Program Participants Endorsements

Yoga Teacher Training at Self-Awakening Yoga has given me a solid foundation in the principles and techniques of hatha yoga, has provided me with the tools to develop myself professionally and has been instrumental in putting me on an important and positively transformational path of self-discovery and self-growth. Coming from a professional background in education, I can affirm that Don and Amba Stapleton are true master educators, intent on preserving and transmitting the original essence of yoga while encouraging each student to make their own unique contribution to the evolutionary unfolding of yoga in our time. I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity to study with them.

It was clear that Don and Amba Stapleton, the founders and guides, were and are embodiments to the many years of dedicated practice to the tradition of yoga. They held a safe and inviting space, and to do that for 60 people is quite something. Their application of the teachings were FUN, inclusive and dynamic. It truly was a joy and honor to be a part of what they put out in the world. I only hope that I can hold a torch as bright and joyful as them. Pranams. Read less...

The Nosara Yoga Institute Teacher-Training program forever changed the way I view yoga, myself and the world. Don and Amba are Master Teachers who's Self-Inquiry style of yoga is welcoming, open and applicable to any yoga style. I use their teachings daily on and off the mat and highly recommend this program to anyone wanting to teach, deepen their practice or just become a better human being.

Don and Amba Stapleton are true treasures of the yoga world.

My experience with NYI was extremely humbling, welcoming and rewarding. Don and Ambra created a safe space for trainees to practice and share openly and were very engaged and attentive. The tools that I gained through training far surpassed my expectations. I am honored to have been a part of the experience and their journey and continue to share it with those that I teach along.

Nosara Yoga Insitute's teaching methodology is unparalleled. The way they transmit energy, information and generate transformational experiences is unlike any other program I've taken. Nosara offers learning opportunities that foster self-connection and self-awakening while cultivating lasting community. It is an honor to have learned from them and now teach under their wing.

Nosara Yoga Institute is a magical venue to grow and mature as a yogi and as a human being.

Nosara Yoga Institute offers a one-of-a-kind, life altering training bringing in a profound knowledge of yogic traditions, psychology, and excellent teaching methodology.

Nosara Yoga Institute is an example of a supportive learning environment. Every single program I have completed has been a fulfilling experience on many levels. These trainings have given me the skills and confidence to walk the yoga teacher path with ease and trust. From the syllabus to the detailed oriented and multidimensional approach it is delivered, the methodology at Nosara Yoga Institute has been a transformational learning experience.

I would highly recommend the Nosara Yoga Institute, and training with Don and Amba Stapleton. They have created a sacred environment for learning that is above and beyond any other I have experienced. I grew not only as a teacher, but also as an individual and feel that the training prepared me well for sharing the gifts that I received at NYI with others. Thank you for all that you do!

Taking a yoga teacher training at Nosara Yoga Institute was one of the best decisions of my life. The teaching method is perfect and just right for me, I have learned so much in a such short time - it is just incredible. I will be happy to continue my yoga training in NYI in the future.

Attending YTT at Nosara Yoga Institute was simply the most profound learning experience of my life!

I had dreamed of attending NYI for over six years and feel incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to learn directly from Don and Amba. I look forward to continuing my training with them in the future for my 300 hours.

Nosara Yoga Institute not only provides you with the tools to be an effective yoga teacher, but they give you the gift of truly coming into yourself- not just as a teacher, but as an individual. Between the community support, a welcoming learning environment and the life-changing teachings of Don and Amba, everyone should be so lucky to experience such a profound education.

This is one of the best schools in the U.S.A. I had 3 main teachers and 7 assistants, therefore I had a lot of support. This was spiritual, emotional and physical healing and transformative training which changed my life. It was very in depth, interactive and powerful. I gained the practical and creative skills to teach my own classes in a holistic, conscious way.

When I signed up for the Nosara Yoga Institute 200 hour YTT, I couldn't have even dreamed it would be as wonderful and life-changing as it actually was. Don, Amba, and all of the training assistants created an such an exciting and supportive learning environment. I felt cared for, loved, and challenged throughout the entire training and graduated with an even stronger love of yoga and the desire to immediately share my knowledge and love with other yoga enthusiasts and students.

Nosara Yoga Institute is an experience like no other. As soon as I stepped foot onto their beautiful campus in the jungle by the ocean, I felt I was home. Each day of the month long 200 hour program was unique in every way. I look forward to returning to complete the 300 hour program. Don and Amba are the most generous people. Offering their time and sharing their years of experience so fully, so completely. The space itself is a warm embrace.

It was a life changing experience for me. I was given the tools, encouragement and support to face issues from my past, to learn, accept, forgive and move forward to become a confident yoga teacher. Also, to face the challenges of being in a learning environment with a group of mixed genders, ages and cultural differences in a foreign country. It was the best experience with no regrets, just lots of life lessons to learn from. I was also very blessed to have taught public yoga at Tree Tops for 2 seasons. Thank you very much Don and Amba for the amazing learning experience and teaching opportunity. Peace and joy!!

NYI offers a well balanced YTT program that really encourages self-discovery and finding your own style. I couldn't imagine taking my first YTT anywhere else. I would recommend this program to anyone, even to those who have no desire to teach. It sparks inspiration, curiosity and provides you with transferrable skills that add to your everyday life.

Nosara Yoga Institute not only met all of the expectations I would have for a 300 hr YTT, it far exceeded them. NYI is an exceptional place of inquiry based learning. Their teachers are all highly qualified and highly skilled at providing a learning atmosphere that goes well beyond the basics of a standard yoga teacher training. The depth of knowledge and experience held by their lead teachers is evident in the way each module of the program is geared not only toward taking one's teaching skills and abilities to another level, but also in the way that they gear the trainings toward each student's own personal transformation and development. How better to guide others in their own transformation than by starting with your own? I cannot say enough about their program, their program directors, and the owners of NYI, Amba and Don Stapleton. They truly have created what i would consider to be one of the premier YTT"s available in today's national/international Yoga teacher training world. My deepest and sincerest thanks to NYI for offering this remarkable training. I can't wait to return to being my 1000- hour training with them!

