Shelley | Peru 200hr YTT Testimonial
When I decided to join the School Yoga Institute 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training in Peru I was searching for something. My life had grown stagnant and predictable. Daily rituals and routines had become mundane, while my world had shrunken to little more than a two-mile radius in my small hometown.
I had hoped the sacred lands of the Andes Mountains and time immersing myself in the history and culture of a people closely enmeshed in nature would offer me a path to my own healing and awaken a long-dormant sense of awe within myself. What I found in the Sacred Valley of Peru was so much more.
I was immediately welcomed into a group of strangers and settled into a communal enclave at Raices Inkas that I would quickly come to refer to as our very own “Garden of Eden.” The lush grounds were intentionally curated and lovingly cared for by head caretaker Felix.
At every turn I was amazed by the fruit trees growing next to various cacti, alongside flowering vines of jasmine and the biggest yellow angel trumpets I have ever seen. Tropical flowers and herbs growing beside vegetables that made their way to our dinner table every day.
And those 15 strangers quickly became colleagues, companions, and then friends. For 21 days we rose early to begin our mornings with meditation and asana practice. We sat for hours discussing yogic philosophy, human anatomy, our sacred surroundings, and our own personal experiences that led each of us to the moment when all our lives came to intersect. We ate three delicious, beautifully-prepared meals a day next to each other while we laughed at ourselves and discussed our plans for the future.
Our facilitators crafted experiences for us that led us through self-exploration while asking us to face difficult questions about ourselves. Each evening, after all the classes, after all the meals, we participated in a different satsung ceremony. Sometimes these were simply fun mixers where we got to know one another by playing games. Other times these were emotionally-taxing exercises that required focus and a deep honesty with ourselves. I met my grief in the depths of an intense breathing exercise and was shocked at the waves of chest-heaving cries I released from somewhere deep within myself I didn’t know I had been hiding.
I faced my fear of the unknown and discomfort as I sat in the pitch-black dark and increasing heat of a temezcal ceremony alongside my companions. We chanted, sang, and sweated our way through the fire. I will never forget the sense of victory and camaraderie of that experience with those friends.
My favorite memory of our evenings together may be our “Gift Share” night. I was honored to be the emcee for a different type of “open mic” event. In turn, each person in our group offered to us all a gift. We learned to salsa dance from Luis. Rachel gave us each a sketch she had drawn (mine was of a hummingbird). Lexie made each of us a friendship bracelet and taught us how to make our own. We learned aromatherapy, reflexology, how to craft a haiku, and how to cook red lentils. Izzy wrote us each a personalized poem. Nora played her flute, then Tal sang a song and invited us all in to sing along. Our facilitators gifted us each an altar cloth to take home with us (mine now lovingly adorns my meditation space). We basked in the creativity and generosity of each person’s gift, and it was the most beautiful thing I have experienced in a long time. To witness the depth and utter beauty of a human soul is nothing short of awe-inspiring. For this one memory alone I would travel the earth to experience.
What I wanted to find when I left my comfortable life and traveled to a mountain range in a foreign country was a spiritual re-awakening. I wanted to embark on a path of shedding what no longer served me and to welcome in something new that would lead me to a deeper understanding of the world around me and my place within it. What I never could have imagined is that SYI would guide me each step along that journey.
I learned so much from this program. It has taught me and given me the tools I need to teach a 90-minute Hatha flow and a 90-minute Vinyasa flow. I have earned a deeper understanding of yoga and meditation and the powerfully positive role they can play in a person’s daily life. I have begun to understand the fabric of the universe is made up of us all, and my place within it is unmistakable and irreplaceable. Mostly, though, what SYI taught me is that none of us walk through this world alone. We are all interconnected, and we are all better because of it. My goal is to put that philosophy into practice as I serve within my own community, on my mat and beyond.
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