Sivananda World News: The Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres

Om Namah Sivaya! It is the last 4 weeks of the summer holidays and summer arrived finally in Berlin at the beginning of the month, so a lot of classes could be held outside on the garden platform. Courses and classes were still running on the regular schedule. Classes were well visited and also Satsang participation was quite good. Krishna Jayanti was celebrated with a peaceful Morning-Puja with staff and some close students and teachers. The energy was soft and joyful. One of the weekends we had a one day seminar on yogic nutrition with a cooking workshop in the morning, a lecture in the afternoon followed by a class and Satsang. The small but inspired group created a wonderful yogic meal and was eager to learn more about healthy vegetarian nutrition. Also this month we had a headstand workshop with many inspired participants, two regular beginners courses and a weekend beginners intensive. The summer retreat in the first week of August was a big success. A good group of students went to the lovely retreat place in a Northern German lake district together with Swami Annapurnananda, who came from Reith to lead the retreat, and with Divya, staff of the Berlin Centre. Participants came mainly from Berlin and Hamburg, some of them with their children and they all spent joyful five days in a yogic surrounding. The weather was good, daily outings on foot or by bike completed the classical yoga vacation schedule. Karma Yoga activity was good this month, the spirit in the Centre was lively, especially during the weekends. Many students came to support the Centre in the garden, baking cookies, boutique, cleaning and packing for TTC Poland. All Staff took turns going to the Retreat House in Austria for 2 weeks to recharge and inspire. OM.

http://www.sivananda.org/berlin

Om Namah Sivaya. Om Namah Sivaya to all the Sivananda family. Om.

http://www.sivananda.org/baires

Om Namah Sivaya. In August we finished our 1st Yoga2 course, with 3 students. They were all excited about their first try of headstand. They all have done the Yoga1, Yoga 2 and Meditation courses. They shared how much they progressed through this theory and practice combined approach, which is very inspiring to all the staff members. We also finished the July meditation course and started our August meditation course back to back. We looked forward to starting the new classical yoga foundation course of 10 classes. We also welcomed Chang from Beijing as our new resident. We had another open house in August. In the morning, the Ayurveda Self Care workshop, taught by Sivani and Omkari (Taiwan) was so well received. The August meditation course continued and we started our new Classical Yoga Foundation course of 10 classes as well. Open classes are well attended. Our new resident Chang did well with all new yoga life. We welcomed Omkari (Taiwan) who came from Vietnam Ashram to support us for upcoming TTC and our previous resident Punyavatii returned as a part time staff member. The Centre was full of positive energy with Guru’s grace. Om Namo Narayanaya to all the Sivananda family.

http://www.sivanandayogachina.org

Om Namah Sivaya to all Blessed Selves from the Chennai Centre. In August we finished a weekend beginner’s batch. On 9th Aug morning, Kalyani Ji reached our Centre from Canada, on her way back to Neyyar Ashram. She conducted a meeting with the Trustee members, teachers and staff regarding the inauguration of our new Ashram at Gudur, Andrah Pradesh – a nice get together.  On 10th, she went to visit Gudur Ashram and came back by evening. Kalyani ji then returned to the Neyyar Dam Ashram. Sandeep ji arrived at the Centre, on his way back from Japan and stayed for one night. One of our old staff, Somakumar, rejoined with us while Sagar left to continue his spiritual studies. We had Satsang, with few of the guests from outside. The weather in Chennai continued to be hot but we saw the occasional rain shower.

Mid August Swami Govindananda ji arrived at our Centre to give a week long meditation course. We went through a lively week, with Swami Govindananda ji’s presence.  The course was held during the evenings.  A good number of students attended, inspired and encouraged by his discourses of Meditation.  We celebrated Sree Krishna Jayanthi in our Radhakrishna Hall. We had special Satsang in the morning, chanting 108 Om Namo Narayanaya’s. We had a Ganapathy Homa, too, with all participating. Prahladaji’s family also arrived from Canada, staying for few days. We started a weekend Beginner’s batch, and concluded the Meditation course with a Satsang. The evening was lively with the presence of guests and teachers. Thanks to God and our Masters for everything is being running smoothly. Om.

