Holivestic Yoga

Extrem persönlich und tiefschürfend.

Firstly, a huge thank you to Yana and Paolo. You made these three weeks unforgettable for me with your warmth and openness, the very carefully selected learning content and your wonderfully interactive way of teaching.

I look back on a yoga teacher training that has strengthened my enthusiasm for yoga practice and motivated me to want to pass this enthusiasm on to others in the future. It was certainly an incredible privilege to spend the training with such a small, great group, who always enriched me with constructive feedback. Right from the start, we had the opportunity to prepare our own Yin, Hatha or Vinyasa yoga sequences, initially short and then longer and longer, and to practise leading them. For me, personally, this took a little effort at first, but Yana always managed to create such a safe space that any self-doubt was quickly cast overboard. I got a better and better feeling for how group dynamics influence a yoga class and in the end I no longer found it difficult to lead a class in a well-structured and confident way.

I also appreciate the wide-ranging theoretical input that was part of the training. Be it anatomy for a better overview of which asanas utilise which muscle groups or joints of the body and how, or yoga philosophy for a better understanding of the origins of yoga practice (which is so much more than what we experience on the mat) and for linking this original idea with our everyday lives today.

I went there in a difficult moment of my life. Iana and Paolo managed to make me spend an amazing week, where I learnt a lot of things, I meditated, I took good care of me. All of this happened in a beautiful land, Tuscany, and in a very relaxing atmosphère. I will be Forever grateful for this time with them, one of the best décisions I have ever Made.

Thank you to Iana and Paolo, this was overall an amazing experience, I learned so so much in these 3 weeks. The two are two great people, that I am very grateful to have met. They really made us feel very welcomed and in some way at home and were also always interested in our feedback, to even make adjustments right away, if something didn’t seem to fit the group.

I love particularly that we started in small bits to teach what we have learned already on the second day, like this you get optimally prepared to teach a full class in the end and I feel confident to teach a well structured yoga class.

Also I really liked the focus on how the different Asanas are effecting the different muscles and joints, so you get good insight where to be specifically careful and what asanas might not be so healthy for your joints.

Overall you learn everything I expected in a YTT 200hr like creating a class of Vinyasa, Hatha, Yin and even meditation and how to teach it. And on top of that for me, I got helpful tools out of it for instance to- even so it’s yoga and known to be healthy - still have a critical view on every asana and be aware, that it might be good for one person and for others it might be difficult or not even beneficial.

Also I loved that we were so few people, like this there is a lot of room for personal development, of your own style to teach and create a class and also lots of room for personal feedback. Feedback that was constructive and always helpful!

If you think about booking this retreat or a yoga session with yana, stop thinking and book it!! The cave hostel is a very unique place in an awesome area in the mountains. And Yana and Paolo make this place even more special. I really enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere and the silence there. Yana gave me 3 very nice Yoga sessions and customized them to my needs. We made a beautiful hike with stunning views and an awesome lunch in the nature. I got fully charged with good energy in this three days and I already miss Sombra (the cat and little boss of the hostel :)).

Thank you Yana and Paolo ❤

From the first moment i got out of the bus in Artenara and got picked up from the bus stop, I was amazed by the warm welcoming! It was like meeting friends after a long time no see! Yana and Paolo are very nice and very kind souls, you can tell they really love the place, because on the way to the cave they were telling the history of the mountains. The cave hostel is super cute! I've never been in place like that! Very cozy!

I have never done yoga in the cave before and especially with such a flow, it was something like self love theme, super great! The food was simple, but tasty! Super great value for money! Highly recommend it!