Sivananda World News: The Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Ashrams Sivananda Ashram Yoga Camp, Sivananda Headquarters, Val Morin, Quebec, Canada Om Namah Sivaya, Greetings from the Headquarters. Early April’s temperatures hovered above 0C indicated Spring was on its way. An even more positive note of the upcoming change in the season was the feedback from our guests. The guests who stayed in the Ashram were involved and regularly attended Ashram activities. One of them, Sivakami, who's been a part of the Sivananda community, since the time of Swami Vishnudevananda, was thrilled to participate in our social media [...]

Sivananda World News: The Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Zentrum, Berlin, Germany Om Namah Sivaya! In April, several courses started, among them a Yoga Beginners’ course with a good group of students, a Thought Power course and a course on inspiring spiritual stories. From Friday to Sunday the Centre was temporarily transformed into an Ashram for our Centre’s retreat. The retreat started with an Asana class and Satsang on Friday afternoon. The participants comprised of Centre students, newcomers and some from outside of Berlin. An additional further training for teachers on [...]

Vegetarian Cuisine PRUNE MOUSSE- Oh Oh. Another tempting dessert!  Here’s a creamy, easy to prepare dessert, full of fibre. Prunes are an anti-oxidant superfood. Another plus factor is that they do not cause a rapid rise in blood sugar levels and have a low glycemic index rating. Serves 4-6. Ingredients: 9 ounces dried prunes, pitted 1 cup water 1 tablespoon agar-agar flakes (for thickening) 1 tablespoon honey or date syrup 2 ¼ cups creamy plain yoghurt 1 teaspoon lemon juice ¼ cup chopped nuts to decorate Preparation: Put the prunes and water in a [...]

Hatha Yoga Tip ANJANEYASANA- THE CRESCENT MOON A balance of weight on the back knee and front foot, with body emulating the shape of the crescent moon. You can practice this pose from early days of practice to increase your sense of balance and work on flexibility of back, hip flexors, thigh and chest expansion. In the regular pose, begin on knees, and take one foot forward between your hands, foot flat on mat. Then extend the other leg back, with knee on the mat. You can relax the back foot. The thigh is [...]

Sivananda Yoga FAQ Q 1: Why should we believe in God? A: The belief in God is an indispensable requisite for every human being. It is a sine qua non. Owing to the force of Avidya or ignorance, pain appears as pleasure. The world is full of miseries, troubles, difficulties and tribulations. The world is a ball of fire. The Antahkarana (mind, intellect, ego and the subconscious mind) charged with Raga (attachment), Dvesha (hatred), anger and jealousy is a blazing furnace. We have to free ourselves from birth, death, old age, disease and grief. [...]

Sivananda World News: The Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Ashrams Sivananda Ashram Yoga Camp, Sivananda Headquarters, Val Morin, Quebec, Canada Om Namah Sivaya, Greetings from the Headquarters. Although we are officially in Springtime we ended up getting another snowfall in early April! The Camp was once again freshly covered in snow and the snowblower had to be taken out once again to clean up the walk paths and shovelling that needed to get done. Then days became sunnier, and the reflection off the snow made the scenery seem even brighter. We began to incorporate the [...]

Sivananda World News: The Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Zentrum, Berlin, Germany Om Namah Sivaya! Courses and classes were very good this month. During the Easter vacation we had an intensive course which was very successful, so that we spontaneously arranged a second level course the next week. Many regular 4 week courses started, among them a Pranayama course with a good group of inspired students and a meditation course with motivated participants longing to go deeper in their practice. The yoga philosophy course “Yoga wisdom for everyday life” attracted a good [...]

Vegetarian Cuisine PUMPKIN TART - Makes 2 x 8 inch pies. This recipe uses freshly cooked pumpkin. The dough is baked blind first before the filling is added and further baked till set. Makes a spicy satisfying tart for a dessert. A festive dessert for Thanksgiving. Serve with whipped cream or alternative creamy topping. Ingredients for Filling: 1 medium pumpkin 7 ½ tablespoons maple syrup 4 ounces silken tofu ¼ teaspoon sea salt ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon ¼ teaspoon ground ginger Pinch ground mace or freshly grated nutmeg Pinch ground cloves 1 tablespoon soy [...]

Hatha Yoga Tip EAGLE - GARUDASANA - A standing balance posture with concentration. Stand with both knees slightly bent. Prepare to take weight into your left leg and foot by lifting the right leg and foot a little off the mat. Root the standing foot and toes into the mat, find balance by alternating weight on heels and toes then settle into your point of balance, trying to equalize weight between heels and ball of foot. Take a few moments to stabilize balance. Once your balance feels secure then wrap your right leg around [...]