Special Programs

2012 DATES
(click on dates or scroll down to view programs)

February 11, 2012

Living the Five Points of Swami Vishnu
with Srinivasan

February 20, 2012

Sivaratri at the Yoga Ranch

February 17-19, 2012

Qi Gong
with Master Ou

March 10, 2012

Yamas and Niyamas
with Srinivasan

March 31, 2012

Managing Emotions Through Yoga and Meditation
with Swami Narayanananda

April 21, 2012

Ecology, Spirituality and Dharma
with Srinivasan

April 28, 2012

Yantra Painting
with Mavis Gewant

May 17/24, 2012

Time Management as Spiritual Practice (2 sessions course)
with Thom Bond

May 25-27, 2012

NVC Discovery Weekend (Marshall Rosenberg's Compassionate Communication)
with Thom Bond

June 15-17, 2012

Qi Gong
with Master Ou

July 14, 2012

Mahasamadhi of Swami Sivananda

 



FEBRUARY 2012
Srinivasan

FEBRUARY 11 & 12, 2012
SATURDAY WORKSHOP and SATSANG with SRINIVASAN
Living the Five Points of Swami Vishnu

SATURDAY WORKSHOP
12:15 - 2:00pm
$15 members, $18 non-members
The Proper Exercise, Breathing, Relaxation, Diet and Positive Thinking and Meditation …. these are the practical tools for living a healthy lifestyle and developing the deep understanding and the realization of the source of all life as Pure Consciousness or the Divine.   

SUNDAY SATSANG
This program begins at 6:15 and is a Free Program; all are welcome to attend. Satsang includes silent meditation, kirtan (chanting books provided) and talk on Yoga philosophy; please plan to stay for the entire program.

ABOUT SRINIVASAN

Srinivasan was born in California in 1952. Awakened to his spiritual commitment amidst the brutality of the Vietnam War, Srinivasan studied at UC Berkeley looking for some social or political answer to human suffering and cruelty. Frustrated by all attempts at finding a material solution, he left for Quebec in 1977 to find his guru and yoga master in Swami Vishnudevananda at the Sivananda headquarters in Val-Morin. Swami Vishnudevananda was a living example that the greatest offering to world peace and brotherhood was a total commitment to service and meditation. Srinivasan was initiated into the Sannyasa order in 1979 by his guru, and he served under the close guidance of Swami Vishnudevananda at the Sivananda headquarters in Val Morin for over ten years. Srinivasan was the director of the Val-Morin ashram from 1992 - 1994. He also directed the Paris Centre from 1980 - 1983 and the Los Angeles Centre from 1983 -1986. Since 1994, Srinivasan has served as the Acharya for the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Ranch, the New York and Chicago Centres, and the affiliated Sivananda centres of the eastern region of the USA.

Srinivasan and his wife served together as householder disciples in the Sivananda Organization for 21 years while raising their daughter. Swami Vishnu blessed the marriage with the instructions to "live like Rishis"; and the Guru's last instructions to Srinivasan were to "be a good father" not only to his daughter and wife, but to the whole world." This great blessing has helped Srinivasan to hold a profound respect for the sacred monastic order of Sannyasa, as well as to understand the spiritual importance of the Grihastha, or the householder stage of life.

Srinivasan has dedicated his life to the path of Inner Peace and Unity in Diversity as taught and lived by Swami Sivananda and Swami Vishnudevananda. With this vision, he heads a community of Yoga practitioners at the New York Sivananda Ashram Yoga Ranch; he acts as the American editor of the Yoga Life magazine; he is now studying world religions in the All-Faith Seminary with the great Interfaith Rabbi Joseph Gelberman; and like all the Sivananda Acharyas, he trains Yoga teachers and tours extensively propagating the teachings of Yoga."

