Portugal Recap + Upcoming Retreats in British Columbia!

This week on Yoga Insider, I'm reflecting on co-teaching the WellSpring Retreat + Training for Yoga Teachers at The Source in Portugal. One of my biggest takeaways is that it doesn't matter where you're from - yoga teachers from around the world face many of the same challenges when it comes to teaching & time spent with other yoga teachers is such a wonderful way to find comraderie and support in a profession that can, at times, feel isolating.

If you'd like to join a day retreat in Ryder Lake, British Columbia, you can register HERE. Join Alexandria Waycott on July 12th or 17th for a nourishing yoga retreat surrounded by lavender fields and mountain views! Your retreat pass includes an open-air Hatha yoga practice taught by Alex, Nordic hot & cold therapy (cedar sauna & ice bath), snacks & refreshments, and a guided yoga nidra meditation to ground and integrate.

If you'd like to learn more about trainings & retreats at The Source in the Douro Valley, Portugal, click HERE.

Instagram: @alexandria.waycott

YouTube: @yogainsiderpodcast

Website: www.alexandriawaycottyoga.com

Send me an email! alexandriawaycottyoga@gmail.com

Music & Production by Kyler Pierce

Photography featured in cover art by Colton Muma

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Welcome back to Yoga Insider Podcast. I'm your host, Alex Wacott. If you're new here, I've been a yoga teacher for the past 14 years, and today I run a completely independent yoga business that doesn't rely on studio classes. I offer pre-registered yoga series for folks in my community, as well as continuing education for yoga teachers who want to refine their skills. Over the years, I've learned a lot about what it takes to build a yoga business that's actually sustainable. And I feel like I'm still learning right now. Part of my mission is to have real conversations with yoga teachers around the world about what it's actually like to work in the modern yoga industry. And that's really what Yoga Insider Podcast is here for. Grab yourself a cup of coffee and let's dive into today's episode. All right. I feel like I have lots to share. As many of you know, if you know me in real life or you're like a regular listener to the podcast, I am all for yoga teachers working smarter, not harder. And for me, sometimes that means batching podcast episodes and like pre-recording episodes ahead of time for kind of points, you know, in certain months or during the year where I know I'm gonna be really busy. I know that I have a lot going on, like maybe I'm running a training, maybe I'm traveling. Um, and like batching my content just allows me to, you know, still put something out there for all of you, but without sitting down every single week and like recording in real time. Um, so I did that for myself recently because I knew that I had some travel coming up, and I actually just got back from teaching a trainingslash retreat for yoga teachers in Portugal. And so I knew that that was coming up on my calendar, and I was like, what can I do to make this easier for myself so that I'm not like, you know, missing out on the beauty of being in Portugal and having to like try to record a podcast while I'm not at home and away from the recording studio and all that. Um, yeah, so this is like my first time back in a while. Hopefully, I'm not gonna be too rusty. Um, but yeah, I was away, I was co-teaching a yoga retreat and training in Portugal. And I thought that it would be fun to share just like a little bit of a recap of you know what the retreat was, how did it go? Um, and yeah, just have like a little catch-up with all of you. So um just for a little bit of background context, I feel like some of the seeds for this retreat were planted like back in February of last year. Um, before I even knew that like this retreat was a possibility. I was attending a katona training in London. Um, and it was hosted at Mission in Shoreditch. I feel like they run a lot of really big trainings and bring in like international teachers from all over the world. It's a really cool studio. Um, and so I was there. I was there to just attend a training. And um, yeah, it was a big training. There's lots of people in the room on the first day, and I ended up sitting down next to another girl who also happened to be Canadian, but she was living in Portugal. And so her and I were practicing next to each other, and you know, we got talking and working together. We ended up going for lunch on most days of the training. And I feel like as soon as we got talking, we realized that we had a lot of things in common. Um, and we had a lot to talk about. I feel like we'd both been teaching a similar amount of time, teaching since we were teenagers. Um, and we had just encountered, I feel like, some of the same kind of challenges and experiences that come with being a longtime yoga teacher. Um, so that is where I met my friend Eva, and her and I stayed in touch. And then at the end of last year, she reached out to me and proposed the idea that I join her as a co-teacher for a yoga retreat and training for yoga teachers at her home, which is called The Source in the Duro Valley in Portugal. Um, so obviously that was a very easy yes for me. I was like, this sounds like such a beautiful opportunity and a chance for us to reconnect because I really only got to just kind of start chatting with Eva at that training, and I felt like there was so much