The experience at Nosara was magical, educational and fulfilling. I met so many wonderful friends and have sent at least 3 people to the 200 hour program.

Don and Amba Stapleton, along with their amazing team of assistant teachers were more than I could have ever expected. I learned more than I ever imagined I would. About yoga, its history, its principles, the lifestyle, about MYSELF. This interdisciplinary training brought me into conscious awareness. I couldn't be more grateful for the training and my time spent in such a beautiful sacred space that they created in the middle of the jungle!

Nosara Yoga Institute 200hr YTT was beyond an incredible experience! What they have helped me learn and gain perspective on is priceless. They provided a safe and welcoming learning environment and all instructors brought such joy and knowledge to the class room!

The teacher training was beyond of what I could ever expect and it was deeply transformative!!!

They have created a sacred space within this remarkable environment where you feel safe and comfortable to begin your journey of self discovery. From their initial approach to throughout their teachings, we are encouraged, inspired, and empowered to embark on a deeper level of our own conscious in order to reveal our true inner beings. The Nosara Yoga Institute embodies love, compassion, acceptance, and understanding. From the founders, to the teachers, and the students I have met and learned from...Mahalo for your support and guidance in helping me become the person I am today! You will always hold a place in my heart.

I cannot speak highly enough of Don & Amba and the Nosara Institute. It was a beautiful 30 days in Costa Rica that has had a profoundly positive impact on my life. I look forward to the day when I can return.

My questions were answered or I was lead to find my own answer! My inquisitive mind was nutured and creative expression was encouraged! I appreciated how Don & Amba approached business ethics and taught us how to embrace the business side of yoga.

“A little piece of heaven” A place where you can forget about all of your troubles and enjoy the sanctuary of your yoga practice. Instructors are all extremely advanced.

“Pranassage” I have been living seasonally in Nosara now for several years and had the opportunity to participate in the NYI 500 hour training that Amba created called Pranassage. This two week training far exceeded my expectations and I felt pampered by all the attention to the smallest of details that makes one training stand out so much more than others. NYI even had assistants in the training that were there to give their time to help teach and make the experience for the students seamless. My experience as a whole was not only excellent but now I am equipped and trained to come back to my hometown in the states and give Pranassage to clients and use pieces of the training to enhance my yoga teachings.

Excelent trainers and environment. I am inspired and thankful for deepening my yogapracsis, and i hope to come back again! Visited November 2014

“Life changing.” I did my 200 hr teacher training with Don and Amba in 2011 and then went back again for Yoga Anatomy later that year. I love the NYI, I love Don and Amba. Their wisdom, kindness, and joyous energy inspire me daily. I am so thankful for their approach to yoga teaching and teacher training. The NYI YTT is a course to learn be you, learn how to listen and love each other, learn to open to creativity and challenge, and mostly how to continue to learn and grow as a life long yogi. If you want a training on the exact correct way to perform asanas and the rules for enlightenment with hours of meditation, you will not get that here. Instead you will be immersed in experiential activities, talking and listening, lots of sharing and working with the other students, and great, (not overly rigorous) vinyasa yoga asana. I remember so often Don answers to questions along the lines of "Both are right" or "What do you think?" Don and Amba are humble and honest and are not creating an environment of dogmatic ritual and guru worship. It's a really safe and beautiful place in so many ways. I recently took Jane Fryer's amazing Restorative Yoga class at the Treetops studio at NYI. It was a special class in a magical place and I will always go back. Visited November 2014

Was the most relevant experience to my yoga. Nosara Yoga is my yogic home. Made many new and wonderful friends during each of my stays there.

One of the best experiences of my life! Yoga is my "go to" now for personal stress relief and well being as well as what I highly encourage my psychotherapy clients to try to do at a level which feels good to them. This being said, Nosara wasn't just about yoga to me. It was about helping me find the person I wanted to be and know through this wonderful journey. Don and Amba are two special highly gifted, compassionate and sincere people and their institute is truly beautiful in every sense of the word in lovely Costa Rica. Thank you Don and Amba☺.

My life changed in a profoundly positive way when I started my study of yoga back in 2003 with my beloved teachers, Don and Amba Stapleton. Since then my career as a yoga educator has been a joyful and deeply fulfilling experience that continues to unfold and teach me more and more everyday. Infinite love and gratitude to my dear teachers.

Remembering the simple power of yoga. Awakening and soaking in the perfume of prana.

My experience at Nosara Yoga Institute was exceptional and beyond my expectations. The training for yoga inquiry of the multi-dimensional self opened up a new way of living for me that I wish to share with my students. The training was world-class on every level -- perfect in every aspect. I could not have dreamed for a better training, and I have been made new again. Thank you, Don and Amba Stapleton and all of the faculty for a divine experience.

Hi Amba and Don,
I wanted to write just to say, I'm thinking of you two, and feeling grateful for all that you've given to me through your teaching, encouragement, guidance, and love. A lot of people's lives are being reached because of what you helped awaken in me. And then even more will be reached, as those same gifts are awakened in them. Just wanted you to know: you are life changing.
I love and thank you.

Dear Don and Amba,

I hope this email finds you well -- you must be deep into the SAY training right now, so please feel free to ignore this email as long as need be.
I'm not sure if you remember me, but I was in the January 2013 training (I was the student who came down there because, one day, my arms just stopped working), and taught at Treetops, having decided to stay in Nosara for the better part of that year.

On my birthday (a few days ago; I'm moving slower and slower as the years progress), I like to send a letter of thanks to somebody who has helped me, in some way great or small, to get through the past year. This year, in a great way, it has been the two of you. To explains a bit:

Since I left Nosara -- with the skills that you gave me -- I realized that the pain and dysfunction I was experiencing in my arms was well beyond the realm of normal. When I finally began my own investigations, and became insistent with the various doctors, I discovered that I had a rare congenital disorder of how my upper rib cage attaches to my neck -- basically, I had two pieces of bone (know as cervical ribs) growing out of either side of my neck, both of which had fused onto my first ribs, which was sawing at all the nerves and blood vessels going into my upper chest, shoulder, and arms.

In the past 14 months, I've had seven surgeries, and have two to four more to go before they'll know if I'll be able to restore working functionality to my arms.

