Many people host a fantasy where they quit their job, run away from the city, and retreat into an idealised yoga-fied version of themselves – or a more relaxed and satisfied version of themselves. This is a compelling fantasy – and often one that gets us through the hard days! While sometimes a great escape is absolutely necessary, often a re-framing from within, and subsequent small but significant changes, brings the utter renewal of purpose, ease, and dynamism that many are seeking.
I came to meditation, yoga, and healing practices young – in my early 20’s – and highly sceptical. Even though some of the yoga stuff seemed a distraction from the life I was planning, or just weird – some part of me had woken up – I wanted more out of life than what I was getting from my friendships and work. Now, nearly 20 years later, I sense that same longing in many of my students – of all ages. Many people desire to cultivate a more nourishing relationship with their inner world than they have tools for. Just coming to yoga class on a weekly basis is not enough to get the traction on daily habits. To go from fantasy to reality, we need specific information about what to do; we need a coherent framework that unites practices; we need other people doing the same things at the same time so that we can share our process and feel supported in making changes.
What you hear in different classes about how to practice varies wildly. Taking practice up a level is desirable but teacher training is big leap and expensive if you aren’t sure you want to teach. How can we go deeper and get a sense of why the teachings vary, so we can decide what’s right for us?
I created, with stellar colleagues, The Practices of Freedom and Wellbeing Immersion to help people integrate the practices of yoga, practical biomechanics of asana, the uplifting Tantric Yogic worldview, and eating for optimal health into everyday life in a way that brings the sensible and the spiritual together like they should be. We share a compendium of approaches for living that help people to make real changes and find their inner source to keep inspiration alive. We have initiated community as a vessel for all of this – so we can keep tasting deeper reaches of freedom – so we can enjoy the benefits of true wellbeing – I think we all deserve it.
On the day retreat at triyoga, I’ve pulled out some of our ‘greatest hits’ – an uplifting practice, clarification on the poses we do most often, practices for a more healing relationship to food, motivation for meditation, and more. This day is a retreat into the sanctuary of your own power to be free – bridging the gap between yoga fantasy and yoga reality. It’s going to be a replenishing, inspirational and very very useful day!
Leila Sadeghee is a healer, yoga teacher, mentor, and therapeutic bodyworker with nearly 15 years experience in guiding people to physical, mental, and emotional freedom. Yoga with Leila combines lightness of heart with vibrant intelligence in ways that keep opening doors for her students. Empowered by 17 years of her own yoga practice, a long-standing practice of therapeutic work in the body, and a lifelong freewheeling sense of fun, Leila has developed a straight-forward and uplifting style of teaching that supports people in opening to their highest potential, both on and off the mat. Leila is co-creator of The Practices of Freedom and Wellbeing Immersion, a course that teaches clear and useful pose alignment, eating for optimal health, and how to allow your yoga practice to up-shift every aspect of your life. She offers magical retreats, workshops, and yoga teacher training. Visit https://www.leilasadeghee.com/