more there and so much that I wanted to be able to like talk to her about. Um, and you know, typically if I'm gonna be running a retreat or a training, I like to go view like the space and the property beforehand and even like take a class or take a retreat there, like before I run something myself. Um, but obviously, because I'm in Vancouver and Eva's in Portugal, like that wasn't really a practical option. Um, but I had seen plenty of photos and plenty of videos, and obviously I'd met Eva in person, and I just knew that the space was gonna be amazing, and I was super confident to like invite my students there as well. And when I got there, it was more beautiful than I could have ever expected. Um, more beautiful than like the photos do justice to. Um, yeah, so that was just so fun. And yeah, Eva's retreat center is called The Source, and she offers retreats and trainings for yogi teachers there, and it's just about like an hour and 10-minute drive east of Porto. So I flew into Porto. Um, it's in the Juro Valley, and so the setting of the retreat center is like really, really idyllic, and you're just surrounded by mountains and like rolling hills, and they're covered in these like terraced vineyards. And I feel like every direction you look, like 360 degrees, everything is beautiful, everything is stunning, everything is like worthy of taking a photo of. And what was so cool was I I think I didn't quite realize just because I hadn't been there in person, how like removed the setting of the retreat center really was from like the city. Like, I don't know why I I didn't imagine that it was like quite that rural and that it was really in a village. And so what I loved was that the setting really lends itself towards just being able to relax and being able to land in your body because there's nowhere else to be. Like there's no distractions, there's no stores, there's no traffic, there's no nightlife. Um, it's just this kind of picturesque beauty that surrounds you and the sounds of animals and nature and like the roosters making their noises in the morning. And that's it. And it was a really, really good place to unplug. Now, our retreat was called the Wellspring Retreat, and the premise of the retreat was to really give yoga teachers the opportunity to fill their own cups. So we acknowledged quite a few times during the week that teaching yoga is definitely a giving profession. And like, even though we're not saving lives and you know, we're not like healthcare professionals or nurses or anything like that, um, there's a lot of energy and a lot of kind of like unseen labor that goes into doing this work and teaching yoga. And so the idea was for yoga teachers to really be able to take a week to give back to themselves and refill their creative wells. And so one of the ways that we did that was through really long morning practices. So this was kind of like what you would get in like a 200-hour or a 300-hour YTT. And we would do two-hour morning practices that felt really spacious, so that there was time for meditation, there was time for mantra, there was time to um move through the poses in a way that was unhurried and spend time with them and take a long shavasana. And like, it's just one of those things, you know, I think that makes like a training or a retreat special is that you have time to really go deep and engage in those longer practices in a way that you just don't in a public yoga class that's only 60 minutes, and you know, you've got to get in and get out. Um, and so yeah, we we did a lot of practices that felt really complete and spacious and unhurried. That is how I would describe them. Um, and one of the things that made just like from the teaching side, teaching this retreat and training feel really sustainable was that Eva and I alternated the teaching. So one morning she would teach the morning practice, and then I would teach the afternoon workshop, and then the next day we would switch and I would teach the morning practice, and she would teach the afternoon workshop. Um, and it just felt like such a nice reciprocal way to teach because like we were both getting to practice and move our bodies, we were both getting to learn from each other, and then we were also getting to facilitate and like work with the other teachers, the guests who were there. Um and yeah, I just feel like, you know, it's a great way to teach whether you're teaching a workshop or a training or a retreat, like just to have another teacher there to share things with. So it doesn't feel like you're carrying the whole load and the whole responsibility all by yourself. It's like there's somebody else there to kind of help out with that and take a little bit of the load off. Um, and I've talked about that before. Like I've mentioned um my friend Jessica, who she's actually been a guest on the podcast, Jessica Bagrera, she talks about um Ayurveda and TCM and self-care for yoga teachers. If you go a few episodes back, um like I love teaching with her because we we just compliment each other. And again, it's just like so helpful to feel like you're not doing everything yourself, just even from like kind of a mental emotional perspective. Um, and like when you're teaching with somebody else, you don't have to teach the exact same way as them. You don't have to like agree 100% on every single aspect of teaching yoga. And I feel like it actually makes things interesting and offers some nice perspective and variety for students