Student Spotlight Charlotte Duggan

Falling In Love With Your Self

Why you attended YTT at that point in your life?

Marianne’s Yoga School truly came to me in perfect divine timing. I remember it being a rainy winter day, sitting in a corporate job I no longer loved, wishing I could do something else but not knowing what. I came across Marianne’s Yoga School online and got full-body chills. I knew it was something I needed to experience, even though I was not sure if teaching was going to be the outcome, there was something inside me that kept pulling me back to her course, it just felt so right.

I had recently found my love for yoga as a way to heal and connect to my body after years of a disordered relationship with food and exercise. I knew there was something more behind it, and that if I could dive deeper into my practice, real transformation and growth could come from it. Marianne’s course just ticked every box, it didn’t just offer a teaching course, but also a whole lifestyle, and I knew it was something I needed to explore. Soon after, I had booked a 2-week intensive course in Costa Rica, flying out New Year’s Day 2020 and ready for the experience of a lifetime!

How has Marianne’s Yoga School inspired you to live your truth, your dharma?

Marianne & Ron’s teaching wasn’t just about yoga; they changed my life in more ways than I can explain. I turned up to training excited, and a little nervous. I distinctively remember the first day as we all stood up to introduce ourselves, I couldn’t think of anything interesting to say about myself. I was the only one who couldn’t come up with just one interesting fact about myself, so I sat back down already feeling as though I wasn’t good enough to be able to do this course.

Throughout the next few days, revelations began to unfold. The creative group exercises Marianne took each day probed at my confidence and Ron’s philosophy lessons opened up new parts of my mind, and something in me began to shift.

I realized that everything in my life was energy, vibrating in frequencies I’d never see, but I could feel, and the highest frequency of all was love – but how could I possibly live a life I loved if I didn’t first start loving myself?

From then onward, everything changed. Marianne and Ron’s gentle guidance and support pushed me to be able to do things I never visioned I’d be able to do. One of the most transformational moments for me throughout the training was on January 10th. The night of the Full Moon. As we sat under the Costa Rican stars and set intentions for what we wanted to bring in, and what was no longer serving us, I wrote; to find my purpose as a yoga teacher, heal my relationship with my body and myself, to keep my heart flowing, open and free, and to surrender to the power of the universe and its perfect alignment; and I realized then that everything was connected.

I no longer felt unsure about what my path in life was – I felt as though I had a clear vision in my heart of what to do next, and everything fell into place.

Looking back on the girl I was then, afraid to talk in front of a crowd, under-confident, and operating to a place of low self-worth, to the person I have become now, teaching live classes, growing each and every day and thriving with a healthy, happy relationship with myself. I could not have imagined getting there without the help of Marianne and Ron.

I always thought I could figure everything out alone, but Marianne’s teachings and being with such an incredible group of women made me realize the importance of connection and ignited a part of me I never knew existed.

In the words of Ron Well’s; “We are all made of stardust”.

What would you say to someone looking for a YTT?

Follow your heart. There are many different courses out there and all of them will give you the ‘certification’ you need to be able to teach yoga, but not all of them will support and guide you to be the PERSON you can be.

Reach out to past students, read the reviews, call the hosts, and allow some time for you to quiet the noise and connect to your intuition, because I truly believe the right training and course will come to you at the exact time you need it.

…and if you read a course that gives you full-body chills just like Marianne’s did, that’s your intuition screaming at you loud and clear!

Tell me about all the good stuff in your life now?

Since leaving training with a new zest for life and a dream in my heart – I decided it was time to fall back in love with myself, and in doing so has been nothing short of life-changing. I no longer operate from the same place of low self-worth and I have had some pretty amazing miracles in my health. I have recently left my full-time corporate job to teach Really Real Yoga® and enroll with IIN as a Hormone Health Coach.

Every Full Moon since training, I have reset my intentions, and I am always reminded of the sensational energy of my first ceremony, a sacred sisterhood formed with the most beautiful souls from across the globe. It is now my mission to empower women to slow down and create space to heal in the realm of body image, exercise, control and food freedom.