The moment that made me resign or the most expensive Shavasana of my life

There are moments in life that seem insignificant while they're happening.

Sometimes it's a simple Google search.

Looking back, I think my life changed because of four words I typed into a search bar on a random evening in July 2025:

Yoga Teacher Training Abroad.

At the time, I had no idea.

A bad day and a random idea

I'd had one of those days at work.

Nothing catastrophic had happened.

But I came away feeling frustrated and somehow... heavier than usual.

I closed my laptop and looked at my personal calendar.

A few weeks earlier, I'd booked my very first yoga retreat in Greece.

I smiled. Looking forward to it. Excited.

Then a completely random thought popped into my head.

"Maybe I should become a yoga teacher."

Spoiler Alert, April 2026:

Now, let's be clear.

I wasn't planning a career change.

I simply loved yoga and thought it would be fun to spend three weeks somewhere beautiful, learning something I loved.

So I opened Google.

House of Om appeared almost immediately.

I clicked their website.

As soon as I saw their 200hr YTT in The Mansion in Ubud Bali something inside me quietly said,

"This is it."

To this day, I can't explain it.

People talk about Mama Bali - the island having an energy that somehow calls you.

Back then I thought that sounded a little mystical.

Now...

I'm not so sure.

The least Sarah decision I've ever made

If you know me, you'll appreciate just how ridiculous what happened next was.

I'm an overthinker.

I compare everything.

Flights. Hotels. Restaurants.

If there's a pro/con-list involved, I'm usually happy.

Yet somehow, on this particular evening, pro/con-list Sarah disappeared.

Intuition Sarah took over.

Within thirty minutes...

I'd booked a three-week yoga teacher training in Bali.

I didn't compare schools.

I barely read the website.

In fact, I don't think I even looked at the price.

When my dad asked,

"How much was it?"

My answer was completely honest.

"I have absolutely no idea."

"It was in US dollars... converted from Indonesian Rupiah... I just clicked Book."

Then came another question.

"Where are you staying?"

"In a room with three strangers."

Which is particularly funny because I absolutely love having my own space.

Apparently my intuition had decided that privacy was overrated.

Then came my dad's best question.

"I hope it's not a cult."

I still laugh every time I read those WhatsApp messages.

Eight months of waiting

Once the excitement settled, reality slowly caught up.

I was really doing this.

Flying halfway across the world. Alone.

To spend three weeks with people I'd never met.

And then another fear appeared.

"What if I'm not good enough?"

I imagined everyone effortlessly flowing through impossible yoga poses while I struggled through the basics.

So I did what overthinkers do best. I prepared.

For eight months.

I went to Yoga and Reformer Pilates six or seven days a week.

I booked one-to-one sessions with my lovely yoga teacher Riy to work on my alignment and foundations.

At the same time, I started my coaching qualification.

Looking back, I barely had a social life.

I wasn't obsessed with becoming perfect.

I just wanted to arrive feeling ready.

Welcome to Bali

The humidity hit me before I even left the airport.

My first thought wasn't spiritual.

It was, "Wow... this is real."

Then came another thought.

"Please let me make some friends."

Fortunately, my worries disappeared almost immediately.

My roommates came from the UK, Brasil and Spain.

Within hours we were laughing together.

Which was probably a good thing...

...because our bathroom didn't even have a door.

Nothing builds friendships faster than accidentally removing all privacy on day one.

The people who asked one simple question

One thing surprised me more than anything else.

It wasn't the yoga. It was the conversations.

I met people who had quit jobs. Travelled the world. Moved countries.

Completely reinvented their lives.

Whenever I said, "I'm not sure I could do that..."

Nobody tried to convince me. Nobody gave me advice.

They simply asked,

"Why not?"

Such a simple question.

One I'd somehow never asked myself.

For the first time, the life I'd quietly imagined didn't seem unrealistic.

It seemed possible.

The card

During our first week, we sat in a heart-opening circle.

There wasn't a dry eye in the shala.

When it was my turn, I picked a card.

It said: Detachment.

I immediately knew why I'd chosen it.

I talked about wanting to let go of other people's expectations.

About wanting to stop living the life I thought I should live and start living the one that felt true to me.

Halfway through explaining it...

I started crying. Despite trying very hard not to.

Looking back now...

I sometimes imagine the universe listening patiently before smiling and saying,

"Challenge accepted."

The most expensive Shavasana of my life

Week two arrived.

Three-hour Vinyasa classes. A ridiculous number of Chaturangas. 6 a.m. starts.

My arms were shaking. Everything hurt.

Then came an extended Shavasana.

Lying there, completely still, my mind wandered.

I imagined getting on the plane back.

Back to the UK. Back to the life I'd temporarily pressed pause on.

And then something happened that completely caught me off guard.

The thought made me feel physically sick.

Nothing dramatic had happened.

I'd simply slowed down enough to hear myself.

Really hear me.

For the first time in years, there was no noise.

No rushing.

No distractions.

Just a quiet truth that had apparently been waiting very patiently for me.

When I opened my eyes... I knew.

I was going to resign.

The longest silent breakfast

There was just one small problem.

Our mornings were silent until after breakfast. 10AM.

I'd just made the biggest decision of my career...

...and I wasn't allowed to tell anyone.

So I sat there eating breakfast in complete silence.

It might have been the strangest breakfast of my life.

Finally, later that day, I was lying by the pool with some of the girls.

I looked at them and said,

"I've made the decision to resign."

"Today."

"In Shavasana."

Nobody questioned it.

They simply smiled.

It was as if they'd already seen it before I had.

During our final days in Bali we all wrote little notes on each other's contracts that we had signed with ourselves on Day 1.

One of mine simply said:

"Quit your job! Be free of Swindon and follow your wildest dreams."

At the time I couldn't even post a photo of it online.

Nobody back home knew what I'd decided.

Now I look at it and laugh.

They knew before LinkedIn did.

Coming home

Returning home felt different. Because I had changed.

I also knew myself well enough to realise something important.

If I waited too long...

I'd start overthinking again.

Pro/Con-List Sarah would come back.

So I made myself one promise. Resign in the first week back.

Before fear has a chance to negotiate.

That's exactly what I did.

On the same day, I sent a message to our Bali group.

I'd done it. The replies started flooding in.

"Proud of you."

"Congratulations!"

"Knew you would."

The most supportive, kind, genuine and beautiful souls.

People that are truly happy for you and cheer you on no matter what.

Looking back

Every now and then, I go back to those WhatsApp messages with my dad.

"You've gone crazy."

"How much did it cost?"

"I hope it's not a cult."

Looking back...

He wasn't entirely wrong.

It probably was a cult.

A cult of people who believed life was too short to ignore the things that make you feel alive.

I'm very glad I joined.

Because I didn't go to Bali to quit my job.

I went there to become a yoga teacher.

I just didn't realise that, before I could teach other people how to listen to themselves...

I first had to learn how to listen to myself.

Namaste, Sarah x