Picking up yoga in 2014 from the comforts of my warm toasty room in Greenland meant that my understanding of the practice was mostly from what I saw on YouTube, which was mostly asana practice. I began practicing ashtanga regularly after being inspired by Kino MacGregor. However, the more I practiced the more questions I seemed to have.
Back in Malaysia and towards the end of 2015, I kept getting this nudge to seek more knowledge about yoga and not just limited to asana. I wanted to learn about the other limbs of yoga, why are Patanjali’s yoga sutras so important to the practice and how it’s still relevant today.
But with a young toddler in tow, I had to search for a place that was closer to home, so it was either Thailand or Bali. I came across Samahita Retreat after watching David Robson’s Instagram. Upon browsing Samahita’s website, I saw there was a 200 hour yoga teacher training being offered. I had checked out other yoga retreats but somehow kept coming back to Samahita. The syllabus offered by Centered Yoga and who the teachers are really stood out to me. Plus, the environment at the retreat really does support one’s journey to immerse oneself to the path of yoga.
While my asana practice may have improved, I learnt the most from meditation and pranayama as it has helped me tremendously in navigating my mind when life gets tricky. After losing my dad, whom I was very closed to, shortly after my daughter was born in 2016 I internalized a lot of things which led to my downward spiral. Learning to let go or freeing the upper triangle, and learning to manage my breath is perhaps my biggest takeaway from the course. It was life-changing for me because I feel supported and free.