Yasodhara Ashram Blog & Podcast

In this episode of My Time with Radha, Katie Taher engages in a conversation with Draupadi, a devoted follower of Swami Radha. They explore the power of curiosity…

In this episode Swami Lalitananda interviews Natasa Sljuka, an employment counselor with Immigrant Services Society in Nelson, BC.Natasa lived through the Bosnian war and immigrated to Canada in 1997. She describes the emotional and physical upheaval of being immersed in

Spend some time in a garden in winter and you’ll find it’s a very quiet place, resting, waiting. And who doesn’t love a garden in spring? Everything so tidy and organized, seeds planted, rapid growth, early offerings, so full of

In this episode of My Time with Radha, Katie Taher speaks with Swami Matananda and Swami Premananda. They discuss the theme of love and the importance of care, consideration and independence in relationships. Swami Radha played an essential role not

My first experience as a teacher was in a two-room school in Lillooet, B.C. I stood at the front of the class and asked the children to sit up. The whole class as one entity immediately sat up very straight.

In our first podcast of 2024, Katie Taher sits down with Swami RadhaTarananda, long-time Ashram teacher and resident. They discuss the power of movement and dance as well as Swami RadhaTarananda’s moments with Swami Radha who met and supported her

How can one go further without welcoming Winter, knowing it will be cold and have an element of desolationbut also sensing the beauty of this bareness?-Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee Grief into Growth During one of my darkest periods, I left a well-paying,

“Faith can be cultivated and increased by practicing devotion because devotion gives purification. Devotion is a selfless act. It cultivates the emotions towards sincerity, true giving and selflessness.” – Swami Radha In this episode, Katie Taher interviews Swami Lalitananda, current

I was born profoundly deaf, despite being an otherwise healthy baby with no medical issues or history of deafness in the family. Until I was 16 years old when I had a cochlear implant surgically inserted, my world consisted of

“Grave situations make us think more deeply about our lives and what we can do to achieve peace.” Swami RadhanandaIn this episode, Katie Taher interviews Swami Sukhananda, a long-time resident and teacher at the Ashram. She discusses what it is

The land is calling us back. She needs us to return to her and to ourselves—our truest, wild and wisest selves. I can feel her healing heartsong, thrumming in the centre of my chest. After almost two years of traversing

In this episode, Katie Taher interviews Swami Samayananda, a long-time resident and teacher at the Ashram. She discusses the difference between knowledge and wisdom. She reflects back on her relationship with Swami Radha. Samayananda had an implicit trust in Swami

Standing in the garden, lulled by the hum of insects intent on collecting nectar while they still can, I’m enjoying the soft warmth of an autumn sun. The season has clearly shifted from languid long days of summer to cool

In this episode Swami Lalitananda interviews Candace Batycki, a conservation advocate for more than 30 years, specializing in protecting ecosystems for threatened and endangered wildlife, and caribou in particular. She served as the BC and Yukon Program Director for the

While weeding the carrots last week I was amazed at the tenacity of hoary alyssum, and yet I am equally as perplexed by the intricate layers of my ego, after some serious dismantling. When I awoke paralyzed in ICU after

In this episode Katie Taher interviews Swami Sivananda, long-time Ashram teacher and Swami Radha’s personal driver, student and friend. He talks about searching for a teacher to clarify the teachings from the east and through a flyer for a workshop

Surprises come in many guises. Sometimes even shocking the nervous system with disbelief — no this can’t be true, I only saw her 3 months ago and she was fine then…. Reality takes many different forms. Could this be true?

I have been thinking about the question of who am I?  When I first came to the Ashram, I was looking for something better. I didn’t know anything about yoga. I began to relearn a lot of things and this

Katie Taher sits down with Devi and discusses her time with Swami Radha and the theme of commitment. Devi reflects on how Swami Radha challenged her and was able to break down her defenses – knowing exactly what she needed.

Prologue: Once upon a time there was a gentle flower who came to be in an endless green meadow by a shimmering river between two majestic mountains. Though the flower was very beautiful, it had particularly delicate petals that could

Our third podcast is an insightful conversation hosted by Katie Taher, this time with long time Yasodhara Yoga teacher Tara Huston. In the 70s, Tara and several other women (names you will know) started a women’s centre in Lethbridge, Alberta.

Our second podcast is another wonderful conversation hosted by Katie Taher, this time with senior Ashram teacher Swami Satyananda. They discuss Swami Satyananda’s beginnings at the Ashram and her interactions with Swami Radha who she remembers as a fierce yet

“Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this, too, was a gift.” -“The Uses of Sorrow” by Mary Oliver It was a dreary June evening in Sudbury, Ontario, and

We are excited to launch our new Yasodhara Ashram Podcast for our 60th year! Today we hear from Swami Jyotihananda discuss her time with a great woman – Swami Radha. We have been considering this idea for sometime now but

This spring, my wife Molly and I are moving back to the Ashram. It’s been a long timecoming and I feel like I am holding my breath waiting. We plan to go for a year but for me, it’s less