Giving Back To Yoga By Teaching

I’ve been practicing yoga since September 2000 so some might say this announcement has been building for 11 years. Since I was a little girl I’ve always wanted to be a teacher. Today I will start on the yoga teacher training journey.

My yoga path has been slow but continual. In anticipation of my second son’s arrival, and desiring to be in even better shape using the Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth, I took a prenatal class through the Montgomery County Recreation Program. I remember loving each minute of my time learning yoga. I felt so thoroughly well each day of my pregnancy. Yoga made all the difference. At home with my little ones, I continued my yoga sessions with video tapes for a few years before joining a yoga studio.

Why Yoga?

• When I practice in the morning it sets the tone for the entire day.
• I feel great and approach my work with an excellent attitude. My mind is more at peace and I believe all things are possible. I’m calmer and more thoughtful.
• Although my muscles often ache, I appreciate the strength and health I know I am developing each time I practice.
• A decade ago I had back pain but not anymore.
• I’m much more aware of my body.
• When things are stressful I find myself taking much deeper breaths than I was ever able to do. I take a few minutes to concentrate on my breathing and feel so much better. Without yoga I wouldn’t know or use this technique.
• I find yoga helps me to sort out what is important in my life. Practice helps me identify the situations I need to improve.
• Since I do other forms of fitness such as kickboxing or running, I need the yoga to stretch out my muscles and balance the other activities.

Yoga has become so much a part of my life that I can’t imagine life without practicing. But I have so much to learn! Last year I loved immersing myself in the 40 Day program at Thrive Yoga and I want to dedicate myself to an even deeper study of yoga. I’m not sure how much I want to teach or where, but throughout my life I have felt directed toward helping others and spent a great deal of time exploring the outdoors. Teacher training could bring these strong segments of my life together. I like to share what I know and being able to share yoga would be absolutely one of the best things I could ever do.

Yoga has helped me even when struggling with injuries to my arm, shoulder, and tailbone. Last year I joked that if I taught yoga, I would know all the modifications for injuries first hand! Now with a recent diagnosis of arthritis affecting my upper body, my yoga practice will be a pinnacle point of my therapy. Medical professionals recommend yoga as a treatment for arthritis. I’m depending on yoga to keep me functioning as long as I’m lucky enough to be alive.

Exciting Yoga Possibilities

With all these physical signs in my own body, I’m feeling a great desire to explore adapting yoga for people facing challenges. Often I find myself reading about yoga to heal people both mentally and spiritually. I’m a bit scared to think of myself embarking on any one of these journeys, but I see the possibilities with yoga and I’m excited to start down this path!

Yoga As Therapy:
Compass Yoga is on a mission to bring yoga as a therapy to any and all who wish to make it part of their wellness plan whether they are a cancer survivor, a war veteran, or someone grieving the loss of a loved one. Her story has inspired me and helped set my intention.

Yoga With Veterans:
The Exalted Warrior Foundation brings yoga to wounded veterans at Haley VA Hospital, which speaks of making a difference and sharing the gift of yoga while working with people’s trauma to “find a way out of these hells.”

Yoga With The Homeless:
Organizations across the country have volunteers to bring yoga to those experiencing homelessness. Since I’ve worked for a local organization providing services and shelter, this possibility is near to my heart.

Yoga Outdoors:
Our family loves to visit National Parks and this love can be combined with yoga.  Imagine organizing Eco Yoga Adventures.  But inviting friends for yoga at a local park sounds like a fun adventure too!

Yoga In Schools:
The Shanti Generation promotes yoga and meditation for kids and has been keeping tabs on the movement to bring yoga to schools.

Yoga With Prisoners:
The Prison Yoga Project helps prisoners to deal with their difficulties.  A friend recently started working with a prison ministry in Maryland so this type of program has been on my mind. Helping women gain peace with themselves and their situation at a tough point in their lives would be an amazing outcome.

Yoga and Faith:
Last year I joined First Trinity ELCA Lutheran Church for a “Yoga And Prayer” session.  Using yoga in the context of my Christian faith gave me a true sense of freedom. Being able to dig deep within myself to my strongest beliefs with total abandon was exhilarating. At the time I found myself thinking I could create an even better experience.

The possibilities are endless – an intimidating! I have no idea where this path will lead or what will happen, but I’m sticking my toe in the water.

Thrive Yoga’s Program

Susan Bowen has developed this teacher training herself so the program will be thorough and expose students to the best possible information and techniques from many respected sources. In addition to studying vinyasa more thoroughly, I’m looking forward to delving deeper into hatha yoga so my practice isn’t always about power and inversions. Each pose in the new manual will be described and studied in greater detail than other sources. We’ll also study anatomy so we can better understand how to move and hold positions without injury. We’ll learn the Sanskrit names for poses. My old gray brain could use the jumpstart by studying another language. With a required reading list of nine books and another 10 recommended, we’ll be completely immersed in the history of yoga. As a philosophy major I am attracted to the study of yoga philosophy as taught by the ancients and a modern interpretation for life today. Breathing deeply, meditating differently, relieving stress, and growing healthy will all be studied.

When you can explain something to someone else, you have to really know the subject. I want this ability for yoga. I know I’ll find it difficult to be away from my family for so many weekends, but I know the Teacher Training will be worth my time and dedication. I’m apprehensive about all I will experience and need to learn in these 200 hours over the next six months, but as with all things yoga, I’ll breathe deeply and flow through one minute at a time.