and for each other if you don't. Um, but I feel like as long as you fundamentally are aligned when it comes to like the fundamental values and ethics that inform your teaching. Um, and you know, the way that that you approach it and the way that you approach your students, um, I feel like, yeah, it's just really, really nice to have somebody else to teach with. So that was one of the things that I really um appreciated about, you know, this week in Portugal was like having somebody else to co-teach with and and share the teaching and experience with together. Um, and yeah, and then in the afternoons, every day we would do some kind of a workshop. And what was cool was we got to touch on something new every day. So we looked at Ayurveda for yoga teachers and like theming classes seasonally so that everything feels really like cohesive and intuitive in relation to like the environment and what's happening in the outer world. Um, we got to practice a bunch of hands-on assists and Thai massage. We looked at some ways that yoga teachers can refine their verbal cues and get a little bit more direct and kind of stripped back with their language. Um, we looked at nervous system tools for facilitators and like holding space and boundaries and clear communication. And like what was nice about the workshops was that some of them had some more theory. Um, some were more hands-on and like experiential, but I don't think it ever felt like exhausting or overwhelming. Um, the workshops were just long enough to provide some inspiration, some ideas, kind of like get the wheels turning, get people thinking about things. But the lessons weren't so long in the way that they can sometimes feel if you're in like a 200 or 300 hour YTT, where you get to the point in the day where like people just stop paying attention and their eyes are glazed over. And like, obviously, if you're a yoga teacher listening to this, you probably know what it feels like to be like on the receiving end as well of a training that's just like really long and really theory heavy. Um, this just felt so light and so lovely, like just to have these smaller workshops kind of integrated into the day. And the feedback that was coming through during the week was that everything felt really balanced and that there was this appropriate and thoughtful balance between, you know, the amount of time spent practicing, just engaging in our own practice, the time that was spent learning and in more workshop kind of environments, and then the time that was spent socializing and relaxing and having fun and like going on little adventures. And it felt like every day had all of those little pieces. Um, and it just made it really, really special. And it was good to hear that, like, you know, that that was the feedback that was coming through from a lot of the guests on the retreat. Um, and even in the midst of like the fact that we were, you know, offering a 30-hour training, we were also able to squeeze in some little adventures and some fun. And so we went on like a vineyard tour of you know, the land like that we were staying on. Um, we got to go on this really fun hike to this like 2,000-year-old Roman bridge and go swimming in this amazing creek river that like looks like where fairies would live. Um, we did a little train trip to another town. We went on a boat ride. It was just, it was like the perfect amount of like guided and do your own thing and learn and practice. Um yeah, and even like as a person, you know, helping to facilitate the retreat, I feel like I got so much benefit from it too. Um, but one of my really big like takeaways from the week, and something that I'm thinking about right now, is just that yoga teachers from around the world face a lot of the same challenges and a lot of the same struggles. And I think it's helpful to remember that the things that can be tough about teaching probably are not unique to you, not all of them, anyways. Um, and they're probably not unique to your specific community either. Um, that was one of the things that like really stood out to me that I just loved about being in this environment was that we had yoga teachers join us from the Netherlands, from England, from the US, from Canada. Um, and the people there were teaching in like totally different environments, different, you know, amounts of experience, like with teaching. Some people were actively teaching, other people had taught before, but were maybe taking a bit of a break. And it didn't seem to matter where people were from, a lot of the same themes were coming up for people. And it's a lot of themes that we've talked about here, like on Yoga Insider podcast as well. So things like the struggle with imposter syndrome and that feeling of like, who am I to be up here in front of the room, like instructing people on yoga? Um, the same struggles with just like cueing and finding words for things and maybe having certain poses or practices that you struggle to articulate. Um, time management was a big one. And, you know, folks talking about like balancing class prep and balancing how much work behind the scenes goes into creating classes along with all of life's other demands. And, you know, people were talking about some things that I think so many yoga teachers would relate to would be like maybe you have another full-time job outside of teaching yoga, and maybe you have kids or you have caregiving responsibilities, and then you're still teaching, and at the