Ascent, the yoga magazine, is closing after 10 years

Ascent magazine will be marking its 10th anniversary as a magazine by publishing its last issue by the end of March, according to people associated with the Montreal-based yoga quarterly.

Started in 1969 as a newsletter, and then a small journal, based out of Yasodhara Ashram in British Columbia, Canada, Ascent moved to Montreal and launched as an international magazine in spring 1999.

In a newsletter to its readers, the Ascent staff said that they had determined that the magazine was no longer sustainable in the current environment.

With paper & postage costs increasing, our financial subsidies decreasing, and Canadian culture and magazine grants under threat, the cost of producing Ascent is simply too high.

The magazine is making an appeal to its current subscribers to contribute the balance of their subs and donations besides to paying the $18,000 cost of printing the final issue so that the magazine could go out on the same values of integrity as it has for the past decade.

Ascent has held a unique place in the world of yoga, as a small, independent and non-profit publication, and Canada’s first yoga magazine. Ascent's greatest success has been in supporting people in realizing their potential. With our closing comes a rich story of how a yoga magazine and community has learned, lived and evolved. It has been an honour to do this work.

A press release to be published soon notes that several Ascent columnists and writers will continue to publish titles with its sister organization, timeless books.

The magazine’s eclectic publishing style has earned the respect of the yoga, literary and activist communities, featuring such people as: Yann Martel, Arundhati Roy, Alice Coltrane, Roshi Joan Halifax, bell hooks, Joanna Macy, Geeta Iyengar and David Suzuki.

Ascent has been nominated for numerous awards over their 10 years. They earned 6 consecutive nominations for the Utne Independent Press Award for Best Spiritual Coverage, winning in 2003 and 2005.