Keiko Lee-Hem’s Centre Story
2009 – A Big Change in my Life There’s something about stepping out of life’s routines that really stirs things up. It was at my first stint as a Karma Yogi at a retreat centre on Cortez Island when I…
Meet our Karma Yogis – Mark
I first came to the Centre in the mid 80s for a weekend yoga workshop. My friend and I left the program for an evening to see Valdy in Fulford. We got chastised for leaving, but it was worth it.…
Meet our Karma Yogis – Marianne
I applied for the Yoga Service and Study Immersion program last year knowing it would be good for me to be in community, to be around people who lived yoga. I had been working non-stop for a long time, spending most…
Meet our Karma Yogis: Christine
My background is in child protection social work, which I did for 4 years in Vancouver. An accumulation of physical and emotional suffering propelled me to take a break from the work and listen closer to my body and heart.…
Meet our Karma Yogis: Ryan
I first heard about the Centre about six or so years ago, initially from a fellow karma yogi at Yashodhara Ashram. I checked the Centre’s website frequently, but the timing never worked out. I was doing forest fire fighting, which…
Meet our Karma Yogis: Sherri
I am a seeker of new experiences, and community has been a big focal point in that search. My interest in farming and working with the land was what drew me here initially. In a sense I was a bit…
Meet our Karma Yogis: Sue Ann Leavy
Before I came to the Centre I was living in San Francisco, getting my Masters degree in Public Health, having previously gotten a teaching degree and spent time teaching kindergarten and fourth grade. I was working at a yoga studio,…
Meet our Karma Yogis: Ben Poulton
Physical sports injuries drew me to yoga because I had heard it could help with past injuries. In the fall of 2009 I started practicing with a teacher in Whistler, BC, who played the harmonium and opened her classes with…
Meet our Karma Yogis: Zoe Lee
Prior to coming to the centre I lived in Victoria where I received my Diploma in Indigenous Studies from Camosun College. This is the second time I’ve participated in the Karma Yoga Service & Study Program. One of the reasons…
Meet our Karma Yogis: Crystal DeShazo
I had just returned from an adventure in California, teaching yoga and soaking up the sun. In September I started driving up the coast to Canada to visit family, not knowing what I was going to do next. When I…