ascent magazine weblog

ascent nominated for 2009 utne independent press award!!

So it looks like ascent magazine is going out with a bang! Earlier this week, the esteemed Utne Reader announced their contenders for the 2009 Independent Press Awards... and ascent has been nominated for Best Spiritual Coverage! The competition is tight, as we're up against stellar spiritual publications such as ...

online exclusive: sparrow on union organizers

Sparrow, long-time ascent contributor and one of the world's most original thinkers, opens up the idea of "union" beyond yoga... My father was a union organizer for the UE (Union of Electrical Workers). He met my mother while he was organizing the RCA plant in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1947. ...

online exclusive: tias little on union & yoking

Our Union issue sneak peaks continue with Tias Little's investigation into yoga and non-attachment... One critical reflection that must take place for any one on the path of yoga, one question that must arise in the course of one’s training is, “What am I yoking to?” Given that yoga means to ...

online exclusive: illuminating union with sharon gannon

As we lead up to the release of ascent's final issue, we have some exclusive pre-issue content to share. In this first post, long-time friend of ascent, Sharon Gannon, reflects on the ideal of union. Stay tuned for reflections from other ascent luminaries... The state of “yoga,” or union, is when ...

get ready for the montreal zen poetry festival!

The second biennial Montreal Zen Poetry Festival will soon be coming to the snowy city with its unique mix of poets, calligraphers, translators, publishers, and Zen monks. Guests will be arriving from across Canada and the United States with elegant and enlightening words for the weekend of March 6th to ...

yasodhara ashram wins environmental responsibility award

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gv5Q0-Zbp0[/youtube] Swami Radhananda, ascent magazine columnist and spiritual director of Yasodhara Ashram, accepted the 2009 Environmentally Responsible Tourism Award last week in Vancouver, BC. Before handing the award to Swami Radhananda, the presenter listed the ashram's impressive environmental accomplishments: a multi-year program for upgrades and retrofits of buildings, and lighting, ...

the yoga of the hands

reflection by Eileen Delehanty Pearkes Not all that long ago, everything we ate, wore or lived in was formed by human hands. The rise of the industrial age transformed our lives from hand-crafted to machine-made. Have we lost anything in the balance? I've noticed in the past decade a rise of artisan ...

timeless classics: the yoga of healing

Swami Radhakrishnananda reflects on Swami Sivananda Radha's The Yoga of Healing... There are many beautiful, healing practices in this little book by Swami Radha, who worked with each of them as she dealt with the physical restrictions of rheumatoid arthritis. These days I am drawn to the section called Thoughts on Gratitude. ...

swami lalitananda: live on the internet!

Swami Lalitananda, ascent columnist and timeless books author of The Inner Life of Asanas, will appear on the online radio show Returning to the Body Mind on January 28th at 11:00 AM EST. All listeners are encouraged to participate by calling in to the show toll free at 1-800-230-3062. Swami Lalitananda ...

reactions from our readers

When the announcement was made last Wednesday that the magazine was closing Ian and I immediately began to receive the first reactions from our subscribers. Since we answer the phones and contact our readers directly we were flooded with words of support and disappointment that, in it's ...