Funny how you can not see someone for a couple years and then reconnect and time doesn’t even feel like it has past. This is exactly what happened recently while attending a conference. Reconnecting, asking about work and family and well, the regular question..”what is new?” I answered such question with “oh, I’m doing my yoga teachers training”. Which they promptly replied, “you are? I thought you have been doing it for years now”. And internal laugh to myself... “Well, yes, I guess so.” I answered. “I’m STILL doing it.” Now looking at how many weeks I’ve been blogging about it, it is understandable that the timelines are a bit confusing. I’ve been blogging for over 328 weeks about it. But truthfully my official start wasn’t until January 2017. I suppose the surprised of my dear colleague was warranted. It does speak to the fact that maybe this journey should be over by now. Yet, I’ve been very deliberate about how this journey unfolds. Slow. Introspective. Absorbing it all in. I’m in for the long hall. Well, what does that mean?
100+ hours YAA + 200 hour teacher training with Yoga Within = 300 hour YAA certification Then, Continue with more hours to... 500 hour teacher training Then, as I see how it is going to work... Yoga Therapist destination and more hours. I’m all in. I’m taking the time AND focus to rock this yoga teacher training. For me. For my future students. The long journey is the best part! LW
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What I've recently learned before, but maybe didn't necessarily think much about until now, is that a yoga class includes book ends. Book ends? Kind of like in a workout, there is a warm-up to start and a cool-down to finish. Although those are included in a yoga class, there are also two additional pieces. 1. Centering. Bringing class participants to the present and readying them for practice. 2. Savasana. Final pose. Time for the practice to integrate. My assignment this week was to write one of each. It was somewhat tricky to write out. At first, I asked my dear Siri to help me. I spoke to her and asked her to scribe the words out for me. That worked okay. But the real work was sitting in front of my words and tweaking them to sound like the best version of what I want to say.
Here is a look at what I wrote: Centering Come to a seated position. Relax your shoulders take a deep breath in and a deep breath out. Let the body relax and forget the rest of your day. Leave it at the door. There's no need to think about the past or the future. Think about the present moment. Settle to yourself on your mat. Slowly lower yourself down on your back and allow the mat to support your bodyweight. Take a deep breath in and let it slowly trickle out of your mouth. Take another deep breath in and slowly let it come out of your nose. Feel the difference in your breath when coming out of your mouth and when coming out of your nose. Slowly take another deep breath in and exhale what feels the most comfortable to you. As you relax into the mat, feel the weight of your body and all the contact points on the mat. Feel where your heels meet the mat. Feel for the back of the knees and where they meet the mat. Feel where your hips and low back meet the mat. Feel where the shoulders and back meet the mat. And as you reach the top of your body, feel where your head meets the mat. Slowly take another deep breath in and exhale your body deep into the mat. As you become increasingly still lying on your mat, start to think about a mantra or a purpose to your practice today. It might be simply “relax” or “calm” or “present”. You may make it more specific to you as “I am relaxed”, “I am calm”, or “I am present”. Create a mantra for yourself to remind yourself throughout your entire practice why you came to the mat today. This mantra will guide your practice and take you through a practice that is needed not only for the physical body but for the heart and the soul. Slowly take another deep breath in and exhale as you say your mantra to yourself. ***few moments of silence*** Begin to connect back to the physical space and your place in the room. Begin with slow movements and when you are ready slowly lift your feet to plant them on your mat. Knees bent, facing towards the ceiling. As you feel you can bring more movement to your body, slowly lift your knees to your chest and place your hands gently on the legs for a gentle hug. |
Aspiring Yoga TeacherI've practiced yoga since I was a pre-teen and have always found it to keep me centered. I will be a teacher one day and this is my journey to discover teaching and practice. Archives
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