http://www.sivananda.org/madras

Om Namah Sivaya. August saw the final week of a Yoga 1 course. The students were eager to continue with yoga lessons, many signing up for Yoga 2 and planning to start next week.  Mahadevi (Maria Malek), who was at the Ranch for karma yoga this summer, joined the Chicago staff for a few weeks to help out during the website and registration system transition.  Mahadevi will teach workshops while she is here and assist with website and brochure design.  She arrived just in time to help with a surprise birthday party for Radhaji (Gloria McCartney).  Radhaji has been teaching at the Chicago Centre for 40 years and this was one of the first summers she was in Chicago for her birthday.  The party was attended by her many students, other teachers and a few of her local family members.  Radhaji was very surprised and touched by the gesture.  It was a wonderful opportunity for the students to share community and honour Radhaji ‘s commitment to the Centre.  By the grace of Master and Swamiji, Radhaji is still teaching 2 morning classes a week, attends the Sunday evening Satsang and attends yoga classes on her days off.

Mid August was busy with the addition of two new hatha yoga workshops, taught by Mahadevi, one on inversion poses and one with a hip and shoulder opening focus. Class and workshop attendance was still strong for this time of year, but Satsang attendance has seen a slight drop as most of the regulars were away on vacation the last 2 weeks of August.  A Friday night kirtan night saw many students attending for the first time.  It was a beautiful evening, with heartfelt chanting leaving us all uplifted and joyful.  There is a steady stream of karma yogis helping with the Centre duties, offering more of their service, building a strong sense of community.  The weather has been perfect, and by the grace of Master and Swamiji, we had a successful photo shoot by the lake early Sunday morning, preparing for the new website. Staff are inspired and regular in Sadhana.  Sending pranams to all! Om Shanti, Shanti, Shantihi.

http://www.sivananda.org/chicago

Om Namah Sivaya. May the grace of the Masters be with you. Om.

https://sivanandayogavietnam.org

Om Namah Sivaya. In August we started the new open class at 10 am and 6:30 pm. We conducted the headstand workshop on a Saturday. The weekly Satsangs had nice energy to them. We also conducted two advanced classes per week. We started a new batch of Beginners’ Yoga at 6 a.m. and 4 p.m. We also conducted a Yoga for the Back” workshop which got a very good response. We are planning to hold the workshop more often on a regular basis so the staff started to study and prepare to help students in a better way. We began a weekend meditation course with lot of students showing keen interest in meditation this time. The Centre was really busy with all of the space taken by different classes, pre-natal, kids, workshops and even private classes. This week staff cooked modakams with rice and moong dal and reminded us of Ashram Prasad. Apart from that weather was kind. We saw slight rains mid-week and rest of the time loads of sun. We hope everyone is happy and peaceful. We pray to almighty for everybody. Om Namo Narayanaya!! Pranams!!

http://www.sivananda.org/dwarka

Om Namo Narayanaya. August started with a Beginners’ Yoga course at 10:00am. We also started a Foundation to Meditation course and a Headstand workshop on Wednesdays. Mamlenji visited the Centre with his daughter during their travel.

We started two Beginners’ Yoga courses, one at 6:30am and the other at 4:00pm. We celebrated Sree Krishna Jayaniti on Monday, Aug 14th. The priest performed Puja with Milk Abhishekam. All participants offered milk and flowers to the Lord’s feet while chanting Bhajans. Nagaraji explained the significance of celebrating Krishna’s birthday and chanted verses from Bhagavad Gita. We concluded with Arathi. As India was celebrating Independence day the Centre was open only for the 6:30am Open and Beginners’ classes. Kapoorji returned from his trip (Canada & Europe). Vipin reached to Centre from home, Uttrakashi. With the grace of the Masters everything is going well at the Centre. Om.

http://www.sivananda.org/delhi

Om Namah Sivaya. Salutations to all! Om Namah Sivaya. The Centre is closed for August. OM.

http://www.sivananda.org/geneva

Om Namah Sivaya. In August we had many students coming for special workshops.  We had a “Yoga for Back Pain” workshop, attended by 25 people, with Narayani teaching, one of the Hatha Yoga teachers of the Dalat TTC.  The workshop included both theory and practice, with some anatomy of the spine, presented by Swami Pranavananda.  Sunday afternoon we had an Advanced Asana Workshop with 15 students, consisting of mainly inverted postures, taught by another TTC Hatha Yoga teacher Lilamayi who was visiting from the Yoga Farm.  Sunday evening Satsangs were very well attended.  We began a new Prenatal course, taught by Ganga Chaitanya.

