Father-Son Connections in the Yoga Development Course
Robert Fincati and Christopher Starr have a unique father-son bond from shared experiences of the Ashram and the three-month Yoga Development Course (YDC). Six-year-old Christopher lived here while Robert took his YDC in 1996. They spoke together while Robert visited Christopher mid-way through his... Read more »

YDC 2017 yasodhara ashram
Surprises in the 48th Yoga Development Course
The 48th Yoga Development Course (YDC) began on January 9 with 23 participants from six countries. Leigh Cole from Toronto and Karin Shell from Whitehorse, who have known each other since they were teenagers, reflect on unexpectedly seeing each other in the course. Read more »

Musical Renewal Through YDC – Kathleen Wood
Kathleen Wood, a musician and teacher based in Ontario, first came to Yasodhara Ashram in November 2015 for a month of Karma Yoga and quickly decided to return for the 2016 Yoga Development Course. Post-YDC, she is now finding ways to continue integrating the... Read more »

Yoga Development Course 2016 Begins
A wonderful blend of twenty-one participants came together on January 8 to begin their three-month journey of self-inquiry through the Yoga Development Course (YDC). Our community of teachers and karma yogis welcomed them with words of encouragement and support. We listened to their inspiring... Read more »

Constructing a New Life After the YDC
Greg Shkuratoff returned to the Ashram in early January to mark the one-year anniversary of his entry into the 2015 Yoga Development Course (YDC). He reflects on the changes it is making in his life. Read more »

Diving Deeply Within: The Yoga Development Course
Pictured here are six Yoga Development Course (YDC) 2015 graduates who took up our offer to stay on after the course. Karla Fuhr (front, right) speaks of her learning in the YDC and after. Read more »

YDC Before & After Portraits
During the Yoga Development Course (YDC), participants spend three months working on themselves. As someone who has both participated and taught in this course, I know that change occurs on multiple levels – physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. As a photographer I was curious:... Read more »

The Camera Speaks
A new program addition to the YDC this year revealed the transformative power of the course in a unique way. The Ashram’s photographer-communicator Amy Allcock captured participants in before-and-after photographs that speak for themselves. Read more »

Partners Embrace the YDC
What happens when your partner decides to take the Yoga Development Course (YDC)? Sean Britt shares his recent experience when his wife, Nicole, came to the Ashram for three months. Read more »

Turning Symbols Upside Down
Life Seals, one of Swami Radha’s original self-development courses, is offered twice this year, May 8 and July 27. Clare Bateson describes how one of the 27 symbols she drew in her Life Seals course in the Yoga Development Course (YDC) started to come... Read more »