August 2 - 3, 2008
Programs with Manu Dawson

Aug. 2nd
Intergrative Nutrition: Creating a healthy diet
Aug. 3rd
Nutrients for stress reduction

$15/lecture for those not in the fast.


August 3 - 10, 2008
Yoga Camp for Young People
with Omkari

Open to children 11 – 14 years old. Omkari will be back again this year for more fun. Establishing a Yoga practice can be a life-transforming experience for young teens, allowing them to develop self-awareness, mental and spiritual growth, and a healthy, balanced, relationship with their rapidly growing bodies. Omkari is an expert Yoga and secular teacher for young people of all ages. She has run our Family Week program for the past nine years, and is a trained Montessori teacher. ($500 for children of members and $575 for non-members)

August 3 - 8, 2008
Mini-Yoga Vacation (Beginner’s level)

This retreat will guide you systematically through the theory and practice of Yoga exercise, breathing, relaxation, diet, positive thinking and meditation. The retreats take place during the weekdays when we generally have fewer guests, so that we can give you special attention. The Mini-Yoga Vacations are ideal for those new to Yoga practice or for those wishing to renew their practice after a long lapse. Ashram transportation from Manhattan is available on Sunday evenings, with the shuttle van returning on Friday afternoon. Participants are requested to stay at the Ashram until the Friday workshop is completed. To complete your Yoga experience, extend your stay through the weekend. ($150 plus accommodations)

August 8 - 10, 2008
Cambio Libre Cuban Dance
with Okan Horo

A dynamic women's Afro-Cuba drumming, song and dance group, performs the sacred Cuban Bata style. Proceeds from this concert will be sent out to an orphanage for African children who have lost their parents to AIDS.
Minimum donations: Saturday $15 extra
Drumming or Dance workshop $25, both $40


Aug 10 – 17, 2008
THE ART OF FORGIVENESS INTENSIVE
with Swami Padmapadananda

Seven days of dynamic practical instructions to develop a positive attitude toward life, gain mastery over anger and other negative habits and increase courage, compassion and confidence. Discover inner strength and vision to let go and live. Swami Padmapadananda is a senior disciple of Swami Vishnudevananda and the spiritual director of our San Francisco Center.
($150 plus accommodations)

August 15 - 22, 2008
Family Week
with Omkari

Omkari makes Yoga fun for all with dynamism, humor and play. Parents, as well as children of all ages, participate in this week's program, bringing family and Yoga practice together. Special classes and activities are provided for kids of all ages.

August 16 - 29, 2008
Permaculture Design Course
with Toby Hemenway and Larry Santoyo

A Certificate Course for Urban and Rural Residents, Planners, Land Managers & Design Professionals. This training covers the fundamentals of ecological design, given by two of the country’s most experienced permaculture instructors, and many local guests. Join us at a rural retreat center near Woodbourne, New York. Upon completion, attendees will receive a Permaculture Design Trainee Certificate from the Permaculture Institute.

Course topics include:

  • Re-Localizing Food Production
  • Organizing Eco-Neighborhoods
  • Simple Steps Toward Sustainable Lifestyles and Communities
  • Natural Building & Property Development
  • Adding Beauty & Value to Your Home
  • Strategies for Energy Descent & Peak Oil
  • Green Business Strategies and Finding your Right-Livelihood Career

Who should take this course

The Permaculture Design Course has transformed the lives and enhanced the careers of thousands of architects, landscapers, community developers, social workers, city planners, teachers, students, farmers, gardeners, homeowners, business owners and others. It’s for anyone serious about creating a sustainable future! Permaculture principles apply to any scale of design, to highly urbanized areas, suburbs, and rural communities and properties.

Curriculum includes inspiring examples of sustainable land use from around the world. The course is taught via lecture, images and videos, group discussion, exercises, hands-on work, a final design project, and other methods that suit a wide variety of learning styles.

The teaching team

TOBY HEMENWAY is the author of Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture, Scholar-in-Residence at Pacific University, and adjunct professor at Portland State University. He is Director of the Center for Pattern Literacy and Field Director for the Permaculture Institute (USA). Toby is the former editor of Permaculture Activist Magazine, and his articles have appeared in Fine Gardening, Natural Home, Whole Earth Review, and other national magazines.

LARRY SANTOYO is Vice President of the Permaculture Institute (USA), Co-director of The Terra Foundation, and is the founder of the MicroVillage Network. He has taught environmental design at colleges and universities nationwide including UC Berkeley and California State PolyTechnic University. For over twenty years, he has assisted private individuals in the design and construction of "Home Ecosystems" and has assisted companies in developing industrial ecologies and sustainable business practices.

PLUS local experts and guest speakers to be announced.

The course fee of $1450 includes all classes, course handouts, tent campsite with facilities, vegetarian meals, and optional yoga classes. Rooms are available at additional cost.
Note: $250 non-refundable deposit required to guarantee your space.
 

August 22 – 29, 2008
Stress Reduction
with Carmon Coutinho

In this yearly retreat, Carmon skillfully instructs techniques of Positive Thinking, Shiatsu & Yoga with humor and sensitivity. Carmon integrates Yoga with a variety of healing arts and makes the process of self-transformation fun. This is both our longest continuously running special program as well as one of the most popular. Carmon also offers individual Shiatsu treatments by appointment. (Donations will be sent to care for orphans of AIDS in Africa).


August 23, 2008
Krishna Jayanti

Come participate in the celebration of the birth of Sri Krishna with chanting, stories and a feast with Swami Vasishtananda, our resident Namboodiri priest.