Guest Feedback

It has been nearly two months since Cookie and I came to your institution to study yoga, although this is was the first time we had studied any yoga we were made to feel extremely welcome and had an amazing time. Its not often in life that one week or one place can change a person in so many positive ways, but this is the effect that Yoga Thailand has had on us.

Our time at Yoga Thailand has shaped in so many ways, especially with your wonderful food that we have tried (with varying levels of success) to recreate at home.

Thank you so much for helping us discover such a wonderful and invigorating lifestyle. I would like to wish you every success with your new centre and are already very excited about returning to study with you soon.

Namaste,
Love Mark and Cookie

Just a quick mail to thank you both for making our visit to YT such a great experience. Everyone was fantastic with Harry which helps me enormously. He really seemed to enjoy himself, especially the beach and his trip to KFC! For me it was wonderful to be able to focus and connect with myself before moving! I so much enjoyed to wonderful food, Tiwari's wise words and Paul's guidence. And Jutima you probably get the least credit being a little in the background but doing all the hard work! I think along with Neil you will be very successful in your new venture!
Caroline xxx

I had a wonderful 5 weeks at Yoga Thailand and feel very blessed having very coincidently found my way to you five years ago. I had no idea back then how dramatically this 2 weeks at YT would change my life to the better. I am glad to know you and that you are developing YT into such a brilliant place.
I am looking forward to spending lots of times with you.
Love
Romana

You have played a special part in my yoga journey. I deeply appreciate, admire and respect you for your teaching and sharing of your wisdom with so much passion and light-heartedness. Through your great devotion, you helped me to take the journey into my own heart. To see the divine nature within us all. To understand happiness. And to know the true value of humility and gratitude.

I look forward to visiting you at the new retreat centre, hopefully in the new year. I hope all is going well.

With honour and love,
Natalie

I want to let you know that I am continually grateful for the opportunity that I had to study with you in Thailand. You are a truly inspiring teacher with a Presence that demands dedication and Being. Every day, I am thankful for you! Now that I am back in New York and fishing around for a similarly inspiring teacher with such a holistic approach, I find myself selfishly wishing that you were still here in the States.
Warm blessings,
Rachel

I just wanted to thank the Yoga Thailand staff for making our 5 days with you memorable and very enriching. I am typing this as I am eating chapatti that we made out of your cookbook! Lana and Lorraine thank you so much for your inspiration. I feel more focused on my yoga. Lambeau and Poom thank you so much for taking care of my children so that I could practice yoga. They haven't stopped talking about you since we returned from Koh Samui. Thank you also for introduing a new diet to me. I have never felt so healthy as the 5 days that I spent eating your lovely food and practicing yoga!

We hope to see you all in the near future!
Sincerely,
Kim Dallas, Chengdu, China

I must have visited your center in 2002, anyway, the date matters little. It changed my life. I had never done yoga before. I was a bit depressed and talking with you guys and learning the basics of Ashtanga really helped me to displine my mind to see the brighter side of things. The most important thing you gave me is A TOOL to get rid of dark ideas. Whenever I feel morose, I begin to do the routine you taught me. I admit, I stopped doing yoga everyday BUT I now do daily physical exercises. I stopped smoking too. In fact, the greatest gift you gave me is that I am capable with breathing exercises and Ashtanga yoga to find my "calm waters" when the boat rocks too hard.

I'm not sure if my text make sense but I just wanted you to know that even after one retreat you can change people's life.

I use to be a teacher in Bangkok and now I work with Inuit children in Nunavik, Canada. Next year, we are moving to Whitehorse, Yukon, I hope that in this somewhat bigger town, I will find a yoga instructor (hopefully Ashtanga!) so I can practice more regularly, not just when things are heavy.

Thanks a million times again,
ANIE

I can't believe it has been four months and I'm still not ready to leave Yoga-Thailand--but, I have to go. I came to Yoga-Thailand to "do yoga" and instead I gained an Ashtanga yoga practice and many valuable friendships. You have taught me the importance of living yoga on and off the mat. Throughout my experience, I have felt so much support and love that I simply could not leave after just 3 weeks.

You already know how special your staff is but, Neil, Lana, Sarah, Lynn, Nee and Nong make your shala on the beach so unique.

I wish you nothing but success in the future as the new Yoga Thailand becomes a reality, and I will be there to support you all the way!

