I can’t believe that I am finally here. The flight was all smooth, I didn’t sleep much though as I was so nervous. The airport in Denpasar is so beautiful, it’s half inside, half outside with beautiful temple decorations and statues.

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There were so many emotions on the first day, expectations, feelings, and the energy was literally bustling in the air. It feels like a dream and the Azadi Retreat is like a paradise. It’s in Ubud, Bali, a bit outside of downtown, on the hills in the middle of the rice fields. It’s green, tropical, flowers everywhere, beautiful villas and facilities.

All other yogis here are so nice. I felt just like a little girl again, like when I was 12 years old and went away for two weeks on a summer horse camp. Same feeling, and we all kind of felt that.

This kind of training attract the same kind of people, all very much into yoga, healthy living, organic and I feel just like home. It was surprisingly easy to talk to everyone and I made new friends quickly. I love my new roomies, a cool girl from Seattle and another Swedish girl from North of Sweden. We directly became like sisters.

We started the day with a 2.5h Ashtanga class. I’m now so happy that I did all of that yoga before coming here. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have lasted through the first class! We got our books and everything is very high quality, manuals printed in colours and good information.

The Balinese people here are also amazing. I feel like home in Thailand, smiley people, very warm hearted. The first day was so emotional. In the last practice, I even shed a tear as I’m so happy and grateful for have taken this step. Just being here with all these amazing people makes me want to celebrate life.

I know it will be hard but together I know we can do it.