the sivananda ashram is a special place



not only because of its location, in the bahamas...



but also, because of the swamis and ashramites who live there - here we are with our gracious hosts, swami brahmananda and sharadadevi



you fly into nassau, drive through the old colonial town to a loading dock, where a small motor boat awaits to take you across the water to ‘paradise island’




paradise island was obviously once, paradisical.
but times change.
paradise is still there if you look for it, and i guess for some folks it’s all about gigantic, corporate, off-the-charts hotels, crowded beaches and non stop dance beats



but nestling among the rich and wealthy is this tiny little oasis, known as the sivananda ashram



..unity in diversity...



the hotel chains have tried many times to buy them out, but they hold fast.
this is where swami vishnu devananda came from india, over 40 years ago, to teach the west the power of yoga... when there was nothing to be seen on the stretch of beach but a few houses, the turquoise ocean, and a forest.
now cruise ships, billion dollar yachts, and oil tankers slide by while yogis and yoginis focus on their asanas from the deck of the ashram, a few meters away from one of the biggest, highest and most extravagant of hotels in the bahamas