Cat Alip-Douglas

cat.
the yoga timeline vs. a generic bio.

2000
– living and working in nyc. started practising yoga at jivamukti on lafayette st

2001
– practice became a necessity after 9/11…wake up call, the beginning of an inevitable shift.

2004
– path re-directed + moved to london (deepest gratitude to xed le head)

– unemployed, not much in savings/income and yet most content with the simpler life – no debt; despite that, participated in a london yoga teacher training; started teaching anyone who was willing (not many just some kind hearted tattooists who actually thought it was harder than getting tattooed)

2005
– back to new york for one month of yoga teacher training…some credit card debt.

– back to london…a broken moment yet hustling and teaching full time to pay rent, the tt debt, london city living…still overall satisfied.

2008
– advanced certification (jivamukti)

2011
– assumed guardianship for the space that was JYL

2015
– senior yoga teacher “status” (yoga alliance)

2016
– space reincarnated into sangyé yoga school

– 1st SYS awakening student teacher training + offered every year since…

– living a privileged life…

2023
– the “broken” era began but with it came incomparable teachings: applied to all matters with no scarcity of material to bring adversity onto the path. they were the path…nothing less than grateful.

2026
– still here, for now + better than ok, actually quietly and confidently empowered in the realisation that happiness doesn’t come from environmental stimulus. we don’t “need” much… and i rest in the lived experience that we’re capable of so much more when we can endure the seismic tectonic shifts with stillness + softness. this is the test. tested.

throughout the last two+ decades…
i met some cool humans who truly care (and canines),
got a few tattoos – no less fearful of needles,
travelled the world a bit,
taught yoga as a pure passion – it’s my “thing” i suppose,
travelled + taught some more (wow…more than i ever imagined possible),
travelled + attended buddhist teachings…and more teachings,
immersed in the dharma with excellent Teachers,
took some vows, applied them to living and loving…
inevitably loved hard, broke harder,
got back up…
yet stayed low profile.

despite the logic of it…
occasionally still resisted the certainty + necessity of change
yet ultimately experienced deep contentment
in the ongoing practice of letting go.
i highly recommend it…

in classes, i endeavour to share everything i’ve learned thus far,
which isn’t actually much (just managing expectations)
but perhaps useful and relevant to some.
to those willing, i will give everything.
guaranteed.

thank you.

catalipdouglas (website+insta)
a bit of off the cuff writing…https://catalipdouglas.substack.com/

THOUGHTS ARE NOTHING BUT THE NATURE OF REALITY 

On a bright ocean, bubbles emerge
then dissolve back into the water.
Likewise, thoughts are nothing
but the Nature of Reality:
Don’t regard them as faults – Relax.

When you have no clinging
to what appears and what arises,
It frees itself within its own ground.

Appearances, sound, and phenomena
– are your own Mind.
There are no phenomena apart from Mind. 

Mind is free
– from birth, – cessation and formulation.
Those who know Mind’s Nature
Enjoy the five senses’ pleasures
But do not stray from the Nature of Reality. 

On an island of gold,
You search in vain for earth and stones.

In the equanimity
of the great absolute expanse,
There is no acceptance or rejection,
No states of meditation or post-meditation.

When you actualize that state,
It is spontaneously present,
Fulfilling beings’ hopes
Like a wish-fulfilling jewel.

~ Dakini Niguma