Click here to view the website for the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Ranch



Master Ou, Qi Gong Healing and Practice

FEBRUARY 17-19
QI GONG with MASTER OU
"Utilize Pan Gu Shengong to Achieve Good Health

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17th
Private Healings - Please Call Lorna for details (917.362.6662)
2:30 - 6:30pm ($60)

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 18th

Private Healings - Please Call Lorna for details (917.362.6662)
10:00 - 12:15pm ($60)

FREE LECTURE: The Relationship Between the Soul and the Physical Body
2:00 - 3:00pm

FREE LECTURE: Introduction to Pangu Shengong, and the standards of good health.
3:15 - 4:15pm

LEARN THE MOVING FORMOF PAN GU SHENGONG (PGSG)
4:30 - 5:30pm ($100)

Learn the basic principal and the correct techniques of PGSG. Learn how to open the heart, master your emotions, and live a serene and healthy life.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 19th
PANGU SHENGONG 2nd LEVEL - NON MOVEMENT FORM - $120
(Pre-requisite PGSG Level 1)
11:00 - 12:30pm

PANGU SHENGONG HEALING TECHNIQUE WORKSHOP - $175
(Pre-requisite PGSG Level 1)
2:15 - 3:30pm

GUIDED IMAGERY (a follow-up lecture to the Second Level) - $60
(During this course, Master Ou will enhance our energy to open our third eyes, many amazing experiences have resulted fro this attunement.)
3:45 - 4:45pm

PANGU SHENGONG 3rd LEVEL - CONDENSED FORM - $150
5:00 - 6:15pm

At the end of each level you will be issued a membership card and Master Ou's name card, which carries energy and is only issued to PGSG practitioners.

Master Ou is the originator of Pan Gu Shengong, and currently serves as the President of PGSG Inernational Research Institute. He travels throughout the world teaching and lecturing, has written several books, and recorded many CD's.

Please see his website for more: www.pangu.org



Yoga Ranch Siva Temple

FEBRUARY 20, 2012
SIVARATRI AT THE YOGA RANCH

DETAILS OF THE CELEBRATION
Join us on this special occasion for all night workshop of Lord Siva, the aspect of the Divine which destroys the old and negative to make way for new creation. We will celebrate with pujas and Akhanda Kirtan (continuous chanting) of “Om Namah Sivaya” and end with a feast at 6am.

ABOUT SIVARATRI
Sivaratri the night of Siva” falls on the 13th or 14th day of the dark half of Phalgun (February- March). The ceremonies take place chiefly at night. This is a festival observed in honour of Lord Siva. Siva was married to Parvati on this day. People observe a strict fast on this day. They keep vigil all night. The Siva Lingam is worshipped throughout the night by washing it every three hours with milk, curd, honey, rose water, etc. whilst the chanting of the mantra Om Namah Sivaya, continues.

Visit the Yoga Ranch Website: www.sivananda.org/yogaranch



MARCH 2012
Srinivasan

MARCH 10 & 11, 2012
SATURDAY WORKSHOP and SATSANG with SRINIVASAN
YAMAS AND NIYAMAS

SATURDAY WORKSHOP
12:15 - 2:00pm
$15 members, $18 non-members
The tenets of Raja Yoga, the yamas and niyamas show us the way how to build the harmonious relationship with oneself and others.  The only way to peace is to find peace within us first. 

SUNDAY SATSANG
This program begins at 6:15 and is a Free Program; all are welcome to attend. Satsang includes silent meditation, kirtan (chanting books provided) and talk on Yoga philosophy; please plan to stay for the entire program.

ABOUT SRINIVASAN

Please see above Feb 11 Program (Living the Five Points of Swami Vishnu).

Click here to view the website for the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Ranch




Swami Narayanananda

MARCH 31, 2012
SATURDAY WORKSHOP with SWAMI NARAYANANANDA
MANAGING EMOTIONS THROUGH YOGA AND MEDITATION

ABOUT THE WORKSHOP
Most of us are familiar with the trials of living a life that is too much governed by emotional responses. The teachings of Yoga an alternative to being at the mercy of our emotional ups and downs, along with practical techniques to help us work towards achieving a consistently happy, more peaceful state of mind.

