Why are people joining the Living Yoga Program

Why are people joining Living Yoga?

I’ve been asking myself this question lately.

Because, interestingly, most people joining Living Yoga are not coming because they have decided they want to become yoga teachers.

They are coming because they want to understand their yoga practice more deeply.

And honestly, I like that.

There is something slightly strange about the idea that every serious yoga student eventually has to become a teacher. As if practising yoga deeply is somehow not enough.

It is.

Some people simply want to know more. They want to move beyond following instructions in a weekly class and start understanding what they are actually doing. Why or when this posture? Why or when this breath? Why this way of working? What happens when I practise differently?

And underneath all of that, there is often another wish:

“I want to be able to practise on my own.”

This is something I care about a lot.

I don’t think a yoga practice should leave you permanently dependent on your teacher. At some point, the teacher has to become a little less necessary.

Not because you know everything, but because you have developed enough awareness, knowledge and curiosity to explore for yourself.

To get on your mat without somebody telling you what to do.

To recognise what you need that day.

To make choices.

To stay with something that is difficult instead of immediately moving on.

And sometimes to realise that today, doing less is actually the practice.

That kind of independence doesn’t happen after a weekend workshop. It takes time. It takes practice. And it takes the willingness to look at yoga as something much bigger than a collection of postures.

And then there is real life.

One of the things I hear from people joining Living Yoga is that they want to do something substantial, but they don’t want to put their entire life on hold to do it.

I understand that completely.

We have jobs. Children. Partners. Parents. Deadlines. Laundry. Life.

And I actually think that is a good thing.

I’m not interested in creating a bubble where we spend a few intense weeks talking about yoga, feeling inspired, practising all day — and then go home and somehow forget everything we discovered.

Yoga has to survive Monday morning.

It has to survive the difficult conversation, the school run, the busy week at work, the tired evening when you really don’t feel like practising.

Otherwise, what are we doing?

This is one of the reasons I wanted Living Yoga to take place in the Netherlands and to be spread across six months so that you can continue living your life while the practice develops alongside it.

You don’t have to disappear to find yourself.

And perhaps, in the end, that is much more interesting.

Close to the city, but not in the city

The location is another thing people mention.

We are just outside the city, surrounded by nature and quiet. It is easy to get to, but once you arrive, there is a noticeable shift.

I like that it is neither a city studio nor some remote retreat centre that requires a small expedition to reach.

It sits somewhere in between.

And that feels right for this program.

Because Living Yoga is not about escaping your life.

It is about learning how to live it differently.

So when I look at the people who are joining, I see people who have reached a point where simply going to yoga classes is no longer enough.

They want to know what is underneath the practice.

They want to become more self-reliant.

They want to make yoga their own.

And they want to do it without having to disappear from the life they are already living.

For me, that is a pretty good reason to start.