The Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat Bahamas is a traditional yoga ashram on Paradise Island in the The Bahamas. Founded by Guru Swami Vishnudevananda Saraswati in January 1968 in the name of Indian sage Swami Sivananda Saraswati, the ashram follows a daily schedule designed to support spiritual practice based in yogic lifestyle. Run by Karma Yogis, the ashram serves as a vacation destination, learning center, as well as a permanent home to brahmacharyas, swamis, and other students of yoga. The ashram hosts nine 28-day Yoga Teacher Training Courses per year and three Advanced Yoga Teacher Training Courses per year. The retreat is open 365 days per year, offering Yoga Vacation Programs, Experiential Courses, and Professional Trainings to visitors. Guest presenters, teachers, and leaders visit from around the world to offer twice daily satsangs and workshops exploring spirituality and health, and promoting peace and wellbeing. Running for 50 years, the ashram serves as a destination for people seeking a spiritual environment to study and immerse in a yogic lifestyle.
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History
Swami Vishnudevananda traveled from his home country of India to the Western world in 1957 to spread the teachings of yoga. In 1962, after starting the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres headquartered in Canada, he was invited to teach yoga in Nassau Bahamas. He met Natalie Boswell, who pleaded he help her daughter recover from drug addiction. After success through yogic practices, Natalie rented her estate on Paradise Island to Swami Vishnudevananda in her gratitude, on a 99-year lease for him to begin a yoga ashram.
In 1969 after a life-changing vision while meditating at the main altar in the Bahamas ashram, Swami Vishnudevananda created the first Yoga Teacher Training Course in the West. Today the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta organization has certified more than 43,000 yoga teachers worldwide.
Throughout the ashram's history, its five-acre property has grown to include three temples, six yoga platforms, gardens, meditation rooms, guest accommodations, and other facilities. Since its inception, the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat Bahamas has been a nonprofit organization managed by devotees of the Sivananda Yoga lineage.
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Activities
Schedule
The ashram runs on a daily schedule that includes daily meditation, chanting, pranayama, lectures, yoga classes, and relaxation. Once or twice daily workshops are also included in the daily schedule depending on the season. The core of the daily schedule is as follows:
Vedanta Philosophy
Advaita Vedanta, the non-dual system of thought described in the Upanishads, explores the philosophical teachings of the Vedas. Lectures and spiritual study of these teachings are offered at the ashram and serve to deepen the understanding of the spiritual teachings of yoga philosophy.
Yoga Teacher Training Courses
The Sivananda Yoga Teacher Training Course is one of the cornerstones of the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres. More than 43,000 students have graduated since its inception.
The Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat hosts nine Teacher Training Courses every year between November and July. Yoga Teacher Training Courses and Advanced Yoga Teacher Training Courses take place for 28-days each, designed around the Gurukula system's emphasis on residential, spiritual immersion. Everything is provided for the students, including lodging, meals, clothing, and course materials, so they may fully concentrate on learning and steady spiritual progression. The main textbooks of the courses are the Completed Illustrated Book of Yoga by Swami Vishnudevananda, The Bhagavad Gita with Commentary by Swami Sivananda, and Meditation and Mantras by Swami Vishnudevananda.
Graduates of the Yoga Teacher Training Course receive an internationally-recognized certification as certified by the worldwide Yoga Alliance for the 200-hour standard for Registered Yoga Schools (RYS). Graduates of the Advanced Yoga Teacher Training Course receive the corresponding certification for the 500-hour standard for Registered Yoga Schools (RYS).
Symposiums and Workshops
In accordance with its foundational philosophy "Unity in Diversity," the ashram holds multiple symposiums every year with invited presenters, experts, and leaders from diverse faiths, cultures, and sciences. All ashram guests are encouraged to participate and learn the unifying principles behind all major traditions. Past topics have included meditation, neuroscience, sacred holidays, healing, Kirtan, and Ayurveda. These symposiums are accompanied by daily workshops that offer practical approaches in relation to the topics, held in smaller group settings.
Satsang
Twice daily, at sunrise and sunset, all ashram residents and guests come together as community for satsang. The satsang schedule includes meditation, chanting, daily prayers, and spiritual learning in the forms of presentation, lecture, or performance. Once or twice weekly, satsang takes form as a silent beach walk with chanting and a short lecture in front of the ocean. Satsang attendees follow a modest dress code with shoulders and knees covered.
Puja
Pujas are held daily at the ashram and are optional for guests. More elaborate pujas are also performed to commemorate special occasions, such as course inaugurations, graduations, holidays, or remembrances. Each puja is performed to honor a specific divine purpose, energy or deity, and are conducted by the ashram's resident priest or a senior staff member. During a puja, there is meditation, mantra repetition, offerings, and prasad.
