A Journey Begins in Midtown

Ever since I've starting practicing yoga three years ago, I've dreamed of becoming a yoga instructor. It's amazing to see how each class can truly transform your practice, your body and your mind. From every class I've taken, no matter how many times I've repeated a teacher's class, I've always walked away with surprising new knowledge of the practice and of myself — e.g. the knowledge of "yes, I can do a headstand!" after that first successful attempt; the awareness that I have for every part of my body in Virabhadrasana I (Warrior I); or the discovery that my breath does indeed make every posture so much easier to hold! It's amazing to see these realizations manifest themselves in every class, and it's a feeling that I'd like to give to other yogis as an instructor.

Three weekends ago, I started my 200 hour Vinyasa yoga teacher's training program at a Midtown studio in NYC. This program is structured such that we'd meet for 10 alternate weekends in the Fall — every other weekend from September through December. I was especially attracted to this particular program because of the quality of the instructors who work in the studio, because of its schedule (it ends just as the snowboarding season begins), and also because it emphasizes "a hands-on, non-judgmental approach in a warm and encouraging setting and is appropriate for those seeking to teach or simply looking to deepen their own personal practice." Since most of the amazing instructors who teach at the studio were also trained by the same program that I'm undergoing, I hope that this program can make me as good of an instructor as they are when I graduate from it!

Having just completed my second weekend of the program, I am utterly exhausted! Even though the hours I've spent in the studio were filled with laughter and fun, I definitely was not prepared for all the information that we (the trainees) needed to absorb each weekend, nor was I ready for all the work that was expected of us during and between the sessions. Our studies consist of an array of topics, ranging from asanas (postures), to teaching methodologies, to meditations, to the history of yoga, to anatomy, to Sanskrit, and so on. (Although I've been practicing yoga for the past three years, most, if not all, of these subjects were still new to me!) In between the readings, discussions and lectures, we also practiced doing yoga and teaching it to our fellow trainees. And, on top of all that, we're given homework to complete for the next session, and we're required to take three other yoga lessons in the studio during the week in between. The studio director definitely knows how to keep us busy — hence my exhaustion!

The director, Liz, wastes no time in getting us comfortable, standing and instructing, in front of a class! Upon our arrival at the studio on that first Saturday morning, she made each of us stand in front of the room and lead the other trainees through a series of Surya Namaskars (Sun Salutations). I've performed the sequence hundreds of time and I know the flow by heart, but to talk a class through each posture was such a challenge! Standing in front of the room, I suddenly lost my sense of direction — e.g. "extend your left foot...oh wait, I meant right foot...to the back of your mat" — and I've forgotten the names of the poses I've become so familiar with — e.g. instead of "forward bend," I'd said "bend forward." (Liz later instructed us that we should never say "bend forward" in class because of its sexual connotation! LOL!) Leading the class was the most exciting, nerve-wrecking, yet humbling experience of that first weekend. But I'm glad that Liz gave us the chance to jump right into teaching on that first day, and made us realize just how much work and practice goes into each yoga class!

Despite my physical and mental fatigue, I've truly enjoyed these past two training weekends. I can't wait to see what the following weekends have in-stored for me!