Yoga Teacher Training Course Review Video – Luisa @ The Tipi, Koh Phangan Thailand.

Special thanks to Student and new teacher graduate, Luisa, for her loving and honest review.

What made you decide to do YTTC with Tipi Thailand?

So I came to Thailand and I really enjoyed my time over here, but I came to a little bit of a crossroad where I wasn’t quite sure where to go from here. And speaking to some of my friends and also friends that I made in Thailand, who funnily enough, were yoga teachers. Everyone sort of planted little seeds in my head about the training and how it might be a good idea at my current situation that I found myself in to do something for myself and that seeds then over time started growing. So I started speaking to people around that actually in about November, December. And at first I was like, I’m not sure. I don’t know. I love yoga, but I don’t know if I, like, want to do it as a profession because like teacher training, you automatically sort of associate with becoming a yoga teacher. And but the input from friends I received that did the training, who are teachers but also friends who did it, who aren’t teachers, they all said it’s one of the best things you can do for yourself as a person. And I just felt at that point I needed to do something for myself that I haven’t tried yet and maybe even push myself a little bit to something I wasn’t entirely sure about. So I did some Googling about yoga, teacher trainings in Koh Phangan because I heard that’s the place to do it. And I came across the Tipi. So I spoke to Skye. I spoke to George, the yoga teacher, who also were very encouraging in terms of me making my final decision.

And then instead of overthinking it, I just signed up for it. And with hindsight, it’s been the best decision I’ve made this year so far. And I started this year, 2023, really, really great. And I wouldn’t have chosen any other way.

What surprised you?

So I didn’t really come to the yoga teacher training with any expectations. I was generally quite open minded. It’s not that I’ve done a training like this before, so I knew sort of what I expected. Me from looking at the schedule, looking at the curriculum and things that we cover. But for me, I’ve been doing yoga for a good few years now and I always love the physical side of it, which obviously was very much included. We did lots of workshops and classes to focus on that physical side, but things that I didn’t or things that I wasn’t particularly aware of at that time, where things like meditation and mantras, yantras and all that stuff. So that was entirely new to me was something that I’ve never really done before, and I really came to enjoy that aspect of yoga. Also looking into the philosophy in more detail. It just made me realise that yoga as such isn’t just cool, poses a physical practice that you do every morning or three or four times a week. It’s a practice that you do a lifetime. It’s a philosophy that you incorporate into your life and learning and understanding about that philosophy for me personally, was quite life changing.

I can feel how my mindset in certain situations over the last four weeks especially has shifted how I approach situations, how I approach with myself. And it overall just made me feel a lot more at peace with the world and myself. And I think without having George guiding us through the philosophy and being all embracing and buddying that philosophy, but also being a human being, just put it all into perspective. And it’s just been something so admiring for me and it’s really awoken something into me that I want to continue. So I don’t just want to, going forward, share a cool pose. The stuff I’ve learned over the last full week with my friends and family and whoever else I cross paths with. But I do really also want to include the meditations that we’ve learned that I’ve actually really started to enjoy. I started to struggle with, but now I’m like, I actually really appreciate that quietness in the morning. It’s just like really refreshing and also the philosophy. I want to incorporate that into my life. I want to live it the best way I can, and that’s even more important for me, I think now sharing yoga and that way, instead of just as I said, doing Asana flow or Vinyasa or whatever it is doing, that there’s so much more to it. And that is what blew my mind and what I honestly didn’t expect, because the yoga flows didn’t change my life. But the philosophy and what stands behind that and that lifestyle that comes with that.

That is what blew my mind and that is what I’m now looking extremely forward to share and as I say, incorporate into my own life.

How was your time at the Tipi?

I had a really great, great time at The Tipi. I started my yoga teacher training with accommodation at the TPI as well, which for me personally was really convenient because it was the first time in Copan Yang, so I didn’t really know the area where we were. All during my training I didn’t have the most time to explore because of the schedule, but I did feel very settled and at home in my little bungalow just behind the gym, it gave me the opportunity to also have a sneak peek at other classes that the TPI offers, like the yoga or the contact improv dancing that’s awoken some interest. And now that I’m finished with the course, I’m actually even exploring some of those options that the TPI has to offer as well. All in all, I felt really look after in this whole environment and my plan came with not just accommodation but also food, which again has been something completely life changing for me. It’s changed my diet, it’s changed my perspective to food, to healthy food of eating, so much less processed foods. And I feel physically a lot better as well. So the course primarily mentally changed me to the better, whereas living actually at the table and being surrounded by fern and sky, who feed me on a daily basis and encouraged me to keep going with those habits, that’s basically changed me to the better as well.

