On 28th February and 1st March yoga students, teachers and aspiring teachers from across the globe came together in Natha Yoga Center for a weekend of celebrating spirituality and welcoming our newest yoga teachers into the world.

The whole event was a heartfelt, harmonious and unifying experience, a place and time where old dreams could be fulfilled and new dreams were being designed.

Emotions ran high throughout the weekend. Our third generation of aspiring yoga teachers sat for their final exam, bending, twisting and rotating their way to being one step closer to becoming qualified yoga teachers, while the previous group of aspirants graduated in a magnificent ceremony, marking a very important moment in the history of this school.

Here are some images from the exam in which you can see the aspirants being tested on their correct performance of certain Hatha Yoga postures and techniques; their flexibility, ability to concentrate and immobility in the position all being taken into account.

The highlight of the weekend was the highly charged graduation ceremony, a night in which big dreams were unfolding. There were tears of joy and sadness, ecstatic happiness and great rejoicing for the success of the newly crowned teachers.

One by one, the 70 new teachers’ names were read out and they climbed the stage to receive their diploma and a rose, and to express their feelings about this tremendous moment in their lives. All those in the hall were touched and even intoxicated by the enthusiasm and aspiration of the ones who successfully graduated.

The event marks a high spiritual peak for those who are stepping into the dawn of a new day as teachers of the Atman yoga system.

The climax of the evening came when the new teachers received a message from Grieg. His message was a very touching address to their activity as teachers and provided all with a strong impulse, especially those embarking upon this new and very important adventure.

The Atman Federation meeting also took place during the weekend. Teachers from the international schools met to discuss the bigger issues of the school, to hear experiences from each other and to be united as a group.

NATHA’s team organized the weekend in a very heartfelt way, taking great care that all the guests were looked after and felt a home, many people commented that they felt like they were in a great spritual family – and the whole ambience was like this. Even though there were many people here, it was a smooth and harmonious event and indeed it felt like a uniting of one very big family.