Later in August we welcomed a new staff Mahashakti who just completed the Dalat TTC in July.  Nine Karma Yogi teachers attended a special Hatha Yoga workshop, taught by visiting TTC teacher Narayanji.  We continued the training of new TTC graduates in their yoga class teaching, with Ganga Chaitanya and Durga leading workshops daily.  We had a wonderful Ayurvedic Cooking workshop, taught by visiting Mahadeva, with six outside students and all staff.  We had an Advanced Asana workshop, emphasizing backward bending with visiting Haridasi, with 10 students attending.  Sunday Satsang continued to be well-attended with 21 people coming.  We started a new Restorative Yoga course with nine students and a Meditation course with three students, both taught by Ganga Chaitanya, and also a new Yoga One beginner course with six students taught by Durga. Om Shanti, Shanti, Shantihi.

Om Namah Sivaya. The first week of August was a joyful week at the Centre as we were blessed to have many guests with us. PC Kapoor and family came to the end of their week’s stay at the Centre, dividing their time between sightseeing and helping in the kitchen, giving classes and a very inspiring Satsang. They continued their onward journey to Orleans mid week. We then prepared the house for our next arrivals, Drs Kulkarni and son, who gave the certificate course ‘Ayurveda and Lifestyle Diseases’. The course was a great success, we had many newcomers as well as regular students attending. Students studied the doshas in further detail, how to read their own pulse, and diet advice for ailments such as diabetes, heart disease and obesity. Students also learned self massage techniques and about the marma points. We had a big group of residential students staying with us too, attending Satsangs, classes and taking delight in the practice of karma yoga. Many students came for private consultations and expressed great gratitude for the knowledge received. As we had such a crowd with us, the evening Satsangs had a very nice mood, culminating in the beautiful Sunday prayers at the end of the week.

Mid month brought the final part of the ‘Ayurveda and Lifestyle Diseases’ program with the Kulkarnis. The students expressed much gratitude for the teachings and their time spent at the Centre. We held a further two sessions in the coming days, a lecture and a cooking workshop which was a great success, with participants very appreciative of the way the workshop was taught with calmness and care. Particular favourites from the menu were the semolina pancakes and pumpkin subji. After a successful week at the Centre, the doctors departed for Spain for another teaching session.

We held the Summer Open House, which was a great success! We had big numbers of students coming through the doors and joining us all the way up until the Satsang. We taught four classes simultaneously, a gentle/beginners class and an asana workshop both at the nearby park and here at the Centre. Students were very happy with the classes and they loved doing asanas outside, They were greeted after the classes with a variety of different snacks, which they then learnt how to cook in the cooking demonstration. The tea room was full to capacity with students. It was lovely to see the Centre so busy. We also taught an introduction to chanting and meditation. The Satsang was given on the topic of the ‘Art of Contentment’, the students were very inspired and left gushing with enthusiasm and gratitude for the day. We look forward to welcoming them back soon! OM.

http://www.sivananda.org/london

Om Namo Narayanaya! Hamsa Chaitanya departed to begin service in Asia for one month. This week classes are abounding with energy. Regular as well as new students filled the Centre. Open House brought new students to sign up for next weekend’s Yoga1 course and new teachers continue with training. The Weekly Puja, along with daily Peace Mantra Chanting, kept the atmosphere elevated. Satsang attendance also increased. We celebrated Karma Yogi, Christina’s birthday with a message from Swami Sivananda and a quaint, homemade cake. Students continued to increase their time at the Centre. Yoga 1 course moves into week two where they had an opportunity to practice adapt, adjust, accommodate to a different time, making space for a weekend Chair Yoga Teacher Training, with Saraswati. All students were very happy. Many Karma Yogis, including one Yoga1 student, lovingly joined in service and were grateful to have a “safe-haven”. Hamsa Chaitanya completed translating in the Vietnam Ashram and was now serving in Taiwan. The Centre’s website was updated. May we vigilantly continue our effort to receive Guru’s Grace. Pranams.

http://www.sivananda.org/la

Om Namah Sivaya, Blessed Selves! The first week in August was a good summer week in Madrid. Some students and teachers left on vacation but the Centre kept going the whole summer with classes, beginners’ courses and Satsangs, with the support of the staff and some of our Yoga teachers and karma yogis. Some other teachers and staff went to Aluenda to support with the TTC and the Yoga Vacation program running simultaneously.

