Meaningful Lives Podcast Episode 1
Welcome to our new podcast series hosted by Swami Lalitananda, Meaningful Lives. Over the next months, she will be talking with people from diverse backgrounds who are driven by an inner calling and give back to life in various rich ways. In this episode, she is in conversation with Ksxan, also known as Stevey Seymour. […]
Bridging Traditions—First Nations Meets Yoga
I have been thinking about the question of who am I? When I first came to the Ashram, I was looking for something better. I didn’t know anything about yoga. I began to relearn a lot of things and this has helped me find out who I am. Being from First Nations background, I know […]
Podcast #4
Katie Taher sits down with Devi and discusses her time with Swami Radha and the theme of commitment. Devi reflects on how Swami Radha challenged her and was able to break down her defenses – knowing exactly what she needed. Even if it meant an emotionally difficult experience, Devi committed to learning and expanding through […]
The Trampled Flower Resurrection: A Story of Healing
Prologue: Once upon a time there was a gentle flower who came to be in an endless green meadow by a shimmering river between two majestic mountains. Though the flower was very beautiful, it had particularly delicate petals that could be easily bruised and torn, and roots that could be disturbed with little effort. Despite […]
Podcast #3
Our third podcast is an insightful conversation hosted by Katie Taher, this time with long time Yasodhara Yoga teacher Tara Huston. In the 70s, Tara and several other women (names you will know) started a women’s centre in Lethbridge, Alberta. She was introduced to the Ashram through members of this group and embarked upon her […]
Deconstructing and Rebuilding Inner and Outer Worlds
The snow capped mountains greet me today, inviting a call to stillness. As I look upwards to the peaks, I have a sense of lifting above the day-to-day of Ashram life—to a place that brings a bigger perspective. A place where I imagine heaven and earth meet. This feeling of stillness follows me into the […]
Podcast #2
Our second podcast is another wonderful conversation hosted by Katie Taher, this time with senior Ashram teacher Swami Satyananda. They discuss Swami Satyananda’s beginnings at the Ashram and her interactions with Swami Radha who she remembers as a fierce yet compassionate teacher who guided her to contemplate her life deeply. The theme of harmony is […]
The Gift of Madness: offering compassion in a crazy world
“Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this, too, was a gift.” -“The Uses of Sorrow” by Mary Oliver It was a dreary June evening in Sudbury, Ontario, and I was fresh out of the psych ward, wearing my street clothes and having brushed […]
Podcast #1
We are excited to launch our new Yasodhara Ashram Podcast for our 60th year! Today we hear from Swami Jyotihananda discuss her time with a great woman – Swami Radha. We have been considering this idea for sometime now but like with all things, the Divine has its own timeline and things fell into place […]
Where Do You Go In A Crisis?
This spring, my wife Molly and I are moving back to the Ashram. It’s been a long timecoming and I feel like I am holding my breath waiting. We plan to go for a year but for me, it’s less about the time and more about reorienting my life in response to my heart. I […]