end of a really long day, you're still trying to, you know, plan your classes for the next day. And so we were talking about some strategies for kind of like batching class plans, um, kind of like what I do with the podcast sometimes, right? And and prepping things ahead for yourself so that it doesn't feel overwhelming, um, and like something that you're kind of dreading the night before. Um, and like things like learning to assert boundaries or you know, the the reality that sometimes we have to have tough conversations with people. Um all of these types of things were coming up, and this was quite affirming, like just on a personal level for me as well, that my mission with Yoga Insider Podcast is to have real conversations with real yoga teachers around the world about what it's like to work in the modern yoga industry. And it was affirming to know that like these conversations that we're having here on the podcast are probably quite relevant to a lot of yoga teachers and do resonate with a lot of yoga teachers from all over the place. Like the challenges that we experience are not necessarily unique to us as individuals or to where we're located geographically. And it doesn't mean that there aren't exceptions, but you could see just spending the week with a group of international teachers that there are a lot of themes that are more universal and like struggles that we all share. Um, and and it also reminded me just how important it is to make the time and like carve out the time to actually be with other yoga teachers outside of the yoga studio, outside of like work type environments. Um I feel like when you're able to get together with other yoga teachers and actually take the time to talk, you can find out how things are going for each other, you can find out like what you guys are getting paid. I feel like that's so important, like to be transparent about those kinds of things. Um, you can talk about like how's it going teaching at this place? How's it going working here? And like those kinds of peer-to-peer relationships are really, really important. And they're a really important way to get support and to find out what's actually going on in your community, to find out what's working and what isn't, because another one of those feelings that so many yoga teachers have is that teaching yoga is lonely. And that's true. Like we do a lot of things on our own. We maybe run into other yoga teachers, but it's more in passing, or maybe we're just taking their yoga class, but like we don't actually have time to connect. And so I feel like it's really easy to fall into this feeling that you're alone in your struggles and like nobody else is struggling, you know, with their class planning or their cueing or their balance between, you know, wanting to teach classes, but also having other interests and like other things that you want to pursue in your life. But when you make the time to get together with other yoga teachers, whether that's like going to a training, whether it's taking an online training, I feel like online trainings can also offer really great support and a chance to meet like teachers from other places. Um, whether it is starting up your own peer discussion group in your community, um, all of those things and all of those opportunities just to get together with like other yoga teachers. So so good. So I really appreciated that. And I appreciated that I got to like hang out with the other yoga teachers and get to know them a little bit and like share meals with them because it was also like a retreat environment. So really, really special. Um one more reflection that I'm also kind of sitting with right now is just that like being unplugged and being removed from my usual routine and placed in a setting that was quiet and that was surrounded by nature was really, really good for my nervous system. And it made me really aware of this kind of like permanent state of urgency that I like to carry around with me. Um, especially in relationship to my work and the need to just kind of like get things done all the time. And it was just so interesting because I was given space to be able to catch myself and see myself like wanting to get things done really quickly and do everything right away. And like none of these things were important. So, like, I mean, not that they weren't important, but none of these things were like urgent and needed to be done that second. Um, and it could have been as simple as like, oh, I need to go, you know, set up the yoga studio space for the guests who are arriving, or we're gonna go make some like body scrubs for the guests. And I just realized that I was operating on this level that was too fast for my environment because I was literally in a village. Um, nothing was happening fast there, nothing seemed to be in a hurry. And it made me really aware of my tendency to want to hurry and my tendency to feel like everything is urgent. And when you run your own business, when you work like totally for yourself, I think there is a sense of urgency that you carry. Um, and there's this feeling often that like you need to get back to people right away, you need to respond to emails really quickly, you need to like get everything done right away. And I think I pride myself in being efficient in my work because that's like one of the things that makes business work and like keeps everything rolling and moving ahead. But I am really appreciative of the opportunity to shed some