Mid August there was a bank holiday and many Madrilians were away. We had good trial classes and a Yoga 1 started with 12 students. New posters were done for the reception and the last enrolments for Summer School in Aluenda came in. Atma Jyothi went to Aluenda to support the programs the next weeks. OM.

http://www.sivananda.org/madrid

Om Namah Sivaya. Namaste.  An incredibly month passed by with all the programs running well. We had a visit from Lower Kindergarten students of Lakshmi School, one of the most prominent schools in Madurai city run by the TVS Industrialist Group. The otherwise quiet Ashram became abuzz with the chitter chatter of tiny ones and with their innocent questions about Ashram like are all the inmates here renunciates. They were so surprised to hear a “no” from us. We really appreciate the initiative by the school to instill positive thinking and spirituality in the kids right from their childhood paving the way to mould better citizens of tomorrow. The Yoga Vacationers also were enjoying tremendously in the company of kids with games and other activities. Some of our guests went out for a day trip to Raameshwaram. Thanking our Masters for all blessings and support bestowed. Om Shanti, Shanti, Shantihi!!

http://www.sivananda.org/madurai

Om Namah Sivaya! Hari Om! In early August many new faces came for the Beginners courses. We also started a course on “The Mind and Its Control. It began with enthusiasm. We helped Amba, a Centre teacher, who needed to pay a very expensive surgery. This situation brought to everyone closer through prayer. The pregnancy class had a photo session for the book. It was a good time for everyone with a little chat and nice pictures. Our Krishna Jayanti Pooja was offered dedicating to Krishna and his birthday. Flowers, sweets and music filled the meditation room. Everyone had the opportunity to postrate to Lord Krishna and offer their prayers through an Archana. We received His blessing. Lalita read about Krishna and also chanting his glories. The maintenance of the Centre was done by karma yogis and staff. The housekeeper was on vacation. The workshops on three levels of relaxation had a small group with a big desire to improve their life using a yogic methods. Parvati, a beginners teacher, led the Satsang. She threw away her fears and started to chant. All in the room enjoyed the flow of the Satsang atmosphere. New visitors came to the Open House. They listened intently and asked about the Five points of Yoga and how to practice the first steps of meditation, reporting they were satisfied with the experience. Karma yogis and staff ran the household duties. Regular and Beginners’ classes continued. May all live under the Masters’s grace. Om Shanti!!

http://www.sivananda.org/montevideo

Om Namah Sivaya from the Montreal Centre! Our classes and courses ran smoothly in August. We conducted a one week Immersion Yoga 1 course, which had a great attendance. After experiencing the results of a one week of yoga practice, the students got very inspired to continue. We welcomed Lakshmi, who did a one month of Karma Yoga at the Centre, doing a great job. We did some preparations for our Yoga + Music festival which started on August 20th. We offered uplifting Satsangs with Narayani.

Later in August we ran one Yoga 1 and one Yoga 2 course. We also ran a hip opening workshop which had a good attendance. We worked on all the preparations for our Yoga & Music festival week, promoting it and getting everything ready for each artist’s needs. We started the festival off with a Dhrupad concert, a classical Indian music genre with Chintan. The concert had great attendance. The people expressed how much they enjoyed the concert. This brought many new faces to the Centre. We were happy to welcome Pranava and Shakti from the NY Centre, they stopped by a few days before going back to NY. We are ever grateful for our Guru’s grace. Om.

http://www.sivananda.org/montreal

Om Namah Sivaya. In the last weeks we had an advanced asana workshop with variations of the forward-bent, a kirtan workshop and a cooking class with “summer recipes”. For our monthly Open House we organized a full program with trial class, asana demonstration and lecture as well as a cooking workshop. We had special programs on “Ayurveda and Health” with Ayurveda Acharyas Sanjay and Anjani Kulkarni (India) and on “Yoga and Sleep” with Dr. Rubin Naiman (USA). Yoga Acharya Swami Sivadasananda gave a very inspiring Satsang on the topic of mantras. We are looking forward to our full autumn program with many interesting courses and events. OM.