Though the periods of recovery have been intense -- being fully immobilized for months at a time, only to have to repeat the process, again and again and again -- the doctors have been astonished at the speed of recovery, which has been, in no small part, because of yoga, and because I always had the place in my heart that you helped craft, and the lessons that you taught me, and I wanted to send along my deepest, deepest thanks and love to the both of you.

Several weeks ago, I began to think the Inner Quest training; I was attempting to make it down there, but I am in part beginning to realize that participating in a training right now might be patently irresponsible of me. The last surgery was at the end of January, and the scars -- literal and otherwise -- have yet to heal. However, I'm listening to my body, listening to my doctors, and... we'll see.

Until I get to see you again, whether it be this year or next, I just wanted to say how much love I have for the both of you, and how greatly I appreciate the time I've had in Samadhi Mandir. Without you, without the very important work you do, I could not have gone through all of this.

Don and Amba
Thank you for your inspiring message to open up the new year! I love when I get these little gifts for the spirit from Nosara. They so much remind me of my special time there!

I would just like you to know that I have a new found inspiration in my practice. I now realize (stubbornly) that I should not focus on fixing myself!!!!! Ugh...not a task easily found when I have spent my entire life looking for ANYTHING to find answers and reassurance that I won't live in pain forever!
Sooooo, now that I recognize that some things are just out of my control, I am coping better than ever! I think when I had this epiphany in Nosara, I must have cried more there, than my entire life combined.... Lol and all in front of 40 people never less! Not my finest moments. I found once I started poking around into my inner self, plus the combination of being physically challenged, my hard exterior shell started chipping away!

Sooo, I came to the conclusion that perhaps this is my gift, not my downfall.
I have started teaching a class for pain sufferers ( mostly 55+) and the feedback has been overwhelming! We practice a lot of your S.A.Y along with specific meditations and pranayama that I have found helpful either from your teachings or on my own.

I have given up trying to fix everyone's pain and focusing more now to give students the knowledge, awareness and udder consciousness to be able to mend mentally and physically without judgment!
I feel my empathy to those who have similar sensations helps to guide my practice! I am so fortunate to have found my training in the right place to be able to find "myself" in my yoga, not to mention to be able to teach what I feel inside! Absolutely blissful!

My focus for the yoga I practice with my skaters as well has changed! We meditate more, talk about healthy eating and appreciating food! I loved how you talked about "mindful eating"! For teenage athletes, especially females in this sport it is sad to see the amount of eating disorders and lack of self-confidence. Figure skating to me is 80% mental and 20% physical. As a coach I take all my students well being into great consideration before anything else, and thank you for helping me to guide them in the right direction.

Thanks again for all the listening, caring and patience you had with me and with all the students!

Happy New Years
I hope all is well, and hope to see you again one day!
Namaste

With all of my love, and (of course) many namastes,

Dear Don and Amba,

On this occasion of my 80th birthday, I feel humbled to express my gratitude to you for how my yoga training at Nosara has changed my life. I originally traveled to Costa Rica not to become a yoga teacher, but to use the training to allow myself to grieve, since Charlie had died about 6 months previously. I needed to step back from my regular life, from my daily surroundings, from family and friends, primarily to be alone, but to meditate, journal, and think about what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I was 69 that year - and by far, the eldest in your teacher training class of 60 students. I'll never forget that first day of training - and how I felt at the end of it. It was early January, 2004, and I'd had both thumb joints replaced the previous October. That first Monday evening, my hands were swollen and painful, and I wondered if I should just go home - but decided to take it one day at a time, and you can imagine how surprised I was at the end of the week, knowing that I would be able to do this! I discovered the truth of the paradox, 'the more you go into your body, the more you go out of it into your spirit' as I began to heal, emotionally, spiritually and physically. You gave me the safe haven I needed for that to happen.

It took another 7 years for me to return to Nosara, during which my time was dedicated primarily to serving mothers as their doula, teaching yoga only sporadically - mostly prenatal, as I'd taken the teacher training with Robin Sale, "Whole Birth Yoga", a mindfulness-based program inspired by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Mass. When I decided to leave Florida in 2010 and move to Virginia to be close to my daughter, many new opportunities arose. No longer doula-ing, I could consider Kripalu where I might have access to further training - and there you were, on a Self Awakening Retreat Weekend! That was the stimulus for me to return to Nosara for additional training and continue my yoga education, thus far to 600 hrs with NYI. This year I'm 80, living in heartfelt gratitude to all who have brought me to this place in my life, blest with good health, and teaching 9 classes a week - 6 Vinyasa Flows and 3 Restorative/Yin - at different places in the community. My flow classes are called Mind/Body/Spirit Yoga, because we begin with a guided meditation and end with a blessing. Yoga has become my ministry, my calling, as I now believe yours to be. My meditation cushion is where I greet the dawn and where I end the day. I kneel before you both and touch your feet in gratitude for all you have taught me, for taking me down the path and accompanying me on this journey - the road less traveled, certainly for 69 year olds - "and that has made all the difference."

So much love,

Hi Amba,

I wanted to wish you and Don health and happiness and we turn the corner to a new year!

I carry my experience at Nosara with me everyday. I am definitely changed. I've been doing yoga just about everyday since we left and can even do a headstand! What?! And a bunch of other bendy things I couldn't do back in July. I've taught a little as well. I've given some lessons to my husband and a friend. I want to expand the teaching at some point, but figure there's time. Been doing lots of reading and meditating and the spiritual aspects of yoga have taken hold as well.

And most importantly, all of the confusion and practice of that month have helped me push back fear and move forward in my creative pursuits. Go Vrittis!

Leah madly applied for jobs when we got home and then decided she'd rather travel. We agreed that there's plenty of time to work in your life, so she and her sister went to Europe for a month. And then she ended up getting a job as soon as she came back! She also has a teenage client that she gives private yoga lessons to. She made her intent known to help teenage girls and then boom it happened.

Hope all is well with you and Don! We are so grateful for our experience at Nosara and hope to make it back sometime soon.

Thank you Dear Don,
I imagine it's true of Karen as well - part of my heart resides in Nosara with the gentle beam of living love that you are.
Night journeys are firmly ensconced in class with you and that Firebird, Amba.

