Taro Smith, Ph.D.

A scientist, yoga teacher, author, photographer, and conservationist, Taro has over two decades starting and developing innovative organizations in the health and wellness fields. He was instrumental in bringing exercise prescriptions as a standard of care in aging and chronic disease in the medical community. Through his medical centers and scientific research he demonstrated the significant cost benefits of movement-based interventions in clinical settings. He has been published on the topics of exercise, aging, chronic disease, and immune function in numerous peer-reviewed journals. Taro has directed programs that have helped a wide range of patient populations ranging from Olympic level cyclists to the world’s oldest pilot.

In 2012, he co-founded 90 Monkeys, an online and in person yoga school, to empower yoga teachers with the teaching skills and business knowledge to better serve their communities. 90 Monkeys has now worked with over 6000 yoga teachers around the world. Most recently he served as the Chief Content Officer for YogaGlo, Inc. where he directed content, producing thousands of instructional yoga videos serving a global audience. He currently specializes in consulting on the confluence of yoga and technology as well as the development of therapeutic yoga programs for aging, pain, orthopedics, chronic disease and sports.

Taro has presented at Yoga Journal LIVE, Wanderlust, and Hanuman Festival. He is the co-author of The Art and Business of Teaching Yoga published by New World Library.

A former elite cyclist and skier, he splits his time with marine conservation and his renowned photographic series of underwater yoga with endangered ocean animals. Taro is a University of Colorado – Boulder graduate with a Ph.D. in Integrative Physiology.