light on that sort of like urgent energy that I am carrying around with me. And I think that what I'm taking home with me is just the realization that I don't need to operate from that level of urgency all of the time. Um, and I feel like these things are so obvious. Like, that's you know, one of the features of like going on retreat is like, oh, time to slow down, time to just like decompress and disconnect a little bit from like the day to day. Um but to just have it made so obvious to me was was quite helpful. And so I'm just reminding myself that like some things can wait. Not everything is an emergency. Like, I am a yoga teacher, I am not saving anybody's life. Um, I'm allowed to rest, I am allowed to have fun, and things are not going to crumble and like you know, be destroyed if I'm not constantly working. So that's something that I'm really grateful for. Um, and I think it's worth saying that like obviously retreats and trainings can be transformative, they can be impactful for our students and for people who attend them, but they can also be really impactful for us as teachers. And like everything is a mirror, everyone is a mirror, and there's always something to learn if you're open to it, and maybe even if you're not open to it, it'll still just like be right in front of you. Um yeah, and so I I'm just I'm still kind of like basking in the in the whole experience. Um, and you know, the last time I was like living, like properly living in Europe, um, was about nine years ago. And I was really struggling in a lot of ways at that time in my life. And, you know, I was pursuing a university program that really at the end of the day, like wasn't aligned with like what my soul wanted. And I remember the last summer that I was living in Europe, I'd been living in Europe on and off for quite a few years. Um, but it was 2017, and I was sitting in a cafe with my friend who was also in the same like university program, and we were living in Amsterdam. So sitting in a cafe in Amsterdam, kind of just like having a heart-to-heart, like the the program was coming to an end. And I remember sitting there and saying to her that like I feel like I'm at a crossroads in my life, and my life could go one of two ways right now. And either I was going to pursue a career in academia, or I was going to like give all of that up and I was going to teach yoga full-time and like run yoga retreats in Bali. And the latter option felt totally nuts at the time. That felt like I would be, you know, tossing all of this hard work that I'd done like academically into the garbage. And that, you know, it would just never be an option. Like it really felt like a fantasy at the time. Um, even though I was struggling so much with that like kind of academic path that I'd chosen. And just for context on like how my my mental health was at that time, I had cut my hair into a bob and I got straight across banks. Um, and if you're a girl, like you know what that means. It's not good. Um, so, anyways, it it was really interesting because it felt really full circle just to be back in Europe, but for a reason that is incredibly aligned with my mission of wanting to support yoga teachers. Um, and being there, having chosen that other path, like that other fork in the road that I didn't believe was a reality back then. Um, and to be back, like a full-time yoga teacher teaching retreats. Whereas nine years ago, I was like, that's a fantasy, like that that can't actually happen. It's like, no, it can. Um, and yeah, that's just something that I'm like, I'm still integrating, I'm still sitting with right now, but it definitely was like healing for me in some way. I just haven't fully figured out what. Um, but I felt like if my past self back then could like, you know, be able to see what was in store for me, um, that that that would be really, really good. Really good for her to see. Um, that I, you know, I'm not struggling in academia right now. I'm teaching yoga retreats and I'm working with yoga teachers and it's way better. Um, yeah. So, anyways, that that's where I'm at. Had a great time in Portugal, cannot wait to go back. Um, now if you have maybe seen like some of the pictures or some of the videos from my trip and you're having a little bit of FOMO and you would like to do a yoga retreat that is close to home. So if you're listening from the Vancouver, British Columbia area, if you're located in the Fraser Valley, Southern BC, Washington State, um, I do have two day retreats coming up in Ryder Lake, BC. So that's technically like part of Chilliwack, but it's in this really beautiful mountainous region that I actually spent quite a bit of time in, like as a teenager. It kind of feels like a second home to me. It's an area that I'm really, really familiar with. Um, so these two retreats, one is on July 12th, it's a Sunday, the other is on July 17th, it's a Friday. So just like two different options depending on your work schedule. Um, these are just one-day retreats. So, like you show up in the morning, we spend the whole day together, and then you still go home to your own bed at the end of the day. So it's a really great option if you don't have a ton of time, if your schedule is busy, if you're worried about like spending the night away from your family or your kids or your pets, like you can still go home and have dinner at your own house. And it's kind of like the perfect little taste of a retreat. I love day retreats. Um, it also means