http://www.sivananda.org/munich

Om Namah Sivaya from Manhattan. As we all delve deeper and deeper into selfless service and attainment of immortality, another exceptional month flew by! We started a new Introduction to Meditation course and a Yoga 2 course. A handful of motivated students attended. We were riding big waves these days with all the goodbyes and hellos. We welcomed Ishwari from the Ranch. She gave a very informative and detailed Satsang on Ayurveda. It was inspiring to see her love for sharing her knowledge. We were grateful for her visit! Neeti returned from Canada. We welcomed her with arms wide open as we were happy to have her back! We had to say our goodbyes to Shakti once again! She went to Canada for the TTC Refresher. Speaking of hellos, we said hello to Swami Hridyananda. Evening Satsang was led by Swami Hridyananda and it was just spectacular. She chanted beautifully and gave us a great talk on Bhakti yoga. We feel blessed and still can feel the great vibrations from her powerful chanting! Padmavati graced New York City and won our hearts. She lead the Sunday Satsang with her great sense of humour and won even more hearts! We were grateful for her visit and wished her all the best.

For Krishna Janmashtami and we had a special Puja for baby Krishna! We dressed him up and put him in a swinging cradle followed by offering halva, we heard it was one of his favourites. 😉 We welcomed a new long term staff member, Tandava. He’s originally from Brazil, very experienced karma yogi and a harmonium player too! We are excited to have him on staff. Also on Tuesday nights a new Yoga 1 started, as well as our Positive Thinking Course. A special thanks to a karma yogi, Sharada, who does marketing for us. She put the positive thinking course in Time Out Magazine and it was a success! There was good attendance in the open classes. Good vibrations in the air.  The staff are doing well. Sending our pranams as always!!  Om.

http://www.sivananda.org/ny

Om Namah Sivaya. God sent us changing weather. Some days were a little cold but with sunny moments. The sun was shining in the evenings before setting. During the cold days, many students left their pullovers at home and they were freezing in the tent at night for the last classes. During the hot days, the evening classes in the tent became more demanded. By the end of the month everyone enjoyed the last classes in the tent with a bit of nostology. The Centre was happy to welcome the Doctor Kulkarni and his wife for an Ayurvedic  course. Seventeen people attended the five day course. Everyone was inspired by their teachings and their kindness. Their son was also with them.  He gave a beautiful and meditative concert of traditional Indian classical music during an evening Satsang. During the month, we had many visitors passing by on their way to and from the Orleans Ashram. Three yogi buses passed by. Most of the time we had a big family in the house with kind visitors and extra support specially during the weekends. Rukmini from Orleans came for a couple of weeks. She shared with us  her joy and her generosity. She prepared a healthy and exquisite food for everyone. The staff took some holidays  at different times. Sivakami had a fracture of the elbow. Sivakami was feeling much better by the end of the month. She was even able to come for the chanting of some of the Satsangs and to play a little bit of harmonium. On the fifth, Swami Vairagyananda spent the night in Paris on her way to Canada. Swamiji arrived just on time to chant a beautiful kirtan in the evening Satsang. Swami Bhagavatananda who came for few days leaded the Puja for the celebration Krishna Jayanti. This month, We had some new workshops focused on each one of the five points. We had also the usual workshops of stress control, headstand and concentration.  We had some intense courses of yoga 1, yoga2, meditation and positive thinking. The renovations advanced a big steps. The main work is finished. Everything will be ready on time. The architect and the specialist of the roof visited the Centre. They found the cause of many leaks of the building. The works should be done on September or October. We had some water cuts, power cuts and internet was down but not for long time.  We had troubles with the telephone and the credit card machine. The credit card machine was not working for many days, making the reception quite challenging. Lord Ganesha was with us helping to overcome many obstacles. The staff enjoyed the rehearsals for the 60th Anniversary play. By the last week before the presentation we finally had found most of the actors. Sivakami could’nt play because of her broken arm. On Saturday the twelfth, the staff enjoyed playing Swami Vishnu’s life for the Celebrations of the 60th years Anniversary in Orleans. The next day, the staff came back from Orleans. That same day in the evening, we had an inspiring Siva Puja led by the priest. The Satsangs are different in the tent. Once, we had  to start with fifteen minutes of Om namo Narayanaya chanting to cover the noise of the neighbours. Some meditations were accompany by the rain, some were in silence and somehow quiet. The Bells of the church nearby were ringing for long time during the Sunday prayers. By the end of the month, the sun, the students and the karma yogis were back. OM.

http://www.sivananda.org/paris

Greetings from Porto Alegre. As we are facing a quite bad weather this month, we receive less students. Also, the staff was on the roof almost the entire week fixing roof tiles due to gutter problems. Om.

