TESTIMONIALS
I attended Swan School in 2010, and it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I wanted to delve deeper into the teachings of yoga, and understand more of what it’s all about. Before we even started the course, the books we had to read before commencement helped me deal with the death of my father, who left his body just as we were about to start. Reincarnation, or rebirth, is such a big part of the books and enabled me to see that my father’s spirit was soaring somewhere, while only the shell of his being laid in his coffin. I had believed this before beginning the course, but the books really made it more real, and my beliefs were strengthened.
I must admit that the Swan School was more of a challenge than I assumed it would be. But when you are challenged, you know you are getting the real deal. This is one of the reasons that I have the greatest respect and admiration for Shri Michelle. The course was well organised, with specific modules led by other teachers who are specialists in their fields. With all the teachings, plus attending 3 classes per week, I literally became the strongest and fittest I have ever been, in my whole life. This was at age 58! Shri Michelle has been such a strong source of inspiration to me that I now run, together with my husband, a yoga retreat in the south of France (she also named it for me). At a time when there are so many yoga teacher trainings around, Shri Michelle’s teachings stand out, and don’t think I could have had anything better.
As someone who lives with music pretty much all the time, I have treasured the special power of Michelle’s sound-bath rituals. If you’ve ever responded significantly to sound, then treat yourself to this exquisite immersion that Michelle so skillfully stages.
A few months after suffering a serious accident, I contacted Michelle about Reiki therapy, and the experience was a milestone — and probably a turning point — in my long recovery. She is a deeply gifted healer.
Are you prepared to have your life changed? The Ayurveda Yoga Therapy course will do just that! I loved going deep into the different doshas and how to best support my unique constitution on a journey towards health, wellness, and balance. The course itself equips you to confidently pursue greater harmony through your habits, routines, diet, exercise, and more through the Ayurvedic system of medicine. As a result of this course, I am much better able to address imbalances in my constitution, which has allowed me to personally feel much healthier and happier overall! Highly, highly recommend!
Swan River Yoga’s 450-hr teacher training program is top-notch and is a beyond worthy investment. Its curriculum and exceptional team of mentors provide students with a robust, expansive education of yoga covering anatomical fundamentals, yogic history and culture, and practical applications for teaching today. As a student, you are likely to find the program to be a challenge, but as a reward, you’ll gain confidence and readiness that will prepare you for teaching.
I had already taken Reiki I with someone else when I decided to take it again with Shri Michelle. I’m so glad I did. It was like opposite ends of the spectrum. The depth of knowledge I received inspired me to take this healing art to another level, so I took Reiki II the following year. I would have taken III and become a Master, but we moved away from New Orleans. Michelle is the first person ever to explain what it means to be grounded. As a LMT, this is very important, but there were only general references to it during my 800hr Massage Therapist training. Something science doesn’t really get into.
Michelle is nothing but simple however simply put, a powerhouse of a woman — a manifesting YOGI in action. When she puts her mind to something, she makes it happen. I’ve had the pleasure of doing several trainings & retreats with her and will always be so grateful for her guidance, inspiration and the other-wordly wisdom of yoga & healing arts she shares with this world. I will always consider her one of my first teachers. Jai Shri Michelle-ji!
Swan River Teacher Training changed the course of my entire life. Not only did it save me in ways I didn’t think possible but it allowed me to open to the pain of my past so that I could experience the joy of my presence.
I didn’t expect such grace or growth to unfold from God. I do believe some part of me, something within me, bigger than me-led me here.
It was the first time I was totally transparent in my life. All guards down, all veils lifted, all layers shed. What was left was the essence of me. What I had forgotten or resisted or numbed came up and for the first time I had the courage and unwavering support to soften into it. I moved my muscles, healed my heart, tenderized my thoughts, and came home to me. Three were moments it felt impossible, vulnerable, unbearable but what I had been given was the greatest gift. It was worth the pain, the struggle, the loss, the diving in, the mess of me. What unraveled within me was also awakened.