that like the cost is a lot less than what you would pay for like an overnight retreat because you're not paying for accommodations. Um, and last year I ran day retreats like for my local yoga community, and we went over to Bowen Island, and it was just so fun. It was such a nice day. Um, there was a lot of people there who like knew each other and kind of recognized each other from weekly yoga classes and who'd maybe been practicing together for years and years, but hadn't really had the opportunity to like spend a whole day together. Um, and so yeah, these are gonna be one-day retreats. Uh, the setting is like surrounded by mountains. So you're surrounded by the Cascade Mountains. It honestly looks like you could be in Switzerland. Um the location is called Soil Wellness. So it's like a wellness retreat. It's pretty new. Um, it also happens to be a lavender farm. So there's beautiful lavender fields all over the property. When you walk in, it just smells like lavender. It's so fresh, and it's very like again, disconnected from city life. So even though it's really only like a 15-minute drive up the mountain from town in Chilliwack, you feel like you're just like totally transported and you really do get that feeling of like being unplugged. And so, kind of a little outline of like what the day will look like is you'll show up in the morning, you get to kind of drop off your stuff, you know, unpack a little bit, um, and then we'll we'll start with a really nice long Hatha yoga practice. And most likely that practice will be open air outside, surrounded by the trees and the mountains and the lavender fields. And that'll just be a chance for you to like drop into your body, move your body, get grounded, breathe deep. Like, I'll do all the teaching and instructing for you, and you can just really enjoy and relax. And then after that, we will shift over to some Nordic hot and cold therapy. So, one of the things that I love about this retreat center is that they have a beautiful cedar sauna. It is really spacious. Like in pictures, it looks a little bit smaller, but then when you actually go into it, like it's so big. It's got benches, it has this big window that just looks out into the lavender field and into the mountains. It's stunning. Um, and so you'll have the option to kind of cycle through hot, cold therapy. And obviously, you can just adapt like based on what your preferences are. But there's a cedar sauna for you to use. There are cold plunge tubs if you want to do a little ice bath. There is an outdoor shower if you just want to have like a really quick cold rinse off, but you don't want to totally um submerge yourself in like a tub of cold water. Um, there's an outdoor fireplace, and then you'll obviously be provided with like fresh robes and towels and tea and like everything that you need to be comfortable. Um, they've got really nice like private changing facilities there, space to store your belongings. Um, I'm also going to be providing like snacks, um, drinks, tea, like all the little refreshments and stuff that you need to basically have like a light lunch while you're there. So you really don't need to like pack a lunch or pack anything with you. You can just bring yourself, um, bring your yoga mat, and it'll be a great day. And then we'll finish with a really nice long Yoga nidra practice. So, like a guided um meditation where you'll be able to rest lying down with all your props. You can change into your comfy clothes, bring your blanket. Um, and that will just be the opportunity to kind of integrate the happenings of the day and rest deeply before you go back um to your home and to the rest of your evening. So I really hope that you will join me if you are a local. I have spaces left on both days. So whether you're interested in the Sunday or the Friday, um, there should still be space for you to join. And I want to add that these retreats are suitable for adults of all ages, and you don't need to have prior yoga experience to attend. So if you're listening to this, you know, you probably are a little bit more experienced with yoga. Um, but if you want to invite like a friend or a family member who, you know, you think would enjoy the retreat, but they haven't done a ton of yoga, it's no problem at all. Like I will take care of them. Um, they will be in great hands. And if you have any concerns, you can always email me or just like send me a message on Instagram. Um, and I will, you know, do what I can to accommodate you and make sure that you feel supported. So I'm going to link the Eventbrite sign-up for the Soil Wellness Day retreats on July 12th and 17th in the description for this episode. And I'm also gonna link Eva's retreat center, The Source in Portugal, where I was just teaching this last week. Um, Eva offers retreats, she offers yoga teacher trainings, um, yin training, myofascial release training. She has some 200-hour trainings coming up, and I highly recommend working with her, whether it's in person at the source or whether it's one of her online offerings. Um, I just like can't recommend her enough. So I will link that there as well if you're curious. And yeah, thank you so much for tuning in to another episode, another week of Yoga Insider Podcast. It's great to be back. It's great to be back in the studio chatting with you all. Um, drop me a line if you listened to this week's episode. Let me know how you're doing, what you're up to, and I'll see you next time. Thanks.