First, we must send out a huge welcome to our wonderful Class of 2007 Teachers' Training Course participants! This year's record number of attendees (27) has put a lot of energy and enthusiasm into the course, and has also necessitated a new approach from the teaching angle in order to keep an individual focus for each student. The group was greeted with a welcome reception at Ananda Yoga Resort the evening before the course began. The party included refreshments and h'ors doeuvres, spiritual games, an opportunity for everyone to meet each other and all the teachers, and a special appearance by Swami Vivekananda. We wish them all the best!

We could here also make mention of one TTC participant, Mike Altman, who last week invited the whole school out for dinner to fete his own 70th birthday! It was a grand and delicious affair, hosted at the Ananda restaurant and attended by, it seemed, just about everyone (possibly even 70 people). Mike was lifted above the crowd in a chair and hoisted 70 times upward according to a Jewish tradition - he said afterward this would be the last time he publicly announced his birthday....

In news about the courses, Swami has already restarted his weekly discourses on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, continuing the series he began in 2006. In addition, he has consecrated teachings to the development of anahata several days per week (for students in the fourth month and above). The lecture course will take an approach resembling the training provided by NLP (neuro-linguistic programming), as we study models of the open heart as exemplified by saints, the fathers of the desert, the bhakti poets, etc. From this we will learn to incorporate behavioral patterns that lead us in the direction of truer personal expression and understanding of this essential heart energy. Simultaneously, we will work on dissolving the ego, practically - a common obstacle to spiritual progress. This season's study in anahata will include heart meditations and bhajan evenings on alternating Fridays, as well as a Saturday night film series devoted to movies with complementary themes. We will also spotlight these teachings practically in a special anahata/sahasrara retreat to be held in May, Exploring the Spiritual Heart.

We also now wish to announce the full program of spring workshops in Thailand. First, in February, Agama is very pleased to host international spiritual presenter Jasmuheen, possibly the world's most well known breatharian. She will be teaching two day-long seminars on maximizing the pranic life force. If you will be in Thailand 21-22 February, please join us for this extraordinary opportunity! Seminars will be held 9.00-13.00 and 15.00-18.00 at Bovy Resort, both days; fee is 40€ for one workshop or 70€ for both. Reservations recommended; contact lori@agamayoga.com.

Swami Vivekananda will then teach Tantra 1 2-6 April, as well as a new workshop, Yogic Chiropractic, 2-6 May. Syllabus details of this course will come within an announcement posted to the website during the upcoming week. Next he will again holdthe popular and often-requested Art of Dying Workshop (last held in Thailand during the 2005 season), 8-12 May. As mentioned, 14-18 May we will host the Exploring the Spiritual Heart Retreat, to be followed by Tantra 2, 21-25 May. Please plan to join us for these rare opportunities!

Mark your calendar for these events, and check back to our website for updates (www.agamayoga.com). We hope to see you here on the island this spring, or elsewhere around the world in 2007. Swami will be teaching more widely than ever before this year; stay tuned to the February newsletter for an announcement of his teaching tour dates and cities.

The 2006 tour photo gallery will also be up this week! Check out these colorful photos of Swami in the other Hemisphere....

Love and blessings,
Lori for Agama Yoga