Jaggi Vasudev – Keynote Speaker

Jaggi Vasudev, commonly known as Sadhguru, is a yogi, poet and mystic. Sadhguru is a man whose passion spills into everything he encounters. Equally at home with bright-eyed village children, ash-smeared yogis and top business executives, Sadhguru defies any narrow description.

Jaggi Vasudev founded the Isha Foundation in 1992, a non-profit organisation which offers yoga programmes around the world and is involved in social outreach, education and environmental initiatives.

A multi-faceted personality, Sadhguru is also and author, motivational speaker, and philanthropist along with being a spiritual master.

Sadhguru’s father worked on the Indian railways which meant that as a child he was used to frequent moves from one city to another, this sparked a love for travel and adventure and a curiosity to explore the unknown. He was fascinated by nature as a boy and would often escape to the jungle near his home and spend hours and even days at a time there. He developed a life-long love of snakes and reptiles from observing wildlife.

After completing his schooling, Jaggi Vasudev enrolled at the University of Mysore, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in English Literature. While at college he developed a love of motorcycles as a young man and travelled the length and breadth of India. After completing his education, Sadhguru embarked on a business career opening several businesses including a poultry farm, a brick-works and a construction business.

A spiritual experience at 25 made him rethink his life’s purpose, within weeks he left his business to his friend and embarked on a journey culminating in the realisation that his life’s calling was to become a yoga teacher and share his inner experience. In 1983 Sadhguru started to teach yoga classes in Mysore, he refused payment and managed his expenses from the proceeds he received from the poultry farm.

In 1992, Sadhguru founded Isha Foundation, a non-profit, spiritual organisation offering yoga programmes under the name Isha Yoga. Today his yoga progammes are offered in the US, England, Lebanon, Canada, China and Malaysia to name but a few countries covered.

In 2003, the Isha Foundation established Action for Rural Rejuvenation (ARR) a multi-phased programme aimed towards improving the overall health and quality of life of the rural poor.

The foundation also established the Project Green Hands (PGH), a grassroots ecological initiative in Tamil Nadu in 2004. The aim of the project is to plant 114 million trees throughout Tamil Nadu and increase the forest cover in the state to 33%.

Jaggi Vasudev is an internationally renowned figure, speaking at the United Nations Millennium World Peace Summit in 2000. His speaking engagements take him around the world and he addressed the World Economic Forum in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.

Sadhguru is a prolific author, he has penned over 100 titles in eight different languages. He is also a talented poet who loves to compose poems in his leisure time. In  2017, He was conferred the Padma Vibushan award by the Government of India, in recognition of his contribution towards spirituality.