Hatha Yoga Classes
Twice daily at 8am and 4pm, yoga classes are offered to staff, guests, and visitors of the ashram. Often two classes are offered simultaneously, one for beginners new to the Sivananda practice, and one for intermediate yoga practitioners. Classes are normally conducted on outdoor platforms that have a roof and open walls . Classes are taught by senior staff members and graduates of the Sivananda Yoga Teacher Training Course. Each class includes breathing exercises, warm-ups, 12 main asanas, and guided relaxation.
Diet
Buffet-style lacto-vegetarian meals are served at the ashram twice daily at 10am and 6pm, homemade by ashram staff and prepared with care for yogic dietary principles.
Both brunch and dinner offer an array of vegetarian meal options including vegetable-based dishes, hearty soups, salads, grains, and bean dishes. Brunch also includes fruit, homemade granola, and yogurt. Raw ingredients to make salad are offered at both meals, as well as the ashram's home-baked bread and herbal teas. Non-vegetarian food, alcohol, drugs, and tobacco are strictly forbidden on ashram grounds.
Facilities
Temples
There are three temples at the ashram: Main Temple, Bala Krishna Temple, and Vana Durga Temple. Each plays an important role in ashram life and all are invited to attend, observe, and participate in daily pujas.
Main Temple
The Main Temple is the largest of the three temples and has been continuously improved over the decades since the ashram was founded. While temple floor was first made of rocks and only smoothed out in the main area, it over time was cemented and finally finished with white tiles. Notably, besides depictions and statues of Swami Sivananda, Swami Vishnudevananda, and Hindu deities, images of leaders of other religions like Guru Nanak (Sikhism), Mother Mary and Jesus (Christianity) also adorn the walls. The depictions of diverse spiritual leaders pays homage to the ashram's celebrated "Unity in Diversity" principle, citing many approaches to describe one God.
Bala Krishna Temple
The Bala Krishna Temple is accessible from the main temple and is devoted to Lord Krishna. Besides other ceremonies, Gita Parayana takes place daily at the Bala Krishna Temple. All are invited to attend this optional collective chanting of the Bhagavad Gita followed by a short study, offered every evening.
Vana Durga Temple
The Vana Durga Temple is located within a lush tropical forest area in the ashram. The nature area surrounding the temple is preserved and untouched by visitors and staff since the ashram's inception. "Vana" means forest in Sanskrit, and Durga is the name of the protective, divine Shakti in Eastern spiritual traditions. The Vana Durga Temple hosts daily pujas at the ashram, often for inaugurations and graduations of courses offered at the ashram.
Boat Dock
The ashram is accessible by its boats that travel between the ashram dock and a dock on the Nassau side of the bay. The boat ride takes five minutes and the ashram provides transportation service to and from Nassau on a near-hourly basis during each day.
Well-Being Center
The Well-Being Center is open December through May and offers a variety of healing modalities and bodywork for guests and staff. Due to the popular nature of massage and healing bodywork bookings, guests often book treatments in advance, prior to their stay. Treatments include Ayurvedic treatments and consultations, Shirodhara, various types of massage, and other healing modalities.
Meditation Rooms
The ashram has multiple meditation rooms. Besides being used for the purpose of a quiet space for silent meditation, these rooms also host many of the daily, small-group workshops offered at the ashram.
Swami Vishnudevananda's House
The house where Swami Vishnudevananda lived has been kept in-tact from when he resided there. It is now used for a variety of purposes, such as hosting renowned swamis who come to stay at the ashram and for holding sacred ceremonies.
Platforms
There are six platforms in the ashram that are used for purposes such as holding satsangs, asana classes, lectures, meetings between students and teachers, and symposiums. Out of the six, four platforms overlook the water. While the Vishnu Platform, Bay Platform and Bay West Platform face the Bay towards Nassau, the Beach Platform faces the ocean. The Garden West Platform is located in the interior of the ashram. The Garden Platform is the largest platform and is often used as a satsang hall and as the main location for the Yoga Teacher Training Course classes.
Notable Guest Speakers
- Deepak Chopra
- Krishna Das
- Snatam Kaur
- G.S. Sachdev
- Tao Porchon Lynch
- Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo
- Lama Surya Das
- Radhanath Swami
- Richard Miller
- Sally Kempton
- Joan Borysenko
- Robert Thurman
- Amit Goswami
- Amy Weintraub
- John Perkins
- Raymond Moody
- Eben Alexander
- Dan Millman
- Jai Uttal
References
Source of article : Wikipedia
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