Happy New Year! Best wishes for happiness and divine inspiration!

We are all very happy to be here again on Koh Phangan. The island is coming alive with yogis! :-) The weather is beautiful, the rains have mostly vanished, daily panoramic sunsets bring the gift of Nature's splendor to our eyes, clear and sparkly night skies provide us with a celestial reminder of the infinite Universal magnitude....

We have our largest First Month Intensive Course in history this month. In fact, within two days of opening the course we began staffing a second, small Yoga hall at Ananda to split the group's practice into two areas, to give the students more room. We also greeted our newest Winter 2008 Teacher Training Course participants at a Welcome Reception last week. It looks to be a great group of students, and we are very excited about this course!

Agama Yoga is pleased also to announce the debut of a new retreat this month, Awakening the Crown Chakra, which will be held 18-27 January at the Green Hall, Bovy Resort. The retreat will be led by Agama founder Swami Vivekananda and Udi Maimon, an advanced yogi and Agama teacher, who now heads our Chiang Mai branch. The retreat will incorporate methods from Kashmir Shaivism, Taraka Yoga, Laya Yoga, Gurdjieff's methodology, Raja Yoga, and Tibetan Yoga. We will support these methods with Hatha and Kundalini Yoga and music meditation in a Tantric approach to the development of higher consciousness, awareness, purification of the mind, and spiritual awakening. Registration will be held 17 January at 15:00 at Green Hall, Bovy Resort. Contact info@agamayoga.com for details.

Claudiu Trandafir's Revelation of the Spiritual Heart Retreats will resume beginning 18 February (18-27 February, 18-27 March, 18-27 April, etc.). Registration will take place the day prior to each retreat, at 15:00 in the Green Hall.

We are also very pleased to announce our final retreat and workshop schedule for the first half of 2008! The following events will be held in upcoming months here on Koh Phangan:

18-27 January: Meditation retreat: Awakening the Crown Chakra, led by Swami Vivekananda and Udi Maimon.

18-27 February: Meditation retreat: Revelation of the Spiritual Heart, led by Claudiu Trandafir.

10-15 March: Mystical Belly Dance: Agama teacher Monika Vazirani returns to present a unique belly dance intensive incorporating Tantric and Yogic principles with a traditional and exceptional exploration of belly dancing. She presents this workshop around the globe annually, in locales stretching from the UK and Turkey to India and Thailand. Participants will choreograph and present a performance as the week-ending highlight.

18-27 March: Meditation retreat: Revelation of the Spiritual Heart, led by Claudiu Trandafir.

1-5 April: Tantra 1: Our introduction to essential Tantra studies and practice, focusing on fundamental principles and practical issues for the individual. No prerequisites.

18-27 April: Meditation retreat: Revelation of the Spiritual Heart, led by Claudiu Trandafir.

29 April-3 May: Tantra 2: Our classic second-level workshop, focusing more on couple-practice issues. Tantra 1 is not required to join this workshop; a special pre-session will brief participants on foundational issues covered in Tantra 1.

5-9 May: Ashtanga Workshop: Presenter Nucu Condrea, a longtime associate of Swami Vivekananda, will give this premiere fusion course, extracting the deeper essence of the dynamic and physically intense Ashtanga tradition, with applications from a strong Tantric understanding. Nucu is an Ashtanga master yogi, who has taught for more than a decade in Western Europe.

12-16 May: Tibetan Yoga: Swami Vivekananda leads this new workshop based in his studies, initiations, and living contact with lamas and gurus from the Kargyutpa tradition. For the first time in Agama's history Swami will present an introduction along with relevant practical initiations in the 10 main directions and rare traditions of Tibetan Yoga practice, among them the legendary inner heat (Tumo), transfer of "consciousness" (Pho-wa), Maha Mudra (the Tibetan Zen), and the Tantric deity meditations.

18-27 May: Meditation retreat: Revelation of the Spiritual Heart, led by Claudiu Trandafir.

19-23 May: Vira Training/Complete Femininity: These very popular workshops, first offered in 2006, will be reprised this spring in segregated camps. Mihaiela Pentiuc will lead the Complete Femininity Workshop for women, Swami Vivekananda will lead the Vira Training for men.

18-27 June: Meditation retreat: Revelation of the Spiritual Heart, led by Claudiu Trandafir.

18-27 July: Meditation retreat: Revelation of the Spiritual Heart, led by Claudiu Trandafir.

Agama has also introduced new elements to our curriculum for 2008. One such element is twice-weekly supervised practice for students wishing for more contact with teachers, interaction, supervision, and advice, for students whose courses are not held currently, and for students simply wishing to take a break in their studies of new material and to go deeper into practice. This concept was created when we introduced a seven-level study limit to each calendar year alongside our decision in 2006 to stay open year-round in Thailand (now at both locations). We are excited to bring this more individualized attention to students and to encourage them to take this opportunity to practice year-round in Thailand if they have this possibility.

We continue to explore bigger projects this season, among them the development of a kaya kalpa darkness retreat house; a Yogic healing center for which we are already accepting donations of equipment, land, or monetary contributions; the opening of a Yogi Kitchen, a community kitchen through which we prepare and eat meals made with love together in an ashram-like setting; and other efforts.

We sincerely hope we will see you arriving on the horizon one day soon to join us again on the peaceful shores of Koh Phangan!

Love and blessings, Lori for Agama Yoga