And it’s beautiful, It’s quiet, the nature is lovely. And now that I’ve finished training, I’ve actually had some time to explore, Koh Phangan as well. I find the tips such as perfectly located. Well to go to all areas. It’s obviously and it’s quite close to Sen Beach where you find very like minded people as well. It’s a bit further away from the party areas. So for me, the place was a perfect fit

What was challenging about the YTTC?

I suppose challenges for me at the beginning, where to again self discipline myself in many different ways. I knew that it came with a tight schedule with things that needed to be done. And I’ve been on Thailand, I think about three or four months beforehand, and you know how it is. You go on a long, permanent holiday and you spend your time at the beach, you drink coffee, you read books, you don’t really have a routine, and you get used to that quite easily. So doing something where I actually have a routine, again, I have to self discipline myself to get up at a certain time, to show up at places that was slightly challenging to get back into. But once I found that habit and enjoyed our mornings together, it was actually a lot easier as well. And also the food. I’m really fussy eater. I didn’t have a very good diet before and my food was included, but it was primarily vegetarian or not. Primarily it was fully vegetarian and that is something that I never tried before.

So I was a bit like, Oh, will I stuff? Will I survive? But again, that was just a challenge for myself. It was something that I’ve never tried before and it worked out really well. It was just, again, self disciplining myself, being open minded to it, and just embracing whatever outcome comes from it.

How has the YTTC course affected you?

After the whole course. I feel generally self discipline is something that’s become a lot easier to me. It’s something that I actually really enjoy now. I have been looking at other patterns in my life that I’ve noticed over the last four weeks and I’m proactively trying to work on them instead of just making excuses up. You’ve already gave up drinking Coca Cola or you’ve already gave up eating meat on a daily basis. So those things I’ve noticed that if you do self discipline yourself and do something that is maybe slightly uncomfortable or hard at the beginning, but if you keep pushing yourself, if you keep believing in yourself, they do become easier with the time. So there’s other things in my life that I have noticed over the last few weeks that I would like to change into the future. I know I can’t change everything at once, but proactively with help. Of course, trying to patch my behavior patterns and see where I can continue to improve them. I found a routine that I really like, which includes the morning routine that we did in the teepee, starting with the meditation, the breathwork, and then and then the asana.

And that is something that has really given me stability again, physically and mental stability and something that I want to also continue, including in my life. I would have. I’ve always been a morning person, but now I’m a morning morning person. I want to get up before the sunrise and I want to continue meditating with the sunrise and to setting myself up not necessarily an hour like we did in the course, but for me it’s just super important that I’ll be able to continue keeping those things up, even if it’s just half an hour for each of those to practice on myself, to continue working on myself and to continue finding what I’ve learned into that in that course.

What else was valuable for you?

To me was just really incredible with the relationships I did develop with George the Trainer and Keiu, We just developed in such a family. We spent so much time together and I’m a bit of an introverted person. So for me, having a small group was really nice. No matter how much will be speaking after or how frequently we will convince, I will always be in each other’s lives one way or the other, and I’m so looking forward to see them again when I come back to Koh Phangan, the tpy and flow with both of them. So the connections that I’ve made throughout this course is probably the best thing that I’m also taking with it from as a little family. And I’ll always cherish both what George did in the wake of you as a as a second, as a second trainee.

The way she encouraged me, the way we supported each other and the way we just bonded throughout that cause it’s just been incredible.

Would you recommend YTTC at The Tipi

If you’re thinking about doing a yoga teacher training, if you’re thinking about going to Koh Phangan and if you are considering the tepee, then that is pretty big. Yes, from me. Yes. You should come to Thailand. You should come to Koh Phangan regardless of what you end up doing. It’s an awesome island. You should definitely come and see it if and even if you just come to the tepee to try out the gym, try out the yoga, meet the people. That’s great. But I’ll tell you, once you come here and you meet the people and you see what they have to offer, you want to stick around and you want to do it. And yoga teacher training. Yes. Yes. Big. Yes. And if it’s not like I said, for the teachers, if you don’t want to teach, if teaching is not your thing, but if you just feel like you need to do something for yourself, you maybe feel a little bit lost. Or generally you’ve got interest about yoga, but want to know more. It’s an amazing thing. I came in with no expectations, super open minded and it’s been the best experience that I’ve made for myself and probably even for others in my life. So big. Yes, if you think about it, and if there’s a place I can recommend, then is the Tipi 100%.