Yoga For Good

When I first thought about doing my yoga teacher training, I always knew that I wanted to do an immersion program. I dreamt of going to some far off land to get off the grid in order to fully immerse myself in the training - and that’s exactly what I did. I chose to do my training on a farm in Eungella in New South Wales, Australia. In hindsight I didn’t realize what I was getting myself into living on a farm in Australia as the critters are ginormous! There’s a saying that ‘Everything in Australia is trying to kill you’ which is quite accurate. We had to be on guard for certain spiders and snakes that were deadly. They also say that the only way to grow is to get out of your comfort zone, hey? 

A big part of our training was seva — selfless work. Seva is a Sanskrit word which means: to provide acts of service without expecting anything in return. We spent a lot of our days outside working on the farm tending to the animals and getting our hands dirty by either planting new crops or tilling the soil. This work made me really see and appreciate Australia - for its people, animals, food and much more.  

Therefore Australia holds a special place in my heart and it’s heartbreaking to hear about the bushfires. Not to compare, but to put it in perspective - 4.6 million acres were torched in the Amazon whereas Australia’s current number is at 15.4 million acres. According to Vox, 24 people have died, 1,400 homes destroyed, and an estimated 1 billion animals killed. I feel called to help in some way which is why I’m proud to be leading a donation based class with all proceeds going to the Australian Red Cross. I hope to see you on the mat!