Yesterday I had the privilege of introducing yoga to five-year-olds at a charter school in Bridgeport , CT.
The shift in energy and presence was tangible and they loved it so much.

Today I subbed at a community class in a nearby town -students from 40 to 92. The large room was quite cold so we warmed up by dancing to "My Sweet Lord ' alleluia indeed.

The group loved SAY and by Shivasana to Sarah McLachlan's "In the arms of the angels " and the assists we were lovingly taught, there was not a dry eye in the house.

The preparation and training from Nosara= priceless.

Gratefully,

Dear Don and Amba;

i have been meaning to write for some time. However last night i was skimming through the beginning of the Self Awakening Yoga: Expansion of Consciousness book reading about your sweetbittersweet love story and saw it was 20 years ago today that Don proposed!! So it was time to write and say congratulations for your wonderful partnership and all you have created there and how it is rippling throughout the world.

One of the great gifts among many from the Teacher Training in Jan. was the gift of coming to love myself just as I am. I still wake up at times and have to check in to see if it is still there and it is! Thank you so much.

Also when I arrived home I was still blissed out by my experience there. Then I got very busy at work quite quickly and I think my husband was feeling quite on the periphery, excluded. Things did come to a head in March but we used the Co -Listening exercise, from class, to great benefit. Now we are coming up for our 30th wedding anniversary and are going to a yoga retreat together in Haines, Alaska to celebrate!

jai jai saraswati. namaste

Dear Don and Amba,

I'm been composing various letters to you in my head all week: some are incredibly specific, detailing the minutiae of discoveries from practically every day of training; some are more poetic, magistic almost, slyly aware that words can never suffice; but ultimately, what I want to convey in any possible medium is my a sense of gratitude, wonder, and appreciation. To the extent that I an, I see what you have created, and I am overwhelmed with its magnificence. I won't bore you with every thought I'm thinking, but the following is a list of qualities that, in my estimation, ontribute to the beauty of yourprogram:

-The way you two modeled the behavior you were teaching us.
-The feeling of being cared for and held, down to the precision of having our mats/props set for us when we arrived and the permission to show up exactly as we were every day. The safety and playfulness is exactly the kind of atmosphere I try to create for my patients.
-The way you both read and adjusted to the energy of the room
-The permission to join or individuate: never have I experienced that so directly with such an implicit celebration of individual learning needs and pacing. Realizing that having permission to hold back allowed me to delve more deeply.
-The integration of material, from yogic philosophy to psychology. This is something I have been working to do in my own work and writings, and I'm so impressed by the simplicity with which you express complicated ideas and lineages.
-Noticing people being able to take what they could take in the time it takes; being impressed with the dynamics of this and how palatable everything was for different people in different evelopmental places; being aware from observing how different people's takeaways were that i could do the training 100 more times and have a 100 different experiences (i don't know what i don't know).
-the incredible pacing of how information was disseminated, from the sutras to the postures
-the obvious care and thoughtfulness around every aspect of the program.
-The way you two look at each other.

As i finish almost one full week of being home, I am astounded by how closely I can observe where I can and cannot breathe--the physical, emotional, cognitive, and spiritual effects of the life I have created. At the community mental health center where I work, I literally experienced myself unable to breathe more deeply than to the base of my neck due to the overwhelming responsibilities and truly unrealistic pace. I plan to work on pranayama with other therapists as I determine healthy next steps for myself.

What I am working towards most at the moment, if I may put it out there in writing as an intention, is continuing to remember that myself worth does not have to be based on my estimations of my success or failure in the moment. "Accepting the consequences of being myself." What an ongoing, daily practice of watching, watching, witnessing.

I plan to come back for another training as soon as I can, and if it wasn't entirely irresponsible I would come down in March for Inner Quest. Please let me know if aside from that there is ever any space to assist or partake in any way. I would be honored to help and have the chance to work with you both.

Amba: thank you for showing us that the best humor lies in speaking the truth.
Don: thank you for guiding us as our witness while we learn to be our own.

In love and gratitude,

Dear Don & Amba

I'm writing this email after the first evening of the first yoga retreat I'm co-leading with a former student who is now a lovely yoga teacher in her own right. As I sit in this funky house we have rented in the NY side of the Berkshire Mountains the four of you keep coming into view.

Don & Amba - thank you for teaching me by example, how to lead the way for students to have a safe, supportive and welcoming practice. The attention to detail and rituals that you set in motion with each of your workshops, trainings and classes has made it easy for me to follow in your footsteps. We have students from all walks of experience and were able to make everyone feel welcome and at ease. And I also "knew what to do!". The attention to details you set in place for me when I was your student enabled me to know what to do in the role as co-leader of this retreat.

I could feel all of you in the room as I was preparing and teaching tonight. THANK YOU for being in my life as teachers and more importantly as life long friends and "family". I love and miss you all!

A ho!
Namaste!

XOXO

Dear Don,

I know I’ve said it numerous times at this point, but again, thank you. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help with my recommendation letters.

In addition to that, I wanted to take a moment to tell you that my time at NYI has been absolutely instrumental in my being ready to take this next step. I think I was pretty lost when I entered my 200-hour training and I feel like I was an emotional train wreck during Pranassage and Inner Quest last year, but those trainings and the tools I acquired during that time were invaluable and has allowed me to come to a place where I feel grounded and have found peace and happiness within myself in a way that I don't think I ever imagined possible for myself. Liberation from the clutches of the mind, indeed! NYI is a very special place, one of transformation and possibilities, and you and Amba are the very core of that. You've created something quite magical, and I will be forever grateful to you both.

Namaste,

Hi Don and Amba,

I have a private client who suffered from a massive stroke 20 years ago. She is now 60, and though she has a regular yoga and exercise rehab practice, she still has difficulty accessing her left side.

I have started to work with her using pranayama, somatic movement inquiries, qi gong and alot of Self Awakening Yoga.

The results have been excellent so far. She is learning to accept her present physical state with compassion, and really relaxing and starting to articulate her left side.

