About The Yoga Garden Retreat
Our Mission
Our mission is to create and sustain an incredibly beautiful, inspiring yoga retreat centre. A place where we can laugh, connect with others, connect with ourselves, disconnect from technology and take some time off to enjoy – then we can go back to our busy, technology filled lives and keep our centre. A place that combines many beautiful gardens with totally pristine wilderness. And, at the end of it all, we’re here to provide a place for you to have fun.
Origins
Robert Hay founded the Rama Lotus Yoga Centre in 1994. Rama Lotus was one of the first multi-style yoga schools in North America (Ashtanga, Bikram, Hatha, Kundalini, Prenatal) and was the first yoga centre in Ottawa to offer regular professional teacher training certifications. Many innovations later, Rama Lotus Yoga Centre continues to be a leader in the field of yoga. With over eighty classes a week and over twenty five (as of March 2008) yoga teachers, Rama Lotus has grown to become one of the largest yoga centres in the world.
About the Founder
After founding the Rama Lotus Yoga Centre, proprietor Robert Hay began designing a vision for a peaceful yoga garden in the country specially designed for yoga retreats. This inspiration has become a reality with the opening of The Yoga Garden - the first yoga retreat centre in the Ottawa area dedicated to the practice of yoga. As is the case with the Rama Lotus Yoga Centre, Robert Hay is committed to maintaining excellent integrity of the system of yoga and is steadfast in his commitment to serving and being a leader in the Ottawa area.
Robert Hay, M.A. is a Certified Hatha Yoga and Kundalini Yoga Instructor and a 500-hour member of the Yoga Alliance and the International Kundalini Yoga Teacher’s Association (IKYTA). Robert has been practicing yoga and meditation for over fifteen years and has taught over 3,000 yoga classes, workshops, yoga retreats, private consultations and Kundalini and Hatha Yoga Teacher Training programs. Robert is a fountain of knowledge and always finds a way to teach what is needed at the right time.
Yoga Teachers
The Yoga Garden features teachers from the Rama Lotus Yoga Centre. Every year you will find a wide selection of yoga retreats led by experienced teaches from Rama Lotus. We also host special yoga days and yoga retreats with guest teachers from other yoga centres in the Ottawa area, from across the country and internationally. Please see the Calendar section of this website for more information on upcoming retreats.
Also, there are a host of other events held at the Yoga Garden Retreat that are organized by other groups and individuals. Some of these are listed on this website and others can be found through Tone Magazine, flyers, Internet searches and by contacting the teachers and organizers of those courses.