Saturday, September 19

Have you been curious about Yasodhara Ashram and wanted a glimpse into Ashram life? Or perhaps you already know the Ashram and would enjoy spending a peaceful day reconnecting with yourself.

Join us for a Taste of the Ashram — an introduction to our teachings, community and spiritual environment.

September 19, 11:00am – 3:00pm PST.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Hatha Yoga 11:00 am – 12:15 pm

Begin your day with a gentle Hatha Yoga class in the beautiful Radha Room, overlooking forests and mountains. This practice offers space to relax, renew and arrive fully in the present moment.

Silent Lunch 12:30 – 1:15 pm

Enjoy a nourishing buffet lunch in silence, allowing you to fully appreciate the food and the atmosphere. Many ingredients are grown right here in the Ashram gardens and prepared with care as part of our Karma Yoga practice. Sit on our deck and enjoy breathtaking views of the lake and mountains.

Ashram Tour 1:15 – 2:15 pm

Allow our guides to offer a tour of the Ashram grounds, gardens and the Temple of Light. Learn about the legacy of Swami Radha and her vision of establishing a women-led Ashram more than sixty years ago.

Time for Reflection & Browsing 2:15 – 3:00pm

After the tour, you are welcome to spend quiet time in the Temple of Light for personal reflection or visit our Gift Store featuring spiritual books and thoughtfully curated items.

We look forward to welcoming you for a meaningful and restorative day at Yasodhara Ashram.

COST: $35

Where do you want to go? How can you make courageous choices that support your direction? Through watching your mind, guided reflection and spiritual practices, you can start to understand how your thoughts influence your attitude and actions. This retreat guides you to recognize your power of choice and reconnect with your inner potential, cultivating greater clarity, intention and self-trust.

These five days include our signature Life Seals workshop, an impactful process of creating and interpreting your own life map (no artistic ability required). Drawing on the wisdom of both intuition and rational insight, this process supports you in exploring your inner landscape and opening to the mystery and potential that resides within you. 

Raspberry Curd – serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp finely grated lemon zest
• 8 large egg yolks (egg whites reserved for another use)
• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice 
• ¼ tsp sea salt (optional)
• 2/3 cup unsalted butter, cut into ½” pieces
• 1 cup Ashram raspberries (or any fresh or frozen rasperries)

Method

In a medium saucepan off the heat, whisk together the sugar, lemon zest, and egg yolks. Whisk in the lemon juice and salt until smooth.

Add the butter and place the pan over medium-high heat. Cook, whisking constantly, until the butter is melted, the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, and small bubbles begin to form around the edge of the pan—about 5 minutes. Do not let the mixture boil.

Remove the pan from the heat, continuing to whisk briefly. Let cool to room temperature. 

While the curd is cooling, purée the raspberries in a blender or with an immersion blender and strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, discarding the solids. You should end up with about ½ cup of puree.

Fold the raspberry purée into the cooled curd.

Spoon into single serving bowls and refrigerate until completely chilled, about 3 hours.

Will store covered and refrigerated for up to 5 days. 

To Serve

This raspberry curd pairs beautifully with Rose Petal Chocolate Bark (recipe to come in the book) or top with more fresh berries!

Classic Ashram Granola – (makes about 6 cups)

Our honey-kissed, toasted oat granola has been a breakfast staple for decades. This granola exemplifies simplicity and nourishment. Its minimal ingredients make it accessible for many diets and allows for creativity with your favourite breakfast toppings. Prepared with care, it’s a quiet invitation to begin the day with presence. 

Ingredients

• 6 cups gluten free rolled oats 
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) honey
• 1/4 cup (60 mL) water
• 3 tbsp (45 mL) neutral oil (like avocado or coconut)
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) molasses or maple syrup
• ½ tsp salt (optional)

Method

Preheat the oven to 300°

In a small saucepan over low heat, warm the honey, water, oil and molasses just until melted and well combined.

In a large mixing bowl, pour the warm liquid over the oats and stir until evenly coated. 

Spread the mixture in a thin layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt if using. 

