200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training - in Costa Rica!

Come join Certified Yoga Instructor Irum Naqvi as i share my 25+ years of personal yoga practice and teachings. I am the Director of the Center for Natural Living at Rancho Margot in Costa Rica. I travel with my teachings from Costa Rica to Canada, Austria, Belgium, Israel, Egypt, Pakistan and Thailand.

This 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training is your opportunity to learn the techniques and methodology for guiding yoga practice with awareness of “Live the Yoga” Philosophy. Rancho Margot’s Center for Natural Living is situated along the Cane Negro River on a sustainable 400-acre ranch in the heart of the mountain rainforests of Costa Rica.

During your training, you will enjoy and benefit your physical health with fruits, vegetables and other produce from the Ranch, all grown without chemicals.

Through this four-week training you will engage in intense physical practice and thought provoking discussions to receive the light, to explore your inner being; discovering your true self you bring your awareness to your layers of conditionings and the Samskaras. The transformation will leave you energized, confident and ready to follow your inner calling. You will learn how to teach, how to guide and share your yoga practice, built on the foundation of your own practice.

The deeper we go, the lighter we become. Namaste~

For more information about this unique YTT opportunity please contact:

info@irum.com or view the website:
Who is irum

Rancho Margot

in its emptiness the space holds only this moment

waves and thoughts…

as the waves run to shore,
thoughts/feelings run to the space.

thoughts and feelings arise, they swim in the empty space, finding no hooks to attach, they drift...

…all are welcome

choose when to say goodbye...

Lao or Laos - Vientiane

A friend asks me what manifests this travel, and i answer, "no se, i close my eyes and open the heart, and seeing happens"…

After spending four weeks in Chaing Mai, in Thailand, i sense that more time is needed here. My visa ends so like all tourists i have the option of doing a visa run to Burma or any other border. Burma is normally a day trip and you get 2 weeks of stay in Thailand. I decide that my flight out of Thailand requires a longer visa. Then again that is the logic or the trigger. Why i go, where i go, unfolds as always...

I am in Vientiane, "its a dead city", comments a friend...i come to this city. The overnight bus ride from Chiang Mai is luxury for me. Through many stops at all the 7/11s by the gas stations we arrive at the border town in Thailand, a short wait by the river as our passports are taken and we are given forms to fill for the exit and entry to Laos. I sense an organized process here, and switch to a large bus with other tourists to continue our journey. After another stop to deal with the immigration formalities its an effortless cross over to Laos.

I look out the window, absorbing the sights, its Asia, there is familiarity to the outer, and how can i ever know the inner process of the people living anywhere.

I choose to take a drop at the first stop in Vientiane. Mr. Wong, an english speaking young man, promises to take me to the right hotel, and also drive me to others, till I find what i like. He is to his promise, no haste or impatience do i sense in his energy. After checking out 2 places, i return to the first one. He waits patiently, while i check the room and happily brings my bag in. I pay him $6.00, an extra buck for his kindness.

The sounds of construction, by the wide parts of the Mekong, do no interrupt the peace. The sun feels strong and i take a long walk. I rest under a tree, close my eyes and drift off. The earth feels comforting to my aching back, the sun filters through the leaves, my music is soothing. Rested i decide to continue, find an Indian restaurant called Fatimah, the owner is from Pondicherry, the masala chai in a large glass mug is exactly what i need. I chat with him and his son, eat an omlette and plain roti; chat with the French guy on the next table who is also on a visa run, he and his wife sell clothes at the Sunday Market in Chiang Mai. I also receive enough information to decide on my mode of transport to Lang Prabang. I book a flight for $84 from Vientiane to Lang Prabang for the 22nd.

The evening: I indulge in a hot compress, the one I took at the old medicine hospital did wonders for the back...this one is different, with cold air blowing on me, and the touch of not so gentle girl, i survive. I feel great later, and walk up to the corner store to buy some stuff. it feels like home. is earth not the same….the Thai people love to say "same same, but different"…i get it!!!

Laos is a single-party socialist republic.

