The Teacher Training Standards

Gail, in her sharing spirit, was willing to host us in her apartment (which is right around the corner of the West Town yoga studio) for the duration of our whole training. I love her place. It is spacious, has very light energy flowing through it, and it instantly felt like instead of doing training at yoga studio just stretching at home (ok, maybe more than just a stretching).

Every session starts with mediation. This is when your mind should stay stable and focus on one point (breath, mantra, candle flame, etc.), but most likely you will be thinking about what are you gonna get for lunch or that you are sore from yesterday and the day haven’t even start yet. Taming your mind seems to be my biggest challenge on this trip (beside blocked traps and short hamstrings).

Although, I look like one of the confident ones, I’m worried I would not be good enough to become a yoga teacher. If you have this barrier, it will be destroyed right at  the beginning of the training. You will see that even people who do yoga for years are struggling with some poses you might excel in within half a year. This is yoga; welcome.

Your yoga training will get intense right from the day 1, but it will also be fun. And you will realize you are making new friends. I figured that out especially when we were learning about adjustments for poses. We started with Balasana (child pose) and Adho Mukha Svanasana (downward facing dog), which turned into “head-down party” as illustrated on attached pictures.

Head Down Party (click for enlargement)