http://www.sivananda.org/portoalegre

Om Namah Sivaya, Blessed selves. In August we offered our 8th TTC in Italy, in Bracing, a wonderful location which features water from a spring long famous for its health benefits and an ancient forest containing foot paths and bridges from Roman times. Altars were placed, the kitchen scrubbed and stocked, dorms and rooms prepared, and the boutique has organized with the help of arriving TTC students who took quickly to the spirit of karma yoga. Twenty-students were initiated into the course, mainly all Italian. The first week of the course went very smoothly with students and staff quickly settling into the routine. Swami Rajeshwarnanda taught the main lecture and the Hatha Yoga with the assistance of Lalitambika. Swami Sankarnananda taught the chanting and oversaw the kitchen, preparing very sattvic and well received meals. Swami Jnaneswariananda taught the Bhagabati Gita. Yoga Vacation programs were also going on silmultaneaously, with students from all over Italy coming to enjoy the tranquility of the location and the group Sadhana. Pranams and prayers for Peace to all from Roma. Om Shanti.

http://www.sivananda.org/rome

Om Namo Narayanaya, Blessed Selves. In August we offered Yoga Nidra sessions and two Mandarin-Cantonese classes. Dr. Jain, visionary medical doctor and faculty of the health educator program, visited the SF Centre for the first time, giving a talk on digestive health for yoga teachers. Yoga 1 and Meditation 1 courses concluded. We were actively promoting the health educator training and next month’s Sachdev concert. We gave a private class to three children and their parents. We continued to teach a weekly Chair Yoga class at a senior Centre and are receiving leads to teach more chair yoga classes in the community. We are beginning to train on MindBody program and hope to be set up soon. The Gurus continued to send a stream of students through our doors. Om.

http://www.sivananda.org/sanfrancisco

Om Namah Sivaya from Sao Paulo. Regular classes continued. We started a new Beginners’ course. Divya Jioty left, leaving only Lakshmi as permanent staff. We kept the prana and harmony high in the Centre. Om Shanti to all the Sivananda family.

Om Namah Sivaya. Preparations for the upcoming October TTC was getting more and more intense as we have reached 30 participants and now aiming for 40. The two “Yoga for Children” teachers’ training program started well, the one on Thursday with 10 students and the one on Friday with 14. After a short and very successful visit, Jnaneshwari Chaitanya left Israel on her way back to the Yoga Retreat Ashram. One weekend we all went to the Ashram in Mata and assisted with renovating the accommodations for the staff during the TTC.

During mid August we welcomed Swami Hridyananda who came for a 10 week visit to Israel. She gave special programs at the Centre, before teaching in the TTC. We put a lot of effort into promoting our upcoming courses, especially a new Meditation course that will be held for the first time at 17:00, which already has 13 participants. Our Open House program attracted many students both new and old and was very successful. Pranams to the Sivananda family.

http://www.sivananda.org/telaviv

Om Namah Sivaya. Our long time resident Kiran came back to Tokyo Centre after completing TTC in Vietnam. He will start teaching a meditation course as well as re-starting the Vedanta and Sanskrit classes. Sandeep, from India, offered a 120-minute asana class with 26 people attending. It was a full house despite occurring on a weekday. After the class, a briefing session on TTC was given by Narayani Noriko, with 11 people joining. Sandeep and Noriko had been visiting 12 locations throughout Japan offering the similar programs. A three-day workshop on Vedanta by Swami Chetanananda from Kyoto was held on a weekend (a Japanese national holiday), joined by nearly 50 people. Most of them attended for 3 days in a row. We hope his workshops provide an opportunity to introduce Vedanta philosophy to our regular class students.

The middle of the month had a lot of rain with cool temperatures for August. A new Yoga 1 course started with 6 enrollments, and a new Yoga 2 course starting with 4 people on Saturdays. A trial class given by Kumari Noriko was held on Sundays, joined by 8 people, and 3 of them signed up for Yoga 1 course. Vishnu, a former staff, stayed at the Centre and offered his service. The Satsang on Sunday evenings were infused with energy by his powerful voice and drum. Many of our long time students were rejoiced to see him again. Om Shanti, Shanti, Shantihi.

http://www.sivananda.jp

Om Namah Sivaya. In early August a group of Toronto teachers used opportunity to go to the Ashram for the Civic Holiday long weekend. Meanwhile, we had around 25 students for Satsang. Ramapriya taught a Japanese cooking workshop that was very well attended .

