About ISTA
International School of Temple Arts
ISTA is committed to raising sexuality and consciouness education across the globe to grow community, provide conferences and initiatory events to all people, trainings to practitioners and teachers, and to provide tools and collaborations to support the emergence of Temples around the world. ISTA is in service to this life/Love. We are not an organization. We are an expression of a living organism of Love.
ISTA is a transmission of the life force, clothed in love and expressing creatively in the world. ISTA is part of a global transformational movement where human consciousness is being opened to its source as love and harmoniously integrating with other sentient kingdoms and dimensions. In particular ISTA works with spirituality and sexuality as two expressions of the life force. Our vision is a world where humans have a peaceful, delightful, shameless, fearless and loving relationship with their own bodies, sexuality, emotions, hearts, minds and spirit.
What People Are Saying
“I feel much more alive and whole than when I started the training. I simultaneously feel I can do things now, I couldn't before. I now trust and love.”
“I can't put into words what this experience did for me.
for the first time in 20 years I feel fully alive and connected, how can I thank you for that?"
“The teachers provided a perfect loving space for me to go through every challenge, so I could face and master all my upcoming fears. Thank you.”
Is this for me?
If you are ready to transform your life, this 7-day experiential event is for you. Thousands of people on 5 continents have attended ISTA training in the last 10 years and have improved their lives by discovering behavior patterns and transforming them into more conscious ways of being.
The International School of Temple Arts (ISTA) is committed to sex education to raise awareness around the world. The most misunderstood, ignored and denied area of spiritual exploration is the territory around sex and emotions. The ISTA training are seminars that change lives promoting the profound healing of our central wounds and our connection with the source of sexuality and the primordial nature.
ISTA trainings are transformational containers, offering the potential for deep inner shifts and alignment to the power of Love. Often times there's a real felt sense of being ready and excited for this powerful work. Tremendous healing can take place, and also for some people the intensity of the work may be not helpful to where they are at in their healing journey. If you are in doubt about whether this training is for you, read our Frequently Asked Questions here or get in touch with us through info@istabelgium.com.
What is ISTA Level 1?
DISCLAIMER - This is based on my experience, and everyone's experience is unique, because it's a deep process! [Feel free to share]
I have decided to write this taster for those people who do not know the International School of Temple Arts, for those who feel tuned out when they listen to videos and descriptions about ISTA Level 1, because it's in a language not accessible to them.
I first came across ISTA totally by chance; I was traveling with my beloved in Guatemala and a poster caught my attention. Probably because it had the word sex in it, and because it looked attractive and exotic. David and I signed up as a present to our love, not knowing what the week would be about. We are both grateful we took the plunge, as ISTA L1 is a well-oiled machine!
So why are people so mysterious about ISTA Level 1? Why can't they just give me the curriculum so I can decide if it's for me? The answer is simple; a lot of the transformational work that is done during that week needs to be in context. Out of context, it sounds nuts. I have done 2 Level 1s; once as a participant, and another time as an assistant, and I can guarantee that my learning and journey was unique each time. However, I understand that your mind wants something more palpable, so here goes.
In one sentence - ISTA Level 1 is the education every human being should get when growing up.
Boundaries - Do you ever feel like you should have said no, but ended up saying yes? This relates to #metoo, but it also relates to those times when you accept too much responsibility at work, when you give a friend a shoulder although you really don't have the emotional strength at that moment, and other situations in which you are not clear about your boundaries and end up feeling depleted. ISTA Level 1 explores this expertly from different angles, so even if you think you are brilliant with your boundaries (and the boundaries of others), you'll become better.
Tools - Even if you are content and emotionally switched on, there is space to become happier, more connected to your feelings, desires, fears, dreams. Exploring anger was one of the more difficult challenges for me, precisely because I am pretty joyful. In a nutshell, the tools involve using your voice and body movements to let energy move through you. I'm sure at a moment of stress, you've stretched out your arms, or have gone for a walk. This is the next level and has much more impact.
The thing is not the thing - Whenever you feel angry that someone arrived late, frustrated about a decision made at work… you are becoming a victim of that thing or story. You might not be able to change how late that person is, but you can change how it affects you. ISTA L1 teaches you how to move into your power and break this cycle of victimhood. It takes practice post-training, but you are given tools.
Honesty - We are brought up to be polite, and this can get in the way of honesty. Since our first ISTA L1, my beloved and I have had some seriously deep and painful conversations, which have brought us to beautiful places. Sometimes you feel unsure about being upset about something someone did, but here's the trick, you can tell them that! You can be honest about how it makes you feel, instead of blaming them for it. The key is to be clear that it is not a competition, it is not an attack. Put yourself in that vulnerable place of "I love you, and I'm not sure why this triggers me, but when you xxx I felt xxx", keeps the channels of communication open, and you will be surprised how things shift in most of your relationships. You also have to accept that some people are still stuck in fight or flight mode, so you might not have such a successful honest conversation.
You are not your story - I'll take a simple example. Everyone feels that at some point their parents didn't make the best decision (even if like me, you think that overall your parents are incredible and did a brilliant job raising you). Guess what, you are a whole human being, you have yourself. You are your own mother, your father, you design your story from now on. Everyone has traumas (to different levels and degrees), and it can feel like you are messed up for good, but you are not. More and more research is going into neuroplasticity, so we have the ability to rewire through a change in habits, and like William Ernest Henley says in his poem Invictus, you are the master of your own fate, you are the captain of your soul.
Why is it so expensive? You will have a full-time one-week experience with 3 expert facilitators who will support you 24/7 during the week, and a number of assistants (number depends on size of group), accommodation, full board… so surely this costs money. ISTA might sound alien to you, but it is made up of human beings who pay bills.
There are numerous more gifts (and each of them more powerful) you will receive with this training, but I don't know how to explain them in all their awesomeness without you actually being there. So, take the plunge, and you will love me and yourself for it!