ABOUT SWAMIJI
Swami Narayananda is the inspirational director of the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center in Chicago.

Click here to view the SYVC Chicago Website





APRIL 2012
Srinivasan

APRIL 21 & 22, 2012
SATURDAY WORKSHOP and SATSANG with SRINIVASAN
ECOLOGY, SPIRITUALITY and DHARMA

SATURDAY WORKSHOP
12:15 - 2:00pm
$15 members, $18 non-members

Our lives are intimately connected with our environment.  Yoga offers a new vision and a way of helping us recognize our connection with larger life.
Learn about yoga and sustainability, dharmic relationships, and the yamas and niyamas of consumption.

SUNDAY SATSANG
This program begins at 6:15 and is a Free Program; all are welcome to attend. Satsang includes silent meditation, kirtan (chanting books provided) and talk on Yoga philosophy; please plan to stay for the entire program.

ABOUT SRINIVASAN

Please see above Feb 11 Program (Living the Five Points of Swami Vishnu).

Click here to view the website for the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Ranch




yantra painting with Mavis Gewant

APRIL 29, 2012
Yantra Painting with Mavis Gewant
11:00am - 5:00pm

ABOUT YANTRAS
Yantras are geometric images that utilize specific colors and forms that when meditated upon instill calmness in the mind. Learn how to construct and paint a yantra.

ABOUT MAVIS
The sacred art taught by Mavis Gewant cultivates inner silence and attunes one with the energy and essence of the divine aspect that is being evoked.
Mavis Gewant learned the ancient techniques of yantra and silk deity painting from tantric master Dada Shri Harish Johari.

Please see her website for more information: www.sacredmotherarts.com





MAY 2012
NVC Trainer Thom Bond

MAY 17 & 24, 2012 (2 Session Course)
TIME MANAGEMENT AS SPIRITUAL PRACTICE
with THOM BOND

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

2 Thursdays, 6:00pm - 9:00pm
TUITION: $125 (includes both days)


ABOUT THE COURSE

Are you stressed or frustrated about time? Are you overwhelmed by constant urgencies? Don’t have enough time to do what you want or find that important tasks slip through the cracks? Would you like to experience more motivation, direction and purpose?

Almost all time management systems fail because they never address the basic concepts and principles to create an effective and lasting relationship to time as it relates to our lives. This course is designed to impart a new perspective and understanding of time and time management. Based on spiritual concepts and processes, participants will learn to organize their lives in a way that is productive and rewarding and addresses time management from a revolutionary and highly effective perspective.

OUTCOMES

  • Double, Even Triple Your Productivity
  • Have a Greater Sense of Meaning and Purpose
  • Reclaim Control of Your Life
  • Manage Details
  • Never Lose Important Information Again
  • Break Old Habits and Create New Ones
  • Become Your Own 24/7 Life Coach
  • Connect Your Actions to Your Deepest Desires and Values
  • Create a "Airtight" Time Management System
  • Increase Your Sense of Satisfaction With Your Life
  • Reduce Stress

ABOUT THOM BOND - CNVC Trainer 
Thom brings 27 years of human potential experience, and training experience to his work as an Internationally Certified NVC Trainer.  His passion and knowledge of Nonviolent Communication (NVC) combine to create a practical, understandable, humorous, and potentially profound, approach for learning and integrating the skills of peacemaking. He is described as concise, inspiring, sincere and optimistic, applying transformational and spiritual ideas and sensibilities to real-life situations.  Many of his students become active facilitators, trainers and practitioners.
As a writer, teacher, speaker and coach, Thom has taught tens of thousands of clients, participants, readers and listeners Nonviolent Communication. He has been published or featured in The New York Times, New York Magazine, Yoga Magazine, and is a regular guest on radio and television.  

Thom has a private practice as a trainer, speaker, mediator, and coach.  He works with individuals, couples, families, businesses, schools and other local organizations.  

