Listener Love, Island Time & An Upcoming 200-Hour YTT

In this episode, we’re doing a little catch-up on what’s been happening behind the scenes at Yoga Insider.

I’m sharing some lovely listener feedback, reflecting on my recent time on Hornby Island, and talking about why I’m leaning into a theme of rest in my classes this month - including more yoga nidra, guided meditation, and slower, more restful practices.

Finally, I’m sharing the first details about something I’m really excited about: an upcoming 200-hour yoga teacher training in Portugal in April 2027.

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 0:05

Welcome back to Yoga Insider Podcast. I'm your host, Alex Wake. If you're new here, I've been a yoga teacher for over 14 years, and today I run a fully independent yoga business that doesn't rely on studio classes. I offer pre-registered yoga series 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 run a yoga business that's actually sustainable. And 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. That is exactly what Yoga Insider Podcast is here for. Grab yourself a cup of coffee and let's dive into today's episode. All right, welcome back to another week of Yoga Insider Podcast. Um, I'm so glad to be here as always, and I thought that I would start out today's episode by sharing a little bit of listener feedback. Now, I always say, I feel like in the podcast, that like I love hearing from all of you. I love it when you leave a little comment on Spotify or you send me a message on Instagram. And I recently received an email from a listener that was so, so kind, and I just thought that I would share part of it with all of you. So this is how it goes. What I appreciate about your podcast is that you approach teaching yoga in a respectful yet realistic way. I've listened to about 15 episodes so far, and I'm so inspired. I already have lots of ideas about how I can make teaching yoga, even if it's never my primary source of income, because I love being a journalist, a sustainable and long-term endeavor. Thank you for everything you are doing to help educate yoga teachers, especially new and in progress ones like me. If I lived closer, I would be a regular at your classes, but I do hope to attend one of your trainings one day. Thanks for taking the time to read my message. Hope you have a blessed day. Thank you so much to the beautiful listener who sent that email. It like totally made my week, made my day, um, just to hear kind feedback like that. And I think I've said this before, like, you know, just because of the nature of podcasting, like it's kind of one-sided, right? Like I'm talking, you know, to a screen or to a camera, um, putting it out into the world, hoping that it, you know, meets the people that it needs to meet. Um, but you don't always get to have that conversation or that dialogue with people. And it's just so, so nice to hear a little bit back from people from time to time. So thank you, thank you for taking the time to send that um really positive and encouraging message. Now, last week when I was on the podcast, I was talking about how I was like on vacation and I was just kind of popping in because I'd been whitewater rafting. And then after that, we actually went to another like little vacation, and I was on Hornby Island here in British Columbia. Um, it was my first time visiting Hornby Island, and for those who don't know, just because we have so many international listeners here, um, British Columbia is the province in the west of Canada. So we like the the land of British Columbia touches the Pacific Ocean. Um, and then off the coast of the mainland, there is a larger island called Vancouver Island. And then in between Vancouver Island, I Vancouver Island and the mainland of British Columbia, there are some little small islands, um, often known as like the Gulf Islands of BC. And so Hornby Island is one of the Gulf Islands. It's super, super small. It's quite remote as well. So there's only like I think like 1200 people who live there. And you have to take three ferries to get there. So it's like an all-day trek. It's definitely like not the easiest place to access. Um, but one of the things that draws people to Hornby Island are the amazing beaches. So here in BC, the majority of our beaches are pretty rocky. Um, the water in the ocean here is like pretty cold. And so we don't necessarily have the best beaches, like even though they're scenic and beautiful to look at, they're not necessarily the best beaches for like just laying out in the sand and like reading your book. But Hornby Island is known for its beautiful beaches, and it has a couple of gorgeous, like white sandy beaches that are in these protected little bays where the water is like really calm and really shallow and clear and warm, and that is just so different from most of the beaches in BC. So I really wanted to see the beaches there, and my husband and I planned a trip like ages ago to go camping on Hornby Island. So that's where we were this past week, and I loved it. I had such a great time. Um, there's really not a lot like to do on Hornby Island. There isn't a ton of infrastructure there, but I feel like that was the point of the trip was for us to not do anything. So we basically just like set up camp and then spent our days at the beach, literally just like napping on the beach, reading books on the beach, going in the water to cool off, and just like repeating the cycle over and over again. Um, and yeah, just doing nothing was so blissful for me. It was so needed. I feel like there's nothing that I love more than just like laying on the warm sand with the sun on me, enjoying a good book. I was reading the um the second book in the well, no, I don't know if it's the second book, but the the book that comes after heated rivalry. It's called The Long Game. Um, I started reading that book when I was on the trip. And yeah, it was it was great. It was great for my brain. So that's where we were. We were basically just like resting on an island, and it was such a privilege to be able to go do that. And I am taking that theme of rest with me into the month of August. Now, sometimes I do like a monthly theme for my pre-registered yoga classes, and I don't always do one, but if there's something that's kind of showing up for me, then I go with it. So I feel like this month's my theme is rest, and I'm going to integrate a little bit more rest into my classes by offering either like a Yoga Nidra practice or some kind of a guided meditation practice at the end of all of my classes this month. And what's nice about the fact that I teach 90-minute vinyasa classes is that I have the time to do that. Because I know that when people are coming to those 90-minute vinyasa classes, like, you know, they're there because they want to move, right? They want to move their bodies, they want to explore the poses. But because we have that extra time, I feel like there's adequate space in the class to add rest and make sure that we get kind of like proper rest as part of the practice. And so that is my plan for the month of August is to like just really bring in a more restful focus, even in those more dynamic classes, um, and create, you know, just little bits of space for people to relax and find some quiet and some stillness within themselves. That that's