She is also accessing her left side with much more ease...(which has been so difficult for so long) after and during Self Awakening Yoga.
Because she was affected severely on her left side,( aka right brain) her access to the parasympathetic nervous system is constricted, but through Self Awakening Yoga and Alt. nostril breathing she seems to be relaxing with more ease and acceptance than before.

This has all happened in only 6 weeks, and just thought I'd share this wonderful finding with you- Hope you have a quiet rest of the summer

In Peace

Amba!, I am writing to tell you how FABULOUS the Pranassage is!! i have a client who lost both lymph deposits in the groin (due to cervical cancer) and the most re mark able results are from the Pranassage Her swelling in her feet just about disappeared after the second session .........it had been 10 days apart. The Pranassage with dietary recommendations is great/WONDER FULL! We thank you!! She can put on her underwear with out supporting her self (so as not to lose balance). She was a super surfer/beer pounder chick! (past NASA emploee) now bodyworker. We tried massage, yoga and the Pranassage wins!!
THANK YOU!!
Thank you for every thing!! Don too!!
Jai Amba!
Jai Bhagwan!
Namaste!
Much peace and love!

Dear Don and Amba,

You are so much in my thoughts, as I practice, as I teach, as I live each day. My time at Nosara in 2008 was deeply life changing. Two years on I can say that my study with you impacts my life daily, in the most positive ways. When I approach challenges in my practice or in my life, the learning that took place at Nosara continues to guide me and inform me, and most of all the exploration of the deep knowledge within myself gives me confidence to face these challenges.

I had a lovely reunion with Eleonora in Stockholm, as I was there on a Canada Council grant to do an artist residency at the National Theatre, learning from a mentor about Deaf Theatre practice. I had an amazing month of December, expanding my mind and creativity, and traveling through Europe. It was wonderful to connect with Eleonora and take her class -- I was transported back to the jungle -- she's a great teacher!

In Toronto, I teach around 12 classes a week and balance that with auditioning and acting. It's a pretty busy life, and I need to cut back a bit on the teaching, but I know the balance will come soon. Since doing Pride and Prejudice when I returned home from Nosara, I've had some wonderful acting opportunities, and most recently produced and performed in my own theatre company's first major production, called "Melancholy Play" -- it was a total hilarious joy, despite the title! In the spring I'm performing in a John Patrick Shanley play (he wrote "Doubt") -- a really tricky and exciting role.

I love the balance that yoga brings to my life, and I'm amazed I'm able to have two careers I love, though sometimes I'm working too hard! I feel so much gratitude to the two of you and the place you created in Nosara.

In fact, I beat the Nosara drum so much that two of my friends are coming to the January training! Keep your eyes out for Amanda Leblanc -- a wonderful actor and singer, who performed with me in "Pride and Prejudice" and a dear friend. She's an incredible spirit! And then Sue Leclaire, a lovely yoga student of mine, is coming as well! I hope you have a fantastic January training!

May 2010 bring you tons of imagination, adventure, love and peace.

Big hugs!

I cannot ever say too much about the quality of my experience at Nosara Institute--and further studies with Don and Amba at Kripalu. I went twice, for the first time, to get my 200 hour certification, and then to get the Pranassge certification. Both trips were full of exemplary teaching, wonderful classmates,and deep healing by being tin the profound prana of the jungle and the ocean.
Of all the yoga instructors that I have met, Don and Amba are the best, my favorites. Why? Don is a deep philosopher, with an abiding sense of humor, with decades of experience in introducing the base-level tenets of yoga; he takes us into the meaning, and the feeling of Patanjali's sutras, with explanation and song, and his conveyed sense of the rich wisdom, so very accessible. Amba is firecracker--her practices are challenging, instructive, always brand new, funny, and reverent in an irreverent style. Their dissection of how to teach poses is flowing as well as thorough; their assists are designed to travel deeply into the bones and the facia. They are such a definition of the yin/yang symbol, as they switch off in the daily routines, in their demonstrations. The experience is whole, round, a world of experience, introspection, sharing, sweating, breathing--prana inhaled and lived. You will emerge trained very deeply as a class or private yoga instructor, and a person coursing ever more profoundly in the millienial river that is yoga.

Namaste

Hi Amba,

I have to share with you what is going on with my students at the college. I think I previously mentioned that I was able get yoga classes implemented into the PE program this quarter. They have been extremely successful. The ages enrolled are classes are 15 - 50 years. The younger students are with "Running Start", which gives the student the opportunity to work on their AA while attending high school. So I have allot of young adults.

Most of the students have been having a hard time with quieting the mind for final relaxation, so I gave them all an assignment/exercise to help remove the "clutter" from their minds. I used your idea of "scribing"...only they are not working with a partner. They talk and listen only to their inner-self.

Here is how it works: Several days during the quarter the students come to class with a paper and pencil. We open with breathing exercises and a gentle yoga stretch...then they sit quietly and just "scribe"...writing what ever comes to mind. The second part of the assignment is that they do this exercise outside of school...creating a sanctuary...working in their own sacred space. The third part is to take all the scribing and condense it and rewrite it. Some had a hard time rewriting their thoughts...so I encourage them to write like they are writing to some one they love.

I have to tell you Amba....the spilling out their thoughts and emotions was pure poetry. Some of them made beautiful collages to go with their rewrite....one young man wrote a song for his girlfriend and put it on CD! It was amazing! Others wrote beautiful guided imagery. I was stunned at the out pour of feelings. So many of them wrote they had suppressed their feelings of sadness, loneliness, anger, or depression for so long...and that it felt good to write it down, spit it out, clear away the clutter...and then rewrite it...finding somehow the good in the bad. Others were reminded of the JOY of past times...and their rewrites poetically spoke of time spent with family, friends, and loved ones. All of them were so beautiful and open....I just sat at my desk in awe of the trust to share with me.

They also had an eating meditation in class...and scribed during that. They all brought various foods and with eyes closed...explored sweet, sour, texture, consistency, fluids, etc. Amazing how the taste of something sweet can evoke something "not so sweet" from your past...or visa versa. Some were quietly crying...others just smiling...all with eyes closed.

At the end of the assignment they also included a short paper telling me how this exercise has helped them in meditation and final relaxation, and how and why this exercise helped them. I am hoping to have some of the rewrites in the college paper.