Bake for 40-45 minutes, stirring at the halfway mark, until golden.

Let cool completely before storing in an airtight container. Can store up to 4 weeks.

To Serve

Create your own breakfast bowl by adding yogurt or nut milk, jams or apple sauce, nuts, seeds, flax or nutritional yeast, and fruit and berries of the season.

Last night the sunset was a drawn out, pink and purple slow dance on the softest clouds, with a backdrop of sky on a dusky dimmer switch. When night arrives like this, in long, deep breaths, it feels like I shift – becoming still enough to notice the subtle and unpredictable undulations of the light. The camera attached to our phones is not able to hold it, not even close. So we lean in and observe, with our bodies, with all levels of our being. And even after the sun of the next day
has come, already fierce and bright, we talk about it.

This kind of leaning in (and talking about it) feels a lot like the co-stewardship work at the Ashram right now. From our elders to new-this-month karma yogis, it is interesting andimportant to note that everyone is asking the same questions: What is the plan for the future? How will the Ashram keep going? What if there are no swamis?

From this place of care and future thinking, the Ashram has been hosting a series of Co-Stewardship gatherings with next-generation teachers and deep friends of the work. In 2024, there were 7 in-person gatherings with the younger cohort (a group spanning four decades!) and three elder board members. We realized that as much as we were gathering to talk about
the future of the Ashram, we were gathering to meet each other and deepen in relationship and community. We began to define our co-stewardship work together as an emergent, organic
collaboration.

In early 2025, a multi-generational Steering Committee was formed, with the aim to create space and structure for this collaboration. We started calling it “soft structure” so that in our tendency to define and regulate, we remember to allow space for things to emerge; space to have resonance arise; space to lean into.

This year we have expanded our group to include all of the Ashram elders and began to gather online in addition to gathering in person. We are learning about how different parts of the Ashram function, how they interact and work together, and most importantly, how decisions are made. On Thanksgiving weekend the Ashram will host the first ever Co-Stewardship Retreat and it is looking like we’ll have a full house! So much is still not clear but there is a tangible sense that we are leaning in, showing up to look together into the unknown, all of us pining to see subtle undulations of Light to illuminate the next step and the next and the next.

By Sara Torrie

“The Temple is a pioneering building in many ways, demonstrating the power of our innovative digital techniques and the power of collaboration,” says principal architect John Patkau. “This structure shows the way professionals will be building in the future.”

Patkau Architects has an international reputation for design excellence and has received dozens of national and international architectural awards. Their style allows the setting of a project to inform its design.

Canadian design magazine Azure recently honoured principal architect Patricia Patkau as one of 30 must-know women architects around the world.

“This project has been extremely challenging for the architect team and consultants. Everyone has been stretching to their limits. Every participant – from the architects, designers and now builders – has risen to the challenge,” says Patkau.

Nelson manufacturer Spearhead Inc. – one of only a few companies with the specific technology required for this unique project – manufactured the complex prefabricated components of the lotus-shaped building. Many local contractors are also contributing.

Burnaby’s Alfred Horie Construction Group is managing the on-site building of the Temple, engaging carpenters from the region.

“The Ashram community is watching joyfully as the new Temple of Light takes shape. We are delighted to be creating sacred space open to all traditions, ethnicities and genders. And we are enthusiastic that the construction and design has expanded the boundaries of architecture,” says Yasodhara Ashram president, Swami Lalitananda.

The Temple of Light will be complete this summer.

Yasodhara Ashram’s annual Strawberry Social on June 24 will invite the local community together to celebrate and tour the new Temple. Drop-in visitors are welcome anytime and the Taste of the Ashram program offers an introduction to the Ashram with yoga class, lunch and tour.

-Namaste-

Contact information:
Gauri Taylor-Topp
gauri@yasodhara.org
1.800.661.8711

For Immediate Release
Monday, June 12, 2017

Yasodhara Ashram’s 22nd annual Strawberry Social on Saturday, June 24 from 1- 4 pm is a delicious opportunity to indulge in fresh Creston strawberries and cream, and to gather with friends and associates. Yasodhara – Canada’s first ashram – is also building an extraordinary new Temple of Light, with construction completion and an official opening scheduled for August 5.

