My journey to India: How it changed my life
I know, so cliche, but it's true. The month I spent in India learning about yoga, its philosophy and postures, would forever change my life.
Hola!
Welcome to this special issue of MindfulMess. 🧘♀️
I’ll tell you my story of how I ended up in India to become a yoga teacher, and what I have in store for you during the next few weeks.
My journey to India and to myself
Picture this:
I’m 24 years old. Living in the UK, with my family 8,600 km away.
I had just broken up with my first love—whom I lived with.
I wasn’t particularly happy with my studies—I only did my Masters because I was unable to land a job with my undergrad.
The crushing weight of what the future would hold was getting almost unbearable.
Heartbroken, alone, and with peak anxiety, there was only one thing I could do: go full Eat, Pray, Love.
I booked the flights, packed my yoga mat, and said goodbye to England.
Without knowing, that decision changed my life.
There’s been two life changing decisions I’ve made in my life. These two decisions made a before and after so impactful in my life that without them, I wouldn’t be who I am today.
The first decision was back in 2011, when I decided to go on an exchange year to Germany (thank you Rotary International!).
The Cristina that left Colombia on the 5th of September 2011 (my 17th birthday) was forever changed. The Cristina that came back from Germany, with a few kilos extra, a new found passion for football (Wir sind alle Dortmunder Jungs!), and who would say “Bitte” and “Danke” instead of “porfa” and “gracias” was the new version.
She had lived through so many unique experiences, met so many people from around the world, and had to be for a year the guest daughter of two german families. She was more outgoing, dreamed bigger, and was in all ways an improved version.
I owe the pre-exchange Cristina a lot, but the post-exchange Cristina is who I am. It’s hard to put into words everything that changed. But believe me when I say this, if you had a picture of both side to side, you would notice the difference.
Not in the clothing, or the hair. But on the inside, when you looked into their eyes. Something was lit up inside when I went to Germany. And that fire is still there. I will forever be grateful that I found it.
Now, when I went to India. I was a mess, on the inside. That post-exchange fire had reduced in size, and I knew that if I didn’t do something, something big, it would take me years to light it up again.
So, off I went. India bound.
Getting on that plane, feeling that feeling again of going on my own on an adventure, saying goodbye to those I knew and embarking on a journey that was more than just foreign food and holiday planning. I love that feeling.
When I landed in Mumbai, I had to quickly run to catch my flight to Goa. When I arrived to Goa everything was full of military, I got a bit nervous. Is not often that you land in a place that’s full of military uniformed people. Was this dangerous? Had I made the wrong decision? Would something happen? What would my family think?
However, that feeling didn’t last long when I realized there were quite a few 20-something girls traveling alone with a yoga mat hanging from their shoulder and that the Goa Airport is a civil enclave in a military base. So, all good now.
I left the airport and looked over at the taxi line. I needed to get to Agonda, a small beach town on the south of India. I packed the bags on the taxi, prayed to whatever god there was that this taxi journey of a few hours would go without problems and looked the taxi driver in the eyes. Letting him know I was stronger than I seemed, and if he were to try anything I would be ready. (Hey, we’ve all heard terrible stories, so of course I had my fears).
The way to Agonda felt like forever, I tried to look at each of the signs I could see, just to ensure we were going the right way.
We had to stop quite a few times to let cows walk freely on the roads. They looked so intimidating. With their huge horns and tons of muscles. But, I was starting to relax a bit. Thinking of all the wonderful learnings I will have during this month.
We finally arrived, the taxi driver was nothing but a gentleman, and we did had a few conversations on the way. There’s something about the Indian accent that just sounds so reassuring and friendly.
Once I arrived at the yoga school, I did my registration, showed my passport and they gave me the key to my room. There were already some girls unpacking their bags, looking at each other nervously.
I was sharing my room with a girl from South Tyrol. We said hi, asked the usual first questions, and then we went to the classroom where the welcoming session would happen...
Long story short, that month, those 200-hours of learning yoga philosophy and practicing Asanas daily with people from around the world would change my life.
It’s hard to put into words, but the yoga philosophy is one I really connect with. It’s simple, down to earth, and it makes you see yourself and your life under a new light.
(Me, our philosophy teacher, Sudhir, and Jazmin, my South Tyrol friend who became my absolute BFF on the last day of our certification).
Since getting my certification, I’ve taught hundred of classes. I started during the pandemic doing online classes (after all, we ALL needed something to put our minds at ease with everything that was going on). And ever since I’ve taught classes for big corporations, universities, gyms, and yoga studios.
Yoga is part of my life. Not only when I teach or when I practice by myself but on the way I think about the world and how I react to it.
Although my classes are very physical (I do want you to become stronger and use your body in a way that keeps you healthy and mobile for longer) I always talk about the yoga philosophy.
It’s incredible to hear so many of my students tell me that when they first started they just wanted an easy form of exercise, or they just wanted to tone their bodies, or work on their flexibility, but thanks to the bits and bobs that I tell them about the yoga philosophy they are now at a better place mentally.
They’re better sons and daughters, they’re better friends, they’re better parents. They can manage their stress better. They live their lives more calmly and with gratitude.
Knowing the positive impact that the yoga philosophy can have in anyone’s lives, I thought it’s only logical that I share this knowledge with you.
So, during the next few weeks, I’ll be writing about the yoga philosophy. The fundamentals of yoga. We’ll see what they are and how you can apply them to modern life.
Even if you’ve never been into yoga, or you don’t consider yourself to be spiritual or hippie, I promise you learning about it will only impact your life for the better.
See you next week where we’ll talk about the first of the eight pillars of yoga philosophy: the yamas.
That’s it for today!
As always, thank you for reading!
My inbox is always open to hear from you. 😅
With MindfulMessy love,
Cris. 💌