Yandara Yoga Teacher Training

I don't even know where to begin to describe the Yoga Teacher Training I recently completed at Yandara in Baja, Mexico. It was an amazing experience that is difficult to put into words. Some experiences/highlights:
-Connecting deeply with others at Yandara: my fellow 16-day ladies, the teachers, the staff, the other awesome folks in the 26-day training. In the relatively short amount of time that we spent together, we made deep connections. It was an honor to be with them and learn from them.
-Enjoying the beautiful surroundings: being able to hear the waves and see the ocean from my tent, seeing AMAZING stars every night, seeing the sunrise and sunset every day, watching the transitions of the moon, walking along the beach most days, beautiful weather and no rain for 2+ weeks
-The talented and caring teachers: Shane, Kate and Sara were our 3 wonderful, inspiring, loving teachers that shared much more than excellent knowledge about the physical practice of yoga. They truly live in the present and showed us how to apply the principles of yoga into our day-to-day lives off the mat.
-The food: It was delicious, it was nutritious, it was made with love and it was shared with others in a loving, fun community. What could be better?! The only other thing that made it even better for me as a dietitian was that it gave me such a nice break from thinking about nutrition and food: all of it was taken care of for me so I could simply relax and enjoy. 

Now for the photo tour...
This is the beach pavilion where we trained every day. It was a 3 minute walk to the beachfront from here. Beautiful and serene. 

 View from the beach pavilion facing some of the tents. Mine is just to the right of the small pavilion.

 One set of outdoor toilets and showers.

 My breakfast every morning :) I loved the papaya with lime juice squeezed on it.

 A typical lunch/dinner. The food was definitely a highlight. Let me re-phrase that: not having to think about planning, shopping for, cooking and preparing delicious, healthy food was absolutely wonderful.

 One of our last mornings together. It was so chilly at night! Once the sun set at 6 p.m. the temperature dropped about 20-30 degrees until 9 a.m. the next morning.

 My final "presentation" was to co-teach a 70 minute class to the whole group. Here I am after the class with my buddy Ximena, who was also my tent neighbor :)

 On our last full day, we walked a ways to an oasis where this huge fig tree has clearly been thriving for many, many years!

 Beautiful Kate, made us a delicious raw chocolate pie. It tasted divine.

 Our group the night of graduation

I miss this place and these fabulous people but I am excited about applying all the things I have learned into my life. The teaching principles will be put into practice much sooner than I thought: I start teaching at Buena Onda Yoga this Wednesday!! I couldn't be more thrilled! :) Right now I have 4 classes per week, at least one class at each of the three studios, so I have been prepping a lot and trying not to get nervous :)