Team
Mukul Purohit - Co-founder & Producer
Mukul is the Co-Founder and Producer of Mystic Art Retreats with a role to facilitate the growth of the franchise globally. He has over a decade plus multi-regional experience within corporate finance, corporate development, global business development and licensing across the Technology, Media, Telecom, Healthcare, Lifescience, Creative Industries and Hospitality sectors.
Mukul is also an art collector and promotes the works of emerging artists through his art marketing company Shanayya Arts. He is a partner at UnityART Germany - a photography medium led art studio. He keeps himself busy during any free time to study Vedic Astrology, Ayurveda, and Quantum Physics.
Mukul holds a business degree from Queensland University of Technology, Australia; an arts degree from the University of Greenwich in London, the UK along with professional courses in Corporate Finance and Strategic Management.
Ekabhumi Charles Ellik - Co-founder
Ekabhumi Charles Ellik is an award-winning poet, author, devotional artist, yoga instructor, emcee, and event producer. His primary spiritual practice is creating sacred art. Through a ritualized and meditative creative method, he makes artworks for ceremonial and educational use that help people recognize the divinity of common experiences and find meaning in daily life. His artworks may be found in yoga studios, private homes, and on altars around the world.
His name was given by his first guru during a formal initiation ceremony into a yogic lineage in 2005. Since that time, he has studied with many spiritual teachers and traditional artists both in India and the States. Ekabhumi’s writing and artwork has been published widely, appearing in anthologies and journals like The Poetry of Yoga, Berkeley Fiction Review, and Pearl, as well as books like Tantra Illuminated by Christopher Hareesh Wallis and Awakening Shakti by Sally Kempton. His instructional Shakti Coloring Book and the uplifting Bhakti Coloring Book are now available world-wide from Sounds True Press. Though his first love is art, he has a wide range of interests that are reflected in his many past occupations: Yoga instructor, stock options broker, handyman, journalist, ski boot fitter, competitive surfer and champion sailor. He toured internationally as a performance poet, and the poets he coached won numerous regional and national titles. He hosted writer’s groups, produced poetry readings and organized spoken-word festivals for nearly 20 years, culminating in the wildly successful 2009 Individual World Poetry Slam.
For nearly two decades, he variously taught yoga, painting, public speaking, and creative writing to students ranging from kindergarten to post-graduate level. Ekabhumi is an inspiring, playful yet methodical teacher who utilizes the arts to help students cultivate deeper intuitive states. He is currently core faculty of livingsanskrit.com and visiting faculty for The Bridge in Shanghai. On weekends, he can be found in his garden practicing silence and learning directly from Nature.
Tiffani Gyatso
Tiffani Gyatso is a Brazilian artist, specialized in Thangka Painting (Tibetan Buddhist Art) at the Norbulingka Institute, India and studied the art form of Islamic Geometry at the Prince School in London. Beside the traditional arts, she develops her own contemporary painting based on the intuitive and contemplative process which also explores the expression in dance and performance. She offers workshops, talks and art retreats in Peru, USA, India and at her own space, the Atelier YabYum in Brazil. Annually she guides Art Tours to India and Nepal.
Melanie Rhodes - Ambassador
Melanie is a dedicated practitioner of various holistic arts and her desire to further ancient knowledge in contemporary contexts led her to patronising the mystic art retreats. A deep appreciation for the arts in so many of its facets, she is a qualified Architect with a degree in Building & Architecture from the University of Port Elizabeth in South Africa. Melanie has been practicing different styles of yoga such as Iyengar, Bikram, Vinyasa and Kundalini over eighteen years and is also a qualified Asthanga yoga teacher. Her immersion in Ayurveda is reflected in her adopting the medicinal science into her daily lifestyle, attending panchkarma programmes and even taking post-partum care following water-births of her two children – Nathan and India.
Melanie is also a student of the Non-Dual Advaita philosophy of classical Hindu thought with her teacher belonging to the the school of Ramanah Maharshi. With four children she still manages to meditate daily whilst embracing a very busy life with her famous coach-cricketer husband Jonty Rhodes. Their commitment and love for India as a philosophy is not just reflected in them naming their daughter “India” but also their immersive practice in Indian holistic arts and traditions.
Ellie Murtagh - Website Designer
Ellie is a website designer and former performance artist based in Melbourne, Australia. She previously studied contemporary dance at Transit Dance from 2018-2019, where she practiced daily classes of improvisation, ballet, yoga and contemporary technique. After her training, Ellie moved forward to begin her studies in Meditation Teaching and Holistic Human Development which is where her appreciation for daily meditative practices began.
Throughout COVID-19, Ellie created Wired Arts, an online arts platform focused on sharing and celebrating art throughout the pandemic. Through creating the Wired Arts website, she furthered her knowledge in website design and has now moved forward to work with international clients based in the art community, to help support and build their online presence. She continues to gain more knowledge in her work as a dancer and website designer, and explore how these can coexist to support the global art community.
