Yoga Teacher Training

This past weekend was my first Teacher Training! It was great!

The schedule is basically this for the weekend sessions:
Friday 6-9pm discussion over reading, usually about history of yoga or anatomy.
Saturday/Sunday 8-12; 1 hr of optional meditation, Practice and breakdown of poses for the day. Except Sunday we don't have the first hour of mediation so everyone shows up at 9am.
Saturday/Sunday 1-5; we spend the time talking about the poses we broke down and taught to each other. We have a worksheet we fill out as homework for each pose. We also use this time to talk about other topics like ethics and yoga related topics. Usually there are a couple students graduating since you can start the program anytime of the year so some of the students did their practicum in the afternoons.

The weekend was just great! We practically move into the studio Friday evening. Everyone gets their spot and puts out their mats and grabs pillows and blankets to sit on all weekend. You can bring snacks and lounge while we talk and take notes. All the topics were open discussion so everyone is encouraged to participate and give their insight. It's a nice form of class, way better than being lectured at and we get to practice a little bit throughout the day. It's not very strenuous but you get a good amount of yoga practice by the end of the weekend.

I was very excited about 2 of the poses we covered this weekend! Headstand and Shavasana hehe, poses that are opposite end of the difficulty spectrum but both very important to my own practice. I struggled with both when I started practicing. I loved the idea of a headstand, but didn't have the skill or core to do it, but now I can get up with a wall to keep me steady. I hope to one day be one of those people that can popup in headstands everywhere they are. Shavasana is the relaxing pose you are in at the end of a class. Just laying there letting your body fully relax and recover from your practice and most importantly letting your mind reflect and meditate. This is hard because I'm a very busy minded person. I have such a hard time sitting still and not constantly going over my to-do list, but during this time I have learned to just go inside myself and to relax. I'm far from being a meditation guru, but at least I can take a minute for myself.

~Namaste~

 

What is Really Important to You...

I occasionally obsessively read articles about different subjects I'm interested in that moment. Recently MindBodyGreen has posted multiple articles I have read and loved!
One titled: I Dare You To Start Doing What You Really Want In Life By Ashley Cebulka really popped out at me!
In the article she dared her readers to answer a list of questions. I put this off because I was semi-distracted from what they were asking and wanted to be fully focused as well as share my answers.
So here goes....

1. What makes me feel free and most alive?
Being in nature. Whether I am hiking, skiing, running or just sitting when I'm surrounded by God's wonderful creations and not distracted by it I feel absolutely alive and free.

2. How do I like to spend time with people I care about?
Hmmm this is a harder one. I have various thoughts that jump to mind, probably my favorite is just visiting usually over good food haha.

3.What sparks my passion and revs up my enthusiasm? How could I could spend hours (if not days) doing ____ and actually lose track of time?
Oh man that's easy researching my hobbies haha. I get super obsessive when I have a hobby I'm currently active in or pursuing. I will spend all day on the internet learning about the hobby and planning various activities.
I could also spend hours cleaning, organizing, and creating. I love to paint and make my space pretty.

4. How would I ideally like to spend my week, days, and weekends?
I like a schedule so I would have to have one prepared for each day. I would run or do yoga every morning, make breakfast, clean, then either spend the day with people or creating something beautiful. In the afternoon I would want to prepare dinner, then go to yoga or go for a run.
I could spend my day doing errands or organizing as well.
I love to travel, especially long weekend trips. I also love doing yoga and racing on the weekends.

5. What would my ideal work place be? Who would I work with (if anyone)?
Fun vibrant people! I would want a bright pretty workspace with lots of natural light. I really enjoyed my retail job. I loved getting to be around the clothes and help the customers piece together outfits. I also would love to get to be creative.

6.What ways do I actually enjoy moving my body?
I mostly enjoy yoga, running and barre, but I do like to bike and swim some. I don't like hard high intensity workouts often, I feel as though my body is shot after those types of workouts. Where in yoga I feel taller, leaner and more awake.

7.What helps me feel relaxed and joyful?
Deep breathing and positive mantras. I am very busy and tend to get overwhelmed and stressed easily so it's important to take a step back and take a deep breath when I'm dealing with other people in that state.

8.How do I most enjoy helping others?
I love helping people succeed and making others feel good about themselves. I love to encourage others to push themselves and try things they normally wouldn't try.
I love pushing a new running buddy to reach a new goal. I love helping a child with homework or other things. I love helping a person pick out a new outfit. I love helping a person try a new craft or try painting even though they have never created anything before.


I got hung up on question 4. My biggest problem with doing what I want in life is that I don't really know what to do. I have many things I enjoy and I'm passionate about but don't feel like I'm great at them.
Such as I love to paint, but I am far from being an artist... the problem that I have realized is I don't' dedicate the time to become a great artist.
I love to organize, but I'm scared of attempting to create an organizing business and failing. What if no one hires me or likes my work.
Gardening, this past year I have discovered I enjoy gardening and want to grow my own food. However our garden is far from amazing and there are so many things I don't know about this hobby yet.
I would love to own my own boutique! I think I have a good eye for fashion and can put together a great outfit or pick out lovely home décor, but I do not have the capital to do this right now.

I love yoga and running, but I'm not great at either of them. However I have decided to actively pursue the yoga instructor route. I start yoga teacher training this weekend!!!

So I accept the dare, to a degree. I unfortunately cannot up and quit my job to follow a passion, but at least it's a start!
I dare you to answer the questions honestly and start following your dreams.

P.S. There are follow up questions I will answer another day. Until next time...
Nameste