Thom is a founder and the Executive Director of The New York Center for Nonviolent Communication, a member of the Communications Coordination Committee for the United Nations and a member of the CNVC Educational Services team. 

See: New York Center for Nonviolent Communication




Nonviolent Communication, a Language of Life by Dr. Marshall Rosenberg

MAY 25-27, 2012
NVC DISCOVERY WEEKEND with THOM BOND
(Compassionate Communication - Dr. Marshall Rosenberg's NVC Method)


CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Friday 7pm - 9:15pm
Saturday 9:30am - 4:30pm

Sunday 9:30am - 4:30pm
TUITION: $260 (includes all three days)


ABOUT THE DISCOVERY WEEKEND
1 Evening, 2-day introductory level with concentrated experience and learning. Get a deeper understanding and experience of  the new generation of peacemaking skills known as "NVC" (Nonviolent Communication).

The NVC Discovery Weekend takes us from the very beginning concepts to a deeper understanding of the purpose, meaning and implications NVC has in our lives and in the world. We will practice responding and communicating consciously, by expressing and hearing based on what we are observing, feeling, needing, and requesting. By learning these concepts, in combination with experiential exercises, demonstrations, role-plays and more, participants get first hand experience and develop skills to bring back into their lives.

This non-residential training is for anyone who has some familiarity with NVC and wants a comprehensive Introductory training on a professional level. The Discovery Weekend provides movement and intensity in establishing a clear understanding and experience of NVC. (Note: Graduates of the Discovery Weekend are eligible to participate in the 4-Day residential Compassion Course Empathy Intensive and other NYCNVC Special Trainings. See: www.nvctraining.org)

OUTCOMES

  • Spend more time in connection with people (& yourself)
  • Experience less painful and shorter conflicts
  • Move from conflict to mutual strategies
  • Have more awareness of your needs, wants and desires
  • Have your needs expressed and understood
  • Increase congruence between your values and actions
  • Translate judgments into dialogues & requests
  • Increase harmony and understanding among others
  • Translate "bad behavior" into constructive strategies
  • Stay more centered, open and effective in conflicts
  • Have more fun, joy and pleasure

TOPICS

  • Observation and Evaluation
  • Feelings and Thoughts
  • Needs and Strategies
  • Hearing No
  • Saying No
  • Requests and Demands
  • Empathy
  • Self Empathy
  • Difficult Conversations
  • What is NVC Consciousness?

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
"Dear Thom, I appreciate your sharing your life and your challenges so openly. It felt as if I was sitting down and having good heart-to-heart talk with a friend. NVC has been a great gift to me. It has changed my life radically, I'm still amazed. Relationships that were stuck in old patterns have become fluid, caring and loving. Perhaps, at sixty-six, to find a new love with my husband, a warmth and closeness with my children, it all seems like a miracle."
--Online Compassion Course Participant, CA

"Dear Thom, In the evaluations we collected from our staffers, hands down the session that garnered the most rave reviews was yours. People saying things like life changing, revolutionary, hilarious... One woman said she was so moved that she wants to dive into NVC like for a living, as a career... Please accept our hugest THANK YOU for the alchemy you've catalyzed in our staff." 
--Vivian Lehrer Stadlin, Cofounder of Eden Village Camp, Putnam Valley, NY

"Thom once explained that 'to make big changes in our lives we need big clarity'. By participating in NYCNVC trainings, I have gotten clear on what it is that I want, and why...What it is that I believe, and why. With this clarity I now act with more assurance, and have more definition, purpose, and love in my life."
--Kumari, Newburgh

"Thom normalizes NVC. He shows it's possible to do in everyday life." 
-- Mike, Westchester, NY

"Working with Thom has changed my life. Really."
-- Nellie, Canton, NY

ABOUT THOM BOND - CNVC Trainer 
Please see program above 'Time Management As Spiritual Practice'