Teachers
 Ekabhumi Charles EllikEkabhumi Charles Ellik is an award-winning poet, author, devotional artist, yoga instructor, emcee, and event producer. His primary spiritual practice is creating sacred art. His artworks may be found in yoga studios, private homes, and on altars around the world. Though his first love is art, he has a wide range of interests that are reflected in his many past occupations: Yoga instructor, stock options broker, handyman, journalist, ski boot fitter, competitive surfer and champion sailor. |  Sonja PicardCanadian award-winning Jewelry Designer Sonja Picard has been called a modern-day Alchemist from her renown bespoke services of Recycle Your Love and The Cosmology Collection. Sonja Picard is a master jewelry designer and has worked with symbology for over almost 30 years. Sonja’s work is infused with the rich culture of Indian tradition of adornment and is in balance with the tantric concept of Shringar or ‘complete decoration’. |  Shanna DadismanShanna Dadisman heads the yoga therapy practice at Mystic Art Retreats. Drawing from her own journey of personal growth and transformation, Tarini passionately shares her expertise and guides individuals seeking holistic health and well-being. Her knowledge and experience allow her to create transformative experiences for retreat participants, empowering them to overcome unhealthy behaviours, thought patterns, self-sabotaging tendencies, and addictive behaviours. |  Tova OlssonTova Olsson is a scholar of religion, author and yoga teacher with over 20 years of experience in educating. She is appreciated for her deep knowledge, her ability to explain esoteric ideas and philosophical concepts in an accessible way, for her skillful storytelling and humorous approach. |
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 Carolina FonsecaCarolina Fonseca has dedicated her life in-depth studies of Dance. Since the age of 3, she learnt competitive Acrobatic Gymnastics and then followed the study of Classical and Modern Dance and, in parallel, the study of Vajrayana Buddhist philosophy. |  Jacqueline KapurJacqueline’s lifelong passion for horses began when she started riding at age 9 in her native Germany and she has shaped the equestrian landscape of Auroville and larger India through her coaching of countless young people. Jacqueline is a highly sought-after dressage trainer. With her years of experience as an entrepreneur, Jacqueline has been able to also establish a series of nonverbal communication programs for the development of leadership skills in professional and personal settings. |  Judy SchneiderHealing Through Horses Retreat Leader and Transformational Coach for Women -- affectionately known as “The Horse Lady” -- supports heart-centered women who have experienced life- changing events create meaningful and lasting relationships. Judy and her herd of healing horses stand ready to heal mind, body and spirit and open the door to gain clarity and courage. Judy is sought out for her patience, expertise and ability to shift and change lives. |  Mavis GewantMA, CD, CLC - Sacred Artist, Labor & Postpartum Doula, Birth Educator has over 30 years experience as a painter and teacher, in the Harish Johari Tradition. Mavis has 25 years experience as a doula and teaches Doula Trainings for Birth Arts International. Believing that pregnancy, birth and postpartum is a sacred time, she attended The Santa Barbara Graduate Institute and received a Master's degree in Pre & Perinatal Psychology. |
 Tiffani GyatsoTiffani Gyatso is a Brazilian artist, specialized in Thangka Painting (Tibetan Buddhist Art) at the Norbulingka Institute, India and studied the art form of Islamic Geometry at the Prince School in London. Beside the traditional arts, she develops her own contemporary painting based on the intuitive and contemplative process which also explores the expression in dance and performance. |  Andy WeberThe artist Andy Weber spent seven years living and studying the iconographical art of Tibetan Buddhism under the guidance of accomplished masters in India and Nepal. His thangka paintings (Tibetan scroll paintings) can be seen in Buddhist centres and temples throughout the world including the Potala Palace in Lhasa and his images have become well known and popular through numerous publications. |  Anita SinclairAnita is a renowned artist, educator, curator, and community organizer. Her passion is for ceramics, sculpture, drawing, and painting. Anita is credentialed to teach all age and ability levels, and studied forensic clay facial reconstruction for victim identification, and for historical specimen museum displays. She has had a long career producing and exhibiting her work, curating exhibitions, producing commercial work and commissions, film industry, education, and community arts engagement. |  Tom Sire ClarkeJoyfully committed to designing and building sanctuary, Tom began to explore his love for crafting with wood at the age of six. In the early 80s, wanting to understand what elevates craft to fine art, he studied sculpture and mixed media at the art institute of Chicago. With over 50 years of experience, he finds love for wood is the same reverence I have for Divine design. Woodworking offers a way of forming an expression of my gratitude. |
"It is my opinion that spiritual liberation practices are context-specific; they arise in specific cultural, geographic, and historic contexts. They must be understood and/or practiced in context to function properly. After all, those of us who desire self-realisation/liberation in a human body are asking for a context-specific experience. So it behooves all of us who have tasted or deeply immersed ourselves in the nourishing waters of the dharma traditions to cultivate a relationship with living stewards of the practices we engage and the cultures from which they arose."
by Co-founder, Ekabhumi Charles Ellik