Larry Payne, Ph.D. is an internationally respected yoga teacher and back specialist. The L.A. Times named Larry “One of America’s most respected Yoga teachers”. He co-authored Yoga Therapy Rx, Yoga for Dummies and The Business of Teaching Yoga. Larry is founding president of the International Association of Yoga Therapists, founder of the Corporate Yoga program at the J. Paul Getty Museum, the first Yoga teacher to offer Yoga classes at the World Economic Forum, co-founder of the yoga curriculum at UCLA’s School of Medicine, and the founding director of the new Yoga therapy certification program at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. n 1979 he was an advertising executive, plagued with chronic back pain and stress. His quest for relief led him to study Yoga and health in eleven countries and inspired his career change upon certification in India. In 1980, Larry founded the Samata Yoga Center in Los Angeles and later earned a Master’s degree and a Doctorate in fitness education with an emphasis in Hatha Yoga from Pacific Western University. His background is in Psychology and he has also completed graduate work in Physical Therapy at Cal-State University at Long Beach. He was the U.S. representative to the first World Congress of Yoga in Montevideo, Uruguay, and has received Outstanding Achievement Awards for Yoga in Europe and the United States, and the Golden Lotus Award from South America. In 2000, he was a panelist and yoga instructor at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. In addition, he is the founder of the Healthy Back Program at the world-famous Rancho La Puerta Fitness Spa.