Love and true gratitude
Molly Omera

To everyone at Yoga Thailand I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone at Yoga Thailand for making my stay with you very special. It was a wonderful experience which has renewed my enthusiasm for practice on a daily basis. Hope to visit you again soon.
Namaste
Joanne Jordan

Dear friends at Yoga Thailand,

Thank you to all of you for making my first encounter with Ashtanga yoga so special, kind and healing! It is only coming back to regular life and practise in a somewhat "normal" shala that I fully understand how special Yoga Thailand is. I missed each and everyone of you today when I started the new year with my first class in Copenhagen. It is 3 degrees celsius here, freezing cold, and looking at the white walls of my new shala I truly missed the ocean and felt slightly lost in the new surroundings. How lucky I have been to get such a first class introduction in spectacular ambience.
Peace and smile
Pia Edenhög

Images from August 2007 retreats with Tiwari and Richard Freeman

Dear all

Josie and I have just returned to London with heavy hearts - our week with you at Yoga Thailand was so much more profound and inspiring than we ever anticipated; we fooled ourselves into believing we could stay forever. Having had yoga taken away from us through injury, we are both so pleased to be able to practice again, even in the baby steps which we took during our week with you.

Congratulations to Paul and Jutima for creating such a fantastic haven for physical and spiritual growth in such an incredibly beautiful place - and our heartfelt thanks for allowing us to live in your world briefly.

We hope to be back in the blink of an eye.

Namaste
Wally & Josie

I am sorry to say that I arrived back at my desk yesterday and am day dreaming of Thailand. Thank you very much for accommodating me. I had a fabulous time and it must be said that the standard of teaching was nothing less than excellent.

Sorry that I did not have an opportunity to say goodbye before I hurriedly left.

I will endeavour to put your advice into practise and to work on the dreaded hip opener postures. I will, no doubt, see you again (and that's a threat!).
Jacqueline

I would like to thank you all for a wonderful two weeks, a time of rest, of opening and the beginning of healing for me. I am immensely grateful to all of you for your inspirational teaching and support, and for creating at Yoga Thailand an atmosphere of warmth, growth, clarity and light -- a natural extension of all of you.
love,
Adele

Temai, Lea and I would sincerely like to thank you all for the glorious time and learning experience you provided for us at Yoga Thailand.

We have arrived safely (and recovered quite successfully from jetlag) and look forward to continue all practices.

Temai misses all his recent friends and addictive environment but you know Temai he is back to his eating routine like expected :)

We enjoyed our time immensely and home to see you all soon!

Kind regards and best wishes,

Om shanti,
Temai, Lea and Uzo

Many, many thanks for a beautiful experience at Yoga Thailand! Your warmth and hospitality turned a nice vacation into a wonderful experience. I can not express the gratitude I feel for the guidance you provided, Paul, in helping me to regain a practice I felt I had lost in my car accident. Thank you for your teaching, and for encouraging my progression.
Namaste, Amanda, Seattle, US

I had such an amazing and inspiring experience there last Fall during the week long retreat I can't stop thinking about it and the opportunity to study there for an entire month.
Casey, Boulder, US

Just allow to me say a very sincere and personal thank you for the guidance and proper introduction I received into the ashtanga yoga technique over the past 7 days from you.
It was a very rewarding experience for me personal and professionally. I believe very much in yoga, not only asanas, and as such it was good to spend time with you and all participants, learning, listen, feeling and growing all in our own humble ways to become better at what we do in our lives and with our life's surroundings.
Warmest - Ingo, Hong Kong

Had a glorious time on your retreat in Thailand and will never forget the experience. I have actually increased my practise now, since I've been back in London, to five times a week!
Thanks, Diana, UK

We would just like to thank you so much for having us. It was only for a few days, but it was very valubale to us! The atmosphere and the beautiful Shala inspired us a lot. We will absolutly recommend Yoga Thailand to our yoga-friends and teachers...We´re dreaming of going back next year...and we wish for the dream to come true!
With Love, Lisa and Johan, Sweden

Thanks once again for a life changing experience over Xmas! Yes we are still practicing and feeling better for it reading lots about Yoga and keen to find a local teacher. Sounds silly but the food we had on the retreat was so fantastic we would love to be able to recreate some of it here - any chance of some recipes?
Best Wishes, Om, Tony & Katrina, Australia

Yoga Thailand is a powerful place to practice, I feel. It is also very shanti and special, you should be very proud how special you have made it.
Heidi, Australia

Thank you from all of us for such a wonderful experience. With out a doubt our best family time ever. We are dutifully doing our morning practice (despite screaming hamstrings!) s and the kids still dancing around the house chanting.
Sybil and family, Vietnam

No words can fully express my gratitude to your training, coaching & guidance. I can feel your dedication & care to share yoga in the proper light. I could not believe I could wake up at 5:45 am to do the simple pranayama & Sun Salutation A & B with my boys! All because of my good experience at Yoga Thailand.
Gratefully yours, Amy, Singapore

