Dear Blessed Friends and Family,

Season’s Greetings from the Sivananda Yoga Farm! Your love and support through the years have sincerely helped to change the world. From our humble beginnings to our recent expansion in Asia your dedication and commitment have made this possible. The Yoga Farm continues in the tradition of 52 years to be a volunteer-based, spiritual organization of 501(c)(3) non-profit status.

Here is a glimpse of what your continued devotion and donations accomplished in 2023 and what your faith and financial support will help us unfold in 2024.

2023 Accomplishments

• Building of a new temple shrine for Dhanwanthari, the God of Medicine, on the 20 acres lavender field property to pray for health and healing of the world.
• Continued growth in training yoga teachers, training 50 new yoga teachers in 2023
• Continued the new 2-year, 800-hour Sivananda Yoga Health Educator Training
• Provided 4000 guests with yoga and meditation retreats, with an organic vegetarian diet, workshops, satsangs, and time in pristine nature
• Support the re-opening of the Yoga Ranch in Woodbourne NY be sending 8 staff and running programs there for 2 months.
• Development of a new course on Yoga Sadhana for Self Healing to go along with Swami Sitaramananda’s new book coming out soon on “Sadhana for Self Healing.”
• Swami Sitaramananda published two new books called “Learning Selfless Love – 4 Truths and 7 Practices” and “108 Health Tips”
• Hosted 4 symposiums, with the best in the field uplifting the collective knowledge.
• Cared for hundreds of spiritual aspirants in the tradition of the Gurukula system.
• Weekly online Satsangs with Swami Sitaramananda as well as release of her talks on Podcast networks around the world – https://sivanandayogafarm.org/podcast/
• Online Courses on Sadhana for Self Healing, Vedanta, and Bhagavad Gita
• Continued development of permaculture, lavender, orchard, and garden projects
• Continued care of animals, llamas, alpacas, and goats
• Continued support of the Yoga Resort & Training Center in Dalat, Vietnam, training 180 yoga teachers yearly
• Reopening of the Tokyo, Japan Center in a new building

From California to Vietnam we have been extremely honored to be spreading the wisdom and knowledge of yoga worldwide. The focus of this year is inspiring people to take their physical, mental, and spiritual health to another level to face the physical, mental, and spiritual demands of our challenging world. Time-tested yoga techniques are extremely effective in restoring health and stamina, facing stresses and strains, and bringing hope and much-needed perspective. We hold the space for all in the vision of a world of peace, health, unity, and balance, a world with abundant blessings. Please support the ongoing mission of this nonprofit grassroots yoga organization commencing its 52 years of existence and service. Your generous donation will help the building of the Wellbeing Center in the ashram.

As we continue the groundbreaking, powerful, and unique 800 hours Sivananda Yoga Health Educator Training program which certifies yoga teachers to become health educators. We believe through this path we will successfully complement the current healthcare system and further popularize the multiple physical, mental, and spiritual benefits of classical yoga.

With growth and expansion comes a need to improve the infrastructure of our beloved Ashram here in Grass Valley, California, headquarters of the West Coast. Six years ago the Ashram suffered a fire decimating our key facility. We lost our central bathrooms, sauna, changing rooms, laundry room, lockers, and storage. Heaven had its way. Oddly, this was the last original building standing that had not been renovated or reconstructed by our director Swami Sita who has been a faithful servant of the Ashram since 1995. While we have recovered some funds from insurance it is merely half of what we need to build facilities to match the needs of the Ashram today.

Building on our momentum we are striving to achieve much, much more. This year’s fundraising goal of $250,000 is quite ambitious, matching our pointed and purposeful goals. With a larger scope of vision comes a greater need to expand our facilities. Here is what we need for 2024.

2024 Infrastructure Initiatives

• Build a new Well-being center including new Ayurvedic Treatment rooms, a Sauna, a new laundry facility, and Changing Rooms (see construction plans below)
• Improve Landscapes, Roads, and Gardens
• Improve our Permaculture gardens, orchards, lavender field and greenhouses
• Renovate Om cabins and improve accommodations.

2024 Spiritual Initiatives

• Continue Sivananda health clinic offering physical, mental, spiritual, and psychological counseling.
• Begin the 4th class of students for Health Educators in January 2024
• Further development of Ayurveda, Detox, and Pancha Karma programs
• Continue dedicated service to guest programs: TTC, Health & Healing Retreats, Stress Relief, Family and Personal Retreats, Weekly Workshops
• Continue to welcome guests for Sacred Ashram Tours and offer temple services with our priest, Pundit Bhima
• International Outreach

When the Yoga Farm’s director Swami Sitaramananda graduated from the Sivananda teachers training course in August 1982 she was awarded diploma #191. Swami Sita continues to teach today. In 2023 she educated and inspired over 200 students, traveling between the USA, and Vietnam. Just like her Guru, Swami Vishnudevananda did. To date the Sivananda organization has graduated over 52,000 students worldwide. This is a miracle. We are living the vision Swami Vishnudevananda had for peace in our time.

Here is a testimonial from a recent TTC graduate:
“For the majority of my life before I came to the Ashram, I never claimed to believe in God. Mostly because I did not want the responsibility of religious association. Through the philosophy and meditation practice taught here, I have begun to understand that God is real. I have realized that my faith in God does not have to be practiced through a religion, rather my faith in God can be a committed devotion that seeks to know and express the divinity within.”

During the TTC courses Swami Sita shares many inspiring stories from her colorful history of a life of Sadhana which began 42 years ago in Val Morin, Canada. This year she had a dream that brought her much joy and fortified the great strength needed to run this now expansive organization.

We would like to share an excerpt of the dream from Swami Sita’s journal:
“People spontaneously were chanting, telling stories, daring to meet each other from the heart and to share with each other. They were unafraid. There was an energy difficult to describe, a sort of wave of loving energy touching everyone. People were creating temples out of their homes. My own mother was chanting. It was a big revolution. A big dance, a big awakening. It was happening at a grassroots level. The God element manifested itself differently for each person. Some were for the first time able to listen to others, some wrote poetry, some were able to communicate their visions, some danced, some sang. The whole town, the whole world was a temple. It was real. God was everywhere. People awoke to their potential, to their creativity. The temple is in the home, where people sang spontaneously.”

Imagine with us, a world where every home is a temple, a world that is full of joy and peace. Help us reach our goal of $250,000 over the next 6 months to continue the realization of the Guru’s vision. A vote for Swami Sita is a vote for world peace! Sri Swami Sita now tirelessly oversees centers in, Ho Chi Minh, Dalat, Hanoi, Dalat ashram, Tokyo, Los Angeles, and Grass Valley. With infinite gratitude, we thank you for all of your continued support throughout the past 52 years.

We sincerely appreciate your consideration of us in your end-of-year plans for charitable donations. To donate now, please fill out the donation card or go to our website at www.yogafarm.org/donation, or scan the QR code below The Sivananda Yoga Farm is a 501c3 certified charity, all of our staff serve on a volunteer basis with not one person taking a salary. We are here simply to serve, and your donations directly support these projects. We will provide a receipt for any donation.

We send our prayers for you to God to bless you and your family with health, peace of mind, and happiness. May all that your soul wishes come true, and may you know the supreme peace which is found to be inside yoga. We are looking forward to seeing you at Satsang real soon!

Om Shanti, Om Peace,
Swami Sitaramananda, and all the dedicated Swamis and Staff