Just wanted to share how I was able to share yours and Don's scribing with my students! I will send you a few copies of what the students wrote some time.

Much love,

Dear Amba,
I was just getting ready to teach a class on the chakras and I reread the advanced teacher's manual again. It amazes me how wonderful both you and Don are! I have studied with a lot of different teachers, but for me you go to the bone of the matter better than most. I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate what you do and who you are....

THANKS For being my teachers.
Much love,

Hello to you Amba

This is awesome thank you - found most of this on Itunes - I have some very special music for you that will be winging it's way down there in the next little bit.

I am really excited about coming back next year for Pranassage. Further to that, I am considering a more extended stay and possibly even holding a retreat for my students from here and wanted also to find out process /requirements etc to be considered for an Assistant at the January 200 hour?

And as for my return here - let's just say that it really is an "other" and there's sure a lot of "isn't that interesting" Most notably challenging is the wearing of long pants and shoes that don't go flip flop.

But the flip side of all that is this wonderfully radiant, hard to forget memory of that lovely and hospitable climate, the jungle and ocean energy, morning practice and so many inner pathways explored. My teaching is resonating with a refreshed spirit and a kind of newly felt depth (spaciousness) that I can't quite explain - it feels great. The training for me really was an unpredictable and full spectrum experience of inquiry the depths of which I have never really gone and you were right, it followed me right into my yoga class both teaching and practicing and the other cool thing is, -like you also say, "come with the questions" and many of my questions were answered and even if they were not, they sure were illuminated with a whole new set of lamps.

Thanks again Amba for the playlist but more-so, thank you for everything you and Don do there for all of us. Amazing work!
Until soon
With love and pranams

Dear Amba and Don,

How are you both? I hope that you're doing well and that you're still full of light and joy.

It's been 6 whole months since the July YTT program ended and I think of you guys nearly every day. When I planned my trip to Nosara, I had no intention of teaching yoga. When I returned from training I felt a sense of renewal, peace, and complete elation. I couldn't imagine not teaching yoga when I came back to Maryland. I began working with a studio teaching children's yoga a week after coming home and then started teaching a Hip Openers and Relaxation class to adults a few weeks after that, then a gentle yoga class at my community center. That is moving into its third season! I think of you guys and my classmates with every yoga practice. And I have to admit I miss you all very much. I have kept in touch with Roger and Amanda (and Kiwi) regularly. Roger has come to visit my husband and I a couple of times and we even went to a meditation workshop at Kyra Sudofky's studio together in D.C.

I don't know if you remember...there are so many people who walk through your doors every year...but I had been going through testing for pancreatic cancer for a couple of years when I arrived in Nosara. Well, I recently had my last scans for my pancreas -- and the lesion that had caused me so much anxiety for the past couple of years had completely disappeared. My tumor marker dropped back to normal levels...and after my tears of relief -- my first thought was, "It was the yoga and the laughter." I needed that trip more than I could have ever imagined and it was the best thing I have every done for myself. I feel like I have a new lease on life...really. I was constantly worried about the future and what it would hold. But last summer, I learned to love the moment...and live in it.

You guys are two of the most beautiful people I've ever known...and quite honestly, after beginning a 30 hour yoga workshop series with another yoga "expert" I am reminded of how down to earth and kind you both are. So rare -- so special. Thank you for all of your wonderful teachings -- from the bottom of my heart -- thank you.

I just put in my request for a reduction in my classroom teaching hours in the public school system to be able to teach yoga more often. I love this stuff!

I've attached a couple of pictures for you...one of the three of us -- I love it. And one with my girls -- Amanda and Kiwi. I made so many wonderful friends while I was there...they've added a whole new, joyful dimension to my life I never knew I was missing. I know I will return one day soon for another training.

Thank you again.

Love,

Hi Don and Amba,
I am writing to express my appreciation for everything you did to help me get to where I am now. I am about a month into my doctoral program in clinical psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies (my first choice program!). I am loving life in San Francisco and am sharing yoga with lots of people, teaching classes, private sessions, and sharing it with my friends for free! What you taught us all is so much more than yoga, or rather yoga is so much more than a practice on a mat. It is a way of relating to people that has served me well and will be even more instrumental in my future interactions with clients. We have done some active listening exercises that are quite similar to the one we did in our yoga teacher training and so many of the principles we are learning about resonate with things you helped us to practice in the program. These are all beautiful areas of overlap which make me feel very connected to you, to my fellow teachers, and to people all over the planet. You have given a gift so big that the only natural thing to do now is for me to share it with others! Thank you.

Hello fellow yoginis!

it is hard to believe we all graduated two months ago, in some ways it feels like a lifetime ago and in others it is fresh in my memory. it has been great hearing/reading updates about where you are now that you have arrived to your next destination. i could have remained on the beaches, in the jungles of Costa Rica for much much longer. Alas, reality has to set in, which has it's benefits as well, but nearly as many. i am trying to bring my blissful state i grasped in Nosara with me in my daily life. the winter has held on this year and we are just now starting to see green buds on the trees, and a few flowers popping up. the sign of spring reminds me i am alive and capable of much change. i cannot wait to be kissed by the sun and feel the warmth of it as summer approaches.

Nosara has changed my practice immensely, and i cannot seem to get enough yoga. as Amba said, "i am in my yoga practice all day". since i have been home i started a yoga class specializing in older adults at a retirement center, this has taught to have more compassion and how to make yoga available for everyone. i found myself a mentor/guru to continue learning more about teaching. it is pretty incredible what happens when you open your heart/mind to the universe. it has opened up for me, and slowly i continue to transform into who i am more and more. being very honest with myself and the world.

