I’ve wanted to do this for years. At first when I considered it, I thought I enjoyed being the yoga student too much to ever become a teacher. Over the years, the idea has become more and more attractive for many reasons. The chance to deepen my practice, to complete “yoga college” as some call it, the chance to use it in some capacity in the future (maybe in schools?), completing a YTT seems like the next step in my personal development.
Class started yesterday with a free flow. Just some suggestions, like do some lunges to work the hips, get into some warrior poses. Try some balance poses and some grounded poses. Do an inversion. The teacher gave us suggestions, but the idea that the teacher is within started from day one. We know inside what our bodies need, and if we only listen, it will show us.
After our free flow we listened to hours of lecture with a few breaks in between topics. We discussed “yoga eating” – being mindful while we eat our meals. We went over all the guidelines to yoga eating and got our first assignment, to have one yoga meal a day. The idea is to be mindful while eating, not distracted, and it improves digestion. We must be seated, no distractions (no TV, reading, or listening to music). We can not speak while chewing, and we can not pick up the next bite before the current bite is chewed and swallowed. We start the meal with three deep breaths and gratitude for the source of the food.
We also received our daily homework assignments:
- yoga every day for at least 20 minutes
- meditation every day for 20 minutes (a suggestion was to download the OM app with timer)
- gratefulness every day
- random act of kindness every day
- one yoga meal every day
Already, I’m thinking, can I do these things?? Where will I have time to add meditation every day? Can I realistically do 20 minutes of yoga EVERY day? I usually do some yoga every day but not necessarily 20 minutes in a row.
We then talk about the history of yoga and learn about the different kinds of yoga. I discover that Hatha (pronounced Hot-Ah) yoga is that which includes physical postures. Little did I know that there are other spokes to the wheel including mantra yoga, karma yoga, raja yoga, bhakti yoga, and jhana yoga. Already I felt like such a beginner although I’ve been practicing for thirty-plus years.
I learned I am studying under the Krishnamacharya lineage. He was a teacher sent from India to the US to teach students. Very interesting that all of the yoga we know in the US comes from just a few teachers sent here from India with the intent of spreading knowledge and practice.
We discussed the five precepts of yoga, moral boundaries that guide us on our journey to bliss, enlightenment, or nirvana. These are general guidelines akin to the Ten Commandments in Christianity that we are asked to abide by along our journey:
- Refrain from killing.
- Refrain from stealing.
- Refrain from sexual misconduct.
- Refrain from unwise/unkind speech.
- Refrain from intoxication.
I’m good with all of these ideas, however, number five will be a challenge for me as I love my wine. The teacher addressed this saying that most students ask if they can continue to enjoy a glass of wine here and there, and she said she will not be looking in our window at night to see if we are drinking wine, but that if we want to get the most out of this training, we should abstain for the entire 15 week program and see how much better we will feel. If we fall off the wagon, she encouraged us to get back on it without judging ourselves. I found it interesting she talked about how the Buddha said all suffering is due to attachment-we either fear losing what we have or we suffer because we don’t get what we want. Our cravings for alcohol can fall into the “we don’t get what we want” category and we can explore this along the way.
My dream is to mix my love for teaching math with my love for yoga. I’d like to use my teacher certification to teach students and/or teachers and bring mindfulness into schools. The teacher also told us there are programs that allow us to use our skills to heal cancer patients, working with hospitals. What a great idea! I don’t know where this path is taking me yet, but I am grateful I am on it, and I am hopeful as it unfolds. Grateful for the opportunity to start a new journey and excited to see what changes it brings!
Thanks for reading this entry. Peace out.
Susanne's World 