Although I have been practicing yoga on and off for over 20 years, my yoga practice in earnest really began when I met Justin Ritchie, my teacher at Laughing Lotus, in 2015, and especially when I took Justin’s Energy and Subtle Body intensive in 2016.
Understanding the psycho-emotional connection of the chakras to the poses and how our bodies hold emotion really opened me to the power of yoga practice on- and off-the-mat.
I was one of only 2 people in the Energy and Subtle Body training who hadn’t yet completed a 200-hour training. The others in the class encouraged me to take a 200-hour teacher training. I dismissed it, saying it wasn’t my thing.
At the time, I didn’t think that I wanted to teach yoga.
What my peers pointed out to me at that time, and what I learned to be true since then, is that I was already teaching yoga. In my coaching and real estate practice, I was teaching the principles and philosophy of yoga as we apply it “off the mat.”
Yoga means union. It’s about creating a union among the mind, body, spirit, and emotions. When we live with all of these aspects of ourselves in alignment, we find peace and harmony.
After taking Energy and Subtle Body, I began to shift my relationship with my body. I learned to listen to it, and began to understand the power I have to heal myself.
By the end of last year, I knew that the time had come for me to follow the advice my peers had offered and take a a yoga teacher training. I kept my eyes open for the right opportunity when I came to California.
Tonight, the journey begins.
Over the next 17 days, I’ll be immersing in the 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training summer intensive at Prana Yoga Center in La Jolla.
I’m still not sure that I want to teach yoga — at least not in the sense that most people think about “teaching yoga.”
Yoga is more than a physical practice or a workout. It’s a system for integrating our pieces and parts into a unified whole.
I have many reasons for doing this training (more on these another time). For now, my main outcome is to further integrate and align the parts of myself and deepen my practice.
Mostly, I go in with an open mind and heart, ready to receive new wisdom and insights. I release expectations at the door, and approach with curiosity so that I may see where this path leads next.
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