YTT 200

Tomorrow is my first day of the 200 hours yoga teacher training program.

I’m proud of myself for making the commitment and actually doing it. Last year I looked into it. My initial plan was to do an intensive, month-long training in Guatemala at a beautiful ashram near Lake Atitlan. The cost was really quite reasonable, but still more expensive than I could afford.

As fate would have it another opportunity to take the class came my way. The Yoga Viva is run by a woman I’ve known nearly the entire time I’ve been in the Tampa Bay area. I can’t remember how I first met her. Perhaps through a community yoga class she taught at Kaleisia Tea Lounge.

Regardless, I’ve attended a number of her classes and I really like her style of running a yoga class. Because I’ve practiced yoga with her so much, I also trust her. She’s offering an intensive 200h YTT over the next eleven weekends, and I’m committed to taking it.

Honestly, I’m nervous. Yoga isn’t something you just read a book, learn the poses and how to instruct others. It involves introspection. It involves poking at those soft, vulnerable spots. It involves challenging your body and your mind.

I know I’m going to cry during the class. Maybe a lot.

Obviously this training is in line with the mission of living daringly. I always want to be testing the boundaries of my comfort zone so that I continue to grow as a person throughout my life. I don’t want to become complacent with life again.

Even though the training is in line with what I want in life, it’s not any less scary.

But I’m excited to add yoga to my teaching repertoire. I’m excited to challenge myself with the mental discipline to get and stay healthy, instead of the roller coaster I put my body through with food and exercise. One of the other things I want to focus on is having a more healthy relationship with money, which is somewhat tied to the health roller coaster (e.g. eating out too much).

In the near future, I’m looking forward to sharing yoga with others. It has been a huge help to me as I’ve healed from my divorce, so I know how helpful it can be with coping with stress. But it will be nice to share a more spiritual side with students too. I love teaching biology. It feeds the nerd in me. But it’s just one facet to who I am. I strive for balance, and I think yoga will help me get closer to that in many areas of my life.

I’ll be blogging about my experiences throughout this journey. Wish me an open mind and an open heart. A little luck wouldn’t go amiss either.

Namaste.