Mark A. Michaels (Swami Umeshanand Saraswati) and Patricia Johnson (Devi Veenanand) are a devoted married couple and have been teaching Tantra together since 1999. Their approach combines traditional lineage-based Tantra with the best contemporary methods so that students can bring heightened awareness and an expanded capacity for pleasure into all aspects of everyday life. Michaels and Johnson are the authors of The Essence of Tantric Sexuality (Llewellyn, 2006), which won the USA Book News National Best Books 2007 Award in Health: Sexuality. Their second book, Tantra for Erotic Empowerment: The Key to Enriching Your Sexual Life (Llewellyn 2008) won the 2008 USA Book News Award, also in Health: Sexuality, was selected as an Indie Excellence Awards finalist in New Age Non-Fiction, and was a ForeWord Magazine Books of the Year Award finalist in the Body, Mind and Spirit category.

Michaels and Johnson wrote and appeared in two instructional DVDs produced by the Alexander Institute: Tantric Sexual Massage for Lovers and Advanced Tantric Sex Secrets. They were guest teachers in Tristan Taormino's Chemistry 4, a sexually explicit film in which they introduced the cast to Tantra. They have been featured on television (Good Day Colorado, AM Northwest, Naked New York), radio (Afternoon Advice and Nightcalls on Playboy Radio, Go to Bed with Cosmo Radio, The Derek and Romaine Show, A Chef's Table) and have been quoted as experts in numerous publications and on many websites – from women's magazines to dating websites to men's magazines to GLBT- oriented media – including Redbook, Latina, Jane,Cosmopolitan, The Village Voice, Metro, Pregnancy and Newborn, More, Rockstar, The Sydney Star Observer (Australia's most popular GLBT weekly), Emotion (Germany), The Complete Idiot's Guide to Tantric Sex, and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Enhancing Sexual Desire. They have also contributed articles to various online and print publications, including Chronogram and Debonair.

The couple has taught throughout the United States, as well as in Canada, the Caribbean, Europe, and Australia, combining a traditional lineage-based tantric approach with the best contemporary methods so that students can bring heightened awareness and an expanded capacity for pleasure into all aspects of everyday life. They are senior students of Tantric pioneer Dr. Jonn Mumford (Swami Anandakapila Saraswati). Dr. Mumford has named them his lineage holders for the Americas and Europe, and Sunyata co-author of The Jewel in the Lotus has also named Michaels his successor. In addition, they have studied Bhakti Yoga with Bhagavan Das and Tantra with Dr. Rudolph Ballentine.

Michaels and Johnson are co-founders of the Pleasure Salon, a monthly gathering in New York City that brings together sex-positive people and pleasure activists from a variety of communities.

Michaels is a graduate of New York University School of Law, is a member of the Bar in New York State, and holds master's degrees in American Studies from NYU and Yale. A playwright and translator, he translated and adapted Goldoni's The Mistress of the Inn for the Roundabout Theatre Company, and co-wrote The Thrill of Victory, The Agony of Debate, which premiered at New York's Primary Stages. Johnson is a professional operatic soprano who tours throughout the United States, Europe, and South America and has performed with the New York City Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, and the Komsiche Oper Berlin.