I am in Greece. Specifically I am on a Greek Island called Paros. At this moment in time I am the envy of many! I do consider myself very fortunate to be here. I really did not do much research regarding the place. Reason being, I am here for a 300 hour yoga teacher training. So my main priority is the training. It’s nice that it’s here on a Greek isle. But I also chose this particular training because it is led by David Kim. David is an incredible yoga teacher. I took a one week Yin Yoga course with him two years ago in Santa Monica. I drove all the way down from Fremont, in Northern California to do this. And boy was I pleased. Yogaworks where David teaches is a company that holds true to a gold standard. I have yet to find a Yogaworks teacher I really dislike. In fact I know that if I step into a random Yogaworks class I will learn a lot, benefit from the class and somehow feel better than when I walked in.

Things look great, don’t they? Well, I have news for you. For every story, there is a back story.

I attempted to take the 300 hour training in Los Angeles while I was still living in Santa Clarita in 2014. About 2 weeks into the training I was struck with a debilitating back injury. I had to withdraw from the training. These trainings are 6 months long and I wouldn’t last a week more, let alone the duration of the training. It was quite depressing. However, there is always a silver lining if you look for it. That winter, the winter of 2014 I had hit rock bottom. My back had not improved after 7 months of physical therapy and my dentist had pulled out a wisdom tooth (unnecessarily) and left me with dry socket. The pain was unbearable. I had an open wound that would not clot inside my mouth – in my jaw.

These dark days in December made me stop, pause and analyze my life. I had to halt everything. And that gave me clarity. I thought “I have to move back to the SF Bay Area”. I longed to be back in Yosemite, Tuolumne Meadows, Lake Tahoe. I missed the variety of foods to be had and the languages one hears just crossing the street. Northern California and Southern California are worlds apart. I am grateful for my time in Southern California. It gave me my first full time faculty position at Antelope Valley College and I was introduced to the wonderful world of road biking in the Santa Clarita and Antelope Valleys and I formed some incredible friendships – gifts I would not trade for anything. But it was definitely time to go home – home for me in the United States was Nor Cal – where I felt it from the heart. I got a job at fabulous Ohlone College and I am please to say that I just received tenure there this May.

So back to the topic of the 300 hour training. In 2017 I went down to Santa Monica and did that Yin training with David Kim. I also took a few yoga classes at Yogaworks and I met Mia Togo for the first time in one of her classes on Main Street, Santa Monica. Wow. I loved her style and her playfulness. I asked her if there was a way for me to do the 300 hour training with her, while still in Nor Cal, even though she was down in LA. We explored options and unfortunately it seemed too complicated to split up the modules. Alas it was not meant to be.

Fast forward to 2019 … I am on a leave from work to deal with consequences of my mother’s passing two years ago. Managing property half way across the world and the emotional toll was just too much. Well, as luck would have it David Kim, along with Anna Zorzou is offering the 300 hour teacher training (in intensive format) during the month of October in Paros, Greece. And guess who is a guest lecturer? Yup. Mia Togo! If ever the stars were aligned! Dreams do come true.

Greece is geographically on the way to Bangladesh. After this 300 hour training I will head to Bangladesh to take care of the final affairs of my mother’s estate.

There is no real moral of a story here.

But if there is anything to take away from it – never give up hope. Good things do happen. It may not seem that way many times, but the struggle to hold on is worth it. Reach out to your friends, family, loved ones. And share your thoughts. You will find the right people to get you through…and then like magic when you least expect dreams do materialize…

Today I start day one of my 300 hour teacher training.

With love and gratitude.

Nabeel

Paros, Greece

5th, October, 2019