Swami Vishnudevananda is a revered yogi who had a mission of spreading the message of Vedanta and Yoga throughout the West during his lifetime. Having trained under his master, Swami Sivananda, for 12 years at The Forest Academy in Rishikesḥ, India, Swami Vishnudevananda was sent to spread a cosmic vision worldwide in 1957, with the exhortation, “Go to the West, people are waiting.”

Over the course of 37 years, Swami Vishnudevananda worked unceasingly to bring principles of peace of mind and radiant health to people from all walks of life. After founding the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre, he established a wide range of ashrams and centers where his work could be developed. Another of his early accomplishments was providing yoga instruction to an entire police department in Indonesia.

While in Montreal in the early 1960s, he authored The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga, and also created the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Camp in the beautiful, secluded Laurentian Mountains. This ashram pioneered the concept of a yoga vacation, which involved giving up material comforts in search of personal growth.