Paradise lost or found? Maybe a question of perspective…
Magnesia Festival in Helsinki just asked if I’d run a little session in August on life as a yoga teacher in paradise. Timely, because I soon start my summer migration north, like these birds far overhead, to feed off of the rich European harvest : parmesan cheese, whole meal bread, salmon, yoghurt, olive oil, organic red wine, chocolate, liquorice, eco everything, Marks and Spencer’s meals…the list is quite long * sigh*. After a week in northern ‘paradise’ I’ll no doubt be craving coconuts, papayas, mangoes and affordable nutritious meals anytime I want…………*sigh*
My idea for the Magnesia session is broadly based on the theme that in Bali everything is possible – that’s good. But, in Bali everything is possible – that’s a challenge!
In Bali everything is possible – the good stuff
Jasmine did a YTT at Radiantly Alive and ended up owning the studio!
It’s really true that you can ‘live’ in Bali and do the thing you’ve always dreamt of. You really could open a café, a restaurant, a bakery shop, an export business, build a villa, become a digital nomad, put your kids into an international school or become a yoga teacher. I’ve got hundreds of friends who have done precisely that. However, you’ll need a good plan, advise, some resources and good connections, help with the legalities and a bit of Bali luck and ice in your stomach. Experience tells me that Bali absorbs good energy and drive and entrepreneurialism – there will be a way!
In Bali, anything can happen… especially on Instagram. Yoga in the rice fields…
In Bali everything is possible – the challenges
Here is the yin and yang of it all. You are very likely to have that dream and resolve tested along the way. There are what I call ‘bad Bali days’ for everyone. Coconuts will land on your roof. Rats and snakes will pop by to say hello. There will be ant invasions in the night. The gas bottle and electric pulsa always runs out on ceremony days. The internet will go down for days. Visitors staying in upmarket hotels never really appreciate how much work is going on behind the scenes to maintain a luxury first world experience. I just read the other day that a girl had put her expensive designer ripped jeans into the local laundry for washing and they came back fully sewed up and ‘repaired’ …
Life on a small island can become a bit suffocating and you may experience ‘cabin fever’…
I’ll be elaborating much more on this at my session in Magnesia festival in Helsinki in August. Come and join if you’re around and want to hear more about life as an international yoga teacher. You could also combine it with my retreat with Vijay Krsna on a Finnish island in August. That one will really be paradise because you got the best of everything in one memorable package.
Love, Sanna xxx