what's coming through for the month of August. So I'm gonna go with that. Um, and that I mean, that's my takeaway from being on Hornby Island is just how important it is to kind of remove all of the distractions, the stimulation, the urgency that shows up in our daily lives, and literally just like know that it's okay to do nothing. So yeah, feeling good. Um, I also really enjoyed that there were a lot of fossils on the beach on Hornby Island. That was like a surprise to me that I didn't know about until I got there, and then I realized that like all the rocks had fossils in them, so that was super cool. Um, now one thing that I wanted to share with you all today is that I have a 200-hour yoga teacher training coming up in 2027, and I want my Yoga Insider listeners to like be the first to know and kind of get first dibs on signing up for that training if it's something that you're interested in. Now, this training is taking place in Portugal at my friend Eva Maxine Hamilton's retreat center called Source Yoga. And I ran a retreat alongside her earlier this year, just a couple months back. It was a treat slash yoga training for yoga teachers, and together we are co-teaching a 200-hour training in April 2027. So this is a live-in immersive training that runs from April 3rd to April 23rd, 2027. And essentially, essentially, you would come to stay at the source, you would live there for almost a month, and you would complete your 200-hour YTT with us, and we'll be teaching together. My plan is to get Eva on the podcast um later this year so that her and I can really talk about the curriculum. And I don't want to talk about that too much, like without her present, but I can say that the curriculum is incredibly comprehensive, like it is outstanding. She's put so much work into this training. Um, but what I do want to speak to is what it's like being in an immersive program. So there's different types of 200-hour trainings available out there. And the first training that I ever took, way, way back in the day, was an immersive training. Now, typically when I teach 200-hour trainings, I teach them in more of a part-time format. Um, and that's partially just because of where I live here in BC, the lifestyle of a lot of people who want to come to the trainings. It works out for a lot of folks to come to a part-time training where they're training just on weekends, for example, over the period of a few months so that they're still able to go to their jobs during the week and so that there's time and space between training weekends to kind of integrate what you've learned. But an immersive experience is also really, really incredible. And if it's something that you are able to fit into your lifestyle or the phase of life that you're in, I highly recommend an immersive training. What's cool about this is that we're basically all living together in one space for almost a month. So you're there all day, like with your fellow trainees and with your teachers. And in this kind of environment, everything is taken care of for you. So your accommodation is included in your tuition, your meals are prepared for you. So you don't have to think about, you know, what am I gonna cook for breakfast? Have I cleaned my room? What, you know, what am I gonna do later? Like everything is completely taken care of for you so that you can focus fully on the training. And I feel like one of the things that an immersive YTT kind of lends itself towards is a deeper spiritual experience. Um, an experience of stepping away from your everyday life, stepping away from your typical, like what we call in the yogic tradition, householder duties, like working and making meals and caring for family, caring for children, etc. And you are fully like immersing yourself in a yogic lifestyle. Um, I feel like for folks who are seeking a more profound transformation, um, people who are seeking the opportunity to spend more time with themselves, to be surrounded by like-minded people, like an immersive program is a really, really special way to do that and have a really deep lasting experience that stays with you really for the rest of your life. So I'm so excited to co-teach this 200-hour training in April with Eva. It is an in-person training. Um, it's really about like hands-on instruction to build your confidence. You're there in the room with us, with your teachers. You're gonna get tons of real teaching experience because I know that that is a belief that Eva and I both share is that the only way you're gonna learn to teach is by actually teaching. So, you know, we'll spend a lot of time doing that. Um, it also includes 20 nights room and board. And what's so amazing is that you also get this kind of like retreat experience as part of the 200-hour training. So you're gonna stay in a 400-year-old restored house in Portugal's Duro Valley. Uh, there's opportunities to share rooms with uh your fellow trainees or have your own private room. All your meals are provided: coffee, tea, snacks, fruit, like everything is taken care of for you. And then you also get access to a 40-hour online learning container. So you'll have access to Eva's continuous study platform where she has lectures and a library of yoga classes. And that's really nice that you get these resources to kind of support you before and after the training as well. So it's not like the training finishes and then that's it. It's like there's more there for you if you're looking for it. There is a 10-hour mentorship available after the training ends. And you also get all of the training manuals, which are so stunning. They are a resource again that I'm sure that you'll return to over and over again once training is finished. Everything's provided for you. So if you're traveling from far away, you don't need to bring your yoga mat or anything like that. The yoga shala is fully stocked with all of the props that you need. The program is accredited with Yoga Alliance. Um, and yeah, whether you you know plan to teach locally or globally, you will have a certification that is recognized around the world. So it's pretty cool. Um, registration is open for this training. So we only just like officially announced this training online a day or two ago. And if you're interested, you should definitely take a look at the website. I am gonna link it in the show notes for this episode. And don't hesitate to reach out to me or reach out to Eva if you have questions. Like I said, I'm gonna get her on the podcast and we will talk about the actual curriculum and like kind of the day-to-day schedule, what to expect, our teaching philosophies. Like, we'll get into all of that. But I just wanted to give you the info now, especially if you are coming from further away, like say you're traveling from North America and you're coming to Europe for the training. Obviously, you know, there's a bit more planning and preparation that goes into being away for that long. So just wanted to give you a heads up that registration is open. I would love to have you, and I'm gonna link that in the show notes. So I'll leave you with that. Just like a quick little update today. I'm just kind of dropping in. I hope that your summer is going well. Let me know if you've been enjoying the podcast. Send me a little note, leave a review wherever you've been listening, and I'll see you next time.