About Us

Sanapurna means complete health (sana - health; purna - complete). This mix between Sanskrit and Latin, east and west, mirrors the background of owners Poonam and Thomas Stecher Sharma.
Poonam grew up in a small town outside of New Delhi in a family of yoga experts and practitioners. Her desire to teach and deepen her knowledge led her to pursue a Postgraduate degree in Yogic Studies at Bihar Yoga Bharati. Thomas was born and raised in the mountains of Switzerland where his family worked in hospitality. After leaving his corporate job, Thomas had a deep desire to return to serving his community as his family had. He began studying Ayurveda at the Bihar School of Yoga where he met Poonam. Their shared passion for building a community and offering holistic solutions to modern-day physical and mental ailments is what brought them together in their dream of opening Sanapurna.
Sanapurna also holds a strong commitment to reducing our carbon footprint and environmental impact. Everything from our building to the renovations, and the philosophy to everyday life, reflects this commitment - environmentally friendly paint, upcycled wood, clay walls (great insulation means little heating and cooling is needed), ecological friendly cleaning products, recycled paper, beeswax candles and a specialized cleaning service who also has strong environmental protection practices. In the end, our mission is to take care; of our students, our community, and our planet.
Yoga is an instrument to awareness. Sanapurna is a manifestation of our dream to light the spark of awareness in everyone we cross paths with in this life.