During one of the many Yoga Philosophy lectures, on our most recent Yoga Teacher Training in November 2024, we were speaking of impermanence and how everything is always changing, including ourselves. Here I share with you some of the insights from this conversation and our precious time together. 

“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.”

Heraclitus, an ancient Greek philosopher, used the metaphor of a river and said one can never enter the same river twice as both the river and the person are always changing. The banks of the river widen and shrink, rocks move, the water might become muddy and then clear etc. Similarly, we are forever evolving and although our sense of identity often feels somewhat solid, it is purely an illusion the ego clings onto for survival. 

Spiritual teachings from different lineages guide us to the same realisation, that we are not just the body, not even the mind nor its contents, not the experiences we’ve had and not even the limited soul. 

Having said that, it is important to understand that these non-dual teachings do not encourage denying the body nor the mind and the multitude of facets of our being. Through introspection we become aware of the many parts of us, our patterns and beliefs, our fears and everything else that lingers in the subconscious mind – until the light of consciousness exposes it.

Growing pains of awakening 

This process is often uncomfortable and even painful at times. Through contemplating the limited ‘I’ that we think we are, we often realise that many of the things that bring us suffering are caused by ourselves. The journey is also beautiful as the very awareness of all these previously hidden parts of ourselves brings us freedom. By realising the ways in which we behave and respond to situations we can choose to change. The changes don’t happen overnight but the process has begun. 

The soothing balm of community

Doing this innerwork alongside others who are going through something similar can be truly supportive in not feeling alienated or lonely. Of course the challenges we encounter vary, but we often discover that we have much more in common that we may have imagined. We all hope to be loved and accepted, many of us have to face fears about what will happen if we change and most experience frustration in regards to the pace of their personal transformation. 

Being in a safe space where we feel loved and accepted as we are is essential for change to happen.

To be able to speak about our thoughts and share our fears and realise that others share them too is truly supportive in the process. And in my opinion this is one of the many things that makes Yoga Teacher Training such a beautiful opportunity for transformation.

Environment matters 

While a loving community naturally helps us open our hearts and connect to the inner Guru – so we can fearlessly embody the values we believe in and serve those around us, the contrary is also true of course. Environments that feel unsafe, in which our nervous system is constantly in a state of fight or flight it is the most natural thing for the heart to close and harden. The good news is that this is not irreversible.

As a matter of fact one of our beloved participants vulnerably shared with us that they arrived feeling their heart closed, having experienced being held at gunpoint earlier this year and losing hope, even losing their love for life and considering the worse… In such circumstances the heart closing is a defence mechanism to be able to cope with the pain of violence and disconnection.

My little spinach plant

Before going on the 3 week training, I moved a little spinach plant I had in a pot away from the sun as I knew I wouldn’t be able to water it and I thought the sun might dry her out. 

After 3 weeks away I was happily surprised to find that she was still alive, however she looked a little sad. She didn’t die but she didn’t grow either and her leaves weren’t looking too good. This made me think of how much our environment matters when it comes to our evolution. Just as plants stop growing if kept in a small pot, away from the sun, our evolution is often stumped when we remain in an environment that feels limited. 

During Yoga Teacher Training we have the opportunity to try things that may feel scary, like being vulnerable or speaking in public, or both and many other things.

We can no longer count how many people say at the end of the training that they didn’t believe they would be capable of teaching but discovered that they were during our time together. 

Although we aspire to offer our love and support to everyone throughout the training, we believe it isn’t our doing but rather a result of the environment that propels such an evolution.  

Less distractions, more clarity 

We intentionally choose retreat centres that are tucked away in nature, away from ‘civilisation’. We also don’t serve coffee and encourage participants to take a social media break during the training. While this can be an added challenge as it means we cannot turn to our usual distractions, it is also a blessing as it provides us with more presence and therefore clarity. 

Finding ourselves in nature, surrounded by loving people, rising with the sun, practicing meditation, pranayama (breathwork) and asana (postures) every morning, eating lovingly prepared plant based meals, studying and reflecting on the ancient teachings of yoga and singing songs together are in our opinion wonderful conditions for our spirits to remember who we truly are. 

While difficult moments may arise, past memories can surface and the inner critic can become loud at times, the love and support of the community makes it a lot easier to navigate everything knowing we are not alone and we are overjoyed to witness the bonds that the students create amongst themselves during and after trainings. We are also very grateful to see how our little community continues to grow and how the members offer support in their communities in many different ways.

Last words

This is just a little snapshot of what happens in our Yoga Teacher Trainings. I have written a couple of other articles where I also speak of some of the many perks of YTT, if it is of interest you can also read them: Yoga Teacher Training – an island of Love and 5 Reasons to do a Yoga Teacher Training.

If you would like to know more about our school please see our website. You can join our mailing list to stay up to date with our offerings including our online yoga studio, Online containers (Rach hs a wonderful Embodiment program starting 5th Jan – more info here), 200hour and 300hour Yoga Teacher Trainings, Retreats and more!

Gratitude

Thank you to Efrain and Eddy who take care of the grounds and help bring food and bags up, we couldn’t do it without you.

Deep gratitude to our teachers and all teachers who share these spiritual teachings that support the evolution of consciousness.

And thanks to You for reading 🙂

With Love and gratitude,

Melissa