Mandy Lawson is a certified yoga instructor originally from British Columbia, Canada, now residing in Cabuya, Costa Rica. She is currently teaching yoga classes at Anamaya Resort and Retreat Center for both local students and yoga retreat guests.
With this blog, Mandy will be sharing her knowledge both as a yoga instructor and student. Moreover she will be sharing what she has researched about yoga as well as what she has learned from her experiences teaching.
One of the most common questions I get asked here at Anamaya from our yoga retreat guests is “how in the world did you get this job?!” I promptly reply with “I am a VERY lucky girl”, but then I add in the story about how I found Anamaya’s website on Facebook one serendipitous day. I had decided only days earlier that I wanted to do a yoga teacher training in preparation for opening the yoga and surf retreat I someday would like to have, and I had given myself a year to do so.
Upon clicking on the link for Anamaya’s “yoga and surf” retreat I noticed the page for their yoga teacher training and nearly jumped out of my skin! This place was EXACTLY what I was looking for, and the training started in only a month and a half! Fast forward to October 2010 and I was walking through the doors of the astounding beauty that is Anamaya. This month long yoga teacher training was was absolutely amazing; not only the magical location in Montezuma, Costa Rica, but the beautiful people that attended with me and our wonderful teacher Sasha Dae made this an experience of a life-time. So much so, that upon returning home to Vancouver, it became very clear to me that my home was to be in Costa Rica. I felt more at home during that month than I think I ever have. It also was the perfect place to pursue my goal of opening a yoga and surf retreat of my own.
One month later, December 1, 2010, I returned to Anamaya and carved out a place for myself. I love working with people so my new position as hostess and manager’s assistant was perfect for me! As I settled in to my new digs and way of life I continued to learn more about yoga and had the opportunity to teach some yoga classes while the regular in-house teacher was away. Over the next few months I was lucky enough to be able to take over teaching on a more regular basis and now here I am!
I learned a lot from the yoga teacher training course at Anamaya; the materials were very comprehensive and the practice was great, and upon looking back I can see that I really gained a ton of knowledge from the other students in my class. The knowledge gained during this month, coupled with what I have learned in my practice as a student both before and after my training as well in my teaching, is what I want to share with you. I will also be taking time to research areas of yoga that I believe you will find informative and sharing them with you from my perspective.
