I am finally finding some time to write about the last two trainings I attended in Feb/March 2018. I came back to Seville feeling refreshed and inspired, as I usually do when I come back from trainings. It helped that we were in sunny Tenerife where it was summer pretty much all the time. I needed some serious vitamin D and sunshine on my skin. It was my second time on the island. The 501 training in 2016 was also in Tenerife but in the north of the island. This year the training was held in La Hacienda Cristoforo, a retreat centre in Costa Adeje, in the south of Tenerife. I didn't get to see much of Tenerife the last time, so I made sure to have 3 days before and after the trainings to have some time to myself and reflect and have fun :) Tenerife is very green and full of palm tree fields; they seem to have been planted wherever there was space :) (To be fair it probably seems like that now among the buildings and towns which have been built, but they probably were there first). I thought it was cool, I had never seen fields of palm trees.
I stayed in an Airbnb instead of Cristoforo in an effort to save money and also to have my own space to come home to, but the place is beautiful. The place has been there for almost 45 years and is the vision of Denis Devaris who is an artist, architect and therapist. The guest houses feel like part of the nature that surrounds them and the grounds are filled with beautiful statues and sculptures as well as an impressive garden. My Airbnb was a 15mins walk from the centre which made for some beautiful walks in the morning sunlight prior to practice. I love walking, it is such a great way to quiet the mind and take a moment to appreciate the surrounding nature.
I feel so grateful to have been able to sit on the 501 training once again, it is such a privilege to re-visit the tools learned over a year ago and to learn new ones. The environment of the training has been such an anchor in the past 18 months of my life as I committed to the process of becoming an It's Yoga trainer. To be surrounded by like-minded people and to feel supported is a gift and a powerful experience. It can be so easy to forget. That is why they say training starts when the training ends; because once "the training" ends it is when I really get to use and put in practice the tools. The trainings are great to reinforce everything learned so that it stays with me when I leave. It has been such and amazing experience to feel, see and share the shifts and changes which have occurred in my practice on and off the mat. During this 501 training one of my wants was that I want to be part of a community. It very much felt like that in this training because Marie had organised the trainings so that they all merged together somewhat. It was really beautiful to have people from different backgrounds as well as in different stages of their journey within the It's Yoga system in one group of people. The sense of a community being built was very palpable.
My purpose for participating in the 501 training is to be attentive to my needs, loving towards myself & others, forgiving, open & understanding so that I listen with honesty & kindness, accept what I cannot change, see the beauty within & around me and heal from deep within. Therefore, I have love, peace of mind, harmony and balance on & off the mat.