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As more of Sri Gurudev's students moved into
Integral Yoga Institutes® and experienced the benefits
of living together as a community, they expressed the desire to
create ashrams, where larger numbers of students could live and
work together in a healthy, rural environment, following yogic
guidelines. The first Satchidananda Ashram—Yogaville® opened in California in April
1972 and then a second opened in Connecticut a year later.
In time, the community needed more room than either Ashram could provide. In
1979 a new property, consisting of nearly 1000 acres, was purchased in central
Virginia on the James River. The Blue Ridge Mountains provided the perfect backdrop,
and the expansive property offered the ideal setting for the new Ashram, which
was called Satchidananda Ashram—Yogaville,
Virginia (SAYVA). Sri Gurudev founded Yogaville to provide an optimal environment
where people could come to study, and live according to, the principles of Integral
Yoga. Now, 25 years later, that Yoga village continues to grow, still nurtured
by Sri Gurudev's vibrant and enduring spirit.
Yogaville is a dynamic community where people of all ages and backgrounds can
come together in the name of Yoga. In addition to the more than 2,000 guests
and program participants who visit each year, 150 residents make Yogaville their
home. There is a monastery for the monastics, as well as dormitories for guests
and single residents.
With Yoga seminars and workshops running each weekend, along with certified Yoga
Teacher Training programs. A large residential Yoga community surrounds the Ashram.
Facilities in Yogaville include: a school, organic garden and orchard, auto repair
and other workshops, photo department, Shakticom (audio/video
production department), archives, Integral Yoga Publications, Integral Yoga Distribution,
graphic design department, Fine Arts Society, Lotus
Conference Center, affiliated credit union, and more. Three shrines at
Yogaville—the
Light Of Truth Universal Shine (LOTUS), Kailash,
and Chidambaram—are often referred to as the heart of Yogaville. But,
in truth, there is no particular structure that can hold that special honor.
The heart of Yogaville will always be the expansive teachings and presence
of Sri Gurudev.
For information on Yogaville programs, the Integral Yoga Teaching Academy,
guest stays, and day visits, please phone 1-800-858-YOGA or visit us online at www.yogaville.ORG.
Top | |
Sri Gurudev pointing out the site in Yogaville where LOTUS
will be built, 1982.
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Overview of Yogaville Quad. with (clockwise
from top) Sivananda Hall,
Vidya Bhavan (library), two dorms,
Guru Bhavan (meditation hall), and site where Integral Yoga
Academy has subsequently been built.
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Yogaville
is located on the
banks of the James
River in Buckingham County, Virginia, about an
hour’s drive south of Charlottesville. |
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