The Ocean as our teacher
The Ocean as our teacher: reflections from Tobago
There’s something about teaching yoga by the Ocean that allows students to more easily access flow states and conscious practice. You know the kind when you look around the shala and everyone is present, practising with real presence.
Each morning in Tobago, we woke to the sounds of the birds and the waves. Sometimes the waves were strong and crashing, but mostly soft and gentle…. in a rhythm never ends. Our tree house-esque accommodation was nestled in the rainforest with the Ocean stretching endlessly ahead – it was the elevation that was also different from just being by the sea, it allowed for such vast expansive views. The yoga was themed around the Ocean and nature and I thought each morning, the Ocean is our greatest teacher.
Listening to the Wisdom of Water
In yoga, we learn to cultivate sthira and sukha, steadiness and ease. The Ocean mirrors these qualities perfectly. Each wave rises with strength, then dissolves effortlessly back into stillness. There’s no resistance, only rhythm and return.
When we teach from this awareness, there is more presence, both in ourselves and in our students. Sequencing and transitions slow down so the breath begins to lead again. Strength and surrender - the wave comes, washes over and runs up, then turns around and recedes back to the ocean….
Teaching by the Ocean in Tobago, I noticed how the Ocean shaped the energy of each class. It was as if the students were absorbing the same intelligence of flow, effort meeting surrender, strength dissolving into rest. The Ocean doesn’t rush, and neither should we.
The Teacher’s Flow
As yoga teachers, we have many aspects to our work - planning, playlists, marketing, leading…..the Ocean reminds us to move with what is, not against it. It teaches us to pause, to rest, to listen, to breathe and to experience awe.
When I stepped back from the mat one evening and watched the sunset light turning the surface of the water gold, I realised that this is what teaching in flow means: not constant output, but relationship and presence.
Our teaching evolves when we allow nature to enter the practice, to shape our timing, our tone, our entire way of holding space.
Bringing the Ocean Into Every Class
You don’t have to teach by the sea to bring Ocean energy into your classes.
You can teach the qualities of water anywhere: adaptability, intuition, reflection, rhythm.
Invite your students to explore fluid transitions and feeling rather than just making shapes
Move as though you were swimming and trying not to make any splashes in the water
Begin class with a few moments of listening, perhaps to their breath, their heartbeat and maybe a memory of the ocean.
A Call to Teach From Flow
As I watched the tide wash the sand smooth again each day in Tobago, I was reminded that everything we teach is temporary, what matters is the feeling that remains. What is taken away off the mat into life.
The ocean asks us to teach not just for our students, but with them, to co-create, to respond, to stay open.
If you’re a yoga teacher who feels ready to add additional layers of depth to your offerings, nature and the Ocean sit at the heart of everything I teach and it’s where the Ocean Flow Method begins, and it’s coming soon…
Some comments from our guests in Tobago agreed….the ocean is our teacher and we are nature…
‘Extremely special to be practising on a yoga deck looking across the rainforest, beach and ocean. Listening to the ocean waves with the classes which were brilliantly linked to the sea. Felt like I could really feel the ocean. It was really on another level.’
‘The most wonderful aspect of the retreat and the yoga was the connection to nature which has run through everything we’ve done here. From my first morning being amazed by a flock of bright blue birds in the tree by my balcony, to my final swim watching the frigate birds circling for fish, I’ve loved feeling part of this beautiful landscape.’
‘Waking to the sounds of the birds and going to sleep listening to the waves. The yoga themed around the ocean and nature connection whilst being in a natural environment to practise allowed for a flow state I have not experience before during practice.’