“DEAR FELLOW YOGA PRACTITIONERS, STUDENTS, AND FUTURE TEACHERS, MY NAME IS SHAYNA ZEMA, AND I HAVE BEEN PRACTICING YOGA FOR OVER HALF A DECADE AND TEACHING YOGA FOR OVER SEVERAL YEARS. MY YOGA JOURNEY BEGAN WHILE TRAVELING IN GUATEMALA, AND THEN EVOLVED OVER TIME INTO BEING PART OF A COMMUNITY OF PRACTITIONERS AND TEACHERS AT MY UNIVERSITY IN RHODE ISLAND, USA. AFTER GRADUATION, I KNEW I WANTED SOMETHING MORE AND FOUND THROUGH RECOMMENDATIONS OF FRIENDS WHO TRAVELED IN SOUTH AMERICA SOWING SEEDS WITH YOGA. INDECISIVE ABOUT WHAT MY NEXT STEP WOULD BE FOR MY CAREER, I DECIDED TO PUT MYSELF FIRST AND FINALLY PURSUE MY 200HR FORMAL CERTIFICATION THIS PAST OCTOBER. AND HONESTLY, MY 20-SOMETHING DAYS OUTSIDE OF CUSCO TRANSFORMED MY ENTIRE RELATIONSHIP WITH YOGA, AS WELL AS MY RELATIONSHIP WITH MYSELF. I ENTERED THE YTT WITH PROBABLY MORE EXPERIENCE THAN MY PEERS; I HAD STUDIED ANATOMY THOROUGHLY, TAUGHT CLASSES FOR A COUPLE YEARS WITH EASE, AND HAD FAMILIARITY WITH PIECING TOGETHER SEQUENCING AND USING CUE WORDS. NEVERTHELESS, I LEARNED SO MUCH MORE DURING MY TRAINING THAN I COULD HAVE EVER ANTICIPATED. I FOUND THE SPIRITUAL VOID THAT I WAS SEEKING BY LEARNING MORE ABOUT YOGA'S HISTORY AND TRADITIONS, ABOUT THE SUBTLE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN MIND, BODY, AND BREATH, AND THE WAY TO BE A YOGI WITHOUT MOVEMENT ON A MAT. I STUDY ALIGNMENT IN DEPTH, NOT ONLY BY CORRECTING OTHERS BUT FEELING THE CHANGES ON MY OWN BODY. I WAS ABLE TO USE MY TIME TO EXPLORE MYSELF WITH ALL MY INTRICACIES, AND BE SUPPORTED IN A SAFE SPACE TO UNCOVER THE SHROUDS OF MY DEEPEST FEARS AND INSECURITIES. I FELT VULNERABLE AT FIRST BEING FAR AWAY FROM HOME, BUT I QUICKLY MADE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL, TRUE FRIENDSHIPS WITH THE OTHER STUDENTS AND WITH MY TEACHERS. THE LONG DAYS OF MEDITATION AND YOGA REQUIRED A RIGOROUS SCHEDULE, BUT OFTEN I FOUND MYSELF WAKING UP BEFORE SUNRISE TO HAVE ALONE TIME IN THE TEMPLE TO DO MY OWN PERSONAL PRACTICE. LIVING CONDITIONS WERE MEANT TO BE RUSTIC, TO TRULY EMBRACE THE YOGIC LIFESTYLE AND LIVE IN HARMONY WITH THE ENVIRONMENT, AND AS A COMMUNITY, WE SUPPORTED EACH OTHER TO OVERCOME OUR STRUGGLES OF MATERIALISM AND PHYSICALITY THAT WE MAY HAVE BEEN ACCUSTOMED TO BEFORE THE TRAINING. SINCE MY TRAINING WAS DURING PERU'S WINTER, WEATHER WAS A CHALLENGE. WE WOULD HAVE DAYS OF SUNSHINE MIXED WITH DAYS OF RAIN. WE WOULD EXPERIENCE COLD MORNINGS, STEAMY AFTERNOONS, AND CHILLY NIGHTS. WE WOULD KEEP WARM WITH BONFIRES AND BLANKETS, AND WE WOULD COOL OFF WITH MEDICINAL BATHS IN THE GRASS IN THE SUN. WE ATE LOCAL, VEGETARIAN FOODS PREPARED WITH LOVE AND MINDFULNESS AND USED COMPOSTABLE TOILETS TO PRESERVE OUR SPACE. WE SHOWERED WHEN THE SUN WOULD WARM OUR WATER AND WE TOOK TURNS WAKING EACH OTHER UP IN THE MORNINGS. OUR LIVES WERE SIMPLE, AND THAT WAS THE ABSOLUTE NECESSITY FOR THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF OUR TRAINING. WE REMOVED THE BURDENS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE OUTSIDE, CHAOTIC WORLD IN ORDER TO DELVE DEEPER INTO OURSELVES, INTO EACH OTHER, INTO WHAT YOGA MEANS TO US AND HOW WE HOPE TO GROW IN OUR PRACTICES, BOTH PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL. THE RURAL LIFESTYLE ALLOWED US TO BETTER CONNECT WITH EACH OTHER, TO EXPLORE OUR BACKGROUNDS, OUR STRUGGLES, AND OUR SUCCESSES, AND TO DETERMINE WHAT HAPPINESS AND FULFILLMENT MEAN TO EACH OF US. WE MAINTAINED CONTACT THROUGHOUT THE PROGRAM WITH OURSELVES, FEELING FIRST HAND THE EFFECTS OF OUR ONE-DAY-OFF EACH WEEK WHEN WE WENT TO THE CITY OF CUSCO AND CAME BACK DRAINED FROM THE HUSTLE AND BUSTLE OF AN URBAN METROPOLIS. WE GAINED FLEXIBILITY EACH DAY–NOT JUST IN OUR YOGA ASANAS, BUT AS INDIVIDUALS, MEMBERS OF A FIXED SCHEDULE THAT MAY BE VERY DIFFERENT FROM OUR NORMAL LIVES WHO WOULD APPROACH WHAT WAS BEFORE THEM WITH RESPECT, GRACE, AND GRATITUDE. AS YOU VENTURE FORTH ON YOUR YOGA JOURNEY, I ASK THAT YOU KEEP IN MIND WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A YOGI–AND THAT DOESN'T MEAN MASTERING A TOUGH, PHYSICAL POSE IN BLACK LEGGINGS. IT MEANS LOVE, RESPECT, GRATITUDE, APPRECIATION, FLEXIBILITY, UNDERSTANDING, AND SIMPLICITY. IT REQUIRES TIME ON AND OFF THE MAT AND NEEDS TO BE PRACTICED EACH AND EVERY DAY. “I WISH YOU MUCH LUCK ON YOUR PATH AND BOW TO YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE IN TAKING THE TIME TO READ THIS LETTER.”