Sattva Yoga Academy
For the past two years, this time, in the beginning of November, I have been in India. I had not planned to go to India. It was not in the forefront of my mind. However, it was my path, it was destined to be. Looking back, I see how one step led to another and then another and another and the steps I took brought me to a place where the words “I am headed to India in November if anyone wants to join,” were offered to me.
“I will be there,” I heard my voice say. The words came from deep within. A thought did not even cross my mind. The words arose within me from me.
That November, November 2018 I traveled to India and the path lead me to Sattva Retreat Center for the Sattva Summit. I wrote a piece about my experience there for SF Yoga Mag, which you can read here if you’d like.
http://www.sfyogamagazine.com/blog/2018/11/30/z0yryfe9ybegm0ujtxg5i8limn6d7d?rq=sara%20lashbrook
This is the first picture I took at Sattva.
On Halloween, dressed as an octopus, I “officially” became a yoga teacher. I intentionally put officially in quotations, because in order to be considered and recognized as a yoga teacher here in the west, you have to become a member at the Yoga Alliance. Part of the step required to become a member of the Alliance, you have to submit a review of the school in which you did your training. I feel called to share my submission with you here.
*Note-I resisted Halloween for many years… there was very little about Halloween that I liked, that I was comfortable with. I learned that one tradition to wear a costume is to embrace the qualities of that which you choose to dress up as. Last year, I dressed as a peacock. This year I am embracing an octopus…
This is what I wrote:
“I understand now why these are called journeys. Wow. I have not, until this morning experienced anything like what I co-created. Powerful does not even capture the essence. Push through. Don’t give up. Keep going. What happens if you see the Divine, Beloved? What is it like NOW because it is happening? The breath I take is love. There is no future, it is only an illusion. The practice was kriyas and breathing, one moment in and one moment out. It was challenging. My body felt tired, weak. Anand Ji said push through, do not give up. I stopped, I had to stop. Only some of the time though, not all of them. We danced and danced and danced- release, no need to hold on. It was so freeing to move my body”
These are direct words that I wrote in my journal after my first Sattva Himalayan Journey with Anand Ji, during the Sattva Summit in 2018. I am still not able to locate the words to adequately describe the impact that a week at Sattva had and has on my life. I held space for myself, trusting, knowing that I would be there again. In November 2019, I arrived at Sattva to deepen my awareness and understanding of my self by attending the the Summit and then a 200 hour yoga teacher training. What I know of myself continues to evolve. There is not a day that has passes that I am not in communication with my sangha, my community, not a moment has passed that I have not accessed the depths of the teachings through my practice- both on and off of my mat. For I have learned, that my practice on my mat is most relevant in the space off of my mat.
When I say practice, I do not mean only asanas, which is what my practice had been. My experience with yoga, up until experiencing Sattva, had been postures, connecting my breath with each pose. The teachings at Sattva Yoga Academy are techniques that have been known by the yogis of the Yog-Vedantic Tradition for thousands of years. These teachings are full value, comprehensive and WHOLE. Through being taught these techniques, through being guided, by accessing my practice, I know these techniques; I have embodied them. I have experienced their power; they are integrated into my life, my being, and my interactions with the world. They have provided me awareness to be present, to respond to the need of the hour. Each practice, each day I show up for myself is new, is unique. I am always pleasantly surprised by what arises. My practice offers me what is necessary and relevant to be in the moments of life. I am always receiving, always giving, always evolving.
Give yourself the gift of accessing your true being, your highest Self. Reflecting back to my first journey with Anand Ji, he knew I am more than the chatter of my lower mind. I resisted at first and I do sometimes still now. I also persist, remaining committed, for now I know that I am not that chatter, I am not reduced to a label or an identity; I am not my lower mind. A gift, whose value there are no words for. I have deep, deep reverence and gratitude to Anand Ji, the community and sangha at Sattva Yoga Academy and every being who I have encountered on my path for through these teachings, I have been able to access and connect to my Self. Beautiful, full of love, light and gratitude. Tasmai Shri Gurave Namaha. Hari Om Tat Sat.
Here I am now. Being me. With FULL gratitude for myself for showing up and following the voice within.
Sending you love and light,
Sara