One year ago, I was just starting yoga teacher training. I knew I wanted to teach yoga and I knew I wanted to teach it outdoors. At the time, it was just an inkling in my mind to travel, I thought you had to have taught for years and years before anyone would allow you to lead a retreat. By the time I completed my first 200 hours, I was confident that I could pull this off. But I didn’t know how. And it had to be after the extensive training, once the main course was completed. Facebook suggested a company, that I will not name and all I had to do was pick the place and they’d take care of the rest. Easy enough, right?
Well, it wasn’t so much. Because, although you pay them to set things up for you, they do NO advertising for your trip. Unless its almost sold out. Which doesn’t make sense to me, considering I was constantly seeing emails for someone else’s trip and never my own. After a few months, they cancelled my trip, due to lack of reservations. Then sent me a few emails asking if I would like to attend someone else’s retreat. How bogus is that? I had three reservations for a place that slept 6. That little push they so graciously gave others, could have made all of the difference in my retreat. I was so thrown by the coldness of the people that were so ‘eager’ to help me sell this retreat, after they cancelled the trip without telling me. But I was NOT discouraged. I was hosting my damned trip.
I decided to take the planning into my own hands. I had the dates set, I knew where I wanted to go and I had guests waiting. I have been planning my own personal vacations with friends since I turned 21, so what’s so different about this? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. So, my days became planning out where to teach in the meantime and planning this trip. I researched about 20 different vacation homes and villas across the island of Jamaica. I narrowed it down 10, then 5. All while trying to co-manage a house, a 14 year old, a yoga teacher training extension course with homework and plan a teaching schedule. When I got the planning down to a top 2, I had my guests choose. Which was fun for them to feel included in the planning process. There was just TOO many cool places to choose from!
Over the course of 7 months, I put this together. I even paid for a few Facebook ads. All of my hard work will soon pay off. In less than 2 months, we will be sitting on a private beach in sunny Jamaica. I will teach one yoga class a day, on the beach and we will spend the day exploring the island and sea.
I have already started to plan my next yoga and wellness retreat in Hawaii. It is slated for September 1-5, either on the Big Island or the island of Molokai. I reached out to a fellow yoga teacher and dear friend, to see about co-leading this one with me and she said YES! I plan for about 2 classes a day (one morning and one sunset) with 1 rest/full exploration day. There will also be an essential oils workshop and special 90 minute vinyasa class, that will highlight how essential oils can enrich your yoga practice and your life.
I am so grateful that I took the steps needed to fulfill my goals and set up my life to be filled with the things I take pleasure in. Teaching yoga (any and everywhere!), being outdoors and living my yoga on and off if the mat. The people that I have been blessed to work with, and learn from have made all of the difference and I am SO happy to have embarked on this journey with a heart filled with love.
When you focus on living to your potential, set goals, work towards them and stay on track, you can accomplish GREAT things! The sky is the limit, unless you wanna teach yoga in space. But that will probably be accessible soon too! If there is something you want to do in life, but think its not achievable, go for it! Believe in yourself and things WILL happen. Trust in the Universe and it will provide.
Namaste loves,
Yoga with Randi 