What was left was the visceral truth. My truth.
I had found the gift of community. My community. A group of hearts united to ask the hard questions and have the honest conversations. The types of conversations that are agents for transformation.
People grow when they are loved well. A love with no agenda is the threshold for all possibility.
This love is what I found at Swan River. I was accepted but yet challenged. I was taught
the process of taking off masks, the skills of forgiveness, the purification of thoughts, the gathering of trust, the walk of my purpose and path.
The training was just the beginning for me. It was a homecoming but it was also a calling to step up to be held in authenticity and integrity and to show up unapologetically in the world the ways I was meant to.
This community, this training was everything for me.
I breath it into my heart, cells, bones. It has changed all of me.
We have no faith in what is until someone believes in us, sees us, listens to us, touches us, waits for us, and rediscovers us.
This is the gift of being seen. Give yourself this gift-open it and become the essence of you.
Swan River Teacher Training was the most enriching experience of my life. I knew that I wanted to dive into the spiritual realm of my life before embarking upon my professional career and it was the perfect training for that endeavor. I have come away grounded more than ever, focused, determined and motivated to pursue my passion. I felt ready and confident to teach yoga upon graduation and walked away with numerous tools that have created my daily practice. It was such a powerful journey into the relationship with myself and the sacred world around me. Michelle is professional, charismatic and highly skilled at delivering the ancient teachings so they are relatable to the modern day human predicament. This teaching training gave me the spiritual foundation so I can thrive at anything I put my mind to. I recommend this journey to anyone that wants to discover how to refine self-love, which in turn will uplift all those around you.
As a Swan School faculty member for nearly a decade, I take pride in and am inspired by working with a group of beings so dedicated to their own practices and growth. It is a delight to see the evolution of this program, with improvements and refinements each year to best serve the community of new teachers.
My offering for the program is in the form of all things asana! This includes the art of asana alignment, integrity and safety in our practice, clarity of articulation and instruction, and therapeutic application.
I derive great joy in sharing the universal principles of yoga and witnessing students and teachers becoming more embodied. To live freely in our body is a gift, and the more we learn about ourselves through these practices, the more we have to offer healing, love, freedom, and joy to our world.
Swan River Yoga’s 450-hr teacher training program is top-notch and is a beyond worthy investment. Its curriculum and exceptional team of mentors provide students with a robust, expansive education of yoga covering anatomical fundamentals, yogic history and culture, and practical applications for teaching today. As a student, you are likely to find the program to be a challenge, but as a reward, you’ll gain confidence and readiness that will prepare you for teaching. – Brendan F.
Swan River Yoga Teacher Training challenged my mind, stretched my limits, and strengthened my body and Heart. I approached it as a “spiritual bootcamp” of sorts—it was something very consistent in my life, when things felt turbulent and trying. I was amazed at how closely and almost instantly I connected to each and every one of my fellow teachers in training; when you’re all working together toward one goal—learning, laughing, crying, sometimes really struggling, you form unspoken bonds as well as true, unconditional Love for one another. Our teachers and fellow teachers-in-training made Swan River a safe place to learn, grow, and Be my True Self.
In this safe place, I remembered my self-integrity; I remembered who I am and what I value. I remembered how important it is to serve others…to serve everyone. Swan School re-ignited my passion to serve through healing and natural medicine; it gave me the strength and confidence to embark on a several-years journey in the healing medicine of Ayurveda to become an Ayurvedic Doctor.
I hope to serve my community through the teachings of Ayurveda, or natural medicine, and I am incredibly honored to be able to share what I’ve learned so far with the newest teachers-in-training at Swan River. As a part of the Swan School faculty, I hope to assist in creating an environment in which beings can learn, grow, and be inspired, just like I learned, grew, and felt inspiration, when I was a teacher-in-training. The truth is, we are all students, or “teachers-in-training,” while we are here on this planet; I know we can all learn from and support one other on the journey.