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Sasha and Kyle Guiding A Class The alarm goes off before sunrise. The air in Chiapas at 2,200 metres is chilly at six in the morning, sometimes enough that you can see your breath inside the room. You pull on layers, splash water on your face, and walk to the heated practice hall in the dark. This is how twenty-eight consecutive days begin. For more on what the setting in San Cristóbal specifically contributes to the training — the altitude, the forest, the distance from ordi

Ben Hildebrand Shares Experiences From 14, 56 and 7 Day Darkness Retreats A long darkness retreat — typically thirty days or more in total isolation from light — produces changes in consciousness that shorter retreats cannot. Ben Hildebrand spent 56 days in total darkness at Hridaya Family, our darkness retreat facility in Chiapas, Mexico. What follows is what he found, and what actually shifts at each stage. When the door opened after 56 days, our retreat host came to speak

A Mandala, Similar to That Used in Tantrik Vizualization practices Most yoga teachers learn a great deal about the body before they teach. Almost none of them are asked what the body is. This is not a trivial omission. Your answer to that question, whether you have examined it or not, shapes every cue you give, every adjustment you make. It fundamentally changes the very orientation of your own practice and therefore the way you guide future students. A teacher who believes t

I was invited to start teaching meditation and yoga retreats when I was 23. I had been practising for several years, I knew the postures, some philosophy, I could cue a class competently. I didn't feel competent, but I did feel well armed with my teachers words and was ready to regurgitate them on command. I loved the philosophy and exploring the presentation of the teachings that underpin any serious yoga practice. Quickly it became clear that yoga as a stretching routine wa