Experiencing Yoga in the Sacred Valley of Peru: SYI

Kate Robles
Sep 11
4 min read

Where to begin...

How about let's begin with the why! The reason why I decided to get my 200hr YTT (Yoga Teacher Training) beside the obvious and wanting to teach because that was definitely true for me my whole spiritual journey began because of yoga. I learned it was more then getting in shape and having a nice little yoga body. It was so much more it took me out of my thoughts and emotions that at the time seemed to be all consuming. Yoga showed me to focus on my movement through breathe and in doing that I truly discovered the secret; that we are not our bodies but we are so much more! 💨🫶At the time I didn't know how to put it into words but going to School of Yoga Institute in Peru 💕 fully encompassed and showed me why I am so much more then this BEAUTIFUL body. It also helped me see that my body is actually that, beautiful. It's not the list of ten things that I would point out in the mirror wishing I was different or a bit less wiggly. SYI truly reminded me that my body is so so divine it's how I get to experience being HUMAN!

Speaking of being human... that's one of the reasons I went to Peru. I was having a hard time with being human, being in my body. Any chance I would get I would be distracting myself by working or learning to travel somewhere else even in my dreams.

With yoga I had finally experienced what it truly means to feel Bliss. ✨ I was so free when I learned the "secret," I have this divine soul within. 🧿 She is limitless and so full of love, she truly is love. Knowing that and feeling that pure joy and freedom being and embodying my Self with a capital "S" meaning more then my body self for those that are new to this concept. With knowing and seeing Self I felt lost to the point of not want to be in my body because being my soul was so loving. I know that sounds pretty dark and if I am being honest with you and myself it really was a dark time. I share that now because I see that everything in the dark can have light shown on it; aka don't give up on hope if you’re feeling down in your shadows. I learned that just because I’m not my body that I am my soul and it’s meant to be embodied to aid me in my expansion and truly feel everything!

During this Human experience especially within the year of 2020-2022 I had experienced a lot of loss and moments of having "everything flipped upside down!" It brought me to the point of begging; begging whoever was in charge for help. Guidance. Something! You know one of those Eat Pray Love type of moments.🙏 And that something I was seeking just happened to be an Ad for SYI on instagram. I knew when I saw it that was my answer! Okay maybe I had some doubts but I was definitely in my feelings.. you know begging and all! 🤷‍♀️ well within that week my friend and I went out for tea and she shared with me the same Advertisement and said she wanted to go to Peru and I said yes without even hesitating. That day we planned what time frame to go because SYI had so many options it was designed for anyone to be able to make it work with there schedule along with lots of locations to choose from. The housing was flexible and totally based on your own budget and needs. Really they made it easy! Any questions we had they were very quick to respond and I could feel and hear the kindness through the emails.

Peru was calling to me after reading the bio on the roots of what yoga we would be experiencing our training based from. The shamanic medicine wheel. "There are four directions in the shamanic medicine wheel is associated with an animal spirit — The Wind of the South, the Serpent, leads us to shed our shadows and the past. The Wind of the West, the Jaguar, shows us how to face our shadows with courage. The Wind of the North, the Hummingbird, guides us on an epic journey of sweetness and joy. The Wind of the East, the Eagle, teaches us to see the world and what is possible from a newfound perspective." When I read this I knew it was exactly what I needed a death and rebirth or my life that was falling apart and a space fire healing to put the elements I wanted and needed in my new found life. Being in Peru going through the shamanic medicine wheel and ceremonies, I was able to connect to the shadows I was feeling and understand them accept them and then grew tools to shift perspective. The death and rebirth cycle! I will share some of these tools and ceremonies in a different blog later on.

But really this is a reminder to listen to the little calling in your mind it’s your intuition speaking and it will lead you to and through the lessons and gifts of your life if you let it! So have faith and have fun it’s not all so serious yet take time to feel the body move and let the emotions be free!