Calendar
April 2024
Yoga and Stress Management
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April 2 – 5 week retreat
April 5 – 7 weekend retreat
Expand your mind
Gaining mastery over your thoughts is essential for mental, emotional and spiritual health. Explore the mysteries of the mind and learn to apply the practices of self-reflection, observation of the mind, concentration and meditation in your daily life. Join us in this inspiring retreat and discover the power of thoughts and the laws of positive thinking.
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April 8 – 12 week retreat
April 12 – 14 weekend retreat
Ram Navami
Sri Rama Navami is a Hindu festival that celebrates the appearance day of Lord Rama
Lord Rama is one of the most revered and influential gods in Hinduism. He is worshiped as the seventh avatar of Lord Vishnu and is believed to embody the ideals of righteousness, compassion, and courage. His life and teachings have had a profound impact on the Indian culture and society, and continue to inspire millions of people across the world.
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The Art of Positive Thinking
Applying the principle of positive thinking into all of our activities can significantly improve our relationships and increase the quality of our life. Join us for this uplifting retreat and discover the power of thoughts; learn the basic tenets of Vedanta, the philosophy of Oneness, and explore practices that will help you to improve the quality of your mind, leading you to more calmness, greater wellbeing and further self-development.
Topics covered will include:
- The nature of thought and its inherent power
- Developing a healthy body-mind connection
- Samskaras: how habits are formed and how to transform them into positive forces
- How to create powerful positive affirmations
- Aims of life (purushartha): self-effort and karma
- Thought creates destiny: the self-transformative power of the mind
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Hanuman Jayanti celebration
Hanuman is one of the most powerful and popular deities consider as the epitome of devotion, faith, valor, strength, energy and selfless, love.
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Special Program: Vedanta for daily Life
With Swami Svatmavidyananda Saraswati
Sacred Texts such as the Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads describe the Self as limitless free and whole. Join Swamini Svatmavidyananda as she explores of the relevance of this knowledge and teaching for one’s daily life.
Swami Svatmavidyananda Saraswati, PhD, is a widely recognized as scholar od Advaita Vedanta . Teaching Internationally through lectures and seminars. She is a disciple of Pujya Sri Swami Dayananda Saraswati known for her expertise in interreligious engagement and Advaita Vedanta. She is the Acharya of Arsha Vijnana Gurukulam and its centers throughout the Unites States.
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Yoga and Vitality
Topics covered will include:
- How to make the asanas (postures) steady and comfortable
- Steps towards greater physical and mental flexibility
- Improve your asana practice through deep relaxation.
- Prana, pranayama and increased concentration
- Nadis (energy channels), chakras and experiences in the astral body
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5 -Day Detox Program
This program will include fruit juices, salads and much more in a supported group environment. The detox program combined with yoga practices and meditation constitute an excellent approach for cleansing on all levels: physical, mental and emotional. It will help you detach from craving sugar and other tasty foods. You will realize just how good it feels to replace inflammatory foods with nutrient-dense options. You will experience better digestion, more energy, enhanced flexibility and mental clarity.
It will help eliminate toxins from the body which can cause the following disturbances:
- Indigestion
- Diarrhea
- Constipation
- Uncontrollable craving for sugar
- Cholesterol
- Migraine
- Chronic Fatigue and more
- Click the link to register for
May 2024
How to overcome negative habits?
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May 6 – 10 Week Retreat
May 10 – 12 Weekend Retreat
Hatha yoga in depth
Topics covered will include:
- How to make the asanas (postures) steady and comfortable
- Steps towards greater physical and mental flexibility
- Improve your asana practice through deep relaxation
- Prana, pranayama and increased concentration
- Nadis (energy channels), chakras and experiences in the astral body
- From yoga to an inner awakening
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May 13 – 17 Week Retreat
May 17 – 19 Weekend Retreat
Mind, its mysteries and control
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Yoga and hiking
Enjoy a relaxing yoga holiday and a unique experience in nature. Take a deep breath and gain new strength and inspiration in the healing Laurentian Mountains in the beautiful natural ashram setting through a holistic practice of yoga postures (asanas), breathing exercises (pranayama), relaxation technics (savasana), group meditations (satsangs), nutritious vegetarian meals, stimulating lectures on yoga philosophy and dynamic walks in the forest as well as a bonfire (weather permitting).
