News & Current Events
Yoga joins Hindus & Buddhists together / Sri Lanka
February 02, 2012@3:25:AMYoga brings Hindus and Buddhists together in war torn Sri Lanka
“While since ancient times, various communal groups have competed with one another militarily, politically, and culturally, Babaji’s cherished teaching, “unity in diversity” through the practice of Yoga, is helping to heal the fear induced divisions created by political and religious leaders in Sri Lanka. In order to help bring the Sinhala and Tamil communities together on the basis of Yoga, Babaji’s Kriya Yoga Order of Acharyas Trust has translated, published and distributed several of its publications in these two languages. Consequently, in October 2011, of the sixty persons who attended the Kriya Yoga initiation seminar given at its Colombo ashram by Acharya Satyananda, forty of them were from the Sinhala Buddhist community. Among them was a revered Buddhist monk. A newly formed Working Committee of six members from both communities has recently assumed responsibility for managing the activities of the Trust. These include free public yoga classes, pujas, and satsang meetings of initiates, every week, the organization of pilgrimages to Katirgama, and the translation and publication of books on Kriya Yoga into the Sinhala language. Babaji’s Kriya Yoga is a synthesis of Yoga Siddhantham, the teaching of the Yoga Siddhas. This synthesis was created by Babaji Nagaraj, beginning with what he learned from his first Siddha guru, Boganathar, at Katirgama, Sri Lanka. The holiest shrine to both Hindus and Buddhists in Sri Lanka is the Muruga temple complex at Katirgama. Uniquely, its Hindu and Buddhist priests share responsibilities for all of the activities conducted there. The Babaji shrine in Katirgama has recently been renovated with a new ceramic tile surface. A granite monument, with an inscription in Sinhala, Tamil and English now commemorates this sacred site. A mandapam portico will soon be constructed at its entrance to provide shade. Plans for a meditation hall to its rear have been prepared.”
More
Marshall Govindan (member of World Advisory Council of IYF)
Save Jasper National Park
January 08, 2012@2:11:PMIn days, the Harper Government will privatise a section of Jasper National Park and let an American-owned company blast a 300m metal walkway into our World Heritage mountains -- but Jasper's Superintendent has the power to stop them.
The plan would not only spur damaging development, but would give an American company the right to charge each of us for use of key parts of Jasper park. Greg Fenton, a local Jasperite, has the ability to stop the privatisation of the park he grew up in and loves -- but he's bending to brutal pressure from the Harper Government. Let's send him a tidal wave of support and give him the strength he needs to stand up to Harper and save our Rocky Mountain sanctuary.
Private international companies should not be profiting off our national treasures. Click here to ensure our parks stay in public hands -- sign the petition calling on Fenton to save Jasper National Park before it's too late:
Please Click here.
Petition
Thank-you!
2-Day TT for Individuals With Cancer/Nov. 11-13,
October 18, 2011@2:42:AMThis November, the Healing and Cancer Foundation in collaboration with the University of Calgary will be offering a Yoga Thrive Teacher Training program for yoga teacher's interested in teaching yoga to individuals with a cancer diagnosis.
The Healing and Cancer Foundation welcomes:
Yoga Thrive Teacher Training: Teaching Yoga to individuals with a Cancer Diagnosis
November 11th-13th
Therapeutic Approach Yoga Studio, Halifax NS
Spaces are limited.
Please email: info@healingandcancer.org with any questions or inquiries.
Rob Rutledge
Love. Inspire. Empower.
Dr. Rob Rutledge, MD, FRCPC
Radiation Oncologist, Nova Scotia Cancer Centre
Associate Professor, Dalhousie University
Chair and CEO, Healing and Cancer Foundation
www.HealingandCancer.org
________________________________
About The Healing and Cancer Foundation
The Healing and Cancer Foundation arose out of the 10-year collaboration of an oncologist/Associate Professor and a psychotherapist/teacher and their experience cancer weekend retreats in 20 cities across Canada and abroad. Our mission is to help people affected by cancer with a practical, integrated approach to their diagnosis. We offer life skills training and a unique perspective on mind, body and spirit that, when combined with conventional medical care, can transform the experience of illness into a journey toward wholeness.
Great Deals for Members/ Yoga Life Style
September 22, 2011@2:38:PMCYA Condolences to Former NDP Leader, Jack Layton
August 22, 2011@6:43:PMAugust 20, 2011
Toronto, Ontario
A beautiful letter written to Canadians by Jack Layton before his death early today.