See: New York Center for Nonviolent Communication
See: The Center for Nonviolent Communication (Dr. Marshall Rosenberg's Site)




JUNE 2012
Master Ou, Qi Gong Healing and Practice

JUNE 15-17, 2012
QI GONG with MASTER OU
"Utilize Pan Gu Shengong to Achieve Good Health

FRIDAY, JUNE 15th
Private Healings - Please Call Lorna for details (917.362.6662)
2:30 - 6:30pm ($60)

SATURDAY, JUNE 16th

Private Healings - Please Call Lorna for details (917.362.6662)
10:00 - 12:15pm ($60)

FREE LECTURE: The Relationship Between the Soul and the Physical Body
2:00 - 3:00pm

FREE LECTURE: Introduction to Pangu Shengong, and the standards of good health.
3:15 - 4:15pm

LEARN THE MOVING FORMOF PAN GU SHENGONG (PGSG)
4:30 - 5:30pm ($100)

Learn the basic principal and the correct techniques of PGSG. Learn how to open the heart, master your emotions, and live a serene and healthy life.

SUNDAY, JUNE 17th
PANGU SHENGONG 2nd LEVEL - NON MOVEMENT FORM - $120
(Pre-requisite PGSG Level 1)
11:00 - 12:30pm

PANGU SHENGONG HEALING TECHNIQUE WORKSHOP - $175
(Pre-requisite PGSG Level 1)
2:15 - 3:30pm

GUIDED IMAGERY (a follow-up lecture to the Second Level) - $60
(During this course, Master Ou will enhance our energy to open our third eyes, many amazing experiences have resulted fro this attunement.)
3:45 - 4:45pm

PANGU SHENGONG 3rd LEVEL - CONDENSED FORM - $150
5:00 - 6:15pm

At the end of each level you will be issued a membership card and Master Ou's name card, which carries energy and is only issued to PGSG practitioners.

Master Ou is the originator of Pan Gu Shengong, and currently serves as the President of PGSG Inernational Research Institute. He travels throughout the world teaching and lecturing, has written several books, and recorded many CD's.

Please see his website for more: www.pangu.org



JULY 2012
Swami Sivananda

JULY 14th - SATURDAY
CELEBRATION OF SWAMI SIVANANDA'S MAHASAMADHI

Program to be announced...

ABOUT SWAMI SIVANANDA'S MAHASAMADHI
On the 14th of July 1963, the Great Soul Swami Sivananda entered Mahasamadhi (departure of a Self-realized saint from his mortal coil) in his Kutir on the bank of Ganga, in Shivanandanagar.

ABOUT SWAMI SIVANANDA
Swami Sivananda dressed to clothe himself, ate to live, and lived to serve humanity. A small dilapidated Kutir (hut), not resorted to by others and infested with scorpions, protected him from rain and sun. Living in that Kutir, he did intense Tapas (austerities), observed silence, and fasted. Often he fasted for days on end. He would keep a good stock of bread in his room, and for a week have this, together with Ganges water. He would stand up to the hips in the ice-cold Ganges in winter mornings and commence his Japa, coming out only when the sun appeared. He would spend more than twelve hours in daily meditation. With all his intense Tapas, Swamiji did not neglect service of the sick. He visited the huts of the Sadhus with medicines, served them, and shampooed their legs. He begged food on their behalf and fed them with his own hands when they fell sick. He brought water from the Ganges and washed their Kutirs. He attended upon cholera and small-pox cases. If necessary, he kept vigil through the night by the side of the bed of the ailing Sadhu. He carried sick persons on his back to the hospital. With some money from his insurance policy that had matured, Swamiji started a charitable dispensary at Lakshmanjula in 1927. He served the pilgrims and saw Narayana in them.
Swamiji practiced all the various Yogas and studied the scriptures. After years of intense and unbroken Sadhana, he enjoyed the bliss of Nirvikalpa Samadhi. He had come to the end of his spiritual journey.

Click Here to Read more about Swami Sivananda