About a year ago I decided I would like to become a yoga teacher. Wait, that's not entirely correct. About a year ago I decided I wantet to do a yoga teacher training course, with little intention to become a yoga teacher in first place. Then, why do a yoga teacher training? And why travel all the way to India for it?
Well, if you ever tried yoga, you might know how amazing one can feel after a good yoga practice. The body feels strong yet wonderfully relaxed, and so does the mind. That's probably the main reason I love yoga so much, because it is not only a physical exercise (in fact, the postures is only one limb of the original yoga), but also includes the mental body into the practice.
That said, I imagined spending a whole month exclusively with my body, my mind and my soul could be one of the best gifts I can give to myself. Also, I have been looking for more spirituality and connectedness in my life for quite some time, and I felt that yoga could give me exactly that.
This is also the answer to the question why it had to be India. As most people know, India is the birthplace of many ancient philosophies and spiritual practices, like ayurveda, tantra, and of course yoga. And because I was seeking a little more than just learning 150 different asanas (yoga postures), I decided India was the right place to go to really learn more about the yogic philosophy, traditions and lifestyle. And boy, I did!
But, facts first:
- How long does it take? The yoga teacher training course (YTTC) takes around one month, 200 hours to be precise. After completing and passing the test, one becomes an official Yoga Alliance certified teacher.
- What's the cost? Also one of the reasons I came to India. In Europe and even Asia the course fee ranges from around 2000-4000 € for the training, sometimes even without food and accommodation included. Sounds like a lot? So it did to me. Luckily, India has some cheaper options in offer! Prices range from 900-2000 €, with food and accommodation usually included. I paid 1600 € for the month, with 3 meals per day and my own room inlcuded! I think that's quite fair :)
- Where did the YTTC take place? My yoga school (Sarvaguna yoga) is located in Agonda, which is a wonderful little beach town in South Goa, Western India. The beach was absolutely beautiful, magical even! Not only were there waves to surf (one of my biggest passions!) but it was also home to holy cows and this random white horse strolling up and down the beach or just chilling under a sunbrella - I could swear I saw a horn growing out it's forehead one of those days haha!!
As you can see, the place was pretty special, and so was the school! The teacher at Sarvaguna were amazing, from our main teacher, an indian doctor that studied yoga, indian philosophy and spiritual intelligence for decades, to our award-winning super yogi Babu, who showed us what an asana should really look like!
The yoga styles my course focused on where Hatha (slow & steady) and Vinyasa (fast & flowing). Of course there are loads of different styles to choose from, but I like the mix between the traditional Hatha and the more modern Vinyasa. But of course we didn't only learn different styles of yoga. We were taught in yoga philosophy, meditation, breathing techniques, alignment & adjustment, teaching methodology, anatomy, mantras, mudras, indian history, chanting, and so on.
Schedule
The day started at 6.15 AM with some mantra chanting, breathing and meditation until 7.45 AM. From 8-10 AM we had a yoga class, and only after that we got served breakfast. At the beginning it was a little hard to go that long without food, but after a while we all got used to it and enjoyed the lightless of the body of the morning! Of course by then we were really hungry and ate A LOT, but luckily there was always a huge platter of fruits so that was great! At 11 AM we had philosophy or anatomy for 2 hours, and lunchbreak after that. Even if we weren't really hungry by then, again we put loads on our plates, as we knew we were not having anything until 7 PM!
After a 2 hour break, which I used every day to go to the beach and have a little swim, we had more theory, followed by a 1 hour yoga class and teaching practice after that. Needless to say the we were all digging in like hungry wolves for dinner, which means that we were basically overeating 3 times a day! Additionally the food just tasted sensational and it was hard to not have a 2nd or 3rd serving at the all vegetarian buffet. I thought I would leave this place slender and toned, but this daily food fiesta made me strongly question my hopes, haha!
So yes, the food was a big highlight, but of course it is a lot more important what we acutally ingested mentally, right?
So, I will cover that in a following post, together with those holy cows, the long path to enlightenment, a pretty crazy nostril-cleansing experience, ecstatic dance and our farting only male-participant in his 50s. It's gonna get wild.
Stay tuned Steemians!!
Hi @lick-a-tree another great read from you, and wow what a wonderful experience for you learning yoga at this gorgeous place. India is definitely on the "need to see list" and that horse is just hilarious😅 ...!!!
Thanks a lot, and yes, I can definitely recommend it! However, the place I stayed at (Agonda) is like a little safe bubble in the crazy country of India, so I didn't REALLY have the full indian experience - maybe next time ;)
I can´t wait to read your second part!👍 I love meditation and it is different every time...Food is so important as well. I´m a vegetarian for over more than 18 years and a big fan of the indian cuisine. Thanks for sharing your amazing and lovely post with us. Resteemed! your @mynaturebody
Thanks a lot for your reply, I will try to put a bit of focus on the meditation in the second part :) I also love the fact that the indian cuisine is mainly vegetarian, and it's sooo tasty! I brought home a lot of spices for christmas presents, best souvenir really! Thank you so much for upvoting, really appreciated :) Have a wonderful and blessed new year (even if time is relative ;) )
You are awesome 😋
Servus aus München!
