History
So as to unify professionals across the world and promote cohesion within her method, Master Kusum Modak announced November of 2019, the creation of the Modak Institute, legally founded in March of 2020 in Ohio in the United States of America. We are the first and only legal entity authorized by Kusum Modak herself.
Our history, however, is older. It started in the 1980’s, when the founder of the Kusum Modak Method℠ started to develop her unique, powerful, and transformative work. A therapeutic technique that unifies with simplicity and sophistication, two millenarian Indian practices: Yoga and Ayurveda.
Our objective is to prepare qualified professionals in the field of complimentary and integrative health, as we are committed to the international movement seeking wellness and a better quality of life.
Motivated by our passion for this mission, our first significant step was officially registering the name of the technique, recognized now was the Kusum Modak Method – Ayurvedic Yoga Therapeutic Massage℠. We aim to expand the legacy of the method, preserving its integrity with precision. We believe in discipline, respect, and inclusion.
The wish of Master Kusum Modak is to transform the Modak Institute into an international example: an example of union, collaboration, and commitment. Together, we are building a welcoming community for people passionate about this therapeutic method. We are the hand that nourishes.
Kusum Modak
On the 28th of April 1938 in Pune, India, Kusum Modak was born. Independent, authentic, and brave, Kusum faced the challenges ingrained in Indian culture in the 1980’s when she decided to travel the world to share her discoveries about health and the processes of self-knowledge.
It was the serious respiratory and spinal problems during her youth that moved her onto the path seeking a cure. In her forties and determined, Kusum encountered the millenarian sciences of Yoga and traditional Indian massage – the first indications of the processes of transformation of our body.
Much like her work, profound and welcoming, master Kusum Modak is known for her objectivity and firmness and at the same time her gentility and loving nature.
From a Brahman lineage, which engenders benevolence, meditation, and faith, Kusum inherited from her father – the Doctor Narayan Krishna Modak – and her mother – Susheela Modak – the strength and character responsible for moulding her gift and trajectory.
Mission
We are seeking to preserve the Kusum Modak Method℠ and expand its benefits to the largest amount of people possible, guaranteeing that the legacy of the Indian Master Kusum Modak be protected in its entirety, as envisioned by Kusum Modak.
Vision
We seek a unification of the method, increased collaboration of professionals, and recognition by educational and health institutions.
Values
Reverence: with happiness and devotion, we honour the teachings and trust we receive from the Master Kusum Modak.
Union: we seek strength and cohesion, which are fundamental for the making of a communal and consistent approach towards the method, its instruction, and certification.
Care: we seek to welcome, support, and provide assistance to students, therapists and teachers of the Kusum Modak Method℠ around the world.
Our Team
Alda Martinelli
Directorate for Institutional Development
Author of the book Ayurvedic Yoga Massage – Transformation Through Touch, the only work authorized by master Kusum Modak, Alda first trained in the technique in 1999. She is a journalist and teacher of the technique.
Anand Premo
Directorate of Education
Ananda first trained in the technique in 2001 and in 2005 she participated in a certification course with master Kusum Modak. She has been teaching the method since 2013 in the state of Goiânia and was a certification course assistant in India, in 2015.
Bhana Cortez Leite
Directorate of Education
Bhana is a member of the Study Group of Integrative and Complementary Health Practices in Integrated Health) at the Universidade de São Paulo. She is an educator and has practiced the technique since 2016.
Gerli Bonemann
Administrative Council
A therapist of the method since 1990, Gerli is a physical educator and has taught the method in Florianópolis since 2003. In 2002, she visited India for the first time to meet and study with master Kusum Modak.
Karunah Guimarães
Directorate for Professional Support
Karunah is a professional body psychotherapist and social worker in Goiás (Brazil). She became involved with the technique in 2000. 8 years later, she went to India to learn with master Kusum Modak. She has been teaching the technique since 2008.
Laura Cantoni
President
Along with master Kusum Modak, Laura is the founder of the Modak Institute and the educational curriculum of the Kusum Modak Method℠. She first trained in the technique in 2008 and since 2013 oversees certification courses in India.
Leide Perea
Administrative Council
Leide has participated in the ACUDA method, which teaches therapeutic methods to those deprived of physical liberty in Porto Velho (Brazil) since 2000. She is an educator, specialized in health education. She has been a teacher of the technique since 2006.
Luiz Cantoni
Administrative Council
An otolaryngologist (ENT), Dr. Cantoni has been a therapist of the technique since 2011. He learnt with master Kusum Modak in São Roque. He has been an assistant in certification courses in India.
Madhuri Prem
Ethics Council
A naturotherapist and therapist of the method since 2001. She received her certification in São Paulo with master Kusum Modak in 2005, having been a teacher since. In 2008, she visited master Kusum Modak in India.
Mariana Meera
Administrative Council
A therapist of the method since 2004, she teaches courses in Brazil and India. Between 2007 and 2011, she lived in India, when she was able to study yoga, Ayurveda, and meditation. She was an assistant in master Kusum Modak’s certification courses.
Monique Cantoni
Directorate of Education
Paediatrician and acupuncturist, has been a therapist of the method since 2011. She trained with master Kusum Modak in a certification course in São Roque (Brazil).
Nanda Gobbi
Directorate for Communication
Paulista (from São Paulo state), lover of bodily therapies and practices and trained in the technique in 2003. She has been an assistant in certification courses in Florianópolis since 2005.
Nirav Chandra
Administrative Council
Nirav trained in the therapy in 2007. In 2008, she visited India to study with master Kusum Modak and since 2011 has been teaching the method in Salvador. She was an assistant in a certification course in India in 2019.
Patricio Ferreyra
Administrative Council
Patricio is an Argentine and has been a therapist of the method since 2011, teaching in Rosário. He is a body therapist, a teacher of the Alexander Technique, and Seitai instructor. He was an assistant in a certification course in 2019.
Prem Purnima
Directorate for Institutional Development
A teacher of the technique in Brazil and the United Kingdom since 2006, Purnima received her first certification in 1997. She travelled to India for the first time to learn with master Kusum Modak in 1999. She is also Rebirthing therapist.
Prem Shunya
Directorate of Technical Development
A physical educator by trade, Shunya has practiced the method since 1997 and has taught it in Salvador (Brazil) since 2011. In 2008, she travelled to India to meet and study with master Kusum Modak.
Puja Punita
Directorate of Technical Development
A massage therapist, Punita trained in the technique in 1998, having participated in a certification course with master Kusum Modak in 2005. She travelled to India for the first time in 2008 and has been a teacher in the technique in Brazil since 2003.
Raquel Alvares
Directorate for Institutional Development
A photographer, yoga instructor, and advertising professional, she trained in the technique in 2016, in São Paulo. She first met master Kusum Modak in 2017 and was an assistant in a certification course in India, in 2019.
Raquel Trofino
Directorate for Professional Support
Teacher of the method since 2009. Did her first training in 2006. In 2011 participated in the course with Kusum, in São Paulo. Graduated in Hatha Yoga since 1997. Studied Anatomy and Physiology applied to Yoga.