I had My decision was made. I was moving to Ubud, Bali and attending Daniel Aaron's Radiantly Alive Yoga Teach Training . I gave away everything I owned and hopped a plane after squeezing money from every corner of my life into one lump sum. I arrived 24 hours later, sleep deprived at Denpasar airport in Bali. The scent of insense wafted around me and the Gamelan music had me thinking I was dreaming. It could have been a dream. Bali is after all the land of trance.
Radiantly Alive arranged for Wayan, a Balinese driver friend, to pick me up at the airport. The first major difference a westerner notices when landing in Asia are the motor bikes. As Wayan dodged and made way for bikers, we eventually arrived in Ubud and my new buddy dropped me off at Monkey Forest Bungalows. Definitely the best deal on a room in all of Ubud. Hand carved doorways to the rooms, balconies, swimming pool, Birds Of Paradise, tropical flowers blooming perfectly every on every inch of the property... all for about $20 a night including breakfast coffee, fruit, and banana pancakes.
The next morning when I arrived at Anahata, the remote river resort where the teacher training took place, my jaw probably hit the ground. Each room had a cliff side mini infinity pool that appeared to drop into the river, monkeys swung freely, and intricate pebble mosaic walkways and jungle stairs led you throughout the resort. My fellow yogis were arriving and although slightly nervous and excited to be spending a month together, we were all laughing together within an hour. We were handed our course books, a batik sarong, and a non-chalant welcome.
Each morning, Emil Wendell, who used the word cool more appropriately than anyone I'd ever met, led 5 am meditation and pranayama. Our schedule was jam packed and some mornings I needed to be alone so I skipped out secretly ;). Emil is now one of my most recommended teachers. His ability to tell stories in a gentle and engaging way is super unique. He is after all a master philosopher! I think some of us had a little crush on Emil.
Simon Oliver Borg, a freaking master of yoga in every way possible, shared his knowledge of the bandhas and his method of yoga which he calls, yoga synergy. Using little audible breath, Simon taught us to internally heat the body quicker than I ever knew possible. Through grace full movements, pranayama, and wise use of all the bandhas, I knew I had learned some extremely beautiful yoga. I was totally in awe of the man... totally. So much so that I'm looking into studying more with him in Australia.
Edward Clark... wow. How is possible to even put this guy in a category. His personality is so blunt and other worldly, one might think he is on psych-meds. His humor is razor sharp and his method of teaching is absurd yet incredible superb. He calls it Tripsichore. The equasion would be yoga+ dance + punk ballet= Tripsichore. He wears the teeniest yogi shorts and has the best understanding of uddiyana and shushumna out of any teacher I've known.
Elaine Love founder of Pure Joy Planet and her awesome helpers danced, sang, and slaved to prep raw food for 40 people 3 times a day for 30 days!!! Mangosteen, bali bananas, cashew nuts, homemade cereals, raw pizzas... the food we ate was the best of the best and the freshest of the fresh. Unbelievable!
We also had hilarious anatomy lessons with Chris Kummmer, astanga, NLP with Alstair Aprentice, and performances by Wah and Dave Stringer.
Daniel Aaron, founder of Radiantly Alive, is truly the orchestrator of an amazing unity of practitioners. He himself is hard around the edges and I believe it's all part of the plan. Conflicts of interest arose and I personally felt he was a jerk at times but then again, his classes were incredible because of his strict demeanor and rigor. I began to understand his tactics and appreciate his style. I hadn't been in a Jivamukti class prior to the teacher training a Jivamukti is his practice. It's very on point and rigorous yet soft in yummy places. Daniel is definitely known for picking THE BEST music for any given moments and his use of words for instruction have helped me immensely. Thanks D!
We ate, we sang, we practiced, we laughed, we became a family. Check out Radiantly Alive. you'll be talking to the lovely Heather Bonkers who organizes all the correspondance! Nothing will inspire you more than Bali, the land of trance! I'll definitely be back soon... very soon.
PS. I am Yoga Alliance certified through Radiantly Alive
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