Yoga Teacher Training & Sound Healing, Nepal

Changunarayan, Bhaktapur — the Kathmandu Valley I landed at 06:35. The school sits in Changunarayan, in the hills of the Kathmandu Valley, about 22 km from the airport. The course is 500 hours — really two courses, 200 and 300, with two separate certificates that combine into an RYT 500. My group: seven of us, six women and me. The day starts at 06:30 and finishes after 18:15. Meditation with candles (a new technique that week), then Jala Neti — rinsing the sinuses with salt water, which sounds awful and after a few days becomes part of the morning. First cup of tea out of six a day, pranayama, another cup of tea, then asana — for the 200 hours we focus on Hatha yoga. Vegetarian breakfast, a philosophy lecture, lunch, rest until three, then a workshop on how to teach a group. Another cup of tea, evening asana, and sometimes we finish with sound healing. Dinner at 18:30, and by seven I'm already in my room. Anyone who knows me knows I'm not the most flexible guy — years invested in sport, not much in flexibility. Three goals for the course: head to shins in a forward fold with a straight back, a full split, and a handstand with control. I can already hold a handstand a little, but it's much easier for me to come down from one than to lift into it from standing.

Changunarayan, Bhaktapur Sundays are the day off. We walked to the nearby village. That month there's a festival held only at the temples — people ask for a partner, health, and a good life. We also visited Bhaktapur, a city about 20 minutes from Kathmandu. We got two free massages during the course — I used one of them, and a free sauna too. The splits feel more comfortable, and I can fold forward much more easily. The handstand is slowly stabilizing. Not a big improvement from last week, but I'm happy.

Changunarayan, Bhaktapur The most fun week so far. We opened it with an internal cleanse — drinking water with a bit of salt, five to ten cups, until it brings on nausea, then bringing it all back up. You do it on an empty stomach in the morning. There are several methods, some more intense than others; some people do it once a year, some once a month. Sounds strange, but it was a lot less awful than I expected. Handstand — I managed to hold it for about 25 seconds. Forward fold — almost touching my head to my knees. There was also a workshop on stability in handstand, headstand and forearm stand. I thought the forearm stand would be the hardest, but it actually turned out to be the easiest for me.

Changunarayan, Bhaktapur We finished the 200-hour course with three tests: 108 sun salutations, teaching a 50-minute asana class, and teaching a 30-minute pranayama class. We also had an especially fun Kriya-yoga class — poses with two people, three, and even the whole group together. After the tests there was a ceremony handing out the certificates, with photos together. A last dinner before everyone who did the 200 hours with me went back to wherever they came from. That same week we also started a sound healing course, running alongside the 300 hours. They even let us play an instrument called a harmonium.

Changunarayan, Bhaktapur — Advanced Sound Healing Partway through the course I decided to also do a sound healing course — if I'm already turning into a hippie, might as well go all the way. There's a basic and an advanced course, and I of course took the advanced one. We did the sound healing alongside the 300 hours, partly on ordinary days and partly at weekends. Thirty-five hours, with Tibetan singing bowls, gongs and tuning forks. We learned seven treatment methods: one for a group, three physical ones where the bowls sit on your body — you feel the vibration and it's calming, almost a massage — and three energetic ones for opening the chakras, which interest me rather less. The practical methods: Sushumna Activation Therapy, balancing energy with four bowls, seven-chakra healing, Vedic Therapy, and Brainwave Therapy. What exactly I'll do with all of it — I have no idea, but why not.

Changunarayan, Bhaktapur For over a week now we've been doing 108 sun salutations every morning — a good way to sweat and open the day. We also started inventing and playing with sequences, just for fun. This week I also taught a night class. During the week I broke the instructor's own record on the 108 salutations — 15:59, an improvement of more than 10 minutes in a week. I tried to push my flexibility to the edge. The poses look a bit funny, but I really did open up. The splits are improving — not sure I'll fully get there, but it's a lot easier. Forward fold — another moment and I'll be touching my knees with my head. On the handstand I'm now working on consistency, and starting to fold it into sequences. We also finished the whole sound healing course.

Changunarayan, Bhaktapur The last week of the course. Even though yoga is coming out of my ears by now, I'm going to miss this place. I set myself three goals in the first week: head to shins in a forward fold with a straight back, a full split, and a handstand with control. I got the handstand, fairly consistently, and 30 seconds at most. Head to shins I didn't reach, but there was a significant improvement. The splits I didn't get either, but the improvement was really big. If you compare it to videos from a month and a half ago, you can see it clearly. We also did day 18 of the 108 sun salutations streak. I came here with almost no yoga behind me, and I probably won't go on to teach it either. What I did get is a pile of tools for looking after my own body, including when I'm training for something else. Happy with where I got to, and with the way there. Forty-six days, three certificates. If you're thinking about doing a course like this — I'd recommend Nepal specifically, not just India: small groups, personal attention. Tomorrow something completely different starts — kayaking on the Ganges.