Later in the month a Yoga 2 course started. Mayavan taught Introduction to Yoga and Ayurveda workshop on Saturdays. We had lots of karma yogis who helped us paint our asana halls. We were grateful for all their time. Atmaswaroop arrived from the Ashram to help as staff at the Centre. Pranams to all.

http://www.sivananda.org/toronto

Om Namah Sivaya. In August we started a new batch on Monday evenings. All other classes went well. Karma yogi Unnikrishnan took a break from the Centre for a few weeks. Lalithasahasranama Poojas were conducted on Fridays. Students were introduced to the practices of Jala Neti and Sutra Neti in a Kriya Workshop. Nataraj ji taught an asana correction workshop. It helped the students to improve their postures. After the class he conducted staff meeting and gave us valuable suggestions to improve the working condition of the Centre. Satsang was led by Yashpal ji. A Ladies Beginners’ batch started on Mondays. All other classes went well. We conducted Ganapathy Homa on the 1st day of the Malayalam month, “Chingam”. It is the first month in the traditional Malayalam calendar used by Hindus in Kerala. In 2017, Chingam month begins on August 17th. It is locally referred as Andu Pirappu. The month ends on September 16th. Onam, Sri Krishna Jayanti and Vinayaka Chaturthi are celebrated in this month. Lalithasahasranama Pooja was conducted on Fridays.  Satsang was led by Sri. Yashpal ji.  Om Shanti, Shanti, Shantihi.

http://www.sivananda.org/trivandrum

Om Namah Sivaya. The special summer courses “For More Flexibility” were helping to keep the prana up in this hot summer season of August. This month we started a new Cooking Workshop on Wednesdays before lunch time and after the yoga class, to inspire the students to try out some new summer recipes. The Sun salutation Workshop brought joy and gave the students a boost for their daily practice. The Prasad Workshop on Saturday was very successful and we could successfully convey the idea that preparing the Prasad is very special and leads one to the awakening of Bhakti. We also had a nice TTC Preparation Day with very inspired students. Overall, classes and courses were running smoothly in August, although attendance was a little lower because of high temperatures. Highlight of the month was, of course, the celebration of Krishna Janmasthami. The Centre was filled with uplifting Krishna energy. We served Krishna and his devotees with 2 Prasads and everybody was inspired to take some rose petals for their altar at home after the Archanam. The altar was shining with all these nice flowers. OM.

http://www.sivananda.org/vienna

Om Namah Sivaya. After the return from the very successful TTC in Lithuania much energy was put into washing, cleaning and storing the equipment. Our sincere karma yogi Surya stayed in the Centre for the whole week and joyfully helped with all the work. Fresh energy, enthusiasm and inspiration for teaching yoga and serving people flocked to the yoga Centre with the newly graduated yoga teachers. Few of them have started assisting in the classes immediately after the TTC. By the end of the month Ananda, Savitri, Lakshmi, Vani Devi started to teach classes on themselves successfully.

This is a great help for the Centre during the August, because many teachers were still on holidays. We decided to use this not very active time for some renovation of the Centre and with the help of karma yogis to repaint the walls of the reception, entrance and corridor and to clean deeper the various parts of the house. The new Centre brochure was planned, made and printed. Lots of prana came to the Centre with the brochure, new posters and leaflets and renewing the webpage. In the beginning of August Swami Vairagyananda left for Canada to support TTC Refresher program and gain inspiration for Sadhana as well. Satsangs were well attended and every time we saw from 2 to 4 newcomers and we always had Russian speakers, so our new teacher Ananda was happy to serve as translator. Our new teachers and students has a strong spirit of karma yoga, so we started to give them more responsibilities and this created a very good atmosphere in the Centre. We had beautiful Puja for Lord Krishna on Monday, 14th with 15 sincere teachers and students. Everyone enjoyed light and joyful, full of Love energy, chanting and very special Prasad made by Mother Parvati. Nice Ganesha Chaturthi Puja on Friday morning filled the Centre with a very nice energy and helped a lot to carry on and do all the necessary work to prepare the Centre to function without the staff, because Durgadevi leaves to Poland TTC. Our teachers will have the very good opportunity to take the responsibility, to grow and to prove how much Vilnius Centre is needed for the students and teachers. OM.

http://www.sivananda.org/vilnius