Dharma Series: Ashley's Dive Yoga Series
By: Ashley Rossy
I'm stoked to say I have received the Dharma Grant for my 300 hour Yoga teacher training in Peru!!!!! This grant has truly been a huge stepping stone for me to start on a new life path. This past year I've been grasping for anything I thought would bring me more direction and I've been craving growth. So I turned to research for another yoga teacher training because who doesn't experience some positive direction after learning and growing with beautiful souls?!
I started this project at the beginning of February with a vision of combining SCUBA Diving and Yoga and turning it into a PADI distinctive specialty. I'm a PADI (dive organization) dive instructor as well as a 200 hour Yoga alliance certified teacher. I'm currently living on Grand Cayman, working solely as a dive instructor and I miss teaching yoga. I've heard of several dive shops around the world that run diving and Yoga retreats but few that actually combine the two in the water. I had researched to see if anyone had already created a "Dive/Yoga" course where people could be taught how to properly practice yoga on a scuba dive. My research showed me little.
I thought great, my project would be geared toward writing and creating PADI's very first, "Dive-Yoga distinctive specialty". With this specialty, people could get certified to practice this perfect collaboration and I could extend it all over the world. But wait, it's 2018... how could no-one have come up with this idea already?
There are thousands of PADI professionals and probably a few hundred of them are yoga teachers. How can I believe I am the first person to try and create this? With this thought continuously weighing on me, I did a bit more sniffing around and with some help of another PADI professional, I found a website that changed my entire project.
The website is called www.soulscuba.com and it revealed that someone had in fact already made my project a reality. Amanda Parr is the writer and creator of PADI's Yoga Diver distinctive specialty. As I scrolled through her website, I discovered she and I had a very similar vision - our course descriptions were outlined almost word for word verbatim. I immediately got excited! Funny enough, because all of the work has already been done, I could now focus on growth! I spent about a week trying to get in touch with Amanda, in hopes of being able to collaborate our work and create some magic!
When Amanda and I first spoke, I told her of about the grant I received and all of the work I had put into my project up until this point. We spoke of her wanting to expand her course for other instructors to teach all over the world and how Grand Cayman has been on her list for some time. Excited to hear that, I told her I have been planning on running two workshops on the island before I leave in July as part of my project and how I'd love for her to be involved if possible. We are currently in the planning stages and seeing what can be done.
Fast forward to the present, I'm excited to say I have a new direction for my project. Instead of being the creator of a Dive-Yoga distinctive specialty, my vision is now to become a Yoga-diver instructor and see if I can help create a demand for this specialty on Grand Cayman as well as the next place once I leave here.
Spreading yoga in a "new" and exciting way, helping people discover another passion, and creating a path for another healthy lifestyle avenue... I'm more pumped now than I was two months ago! Once the workshops are complete, I hope to help Amanda market her specialty at her retreat in Columbia at the end of September 2018.
With this change to my project, I've been trying to think of what I want to do with all of the curriculum I've already wrote. I have over 50 pages worth of material and research, logged dives with trial and error, posters made and the whole 9 yards. I can't let all of my hard work go to waste! So, as I kept going back and forth, I've decided to continue to write, and grow everything further. Truly make it my own, adding in my travels and adventures and who knows, maybe one day down the road, you'll find my name on a book in your local Barnes and noble...or I might just keep it on my bookshelf. Either way, 2018 is shaping up to be an incredible year and I'm ready to share my journey with all you beautiful souls!
Reality sometimes hits when you least expect it but when you truly need it most. I believe the direction of my project changed because it was supposed to. I'll leave you, for now, with a section from a chapter of my "in development book." I hope you take something away from it and share it with others!
Feeling all the vibes,
Ashley
About Ashley
Ashley grew up outside of Atlanta Georgia always having a passion to travel and explore. After college she became a flight attendant with Delta Airlines and her life forever changed. Exploring all the beautiful corners of the world she decided she wanted to live like all the vagabonds she had encountered on her travels. She then quit flying and became a dive instructor and Yoga teacher and has now traveled to and lived in over nine countries making her dreams a reality.
urrently residing in Grand Cayman, Ashley has decided to embark on her third yoga teacher training with Kula Collective in hopes of finding a new path in life where she can combine her passions of diving and Yoga. Beginning her journey in South America, she's intrigued to see where life takes her with this next direction. Connect with Ashley on Instagram!