Dear Friends,
Tens of thousands of Canadians have written to me in recent weeks to wish me well. I want to thank each and every one of you for your thoughtful, inspiring and often beautiful notes, cards and gifts. Your spirit and love have lit up my home, my spirit, and my determination.
Unfortunately my treatment has not worked out as I hoped. So I am giving this letter to my partner Olivia to share with you in the circumstance in which I cannot continue.
I recommend that Hull-Aylmer MP Nycole Turmel continue her work as our interim leader until a permanent successor is elected.
I recommend the party hold a leadership vote as early as possible in the New Year, on approximately the same timelines as in 2003, so that our new leader has ample time to reconsolidate our team, renew our party and our program, and move forward towards the next election.
A few additional thoughts:
To other Canadians who are on journeys to defeat cancer and to live their lives, I say this: please don’t be discouraged that my own journey hasn’t gone as well as I had hoped. You must not lose your own hope. Treatments and therapies have never been better in the face of this disease. You have every reason to be optimistic, determined, and focused on the future. My only other advice is to cherish every moment with those you love at every stage of your journey, as I have done this summer.
To the members of my party: we’ve done remarkable things together in the past eight years. It has been a privilege to lead the New Democratic Party and I am most grateful for your confidence, your support, and the endless hours of volunteer commitment you have devoted to our cause. There will be those who will try to persuade you to give up our cause. But that cause is much bigger than any one leader. Answer them by recommitting with energy and determination to our work. Remember our proud history of social justice, universal health care, public pensions and making sure no one is left behind. Let’s continue to move forward. Let’s demonstrate in everything we do in the four years before us that we are ready to serve our beloved Canada as its next government.
To the members of our parliamentary caucus: I have been privileged to work with each and every one of you. Our caucus meetings were always the highlight of my week. It has been my role to ask a great deal from you. And now I am going to do so again. Canadians will be closely watching you in the months to come. Colleagues, I know you will make the tens of thousands of members of our party proud of you by demonstrating the same seamless teamwork and solidarity that has earned us the confidence of millions of Canadians in the recent election.
To my fellow Quebecers: On May 2nd, you made an historic decision. You decided that the way to replace Canada’s Conservative federal government with something better was by working together in partnership with progressive-minded Canadians across the country. You made the right decision then; it is still the right decision today; and it will be the right decision right through to the next election, when we will succeed, together. You have elected a superb team of New Democrats to Parliament. They are going to be doing remarkable things in the years to come to make this country better for us all.
To young Canadians: All my life I have worked to make things better. Hope and optimism have defined my political career, and I continue to be hopeful and optimistic about Canada. Young people have been a great source of inspiration for me. I have met and talked with so many of you about your dreams, your frustrations, and your ideas for change. More and more, you are engaging in politics because you want to change things for the better. Many of you have placed your trust in our party. As my time in political life draws to a close I want to share with you my belief in your power to change this country and this world. There are great challenges before you, from the overwhelming nature of climate change to the unfairness of an economy that excludes so many from our collective wealth, and the changes necessary to build a more inclusive and generous Canada. I believe in you. Your energy, your vision, your passion for justice are exactly what this country needs today. You need to be at the heart of our economy, our political life, and our plans for the present and the future.
And finally, to all Canadians: Canada is a great country, one of the hopes of the world. We can be a better one – a country of greater equality, justice, and opportunity. We can build a prosperous economy and a society that shares its benefits more fairly. We can look after our seniors. We can offer better futures for our children. We can do our part to save the world’s environment. We can restore our good name in the world. We can do all of these things because we finally have a party system at the national level where there are real choices; where your vote matters; where working for change can actually bring about change. In the months and years to come, New Democrats will put a compelling new alternative to you. My colleagues in our party are an impressive, committed team. Give them a careful hearing; consider the alternatives; and consider that we can be a better, fairer, more equal country by working together. Don’t let them tell you it can’t be done.
My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.
All my very best,
Jack Layton
For Immediate Release: WHITE LAMA
August 18, 2011@9:11:AMThe spellbinding, untold story of Theos Bernard,
the pioneer of Hatha Yoga and Tibetan Buddhist philosophy in the Western world
WHITE LAMA
The Life of Tantric Yogi Theos Bernard, Tibet's Lost
Emissary to the New World
By Douglas Veenhof
It is estimated today that nearly eighteen million people in North America alone practice some form of Yoga at studios, gyms, or clinics. As popular as this practice now is, it is difficult to imagine that less than a hundred years ago, if a student wanted to take up yoga, he would have had to travel around the world and spend months trying to penetrate secret societies of Asian sanctuaries. In 1937, Theos Bernard changed all of that.