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June 2024
Detox and juice fasting
Fasting is recognized as a powerful purification technique for the body but also as a deep spiritual practice. Come and join us for this retreat designed to cleanse the body and purify the mind. The supportive group setting as well as the ashram practices of yoga and meditation in a beautiful natural setting will create for you an enjoyable, renewing, and rejuvenating experience.
All the juices and vegetable broths will be freshly prepared from organic produce.
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June 3 – 7 week retreat
June 7 – 9 weekend retreat
Yoga and Vitality
understanding will eventually lead you to a more satisfying and profound experience in your practice of yoga and meditation.
Topics covered will include:
- How to make the asanas (postures) steady and comfortable
- Steps towards greater physical and mental flexibility
- Improve your asana practice through deep relaxation
- Prana, pranayama and increased concentration
- Nadis (energy channels), chakras and experiences in the astral body
Click here for registration
June 10 – 14 week retreat
June 14 – 16 weekend retreat
Certified Adapted Yoga Training with Anjaneya (Micheal Hutkins)
This program teaches how to make hatha yoga accessible for people needing a more gentle approach, modifications, or adaptations, due to health issues, ageing, injuries, or other physical or mental limitations. You will learn how to adapt asanas and asana choices to offer the same benefits in a way that can be tailored to individuals, or a groups special needs.
You will study:
- Philosophy of asanas
- Joint exercises
- How to safely modify asanas while maintaining their benefits
- Teaching philosophy for a gentle/accessible class
- Philosophy of ageing
- How to adapt to common chronic diseases
- Working with injuries
- Learn to teach a complete class in a chair and standing for those who can not access the floor.
- Learn to teach a class using a chair or wall for support when necessary.
- Learn to teach an adapted classical hatha yoga class (Gentle yoga)
- Learn to teach seamlessly to a group of individuals that might be in all the above categories
Program Schedule
Friday
- 3:00pm Check-in
- 4:00pm Hatha Yoga Class
- 6:00pm Dinner
- 7:30pm Satsang (silent practice, mantra chanting, talk) *
- 10:00pm Lights Out
Saturday
- 5:30am Wake Up Bell
- 6:00am Satsang* or Silent Walk
- 8:00am Hatha Yoga Class
- 10:00am Brunch
- 10:45am Karma Yoga
- 12:00pm – 6:00pm Practice and theory Adapted yoga workshop
- 6:00pm Dinner
- 7:30pm Satsang*
- 10:00pm Lights Out
Sunday
- 5:30am Wake Up Bell
- 6:00am Satsang* or Silent Walk
- 8:00am Practice and theory Adapted yoga workshop
- 10:00am Brunch
- 12:00am – 3:00pm Practice and theory Adapted yoga workshop
- 3:00pm Room Check-Out
Anjaneya (Michael Hutkins) is a yoga teacher and yoga therapist with 25 years of experience in Sivananda yoga. He teaches and offers yoga therapy in Gatineau/Ottawa as well as sharing courses in Canada and the USA.
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Body - Mind Balance Retreat
International Yoga Day Open House – Free and open to all.
Join us for a free yoga and nature day – a day to recharge and relax in the beautiful Laurentians mountains. Draw new energy through the yoga practice.
In this special celebration of the International Yoga Day join us at the Sivananda Yoga Camp in the pristine natural environment of the Laurentian mountains. Come and experience the power of yoga to bestow physical and mental health, elevate our mind and uplift our spirit, allowing us to to commune with humanity in the name of World Peace. You can choose from the following two options:
Program 1 (morning)
- 10.00 AM: Yoga Class
- 12.00 AM: Vegetarian Lunch
- 2.00 PM: Lecture on Yoga
Program 2 (afternoon)
- 2.00 PM: Lecture on Yoga
- 4.00 PM: Yoga Class
- 6.00 PM: Vegetarian Dinner
- 7.30 PM: Meditation, Mantra chanting and talk on Yoga: Yoga for world peace.