"Stone tools discovered in northern Laos attest to the presence of hunter-gatherers from at least 40,000 years ago. Archeological evidence suggests agriculturist society developed during the 4th millennia B.C.. Burial jars and other kinds of sepulchers suggest a complex society in which bronze objects appeared around 1500 B.C., and iron tools were known from 700 B.C. The proto-historic period is characterized by contact with Chinese and Indian civilizations. From the fourth to the eighth century, communities along the Mekong River began to form into townships, or Muang as they were called." ~wiki~

28 days in Chiang Mai - inspire and inspired

I sit and look at the temple of the Old Medicine Hospital. I am sitting by myself on the tables where I shared many meals, laughter, conversation and connections. Yes these words sum up the the last four weeks that I spent here.

My first time in this country and this part of Asia. All good moments combine and weave through each experience.

The training was the focus, or was it, I often ask myself. In one way yes, the teachers that guided us/me through these days of learning are just those present here. What about all the souls which connected. Stories, and openings, fears and release. This moment in time, this place was holding space for just that.

Here again a reminder, a semblance to life and living. Why I live, the way I live, and what determines each moment, each choice…

I have feared not, and nor have you,
the trust was discovered a forgotten story continued,
where we go, where we end up,
we choose, in this moment, in here,
in our now we know.

from karachi enroute to chiang mai

I sit at Karachi airport and recall...the last three weeks in karachi, have been a flow...from a wedding high to a melting of souls...many encounters, sharing and caring that accompany the highs and lows of human emotions.

The sun was always shining, providing a comforting warmth in the coolness of the mild winter.

Yoga happened, for me personally, either inside or out in the garden, the sun always on my face. The full moon yoga at Binas’ with the warmth of the candles and the coolness of the floor, and a request for another session. We managed a 3 hour workshop, in the immaculate lawn and around the pool of Binas’ home. How generous of Bina to open her heart. The enthusiast yoginis enjoyed, as we flowed, paused, moved into the techniques of asanas, and partnering in our practice.. The final savasana, all in their surrender, around the cool water of the swimming pool attested to the benefit each person realized in the practice...

Shared meals, open conversations and honest connections...the basis of truth...each moment i felt i was flowing...i watch the conditioning of families, culture and conditioning, completely aware of myself, inside out, and find continue to accept, sensing what each moment requires.

The trip to Mohenjodaro, began with one passenger, a woman who refused to sit next to a man, she convinced another female passenger to sit next to her, and created a loud commotion when questioned...I chuckle, and comment to the man next to me, a perception that women in Pakistan are indulged and get away with such behavior. No judgement on her, so why was I witness to this, is this a reality I was creating, possible, for after all, I am seeing myself in all that arises. This started an interesting conversation with Ali, my fellow passenger...Ali shared some pictures of a village, which spoke volumes, a reflection of the reality of how people live and think. The four basic needs, are not close to being met. An education is needed, not only the formal schooling. What about the life skills which we all learn to live harmoniously, contributing to our well being and the well being of others, this is far from being their focus. I am intrigued, and asked to be kept in the loop regarding a new project that promises to bring electricity and water to a village....

This conversation continues in a different form, as I travel from Sukkur to Mohenjodaro, walk around and spend time chatting with the local visitors to the museum and the excavation sites. Overheard comment in the local dialect, even though I am dressed in the local attire, they consider me an alien, the surprise look on their face when i turn around and start to speak to them in Urdu....they confess that my hair made them think that I was a foreigner, I smile in my head, “so natural is alien, interesting.”

The guide is with me in the excavation site, he is well versed in the history and clearly explains the life, infrastructure, living styles and the physical layout of this 5000 year old civilization.
The simplicity of the local people, their warmth, and enthusiasm as they follow me in groups, walking alongside, listening, apparently fascinated with a woman, from their own country traveling on her own. Phone numbers are exchanged, amongst laughs and jokes, and I say I will visit them when I return to Mohenjodaro...Humans, we befriend, we want to hear the story of the other, it helps to connect to know ourselves...