"to exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly"
and so it is.
with immense gratitude and love,

Dearest Amba and Don
Hope that all is well with you! I am doing great and love teaching yoga!! I am teaching four classes a week, three beginning and one on-going one. I actually teach six classes a week as two meet twice a week. I teach through our community college in Elko. It is a great "job"!
I am also doing three privates a week. It sounds like a lot but one of the privates is a man who is all but house bound so those are not too tough. I have to pinch myself some times to be sure that this is really my life!! I love what I am doing. Big thanks to you two for what you gave/enabled/taught me!
I want you to know that the month in Nosara learning about teaching yoga was one of the best things I've ever experienced in my life. It was truly a fabulous time!! Thank you, from the deepest part of me.
I plan to come back next Feb. for the Pranassage course. I still need to work it out with the college.
I send my love and joy,
Namaste

Hello Amba and Don,
I had my first client today. I told her that she was my first and that I wanted to give it to her for free. She was not comfortable with that. So I said - how about you see how you feel after and then pay me what you think is right. She was okay with that.
It went really well. I was a little out of breath at times, but then I would breathe in ujjaii and my breath would settle. Well, an hour a half later - the lady wrote me out a cheque. It was $100.
Even though the money feels good, feeling that my Pranassage session was worth that much to her - feels even better.
Don, I listen to your CD often and sing along. It is very well done and it keeps my memory of Nosara fresh.
Lastly, I decided to study Sanskrit language, and also deepen my yoga philosophy knowledge. This came out of your suggestion that we may come back and present 100 hour module to teacher's training. And it was your Jill Parsh who planted the seed in my mind about this direction. I am now looking for a teacher/guide who can take me on this journey. Once I feel ready, I will be in touch with you and see how modules are organized, what's required, etc.
Until then, all the very best to you,
With gratitude and love,

Dear Don and Amba,

I just wanted to tell you how amazing the program was, and how amazing my time was in Nosara. It was truly life-changing. I felt like I got a brain clean. I tell people it's like Life University. It's the best gift I ever gave myself, to take that time out to journey within, in such a safe environment. You enabled such growth in all of us, and somehow made it feel like we were doing all the work and it was all our own wisdom and efforts coming forth. You brought the ancient teachings forward is such an amazing way, I was able to use it all immediately, or begin using it, as I know the teachings are infinite.

Coming home has been lovely. The joy I found in yoga is still with me, in my personal practice and as I go around the city, trying studios and meeting teachers, and as I teach my friends. I am interviewing at gyms and putting together a private practice, and I know something lovely and balancing will come out of this training to use practically in tandem with my acting.

But the best news is, my second audition home, I landed, and it is a huge opportunity. It's a residency at The Banff Centre for the Arts in the Rocky Mountains, where they choose 14 emerging actors for a 2 month Conservatory, then we perform for two months at one of the most beautiful and oldest theatres in the country, founded by my mentor, John Neville, The Citadel Theatre, in Edmonton, Alberta. I get to play Jane in a new version of "Pride and Prejudice." I can't tell you what a huge break this is for me.

After being at Nosara, I made a commitment to myself to approach my art with openness and non-judgment and less stress, to allow for more creative flow. And whether or not I got this job, I have been happier and less attached to the results, and more relaxed knowing that I have myself and my strength to help me over bumpy times, and that if I trust my creativity, it will come through. The yoga training has opened me up in ways I never knew possible.

I also made a commitment to spend more time living in nature. Since I've been back, I've been house sitting a gorgeous house on the edge of High Park, and since it's been snowing so much here, the cross country skiing in the park is superb. I see no houses, cars or people for miles. I have experienced as much beauty and Zen in the middle of Toronto as I have in the jungle of Costa Rica. I have also been dreaming about living somewhere beautiful, near mountains and oceans, and now I get to spend the summer in the Rockies! I feel blessed.

Don, you said such wonderful things to me about my career, and your faith and understanding and encouragement meant so much to me. Since I've been back, for the first time in my life, I've asked myself "What do I truly want to do? How shall I express my creativity?" And I've allowed it to flow, not worrying about answering that question. Since I was 7 years old I wanted to be an actor, and I've been approaching it like a war zone for about 10 years, battling mostly myself. I never knew it could be easy and this joyous -- again, whether or not I got this job, it felt like I had found more balance within it and within myself.

Amba, you are so right. Yoga works. Simple as that. Your understanding of my business also meant a lot to me. Nosara couldn't have been a more perfect place for me to study and grow.

Whatever happens from here, I feel like I've laid a foundation for a more relaxed, balanced life, with more commitment to joy, to nature and to the present moment.

Thank you for creating the runway for me to take flight.

Love and light,

Dear Don and Amba,

Amba, you are so right. Yoga works. Simple as that. Your understanding of my business also meant a lot to me. Nosara couldn't have been a more perfect place for me to study and grow.

Whatever happens from here, I feel like I've laid a foundation for a more relaxed, balanced life, with more commitment to joy, to nature and to the present moment.

Thank you for creating the runway for me to take flight.

Love and light,

Dearest Don, Amba and the Nosara gang,

Thank you for the most wonderful month in the history of my memory. I thought your program was well thought out and that your teaching skills, facility and kindness surpassed all expectations. I can only believe that it was meant to be.

I have been trying to be a witness to my life instead of reacting to the things that are happening at home and it has really helped me out. Life here has been hectic. After I arrived home I left the next day for a previously planned weekend in BC, then back to Seattle for one night and off to Oregon for a wedding. I am writing this from the hotel lobby in Oregon, heading home tomorrow.

All I can really think is that if I could be anywhere in the world right now, it would be back in Nosara. I fell in love with the place, the school and with you.

I hope to be able to attend the Pranassage in Feb. and will let you know as soon as I get that figured out. I have a lot of friends that are all wanting to go for the teachers training now. Thank you for making your school accessable to all and for your loving embrace of our differences.

Forever your friend,

Dear Amba & Don,

I made it home safely and taught my first Yoga class this morning to my mom and Mickey ( her 18 year old gay cat who speaks Yiddish). It felt wonderful.

This last month was the hardest, yet most liberating time in my life. I learned that without my norm coping strategies I could survive...it allowed me to face many of my fears and witness the process without running away (isn't that interesting). Ok at times I ran, but only short distances and came back right back. It also gave me closure and insight into my dads suicide; which until then I thought I had a grasp on.

You are two of the most inspirational, compassionate, loving, intelligent, intuitive & REAL teachers/humans beings I have been able to know. I will take what you helped expose inside of me and facilitate a place where people will enjoy and explore their own Yoga and god dammit have FUN while doing it. Thank you soooooooooo much for everything.

