A New Year’s Message from Shankar
The new year is a time of promise, optimism and hope. It is also a time when individuals resolve to change their lives for the better, perhaps in the area of exercise, eating habits or spiritual practice. We too are in the process of change at the Centre.
A Virtual Makeover
Some of you may already have seen our new website, launched auspiciously during the recent lunar eclipse on the winter solstice. While the look and feel are not too different (we liked what we had), the website has been completely rebuilt with the bulk of the changes behind the scenes. One important outcome is that a person with minimal web skills can now edit text with ease and also add pictures, slide shows and videos. We have been very busy checking and editing all the text, and this has given us a chance to update and rewrite considerable portions of the website. Also many other processes have been streamlined. YTT and KYSS applications can now be submitted online, and within a month or so we will be able to take registration and other payments online, which will make registration easier for guests and save a considerable amount of office time. With a project such as this there are usually some things that have been overlooked (though so far all seems well), so we would appreciate hearing about errors, needed edits, ease of use and anything else you’d like to tell us (emails to shankar@saltspringcentre.com).
Changes to Karma Yoga Program
Other changes involve the Karma Yoga Service & Study program (KYSS). 2010 saw more KYs than ever before and eleven KYSS sessions. While this made for a large and joyful community experience, it proved difficult to manage (an understatement, the kitchen staff might say!). Our experiment this year is to have only three KYSS terms which will greatly reduce administration (especially scheduling), work orientation and training.
New Programs
Despite this we will be expanding our program offerings and rentals while retaining the programs for which we are well-known: the Yoga Getaways and Yoga Teacher Training. A new spring break offering March 14-18, 2011 is Yoga in Your School, a wonderfully innovative approach to show school teachers how to introduce yoga into the classroom as an effective aid not just to children’s health and well-being, but also to enhance learning and the classroom dynamic. On April 1-3, 2011 we are pleased to host a new rental program, Loving Your Life – a Weekend in The Work of Byron Katie, a powerful retreat of transformation through simple self-inquiry presented by Caitlin Frost and Kim Howden. If you are suffering, stressed or just feel stuck, this is an opportunity to bring more joy into your life. In addition to these new offerings, we are bringing back two popular programs, Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training (enroll soon, this one is filling fast!), and the multifaceted Ayurveda Lifestyle Workshop. And this only takes us up to the month of May!
The renovations of the program building mentioned in the December Newsletter are well under way, and we are hopeful that we will soon have new floors for all the guest rooms and, with luck, a whole new dish washing room. We look ahead to a fruitful season in which we can bring into the Centre family many new program guests and karma yogis, and of course welcome back old friends, many of whom who have helped shape the Centre into the place of peace, joy and learning that it has become.
Happy New Year!
Shankar
Director, Salt Spring Centre of Yoga