality, yoga, and more.^[4]

In 2011, he was awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship from the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International, in Naples, Florida, "in appreciation of tangible and significant assistance given for the furtherance of better understanding and friendly relations among peoples of the world."

He provided scholarships to the poor in India, and assisted approximately 5,000 women financially through the Bhuriben Trust, which he founded. He also provided free medicines and medical treatment and helped launch a new children’s school in Halol.^[18]

• Doctor of Yoga Science, 1974 – From Jagadaguru Shankaracharya Maharaj, Dwarka, spiritual leader of Hinduism, for outstanding contributions to humanity.^[19]
• Yogacharya, 1980 – From Swami Kripalvananda, Desai's guru and founder of Kayavarohan Tirtha Shiva Temple, Malav Ashram, and Lord Lakulish Yoga Institute, in recognition of years of intensive study, teachings and practice of philosophy and spiritual principles of yoga.^[19]
• Jagadacharya, 1986 – From the World Religious Parliament, New Delhi, India, established by Swami Vivekenanda in 1894. This honourable title, equivalent to Jagadaguru Shankaracharya, was awarded to five world-renowned teachers for spreading Hindu philosophy and wisdom worldwide.^[19]
• Maharishi, 1986 – From the 105-year-old Sadguru Swami Gangeshwaranandji Maharaj, Udasin, chancellor of Udasin Sanskrit University, Benares, founder of 12 ashrams in India and 600 Ved Mandirs.^[19]
• Vishwa Yoga Ratna, 1987 – Conferred by the Vishwa Unnayan Samsad (World Development Parliament of India) to 10 world-renowned teachers from 10 countries (India, USA, England, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, Brazil, France), this one-time award was presented by the President of India in recognition of lifelong dedication and service in the field of Yoga. Desai was selected to represent the USA.^[19]
• Padma Vibhushan Nomination, 1992 – Nominated by the late Prime Minister of India, Chandra Shekhar, with a positive response from then Prime Minister Narasimha Rao for 1993.^[19]
• Unity in Yoga Plaque, 1993 – In appreciation for years of dedicated services to yoga in the Americas. Presented by Unity in Yoga Teachers Association celebrating 100 years of Yoga in America.^[19]

Post-Kripalu

• Patanjali Award, 2010 – For Excellence in Yogic Research and Teachings in North America, from the Association of Ayurvedic Professionals of North America (AAPNA).^[19]
• Inaugural Fellow, Council for Yoga Accreditation International (CYAI), 2012 – The council recognised four inaugural Fellows who have demonstrated extraordinary achievement and contribution to the field of Yoga.^[19]
• Maharishi Sandipani Award, 2013 – From the Ujjain Yog Life Society International, at the 4th International Yog Conference, held in January 2014 in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, India.^[19]
• International Yoga Grand Master, 2013 – From Jagat Guru Amrta Suryananda Maharaj (recipient of Padma Shri). The only previous recipients of this award were B.K.S. Iyengar and Dr. Nagendra, SVYASA University, Bangalore.^[19]