I love you!

Dear Don and amba,
I wanted to send you a little hello and let you know how much your training has profoundly affected my life in so many ways. In fact I’m still learning new things from you , things I all of a sudden remember and start using in my teaching. Ha! Every time a student comments on my gentle yet challenging classes I say that it’s all because of my beautiful teachers who taught me how to find my own style, my own truth.
Sometimes if I’m tired or when my inner critic is loud I’ll hum the OMM song you taught us. Funny how just that simple tune and sound comforts me. I still feel very connected to the entire group of January 2004. I can’t believe that last year this time I was saving up and getting ready for my training. Wow how time on earth flies.

Don how has the response been to your book? I really enjoyed it. Amba when is the DVD coming out?

Oh and good news I got engaged last month! In Italy!! Heehee!!!

I hope this email finds you both happy and well. I look forward to seeing you again in the next few years.heehee!! hopefully for my advanced training.

In love and light,

Dear Don Stapleton,
Hi my name is John Verner I have been studying yoga for 20 years and teaching for 8 years. After reading your book Self-Awakening Yoga - which I must say is one of the best yoga books I have come across, I am interested in the audio set. I would prefer to buy it in cd format if possible if this is available and how much also let me know of any of classes you might be doing in England.

Dear Don, Amba, and all the friends of Nosara Yoga Institute,

Greetings to you all and thank you for the lovely picture. It is a wonder that almost 3 months have elapsed since being in C.R. As I expected the home life grabbed me tightly and I attended to my teenagers and all the myriad events of the close of school for the year for them. Now I am trying to adjust to a busy summer schedule packed with jobs and summer sports teams. A great part of the gift of Nosara was having those days to focus on my own single being and now when the day gets a little too crazy I try to pause and come back to that sense of myself. I knew when I returned home from C.R. that my garden jobs would start up immediately but I also wanted to try my hand at teaching a yoga class and the opportunity opened up when a local teacher took off on vacation the week after my return. I conducted two classes and the first one focused on giving the participants a small taste of Self Awakening Yoga. I presented a session in which a number of classic postures were integrated with the inquiry explorations and movement flows of SAY. The class was slow, meditative, and deep. After the class, I took off and went to my job and had the experience (contrary to my usual experience of "beat the clock") that the day proceeded in a timeless manner. When I checked my watch, less time had passed instead of "Holy cow, it's late, now I need to rush, clean up and pick up the....". When I checked in with folks at the next weeks class and mentioned this extreme sense of timelessness others also reported that experience. This seem note worthy and so I mention it to you. Also, about a year, year and a half ago, my back was getting so bad that I was wondering if surgery might be a necessary event in my future. Not wanting to go that route I picked up my exercise and yoga routine ,did some reading on back issues and tried to be more sensitive to the inherent difficulties of being a gardener with some back problems. Participating in the SAY training in March really got my back over some sort of hump and in a much better place. My spinal flexibility has increased in all directions and I expect only more flexibility and good things to come. I do plan on offering some more yoga classes in the near future and I thank you all for helping me realize the rightness of doing so.

Hello Don and Amba,
I just wanted to touch base with you and give you a quick update. The paradox has continued after returning home. As a matter of fact, it seems natural that it would, so I shouldn’t be surprised. I thought you’d find these things humorous though. I know I keep chuckling to myself when I become aware of them. ☺

As much as I hated the heat in Nosara and longed for air conditioning, I have found the air conditioning hard to get readjusted to at my house. It tends to dry out my sinuses and gives me a headache.
The soft mattress that I couldn’t wait to get back to makes my back hurt (even though it is a firm style). I can’t believe I almost crave the hard mattress at the villa where my feet hang off the end.
After successfully braving the wildlife in CR with no mishap (to include nearly putting my head on a coiled up snake under the sofa cushion at our villa), I returned to the States to have one of my best friend’s supposedly tame German Shepherd nearly bite my finger off.
After being around all of the vegetarians for the month, I have continued to cook that way, and I haven’t had any meat except fish since I returned. As a matter of fact, thinking about eating meat almost makes me sick to my stomach. How whacked out is that??? I make no long term commitments though. ☺
After a month of saying “I don’t know if I really want to teach when I return to the States” which was an excuse and an easy way out, I have joined the Yoga Alliance, got my CPR certification updated, and meet with the Fitness Coordinator at my gym on Monday. I just wanted to sub, but it looks like she wants me to teach a weekend class.

I guess the moral of the story is that my experience continues to be life changing. Once again, I’d like to express my appreciation. I am still studying and intrigued by the “paradox” aspect of yoga. This is probably my biggest, overarching inquiry right now and will probably take a lifetime to explore. I am forming an 8 week series around the paradox theme. I’ll be very interested to see how it turns out.

Also if you guys wouldn’t mind sharing the recipe of the fruit/nut balls that you provided for the graduation, I would be grateful. They were great too. Let me know if you are in my area anytime soon. I would love to see you again, and of course, you are always welcome to stay at my house if you’d like.
Best wishes and love,

As much as I hated the heat in Nosara and longed for air conditioning, I have found the air conditioning hard to get readjusted to at my house. It tends to dry out my sinuses and gives me a headache.
The soft mattress that I couldn’t wait to get back to makes my back hurt (even though it is a firm style). I can’t believe I almost crave the hard mattress at the villa where my feet hang off the end.
After successfully braving the wildlife in CR with no mishap (to include nearly putting my head on a coiled up snake under the sofa cushion at our villa), I returned to the States to have one of my best friend’s supposedly tame German Shepherd nearly bite my finger off.
After being around all of the vegetarians for the month, I have continued to cook that way, and I haven’t had any meat except fish since I returned. As a matter of fact, thinking about eating meat almost makes me sick to my stomach. How whacked out is that??? I make no long term commitments though. ☺
After a month of saying “I don’t know if I really want to teach when I return to the States” which was an excuse and an easy way out, I have joined the Yoga Alliance, got my CPR certification updated, and meet with the Fitness Coordinator at my gym on Monday. I just wanted to sub, but it looks like she wants me to teach a weekend class.