Yoga Teacher Training: 1 Weekend Down, 10 More to Go
A little advice. Don't go away somewhere super warm and sunny on vacation and come home to a snow storm right before starting an intense weekend of yoga teacher training (or anything new for that matter). Because this is not an ideal way to get in a good headspace that's needed to start something new. Or at least take that next Monday off work or something because, damn, that entire experience was overwhelming. And it took way longer to adjust back to "real life" than I thought. A little background: most people would be surprised to learn that I'm an introvert. "But you're so outgoing" yeah, I can be when I need to but I NEED my alone time to recharge my batteries and rest before having major interactions with others. And when I am thrown into a new learning experience with 20+ strangers doing something really vulnerable and scary, I'm going to need even more time to recharge from that. So that could have something to do with why I needed more time than normal to feel like "me" again, but learn from me when I say, you can't and shouldn't do it all.
The yoga teacher training program I signed up for is one weekend a month (Friday evening, and Saturday and Sunday pretty much all day) from February - December. In addition to those weekends, we have to practice on our own, do homework and reading assignments, write a thesis, observe other teachers, go to workshops (on and offsite), take our exam and teach two community classes. Sounds like a lot, but you truly get out of it what you put into it. And since this is something I've been wanting to pursue for a really long time, you better believe I'm diving right in.
The damn snow storm mentioned above prevented us from starting on Friday night as planned so our very first day was a 8 hour day on Saturday. As much as I was happy to have Friday to myself, I was hoping to meet everyone for a few hours, see what I was getting myself into and ease into the whole thing as that would have been a tad more manageable. But, life doesn't go the way you want it to, it just goes. So, I had to adjust and we had to jump right in on Saturday since we had to make up the hours we missed the night before. But you know what? I survived. And as scary and intense as the whole thing was, most of that was built up in my head as the unknown anticipation of something new (like most things).
The hardest part of that weekend besides meeting new people and learning new things was actually having to sit for most of the day on our yoga mats. I thought we would be doing a lot more moving but we had a lot of material to go through and sat with zero support and used all core while we learned how to teach and talk our classmates through different poses, talked about the true background/meaning of yoga—and no, it's not just those poses you see people doing but goes wayyyyy beyond that, and talked through the magic formula that makes for a good yoga class. So, even though there wasn't a ton of physical yoga-ing going on, mentally it was a weekend filled with learning, growing and taking steps towards who we are all meant to be.
Since that weekend, every physical yoga class I have taken has been an entirely different experience. I've noticed I'm now extremely present the entire class and really listen to the teacher and how they are telling me to use my breath and what I should be focusing on. In addition, I have such an increased appreciation for what they have to do to get us all through our hour of movement, and what time and energy they had to prepare ahead of time to ensure we all have a good class. It was all things I always took for granted before I learned how much really goes into instructing. I also have noticed a shift in how present and calm I am in everyday moments and situations. I don't get into my head nearly as much and I notice and am so grateful for things that I previously wouldn't have spent too much time thinking about. Which is nuts considering I'm only one weekend in and I've already noticed such a huge shift in how I'm carrying myself. But that's why I embarked on this journey. To transform into the best version of myself and help others around me get there too. I have a feeling that deciding to do this will be one of the biggest things in my life. And I'm so damn excited for that.