I want to thank you for the great experience that i had for the retreat, it was definitely an enriching and spiritual experience for me.
i have not smoked since the day i stepped into your premises til today and am hoping that i will focus on, so far i have no urge to lift up a cigerette! also woke early today to do my prana and sun salute A n B, thats quite good for a start i think. i know i will come back to visit u guys for sure.
Jane

The experience I had with you was more than I could have hoped for. I learned so much about so many different aspects of yoga. Some that are quietly waiting inside and some that I think of on a daily basis. And I learned a lot about the abilities of my own body... I also appreciate the way you pushed us to really explore the edge of the asana. To be careful and yet go further than we think that we can. Thank you. The way you opened up your heart and your life to us was additionally a unique treat.
Victoria, L.A. US

Thanks for a really good week. You chose your name well, as I feel more centered than when I left.
Barbara

"THANKS A LOT for all the changes that you've catalised in my life!!
I am indeed practising... as u say, "it is all coming." In just a few months I feel quite different than before; much lighter and stronger, but most importantly, much more at peace than before, internally and externally, clarity of mind and stronger focus."
Marcos S, Spain - USA

"I just wanted to thank you for the most amazing retreat, I feel refreshed and motivated despite being back in England and having my tan washed off by the rain! I've been practicing my pranayama everyday and my ashtanga practice as often as possible.
Thank you again for your inspiration and laughter ."
Louise B, UK

"I wanted to thank you both for the wonderful experience I had on the retreat. I signed up for this adventure with an interest in further developing an ashtanga practise but had no idea really what to expect. The retreat experience was inspirational on so many levels, I can not even begin to describe details. The people, the place, the practises all offered wonderful things. Paul, you are a very gifted teacher with an ability to inspire and challenge people from within. Thank you for that."
Corrina, Canada

"I wanted to thank you very sincerely for the wonderful retreat. I was looking over my photos yesterday and felt quite nostalgic... everyone attended that retreat for their own reasons, but it was a magic moment in space & time and I'm sure we all left with positive thoughts and resolutions for the future. Whether a retreat like that can make significant changes in one's lives depends on the individual... I know that not only did my practise improve and my eyes were opened to new avenues of study and inquiry, but another benefit of the retreat was the friendships I made there.
Thank you for being such a wonderful teacher and an inspiration... I'm lucky that I can keep practising here in Montreal, but you've also inspired me in other aspects of yoga, by your discourse and by your example."
Robert, Canada

"Thank you very much again for the very inspiring and at the same time fun yoga retreat, it was a fantastic experience! Not only because I learned a lot and because I found in Ashtanga the form of yoga that really fits me and which I definitely want to further develop, but also because I met a lot of great people with the same interests, who I hope to meet again in the future."
Ingrid, Netherlands

"I really just wanted to thank you for guiding me toward removing those thought patterns. I didn't even fully realize until I returned home how much you & the Koh Samui retreat helped me break out of that. You told me I could do it and I thought your were OUT OF YOUR MIND!!! I expected to broaden my practice and see part of Thailand, but I came home pleasantly surprised that I opened a whole new world to myself."
Hillary, USA

"This is a note to say how much I continue to enjoy the benefits of your patient, thorough instruction and wonderful friendly approach to yoga. I have since been keeping up with classes in D.C. and N.Y. as much as possible. While the lack of consistency in teaching and approach to postures has at times frustrated my progress, I always find fulfillment when I remember that "pinch" you taught us, or the time that I did the squat or headstand in your class, and have remained continually motivated in my pursuit of the practice."
Carolyn, USA

"Paul, I want to thank you again for being the first to introduce me to the practice, in a way that was incredibly inspiring and motivating. Not everyone has the ability to teach well, and I want to compliment you on your obvious gift to share your passion with others.
Thanks for the encouragement - it really helps."
Treena, Canada - Italy

"I am doing really well, I am continuing the practice of Ashtanga Yoga really seriously. I am doing my own practice from my house, I love it, and I have to say I think you would be proud of your student! Since last week I am trying Ashtanga's classes in different Studios in Montreal. I found one that I like so I am starting there next week. Thank you for introducing me to Ashtanga Yoga so well that I never want to stop it! It is changing my life it is so rewarding for me, more than I could ever imagine!"
Rene, Canada

"I would just like to extend my deepest thanks and gratitude to you both for taking the time and sincere effort to help all of us stiff people. You've provided me with a tool to harness and unlock my true self which lies dormant inside me. During the retreat, my practice evolved into something resembling an angelic shape rather than a lump of clay."
Judd, USA

"Many, many thanks for a beautiful experience at Yoga Thailand! Your warmth and hospitality turned a nice vacation into a wonderful experience. I can not express the gratitude I feel for the guidance you provided, Paul, in helping me to regain a practice I felt I had lost in my car accident. Thank you for your teaching, and for encouraging my progression."
Namaste, Amanda, Seattle, US