Niko Eng is a Buddhist yoga and meditation teacher based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Raised without a religious background, he had a natural curiosity about the meaning of life from a young age. This led him to explore the mysteries of existence through science, philosophy, art, and literature.

Following his interest in biomedicine and the human body, Niko pursued undergraduate studies in Biomedical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University and later completed graduate training in Biomedical Sciences at UCSF. He worked for a number of years as a biomedical scientist in the Bay Area; however, after personal experiences with illness, he changed his path to study Eastern forms of holistic medicine and meditation.

He is grateful for the moment he picked up the text Trees in a Forest at an outdoor book sale. Reading the words from the Thai forest monk Ajahn Chah opened his mind to explore the human condition through direct experience. Since then, Niko has studied from various Buddhist traditions—including Theravāda, Zen, and others—before finding his spiritual home in the Tibetan Buddhist Vajrayāna tradition. He practices in the Yuthok Nyingthig lineage under the guidance of his primary teacher, Dr. Nida Chenagtsang as well as the Longchen Nyingthig lineage.

Niko was part of the first international cohort to complete the Sowa Rigpa Yoga Practitioner training with Dr. Nida and has been authorized to teach Nejang Yoga. He is also authorized to teach Kum Nye Yoga through the Nyingma Institute, originally founded by Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche—one of the first Tibetan lamas to come to the United States in the 1970s. In addition to his Buddhist training, Niko is currently pursuing formal studies in Sowa Rigpa (traditional Tibetan medicine) through the Sowa Rigpa Institute.

He is also the founder of Joyful Mind Tutors, the first holistic tutoring company of its kind—dedicated to empowering students both academically and emotionally.

Alice Lieu is a Buddhist yoga teacher and Yuthok Nyingthig Yoga Practitioner. She currently studies under her root teacher Dr. Nida Chenagstang, who introduced her to Tibetan Buddhist Vajrayāna traditions. 

Raised in San Jose by a family of Vietnamese immigrants, Alice grew up immersed in Buddhist culture and Traditional Chinese Medicine. Her great uncle, grandfather, and parents were all TCM herbalists, and their view of plants and energy shaped her early sense of healing. Despite this upbringing, she was drawn to study the mind through writing, literature, and film at Yale University. After graduation, a series of unexpected events led her to discover Thích Nhất Hạnh’s teachings, fall in love with Buddhist yoga and meditation, and gratefully return to exploring her Eastern roots in healing. She eventually arrived at her home in both the spiritual and medical teachings of Yuthok Yonten Gonpo—the father of Tibetan medicine and an emanation of the Medicine Buddha. 

Alice is certified to teach Nejang Yoga through Dr. Nida’s international yoga practitioner program and is also trained as a trauma-informed Hatha Yoga teacher.

Outside her work as a yoga teacher, Alice is the co-founder of Joyful Mind Tutors.