Six Years of Sacred Space: Reflections on Building Akasha Yoga School

When Lila and I started Akasha Yoga School in 2019, we had a simple idea: turn our home on Colombia's Caribbean coast into a place where people could get real yoga teacher training. Six years later, we've become the #1 Yoga Teacher Training School in Latin America, and honestly, that still surprises us.

Looking back, the journey hasn't been what we expected. We thought we'd teach yoga, share what we knew, and help people get their certifications. What actually happened was way more interesting.

The Real Education

Those first few trainings taught us more than we taught our students. Watching complete beginners walk into our shala and leave as confident teachers three weeks later, that changed how we understood what transformation actually looks like. It's not dramatic or mystical. It's practical. Someone shows up not knowing they can do something, and then they do it.

We've had over 300 graduates now, from dozens of countries. They come speaking different languages, carrying different stories, but they all leave with the same thing: the knowledge that they're capable of more than they thought. That's been the real curriculum all along.

What We've Built

Our villa has seven rooms, an oceanfront shala, and all the space needed for people to do the work. We keep it simple: morning practice, philosophy sessions, anatomy classes, teaching practice. Add in some Thai massage training, sound healing, the cacao ceremony and other rituals.

The Yoga Alliance certification opens doors worldwide, but what our graduates tell us is that the real value was learning to trust themselves. The certificate is just paperwork. The confidence to stand in front of a class and actually teach, that's what they came for.

The Teachers We've Become

Six years of this work has changed us. Lila's now an E-RYT 500 with prenatal certification, but more importantly, she's figured out how to help people trust their bodies in ways they never have before. My background in philosophy and meditation gets deeper every time someone asks a question I haven't considered.

We're not the same teachers who started this school. Every group teaches us something new about holding space for people who are ready to change their lives but don't quite know how yet.

What Actually Happens Here

The magic everyone talks about isn't really magic. It's what happens when you give people permission to take themselves seriously for three weeks. When you combine ancient yoga wisdom with practical teaching skills. When you create space for people to discover they have something valuable to offer the world.

Our students don't just learn poses and philosophy. They learn they can handle more than they thought, teach better than they imagined, and trust themselves in ways that surprise them. That's not spiritual bypassing or feel-good nonsense. That's real skill development.

The Numbers and Beyond

Being recognized as Latin America's top yoga school means our graduates can teach anywhere. The Yoga Alliance certification carries weight. But what really matters is watching someone who arrived scared they weren't ready leave knowing they absolutely are.

We've learned that transformation isn't about finding yourself—it's about trusting who you already are. The people who come here aren't broken. They're just ready for something real.

Why We Keep Doing This

After six years, we know this work matters. We're helping people step into their actual capabilities. Every person who leaves here as a confident teacher goes on to impact hundreds of other lives. That ripple effect is real.

The Caribbean coast provides the backdrop, but the transformation happens because people decide they're ready for it. We just happen to know how to hold space for that decision and give them the tools to make it stick.

What's Next

Year seven starts with the same commitment we had in 2019: create space for people to discover what they're actually capable of. Keep the training real, the philosophy practical, and the environment supportive enough for people to surprise themselves.

If you've been thinking about teacher training, know this: you don't need to have it all figured out before you get here. You just need to be ready to find out what you can do. After six years of watching people discover their teaching voice, we can tell you that you're probably more ready than you think.

The door's open. The mat's waiting. And we're here to help you figure out what comes next.