Yasodhara Ashram Blog & Podcast

The Yoga of Transitions: Accepting Change and Uncertainty through Asanas
There are moments when I find myself between what was once familiar and what has not yet taken form. In this space, expectations fill me up as I try to make sense of what has happened, what is coming and

Reflections on Early Days – Swami Sukhananda/Jayne Boys in Canterbury
A Sacred Beginning (1988)I first met Swami Sukhananda in the summer of 1988. It was long before we both became Swamis. We were Jayne Boys and Susan Oughtred in those days. She had just spent 11 months at Yasodhara Ashram,

When Grief is Born of Love: A Spiritual Reflection on Impermanence and Community
There is the old Buddhist parable about Kisa Gotami, a grieving mother whose only son has died. In her anguish, she asks the Buddha to restore him to life. He instructs her to bring him a single mustard seed from

Yoga Is Now: Reconciling Spiritual Longing with Everyday Life
In this new episode of Ask A Swami, Swami Samayananda discusses life inside and outside of the Ashram, and how Karma Yoga can be woven into everyday living. Reflecting on her own experience of working in the world, she shares the

Courage to Change: Weaving Qualities of the Heart
Dear Reader: Shortly after writing this blog, two amazingly courageous women of the East Shore community in which the Ashram is situated, passed away. Janet Wallace, creator of Barefoot Handweaving and community organizer for artisans, businesses and non-profits alike, died

Karma Yoga: Walking the Path to Wisdom
At the Ashram we are in a transition time, which the season of fall is mirroring. Each day there is change—the snowline creeps down from mountain tops, a cool wind stirs up waves on the lake, the golden and flame