Traditional Chinese Medicine group having lunch

radha vancouver has burst through the gates of fall. September was a big launching month for us. It seemed like I just got back from the Ashram and was adjusting to life without the lake when things began to roll. First the Chinese Traditional Medicine workshop, which brought 22 happy practitioners to our space for a weekend workshop on essential oils. They loved the atmosphere & the food and left behind a sweet fragrance.

Then clea mcdougall arrived en route to Toronto from the Ashram and offered a creative nonfiction writing workshop, attended by 13 writers eager to discover their essentials stories. Clea was wonderful at facilitating, and her extraordinary writing and editing skills shone through. Several participants said they never expected to get so much out of a few hours and thanked me for bringing her to our city.

We had an Open House to start the season, with free classes in the morning and a used book sale, snacks and free shiatsu sessions in the afternoon. Shiatsu was donated by a friend who is just setting up her practice. Many people attended the morning hatha class and several came for the whole day, including satsang. They spoke glowingly of their time at the end of it. It was pretty sweet, intimate.

Then classes officially started. Casey is offering a 6 week beginners' hatha session, which gives people who haven't done yoga before a chance to feel comfortable and supported and to see their progress. We have our Monday night Kundalini group that Irene and I co-teach with 7 participants—some experienced and several new; a Young Adult group on Tuesday with as many as 9 participants; and now a Wednesday afternoon class at Janet Bond's home with 6 women. Our hatha and hidden language classes are all on a drop-in basis, with yoga passes for 30, 60 or 90 days. Class sizes vary, but tend to be on the small side right now.

radha was also a venue for two dance parties in September. Prior to the earthdance, kxx taught 56 people hatha —quite an experience with both rooms overflowing.

Kali's famouse pad thai

Last weekend, the eatery stepped out to the Taste of Health fair, a vegetarian event put on by Earthsave. We were a popular booth with veggie kabobs, several delicious wraps, and Kali's famous pad thai, which proved to be the hit of the day. It was well-attended and provided good publicity for us. Everyone (especially Kali and Casey) put in long hours preparing and peopling the booth to make it a success. It was a reflection of the good spirit of enthusiasm and working together among the group here (carolyn, kxx, casey, kali, oliver), and a real desire to see radha yoga & eatery work.

radha was also a venue for an event called Vandhana—organized by Felicity and Marco, who plan the Mishras tours and accompany them musically This time they came with a sarod player and Kathak dancer and performed Indian classical music & dance for a small but appreciative audience.

And coming up ...
radha events
•   Oct. 15 kxx's Yoga in Action workshop—— practices in the morning; karma yoga in the downtown eastside in the afternoon. kxx is excited about this combination of social action and yoga, and we're hoping it will become a regular event.

•   Oct. 20 Earthsave dine-out at radha — a 3-course delicious vegetarian dinner for members and anyone els

earthdance

•   Oct, 20 dinner/discussion with Swami Radhananda— fundraiser for Goloka (exclusive—only one place left!)

•   Oct. 21, 22, 23 THE BIG ONE! Swami Radhananda's workshop —Power of Speech, Power of Silence (see radha.org/vancouver for more info)

We are also fulfilling one of our dreams by making the bridge to the surrounding community. radha is part of the Heart of the City Festival, a cultural festival in the Downtown Eastside, running from Oct. 29 – Nov. 6. We are offering a 2 hour sacred dance workshop, Oct.29, and joining with a 1st Nations group to present different forms of chanting, Nov. 6, Our hatha classes are open throughout the week (pay as you can); and we will host a music concert by Sangha on Nov. 5. Vancouver Moving Theatre, an interdisciplinary theatre company working on a community play in the DTES, will be also using radha for their cast party in November.

Other groups from different spiritual traditions are also beginning to show interest in our centre. On Nov. 5, radha will be home for a one-day Tibetan Buddhist retreat with Rinpoche Trongyam, who is from Tibet via Boston, where he's completing a PhD at Harvard. Contact came through a woman who attends Hatha classes and is organizing his tour. Another group is doing a one day retreat called, "Goddess Camp"(click for more information) on November 20. It sounds great! Both groups will rent the space and have a catered lunch.

Open House Shiatsu

We're planning an Inspired Lives book launch Nov. 26- possibly the first in a series that will highlight this compilation of the best of ascent. The young people at radha feel the book says so much about who they are and our position on yoga related to social action, art, creativity & daily life. Swami Radhananda will return and speak at Banyen Books on Nov. 24, and attend our event at radha on the 26th.


The latest news! Two groups have booked their Christmas parties/dinners. The Centre for Integrated Healing, offers traditional and alternative medicines to cancer patients. 16 of them had a meeting/lunch/yoga day here in the spring and are now coming back with a group of 60 for their holiday dinner. SPUD, Small Potatoes Urban Delivery, (a company that deliver organic food boxes to Vancouver residences) will be dining and celebrating with a group of 70. Kali and Carolyn have put together some wonderful menus.

Divine Mother is keeping us busy.

hari om
swami lalitananda

PS Don't forget to purchase the Earth Charter/Hidden Language posters! Write writemradha@telus.net for more info or click to download sample pdf. kxx leaves for the conference in Amerstam on Nov. 1st, combining her yoga interests with care for the world.