Zunächst mal ein herzliches Willkommen für deinen zweiten Anlauf.
Du hast eine schöne persönliche und informative Geschichte hier niedergeschrieben.
Leider willst du anscheinend auf Englisch posten. Das hat den Vorteil, dass deine Beiträge einem weltweiten Teilnehmerkreis zugänglich sind, aber den Nachteil, dass die Konkurrenz natürlich viel größer ist.
Ich lese und vote fast ausschließlich deutsche Beiträge. Und wir haben mittlerweile eine recht starke deutsche Gemeinschaft hier ausgebaut, die sich gegenseitig unterstützt. Also denke nochmal darüber nach.
Yoga findest du vor allem bei @akashas. Da solltest du mal reinschauen.
Auf jeden Fall gibt es von mir jetzt erst einmal ein 100% Upvote.
Moin moin aus Hamburg!
Vielen Dank für deinen hilfreichen Kommentar, da hast du natürlich vollkommen recht! Schön zu hören das die deutsche Community so unterstützend ist, ich werde es auf jeden Fall mal ausprobieren auf deutsch zu schreiben :)
Da ich mit dem Yoga natürlich auch international unterwegs sein werde, ist es für mich auch von Vorteil, mit Menschen aus allen Ländern zu kommunizieren, deshalb bin ich erstmal auf Englisch unterwegs. Aber das kann sich ja schnell ändern, vor allem wenn es sich auch auf die Konkurrenz hin gesehen 'rentiert'.
Danke dir sehr für das Upvote! Herzliche Grüße :)
Es gibt auch noch die Möglichkeit zwei(mehr)sprachiger Posts. @lizanomadsoul macht das sehr erfolgreich. Neben ihren Reiseberichten ist sie auch im Yogabereich aktiv. Schau dich einfach mal um. Bei Fragen helfe ich gerne, genau so wie @peter2017. Du findest uns beide auch im steemit.chat :-)
Super, danke dir! Ich folge @liznomadsoul jetzt und sehe mir mal an wie sie das macht mit den beiden Sprachen, danke für den Tipp! :)
@freiheit50 ich Danke dir. Da Stoß ich auf den Beitrag und lese dich überraschend im Kommentar.
Willkommen @lick-a-tree ich hoff der Baum hat gemundet ;-)
Empfehlenswert is doch gleich zweisprachig.
Wenn du so klar sagst das du internationalen Kontakt suchst, mehrsprachig. Keine Frage. Aus Hamburg. Nice! Da hat ich zwei drei in der Jivamukti Yoga Ausbildung! Selbst bin ich grad in Berlin , manchmal in Wien. Da gebürtige Austrian.
Ich habe drei teacher training gemacht und unterrichte nun im 11 Jahr. Praktiziere ca 15 Jahre. Willkommen hier im Bereich Yoga.
Vinyasa ist das schlichteste ausbildungsystem aller Traditionen und lässt viel interpretationsfreiheit.
Vielleicht nimmst du ja an einer challenge von mir mal Teil ;-) les dich noch.
Lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu
Shanti Aum
Hallo @akashas, ich danke dir für deinen Kommentar und das Willkommen! Freut mich sehr, andere Yoginis hier kennenzulernen!
LOKA SAMASTAH SUKHINO BHAVANTU - I love it! Absolut mein Mantra :)
Welche Challenges hast du denn genau? Hört sich jedenfalls sehr interessant an!
Alles liebe aus Hamburg!
https://steemit.com/colorchallenge/@akashas/mondayyogared-4-win-sbd-way2move-bleib-schoen-locker-go-with-the-flow-vinyasa-de-en
Grad online gegangen...welch timing
:-)
Nice! Folge dir jetzt, juhuuu :)
Niiice! Dann mach ich das selbe und warte gespannt auf deinen Vinyasa :-)))
Good story upvote done. ..........@steemitgirl11
Hi lick-a-tree
Thank you for the wonderful post and pictures - extremely interesting :D
Upvoted and resteemed!
p.s Contact that gmail address for details of the Ranchos in Costa Rica. [email protected]
Awesome, thanks a lot @icedrum ! This is super helpful! Glad I am following your blog now :)
Hello lick-a-tree
Great to hear from you - do email that address ... i know you will totally love it!!
You are a great man because you are giving information about Yoga totally based on facts. I know Yoga is the best thing to fit you physique but i know its too much difficult to become a Yoga teacher. But benefits of this exercise are too much.
Namaste
What an Interesting read thanks. We all need to learn be more meditative, it is the worlds best chance for healing. I am following your blog as your travels sound fascinating and we definitely share some passions 🌈🌴🦋☀️🌊
Namaste dear @sallybeth23, thank you for your comment! Yes we definitely have some passions in common, one of my biggest is actually surfing!! Actually I will travel to Costa Rica in a few weeks, can't wait to try the surf there! Will try to get a blog post on that as well :) Would love to hear some tipps if you got some :) :) All the best!!
That is awesome that you are coming to Costa Rica. I have lots of tips for you. How long are you planning to be here for? The ninety day visa is a nice length of time for starters. 😂 We should chat by email more if you have an addy you can drop me?💛🌴🌈🌊