In WHITE LAMA: The Life of Tantric Yogi Theos Bernard, Tibet's Lost Emissary to the New World (Harmony Books; May 10, 2011; $27.50; Hardcover), Douglas Veenhof tells the colorful story of Theos Bernard, a pioneer of Hatha Yoga, Tantra, and Tibetan Buddhist philosophy in the West. Self-described as the “first white lama,” Bernard was the third American ever to set foot in Tibet and may very well have been the first American ever initiated into Tantric practices by the highest lama in Tibet. When he left this sacred land, he was sent home with fifty mule loads of the finest editions of essential Buddhist scriptures from government and monastery vaults and in many ways was the first person to bring such insight into Tibetan practices in the Western World.
In WHITE LAMA, Theos Bernard's life, works, and eventual disappearance are chronicled in a stirring work of narrative nonfiction, loaded with rich characters such as Charles Lindbergh, Lowell Thomas, Ganna Walska, and W.Y. Evans-Wentz and supplemented with fascinating original photographs from Theos’ trips to Tibet.
Part biography, part adventure story, and part history of the Tibetan people in a way that has never been told before, WHITE LAMA takes an intriguing look at Tibet in the first part of the 20th century and pays homage to the visionary man who introduced Tibetan Buddhism and Hatha Yoga to the Western world.
CONTACT: Anna Mintz
(212) 572-6186
amintz@randomhouse.com
Survey for Yoga & Wellbeing/ Research Project
July 22, 2011@2:28:PMParticipants are still needed for my research project investigating the relationship between yoga and well- being. This research has the potential to greatly contribute to the yoga industry, and I look forward to publishing the findings.I hope that you are able to spare the 15 minutes to be involved, and forward this message to others interested in yoga.
Click on Link for Survey:
Survey
Bianca-Jade Brearley
Healing Retreat/Annapolis Valley, N.S. Sept.15-18
June 05, 2011@12:19:PMDear Canadian Yoga Alliance,
Hope this finds you well.
The Healing and Cancer Foundation warmly invites you to join us at our first professionals/volunteers training session to be held September 15 - 18th, 2011 in the Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia. We would like to extend this invite to allied health care professionals/ caregivers, including yoga instructors.
We are excited to offer this program to anyone who is already working in cancer care (in the medical system or community) or to those who would like to create healing environments and programing for those affected by a cancer diagnosis. This is a chance to deepen your understanding of our programming and discover how to facilitate from a profoundly awake place of body, mind and spirit.
About the retreat:
* 4 days of training, meditation, deep reflection
* Learn about the Skills for Healing weekend retreats and our book, The Healing Circle
* Work on aligning your personal and spiritual growth with your professional life
* Deepen your personal practice of Healing Skills
* Registration fee $350 includes room/board
* Visit www.
[cid:851130217@14092010-1430]
Contact Jan Morison at mobudge@ns.sympatico.ca
Please share this invitation and the attached poster with friends and colleagues. We look forward to seeing you there!
robr
Love. Inspire. Empower.
Dr. Rob Rutledge, MD, FRCPC
Radiation Oncologist, Nova Scotia Cancer Centre
Associate Professor, Dalhousie University
Chair and CEO, Healing and Cancer Foundation
www.HealingandCancer.org
Room 2025, Dickson Building
5820 University Ave
Halifax, NS, B3H 1V7
(902) 473-6149
Tangle Yoga Studio, St. Catharines, Ontario
October 26, 2010@11:18:AMTangled Yoga Studio offers beautiful yoga clothing and yoga and Pilates classes in St. Catharines, Ontario.
Please visit our web-site for more details.
Tangled Yoga
Posting for Pre-Natal Instructor/Richmond B.C.
August 09, 2010@5:30:PMPosting:
Fit 4 Two pre and postnatal fitness is search for the following:
Who: Certified Prenatal yoga instructor (must have her own insurance)
Where: Richmond B.C.(various locations)
When: evening and/or week-end classes
We offer very competitive compensation.
Regards
Nadyne Rousseau, Personal trainer/Instructor/Owner
fit4two logo colour_R
Fit 4 Two® Richmond
nadyne@fit4two.ca
www.fit4two.ca
tel: 604-808-7141
CYA mention in Maclean's Article, March 4, 2010
March 10, 2010@7:30:PMIsn’t it bad karma to stalk a Yogi?