“Along with the strawberries, we are inviting everyone to a sneak preview of the temple, with tours ongoing throughout the afternoon,” says Ashram president Swami Lalitananda. “This temple has an innovative and organic design, as well as a beautiful purpose – to create a space of hope, peace and understanding.”

While you are at the Ashram, explore the grounds and extensive gardens. Shop at the annual used book sale, with proceeds donated to the Crawford Bay School’s hot lunch program. Special activities are planned for children, too!

All are welcome. No need to RSVP.

Yasodhara Ashram is located at 527 Walkers Landing Road, five minutes from the Kootenay Bay ferry landing.

Thanks to the support of Columbia Basin Trust.

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About Yasodhara Ashram

Yasodhara Ashram is a yoga retreat and study centre founded in 1963 by Swami Radha. 54 years later, the Ashram remains a vibrant community welcoming people of all ages and backgrounds to discover the transformative power of yoga.

The new Temple of Light replaces the original, which was destroyed by fire three years ago.

Operated largely by volunteers and local employees, Yasodhara Ashram is a Canadian charity with a year-round population ranging from 50 – 100 people. Committed to environmental initiatives, the Ashram has an international reputation for excellence in teaching and adapting to change.

For further information
Please contact Gauri Taylor-Topp at 250-227-9224 or gauri@yasodhara.org.

Pahan Pte San Win and Wanbdi Wakita of Bear Paw Tipi (Manitoba) are a husband and wife team who have dedicated their lives to sharing their knowledge about reconciliation and healing. On April 20-22, 2018 they will be returning to the East Shore to offer a series of workshops and satsangs at Yasodhara Ashram.

Wanbdi’s path has taken him from Indian Residential school to the Canadian Armed Forces as a Peacekeeper, and for over three decades, to work with men in prison. Today he is Unkan or Grandfather to the University of Manitoba Access Program. In 2016 he received the Order of Manitoba for his lifelong efforts to support healing and promote unity between all nations.

“There is an order to living based on Natural Law,” says Wanbdi, a Dakota Spiritual Leader. “When we follow this way we live in harmony with all nations on Mother Earth.”

Pahan is Lakota, Cree and Metis, a counseling therapist who reaches into the breadth of her traditions to bring healing to those that seek it. Pahan is Grandmother to incarcerated youth at the Manitoba Youth Centre and the Ceremonial leader to the Sundance of Women.

“Life has been my greatest teacher,” Pahan says. “The spiritual growth that came to me through years spent in prayer and ceremony has allowed me the insight to understand those lessons.”

With their decades of experience they will lead workshops and satsangs throughout the weekend that focus on the reflections of love, peace and what it means to be an ally within the reconciliation process. A dedication will also be made to Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Children. All are welcome to attend single days, evening satsangs or the whole weekend.

Wanbdi and Pahan first offered teachings on the East Shore last year with their workshop Perspectives from Love & Healing, A Weekend of Reconciliation With Indigenous Elders at the Ashram. “The words, prayers, and songs shared by Pahan and Wanbdi had a power – simply listening to them was an act of healing,” says participant Francesca Cogorno. “They spoke from a deeply compassionate and loving place that allowed me to be in that space within myself.”

The weekend will begin Friday night at 7:30 pm with satsang led by Pahan with the Healing Medicine of Love. Saturday and Sunday will commence at 10 am with activities and reflections and end with Satsang at 7:30 – 8:30 pm. Sunday’s satsang will also offer a dedication to Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Children. Participation is by contribution with net proceeds going to support the Sundance of Women this summer in Manitoba. This will be an enriching and fulfilling weekend that is not to be missed!

Please pre-register for this event:
Call 250-227-9224 or email registrations@yasodhara.org. Participation is by contribution.

For more information or to arrange for an interview:
Gauri Taylor-Topp
gauri@yasodhara.org
250-227-9224

Click here to download a high-res photo of Pahan & Wanbdi.