Santosha 200YTT Bali

It has been a 20 years on and off love affair I have had with yoga. I come in and out of it, but have always maintained a strong bond with it.  Maybe it’s in my blood, my Indian family have been practicing it for years, maybe it’s because I am naturally bendy, or perhaps it is the complete Yoga experience that is not achieved from other forms of exercise.

Call it what you will: active meditation, self-massage; Yoga goes beyond the physical body.  I cannot agree more that nothing beats a heart-pumping workout I love CrossFit like the next fitness fiend, but there is something both energizing and relaxing that comes with yoga, it clears your mind.

Having spend three month in Koh Samui on a yoga retreat, and visited several Ashrams in India, to study Yoga has been on my bucket list for quite some time. I decided to make the plunge and fly to a country I had never visited, and flew off to Bali to a tiny Yoga Surf Guest house for a month to get my first 200hours in Yoga Teacher Training.

When you think of Yoga, you think of the physical movements, also known as the Asanas – but that is only one eighth of the yoga practice.  It is only day three but we have spent 10hours a day in intense theory classes, covering anatomy, religious, philosophical theories, meditation and breathing exercises, all these are a huge part of Yoga, which you barely, if at all, scrap the surface in a Yoga class.  You crave fast and physical Vinyasa, a hardcore Power Yoga, which are both great cardio workout, which I was drawn to as an active person. What I am discovering here is that there is so much more to this ancient practice that truly combines mind, body and soul. I am enjoying exploring this side.

Fear not, I will not come back with a new “Yogi” name, if I did it would be Guru Chicken Tikka. There is nothing more then the pretension I hate that comes with people who do you, teach yoga, who call themselves “Yogis.”  But there is a lot to be said for taking a step back, focusing on your breathing, learning how to meditate and applying certain philosophies and ways of life into your daily lives, be that as a “yogi” or not.

Namaste

and don’t forget to find your way to Retreat Yourself Everyday