The aspirations at yoga studios may be high-minded but some seek more than a workout
by Joanne Latimer on Thursday, March 4, 2010 12:12pm - 3 Comments
Isn’t it bad karma to stalk a yogi?
It’s not unusual for handsome young yogi “Ben” to receive tokens of affection from his students. Sometimes he gets books. Sometimes it’s herbal tea. But recently, one student sent him a box of four dead rats after a private yoga session at her home. “She asked me to stay for dinner but I could see she set the table with silverware and candles, so I declined,” recalls Ben, who doesn’t want to draw negative energy to his studio by using his real name. “Soon after, the box of rats arrived. It also contained a long letter explaining how the rats were a reflection of her love for me. I had to get a restraining order.”
Yoga studios may have high-minded aspirations, but the sexual component won’t go away. Transgressions occur on both sides. Witness the popular YouTube series, Inappropriate Yoga Guy, lampooning men who come to yoga classes to hit on women. “It’s a bawdy affair,” quipped John Philp, author of Yoga, Inc. “There were sexual harassment suits flying fast and thick in the 1990s against yogis, yet yogis are targets, too. Yoga Journal, the industry’s bible, calls it the pedestal problem.”
Dave Bruni, a yogi at Downward Dog in Toronto, who is in a committed relationship with another yogi, reports that while 99 per cent of the attention he gets (including being asked out for tea) is non-sexual, “sometimes students cross the line. Recently, I had a student come up before class, onto my mat, and whisper ‘I’m not wearing any panties.’ ”
How do female yogis cope? “It’s part of the job,” said Sadie Nardini, an instructor at YogaWorks in Manhattan. “I’ve been stalked, given inappropriate presents, asked out three times since I got married last year, and I’ve seen teachers teach a whole class to the sexy guy in the front row.” Montreal-based yoga enthusiast and event producer Jay Iversen has seen the reverse, too: “Over the years, I’ve noticed some male teachers are drawn to adjusting the beautiful women in the class. It’s only human nature.”
Let’s not forget that, in these situations, everyone’s a consenting adult, and that is exactly what makes the ethics of yogi-student relationships so fraught. “Sexual politics on the yoga mat are complicated,” explains London, Ont., native and Bikram yoga student Wayne Norman, a professor of ethics at Duke University. “Taking a yoga class is not the same as taking a pottery class. It involves a higher level of trust.” Students are often looking for more than a workout. Some don’t just want a guru or a girlfriend; they want a parent. Yogi Allison Ulan, co-founder of Ashtanga Yoga Montreal, took a personal vow not to get involved with students, but the studio itself—like most—has no official policy against dating. “We deal with the issue extensively in teachers’ training and on a case-by-case basis,” says Ulan, a pro at redirecting student crushes. “As soon as you set yourself up as a yogi, you get projection—lover, parent, best friend. Some new teachers start to believe the projections and that sexual energy can cause harm. Teachers need to send out the right signals.”
What happens when signals aren’t enough? “Remain aloof,” advises Darby, the founding guru at Sattva Yoga Shala in Montreal. (He’s known internationally by his one name.) “Be nice, but don’t respond. If you want something to happen [with a student], it will. You’re in control.”
The Canadian Yoga Alliance has no interest in trying to control yogis with a code of ethics. “It’s not our mandate,” says co-founder Violet Pasztor Wilson. “We’re a networking tool.” Nobody, notes Philp, “wants to have these delicate conversations. Any other industry—psychology, physiotherapy—would be crying out for regulation at this point.”
Diane Bruni, owner of Downward Dog in Toronto and Dave Bruni’s sister, takes offence at the suggestion that regulation is necessary. “We consider ourselves a community, not an industry,” she said. “We have no policy or code of conduct because we rely on common sense.”
Samagrapath Meditation Teachers Program
June 09, 2009@12:50:PMMeditation Teacher Training Program
Dr. Pradeep Kumar, Diane Zsepeczky and Sham Rang Nelson
15% discount for CYA Members!
www.samagrapath.com
This is an intensive program designed for:
yoga and meditation teachers,
holistic therapists,
health care professionals,
mental health care workers and chaplains, and for
those who would like to deepen their meditation practice
This program includes:
the foundation of spiritual growth, evolution and healthy living
self-knowing through discovering mind-body wisdom
preparation for meditation with yoga and breath work
the practice and experience of meditation
the biology, psychology, spirituality and naturality of meditation
the benefits of meditation
a variety of meditation techniques
teaching methodology
For more information contact Kumar 905 526 8910 or Sham Rang 905 844 3120
www.samagrapath.com
samagra@mail2web.com