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Yoga for Peace
Topics covered will include:
- Mantra chants concert for peace
- Inner peace for outer peace
- Special meditations and visualizations on Peace for all
- Techniques to develop a calm and serene mind
- Bonfire: spreading light to the whole world (weather permitting)
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Karma Yoga Retreat
Karma Yoga is the path of selfless actions. It leads to purification of the mind through letting go of attachment to the outcome of one’s actions. Karma yoga opens the heart to unconditional divine love through serving others selflessly. Join this retreat and experience the joy of the practice of Karma Yoga. Special discount if you would like to participate in the retreat as a karma yogi
(minimum 3 hours). Please communicate with us @ [email protected].
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July 2024
Yoga and deep relaxation
prevent being “stressed out”.
Topics will include:
- Positive thinking and meditation for overcoming mental stress
- Tips on giving up artificial stimulants in daily life
- Controlling the emotions through manta chanting
- The art to letting go
- Physical, mental and spiritual levels of final relaxation
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July 1 – 5 week retreat
July 5 – 7 weekend retreat
Tattva Boddha with Swami Govindananda Saraswati
Vedanta begins with the question: what is the goal of human life? The final answer is that we want unlimited, infinite happiness. Tattva Boddha, one of the introductory texts (prakara granthah) written by Shankaracharya, the main propounder of Vedanta, presents the student with the basic principles of this philosophy.
The topics will include:
- Sadhana Chatushtaya: 4 qualifications for reaching liberation (Moksha)
- Shatsampat: 6 prerequisite qualities for the study of Vedanta
- Enquiry into the truth: discriminating between the real and the unreal
- The Self and the 3 bodies
Swami Govindananda Saraswati is a direct disciple of Swami Vishnudevananda with 30 years experience teaching Yoga and Vedanta philosophy. He is a gifted and charismatic teacher well appreciated for his humor and his unique ability to dispense complicated philosophical teachings to be easily understood by all. He holds degrees in Physics and Education.
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Hatha Yoga Inspirations with Swami Sivadasananda, Yoga Acharya
A unique special program with Swami Sivadasananda, Yoga Acharya assisted by Swamis and senior teachers
Special discount for Sivananda TTC graduates (Dorm or Tent)
Special workshops of correction of postures to deepen your skills and knowledge (Only for Sivananda TTC graduates). Based on Sivananda Yoga Asana Adjustment Manual (available only for this program)
- Typical beginners’mistakes and limitations
- Anatomical detailed vocabulary for the asana classes
- Preparatory variations or exercises
- How to advance in the basic postures
- Advanced variations to improve the basic postures
- Be aware of the gunas
Daily at 8am: Asana class with special focus on pranayama, sun salutations and the main asana sequences
Daily at 2 pm: lecture topics: From the new book Hatha Yoga Inspirations – Lectures by Swami Vishnudevananda
- The Higher Effects of Asanas
- The Nature of Pranayama
- The Mind and the Senses
- Bondage and Freedom
- The Experience of Inner Peace
Swami Sivadasananda,
Yoga Acharya, is a senior disciple of Swami Vishnudevananda and has been teaching training courses and workshops, around the world for many years with profound knowledge and a dynamic and precise teaching style.
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8 – 12 July Week Retreat
12 – 14 July weekend : Hatha Yoga Inspirations with Swami Sivadasananda, Yoga Acharya
Yoga, Mind and the Brain with Swami Jnaneshwariananda
- How Asanas and pranayama change the functioning of the brain.
- What happens in the brain when we experience joy and pain?
- How to cultivate the brain through mental training?
- Exercises in Self-observation and Self-knowledge.
Swami Jnaneswariananda has a Phd in Biomedical Engineering and is an excellent teacher of anatomy and physiology and yoga philosophy. She is a senior teacher and director of the
Sivananda Ashram Yoga Farm and is part of Sivananda Institute of Health and Yoga (SIHY), the health branch of the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centers. She teaches with great enthusiasm and humor.
