Finding a perfect Yoga School in Goa
My first introduction to Yoga I got as a 10 years old child from my older sister, who was by that time starting to do Yoga on a daily basis. What begun for me as fun exercises as a child, became later a routine to stay flexible and fit. My sister meanwhile a frequent visitor of India invited me to visit her in Goa — India.
Goa famous for its beaches, temples and churches and of course its parties did not have to wait long till I decided to pay it a visit. Even when I was first afraid to travel so far alone, it was not scary at all and from the moment on I stepped out of the airplane I had a strange but good feeling of “coming home”. India seemed to call me.

My sister, totally involved in the Yoga scene of Goa, introduced me to many of her Yoga friends and teachers. Soon I realize: Yoga becoming famous among so many great young people, and that I also wanted to dive deeper into the matter. I also wanted to give yoga more space in my life then just for fitness and flexibility. After all Yoga got so many benefits and depth that one could probably dig for few lifetimes into it.
A friend of mine told me about a Yoga teacher training ,she signed up for, called 200 hour TTC which seemed to full fill my desire to learn more about Yoga in a broader way. The Yoga school was called Diya Yoga and after looking up their website and reading their reviews I got a very good first impression. Also the price was fair and compared to TTC in Germany, of course much cheaper.

The main founder of Diya Yoga was a sympathetic looking Indian women who had travelled the world and lives partly in Germany. Having heard and read that Indian yoga schools can be very orthodox I was very happy as a German girl to find different options. I decided to join the same 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training in February as my friend and signed myself in.

Diya Yoga School is located in Arambol Goa in a quite and beautiful space. I felt immediately home and very welcome in the school. Meera with her unique and very loving way was from the beginning on an inspiration for me and I was sure to have arrived at the right place.
Arambol by itself is in the very north of Goa. It got a long beautiful beach and offers a lot of creativity. People gather for drumming, juggling, singing and all kind of activities at the beach, specially at sunset time.

Also available is a wide range of workshops: from Tantra to Contact- dance, for almost everything one can find a workshop in Arambol - what makes that beach different to most other beaches in Goa.

I was very excited that I will spend a month doing only yoga and found myself soon in a daily routine of waking up at 6.30 am and doing 7.00–9.00 am Yoga Asanas and Pranayama (breath- exercises). Then at 9.00 am finally breakfast for an hour, which I enjoyed immensely every single day. Waking up early in my holiday was of course not really what I was planing to do. But after few days I got used to it and enjoyed the early morning sounds and the mystic touch in the air in India.

10.00 o’clock was always Philosophy hour — my favourite lesson where we got taught not only the philosophy of yoga but we would discuss also different aspect of it. Many times I came out of a lesson with the feeling of deeper understanding. Meera’s wisdom combined with her humour was like a anchor in a storm for many times.
11.30–12.30 Alignment classes were happening, where there is a special focus on the right postures and alignments of the Asanas.
12.30–3.00 pm everyday we had the well deserved lunch break with quite good vegetarian food. Talking n laughing with other students.
3.00–4.15 pm Anatomie classes where we learned about the human body and what gets stretched within the body in different Asanas.
4.30–6.00 pm Asanas and the art to teaching class. We learn next to Asanas also how to teach and what responsibilities are coming with teaching yoga to others. Also how to encourage the students and involve everybody. This class helped me also a lot to overtake my doubts to teach by myself.
6.00–7.00 pm was our daily Meditation class, which I simply loved. It is the best finishing of the day and we learned different Meditations. Some of them I adopted into my daily life and are a source of peace in my sometimes to busy days.
One of Meera’s specialities is a form of Yoga called Yoga Nidra. Yoga Nidra is a yogic method of conscience sleep. It is with awareness noticing body, mind and bringing harmony to it. I found deep rest and peace within the Yoga Nidra sessions and was fascinated by the technique. There is a Yoga Nidra Teacher Training available with Meera, which is definitely on my list to do next.

Back to my first time visit to India, the experience I made within the Yoga Teacher training at Diya Yoga are the once with the deepest impact on myself. I not only became a Yoga Teacher but learned so much about myself. I got a sense of what it means to be a yogi and what it means to bring it into daily life. There is no better place to do such a experience as in India where the very air seems to be full of spirituality. I felt in love with India in my first time visit. Of course one big positive point is also that everything stays at relatively low cost in India.
I can highly recommend the TTC Training of Diya Yoga to anyone who wants to dig into Yoga deeper, wants to become a Yoga Teacher or wants to go into a self inquiry with Yoga as a vehicle.
My next visit to India and to Goa is scheduled and I am so much looking forward to it.
- Annika Nickle
