Since September, my free time that's not spent with Dee and our dogs has passed falling deeper in love with yoga. I started a Yoga Teacher Training in September and have thoroughly enjoyed learning about the philosophy of yoga. It's a weekend class, so one weekend a month for nine months. It's awesome to be around individuals with so many similar interests to my own. We're all of varying experience levels; some with over five years and some with less, but experience in meditation.
Our first session was very basic, meet and greet style. The following morning started at 7 AM (6:30 if you were scheduled as a teacher's assistant) with a two-hour long yoga practice, or sadhana. I thought it was going to be too much, I'm used to one and a half hour long classes; but it was amazing, I probably could have actually practiced longer. Then we had a lecture from our amazing instructor. She's been practicing for almost 50 years and was a resident of Kripalu many years ago. I love it when she gets side-tracked and starts telling us about her life there or her experience with yoga in general.
Then after a lunch break we come back for Yoga Nidra. If you're not familiar with yoga, it's nap time- just kidding. ;) It's a form of guided meditation that you do in corpse pose. Usually with a blanket over you and an eye bag to block out any distractions. It's pretty great and always energizes me for our afternoon lecture.
Next, we segway into the yoga poses. Watching the teachers do the pose, watching how to instruct the asana, being guided through it, and then finally instructing each other. The first time I did this I was a stuttering Sam. I'm not really so keen on public speaking and this was very unfamiliar to me. However, as we do more and more poses I'm becoming more comfortable; even one of my fellow classmates commented on my improvement.
All six of our full days so far were formatted like this. My yoga weekends are really enjoyable. I feel like I'm away on a retreat or something. I'm thankful for my husband's willingness to take care of everything while I'm out.
One surprising benefit of all of this yoga is the improvement of my writing. I've noticed my focus is clearer and the writing comes "easier" when I'm writing a blog post or newsletter for work. Part of our "homework" is to practice a minimum of three hours a week and to write in a journal after each practice. This is hardly homework. It's enjoyable and not much of a difference from my practice schedule before I started the training.
As I continue on my journey you can expect to see more yoga posts coming to this blog. I sat down and created 25 new post ideas yesterday, a lot of them are on yoga, social media, and content marketing/blogging. Of course, there will be some dessert and style posts mixed in there too. Oh, the freedom of a lifestyle blog... ;)
Our first session was very basic, meet and greet style. The following morning started at 7 AM (6:30 if you were scheduled as a teacher's assistant) with a two-hour long yoga practice, or sadhana. I thought it was going to be too much, I'm used to one and a half hour long classes; but it was amazing, I probably could have actually practiced longer. Then we had a lecture from our amazing instructor. She's been practicing for almost 50 years and was a resident of Kripalu many years ago. I love it when she gets side-tracked and starts telling us about her life there or her experience with yoga in general.
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| A peek inside the studio where I spend 24 hours one weekend each month with 9 other amazing women. |
Next, we segway into the yoga poses. Watching the teachers do the pose, watching how to instruct the asana, being guided through it, and then finally instructing each other. The first time I did this I was a stuttering Sam. I'm not really so keen on public speaking and this was very unfamiliar to me. However, as we do more and more poses I'm becoming more comfortable; even one of my fellow classmates commented on my improvement.
All six of our full days so far were formatted like this. My yoga weekends are really enjoyable. I feel like I'm away on a retreat or something. I'm thankful for my husband's willingness to take care of everything while I'm out.
One surprising benefit of all of this yoga is the improvement of my writing. I've noticed my focus is clearer and the writing comes "easier" when I'm writing a blog post or newsletter for work. Part of our "homework" is to practice a minimum of three hours a week and to write in a journal after each practice. This is hardly homework. It's enjoyable and not much of a difference from my practice schedule before I started the training.
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| Someone took my spot when I got up to grab a cup of tea in preparation to study. |
As I continue on my journey you can expect to see more yoga posts coming to this blog. I sat down and created 25 new post ideas yesterday, a lot of them are on yoga, social media, and content marketing/blogging. Of course, there will be some dessert and style posts mixed in there too. Oh, the freedom of a lifestyle blog... ;)
Are you interested in taking a yoga teacher training course?
If you have completed yoga teacher training, do you have any advice or stories you'd like to share?