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Kaavadi Festival
Day program only
See the web site: https://sivanandacanada.org/temple/
Tattva Boddha: with Swami Govindananda Saraswati (part 2)
Vedanta begins with the question: what is the goal of human life? The final answer is that we want unlimited, infinite happiness. Tattva Boddha, one of the introductory texts (prakara granthah) written by Shankaracharya, the main propounder of Vedanta, presents the student with the basic principles of this philosophy.
The topics will include:
- The 3 states of being.
- The 5 koshas: 5 levels of existence
- The law of karma (3 types)
- Moksha: Liberation from Samsara (cycle of birth and death)
Swami Govindananda Saraswati is a direct disciple of Swami Vishnudevananda with 30 years experience teaching Yoga and Vedanta philosophy. He is a gifted and charismatic teacher well appreciated for his humor and his unique ability to dispense complicated philosophical teachings to be easily understood by all. He holds degrees in Physics and Education.
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The Meditation Experience with Kanti Devi, Yoga Acharya
Disengage from the distractions of your busy life and dive into a 5- day yoga and meditation retreat in the peaceful setting of the Laurentian mountains. Along with daily yoga classes, nutritious meals and nature walks, you will learn how to establish a good meditation practice that can help you regulate your emotions and give you more clarity and balance in your life. You will feel rejuvenated and equipped to continue your inward journey at home. This retreat is suitable for beginners as well as experienced practitioners.
Kanti Devi ( Yoga Acharya)
Direct disciple of Swami Vishnudevananda since 1969 she is the yoga Acharya of the centers in South America and Canada. She is known for her charisma and dedication.
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Yoga Alignment principles and Practice with Stephen Weiss
Most students practice yoga with the common goal of finding ease and grace in their movements and strength and stability in their postures. Aligned postures are fundamental to achieving this while increasing health and vitality. Correctly aligning asanas unleash the wisdom and healing power of yoga. Alignment begins with knowledge and is followed by its application into our postures.
These workshops are committed to sharing the knowledge of alignment. They are fully experiential, on-the-mat, and presented in a yoga class setting. The specific principles of postural mechanics and alignment are explored using cutting edge application of anatomy and exercise physiology. Yet, all concepts and principle remain consistent with classical yogic philosophy.
Students will:
- Learn practical, easier ways to set up postures
- Deepen and advance their practice with safety
- Understand how to follow the natural design of the body
- Recognize common postural misalignments that cause injury
- Make time on the mat a personalized therapeutic experience
Topics covered:
- Importance of alignment
- Fundamental alignment and mechanical principles
- Soft tissue anatomy and stretching
- Ligament physiology
- Muscle physiology and stretching
- Foundation and orientations of postures
- Principles of full body alignment
Steven Weiss, MS, DC, ERYT, C-IAYT is a holistic chiropractor, nutritionist and certified yoga therapist.
Steven’s approach to teaching anatomy, yoga mechanics and postural alignment is always hands on and experiential. His goal is for the students to be able to immediately apply the principles explored in their practices and teaching. He is the author of The Injury-Free Yoga Practice, Integrative Alignment Yoga Therapy, and Yoga Alignment Principles and Practice.
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Viveka Chudamani : the Crest-Jewel of Discrimination with Swami Govindananda Saraswati
Vedanta is truly the “Science of Life”. Shankaracharya, the great interpreter of Vedanta, not only gave us his commentaries on the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita, but also many primary texts which introduce the seeker into the joys of Vedanta. One of the greatest texts he has written as an introduction to Vedanta, is the Viveka Chudamani.
The topics will include:
- Adhikari: qualifications of the fit student
- Adyaropa: superimposing the unreal over the real
- The essential Guru-disciple relationship
- Vedantic meditation: tat tvam asi (that thou art)
- Vichara: self-enquiry about who am I
- Unity in diversity
Swami Govindananda Saraswati is a direct disciple of Swami Vishnudevananda with 30 years experience teaching Yoga and Vedanta philosophy. He is a gifted and charismatic teacher well appreciated for his humor and his unique ability to dispense complicated philosophical teachings to be easily understood by all. He holds degrees in Physics and Education.
Click here for Registration