Yoga South Africa

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Victor O'Boyle


About:

I was born in Paris to a French mother and an American father. From an early age I was filled with questions. I have always been a seeker but if someone told me 10 years ago I were to become a yoga teacher I wouldn’t have believed them. For me, yoga was a thing women did in their 40s. I was very wrong. 

Things started changing in 2012. I was driving home from work when I had a head on collision with another car. On the way to the hospital, I felt myself floating above the ambulance amongst the trees. A few hours later, I was fully in my body at the very beginning of a long journey to recovery. Questions were on my mind. What would my life had been worth if I had died in that moment? And what do I do with it now that I’m alive? 

My physical recovery took six months but the questions remained. I didn’t have answers and I found myself escaping the questions.

One day in 2015, while living in New York City, a friend introduced me to yoga. It wasn’t true love at first sight. The unfamiliar poses and stretches in the heated vinyasa studio were torturous. But I knew there was something to it and that it might answer my itching questions.

My exploration began. I took classes daily and discovered different styles of yoga. Most of which didn’t need a heated studio! But I wanted more. I completed my first teacher training in 2015 with Yoga to the People in New York City and started teaching in several studios around the city. But the questions remained unanswered. I was still thirsty.

In 2016 I began my 500 hour teacher training at the Himalayan Institute in Pennsylvania. Through the training I deepened my understanding of the philosophy and practice of yoga, and meditation. I was exposed to confirmed teachers who collectively had centuries of experience. After completing the training in 2017, I was given the opportunity to work there, alongside the teachers I looked up to. 

The quest never ends, but over the years I have collected some of the most profound tools and teachings. As to my questions, I found comfort in a simple truth. Meaning lies in the present moment. The past plays itself in our memory and the future is uncertain. Life is precious because it exists only in this very moment. Yoga is not about being present. It is realising that there is only this present moment. It’s not worth much knowing this on an intellectual level, it needs to be experienced within. Sharing this experience has become my vocation. In my classes, students are taught to reconnect with their deepest selves, to treat their bodies with compassion and to find unshakable peace and serenity.

I have taught classes, workshops, retreats and teacher trainings in Costa Rica, France, South Africa, Vietnam, and India. It is a real honour and responsibility to be able to share something so close to my heart around the world .

Today I am incredibly fortunate to call South Africa home. Out of all the places I have been to, South Africa has moved me the most.

With my partner Bianca Cassingena, we offer a series of retreats called Nature’s Healing. Bringing seekers like us to breath taking locations, we combine our years of experience to create a space where they can grow and shift like never before.

Qualifications:

200hr Yoga to the People, New York City

500hr Himalayan Institute, Pennsylvania, US 

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Upcoming Retreats with Victor

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