After 27 days, 200 hours, countless sun salutations and Namastes, 14 new yoga teachers were released out into the world today. Matt & the girls attended our graduation ceremony this evening. I thought it would be interesting to hear about it from his perspective...
[Matt] The girls and I were privileged to be three of only five total family members who were able to make the journey to Pavones to witness the graduation of a group of people who have been through a lot over the past month. The ceremony was simple and beautiful.
Along with the students, teachers and the other two guests, we entered the studio which looks down over the treetops and out to the Pacific. Upon entrance we had the opportunity to be marked with the ashes from a fire ceremony the group had last week. In this ritual you release something that no longer serves you in your present moment experience.
We took our seats on two rows of cushions set out in half circles around the front of the room. The room was lit with candles and filled with fresh flowers from the garden. The energy in the room was fun and light but at the same time, full of anticipation. The sun was setting over the ocean and as the girls and I sat down on cushions behind Laura we just grinned at each other in wonder. We had watched her dedicate herself to this moment for roughly 16 hours a day for a month and we could hardly handle the excitement of knowing that she had made it and this was it!
The head of the Pavones Yoga Center, Indira, welcomed everyone and then led a fun song about happiness and four yoga chants (the four sutras) that were beautiful coming from this entire group. Then she talked about what an exceptional group of people this class had been and how she had learned as much from them as they had learned from her and the other teachers.
Then Indira described the teacher certificate presentation format. One by one, a student would come up to the front, randomly choose a certificate from the face-down pile, and say something about the person whose certificate it was before calling the person up by name and presenting it to them. It was a lot of fun, even for the observers who really knew almost nothing about the rest of this group that had shared so much and grown so close over the past month.
I didn't know if out of fourteen people I would recognize a total stranger's description of Laura, but I did! A woman from Geneva, Allesandra, looked down at the certificate in her hand, smiled and started talking, "...she is so strong, wise, mindful, honest, true to herself and has such a great sense of humor... Laura Murphy". The girls and I beamed at each other as Laura stood up to go get her certificate and officially become a yoga teacher.
What a journey we have all been through over the past month. I am certain none of us are the same people that got on the plane in Toronto a month ago, least of all Laura who has climbed a physical, intellectual and emotional mountain to get to where she was this evening. What an absolutely amazing experience on so many levels for all of us.
Tomorrow it is off to Drake on the Osa Peninsula for some rest and relaxation, jungle exploration, and definitely no 5AM wake up calls or daily hikes up the side of a mountain! We are all excited for the next stage of our journey but will probably miss Pavones even more than we can image tonight.
Namaste