Thursday, September 29, 2011
Welcome To It
I was a reluctant yoga teacher. I practiced for nine years before I went for my first teacher training.
Reluctantly.
The last two years before I started training, I realized that hardly a week went by without someone asking me for a stretch for this or a pose for that. I always resisted, because I really didn't know what I was talking about. I was not a teacher, just a practitioner who'd been around the block. Well, partway around the block. Maybe. Once. The fact that I had been offered money to teach in another state notwithstanding.
As it turned out, I just wasn't a yoga teacher yet.
I took my first teacher training class in August of 2005, and halfway through the first day knew that this is what I wanted to do when (if?) I grew up. I blew through the 200-hour program in less than 16 months and completed my RYT-200 (Registered Yoga Teacher, 200-hours) through YogaFit in November of 2006.
I did my student teaching in a locked ward at a psychiatric hospital, and since then, I have taught in corporate fitness centers, community education programs, private homes, and what feels like everywhere in between. I've taught brides on the morning of their weddings. I've taught an all-male class, which is still one of my favorites five years on. I've taught Cubicle Yoga in a business suit and heels, and I've improvised a five-minute class for strangers at a rest area in Illinois on I-70.
In 2010, YogaFit released information about their Certified Yoga Therapist program---it's a 300-hour program that ends with both a CYT-300 and an RYT-500. I had exactly the same feeling---this is what I want to do if (when?) I grow up.
I started my new training cycle in November of last year with a drive to the Zen Zone in Lee's Summit, MO. (A venue I highly recommend if you're in the neighborhood, by the way). Since then, I've been to a four-day yoga therapy training in Monroeville, PA, and an advanced yoga anatomy training in Indianapolis. Soon, I'll be off to another yoga therapy training in Tennessee.
I've been working a day job and teaching a few hours week for a couple of years now. My goal is to eventually transition out of my day job and into full-time yoga therapy and teaching.
Stay tuned for breaking news on that topic.
At the moment, I'm teaching two solo private students and one therapy client a week, one small-group private class, and one semi-public class at my friend's home studio.
I am constantly amazed that people actually pay me to do something I enjoy so much. Utterly, completely, thoroughly, amazed. And unspeakably grateful.
Reluctantly.
The last two years before I started training, I realized that hardly a week went by without someone asking me for a stretch for this or a pose for that. I always resisted, because I really didn't know what I was talking about. I was not a teacher, just a practitioner who'd been around the block. Well, partway around the block. Maybe. Once. The fact that I had been offered money to teach in another state notwithstanding.
As it turned out, I just wasn't a yoga teacher yet.
I took my first teacher training class in August of 2005, and halfway through the first day knew that this is what I wanted to do when (if?) I grew up. I blew through the 200-hour program in less than 16 months and completed my RYT-200 (Registered Yoga Teacher, 200-hours) through YogaFit in November of 2006.
I did my student teaching in a locked ward at a psychiatric hospital, and since then, I have taught in corporate fitness centers, community education programs, private homes, and what feels like everywhere in between. I've taught brides on the morning of their weddings. I've taught an all-male class, which is still one of my favorites five years on. I've taught Cubicle Yoga in a business suit and heels, and I've improvised a five-minute class for strangers at a rest area in Illinois on I-70.
In 2010, YogaFit released information about their Certified Yoga Therapist program---it's a 300-hour program that ends with both a CYT-300 and an RYT-500. I had exactly the same feeling---this is what I want to do if (when?) I grow up.
I started my new training cycle in November of last year with a drive to the Zen Zone in Lee's Summit, MO. (A venue I highly recommend if you're in the neighborhood, by the way). Since then, I've been to a four-day yoga therapy training in Monroeville, PA, and an advanced yoga anatomy training in Indianapolis. Soon, I'll be off to another yoga therapy training in Tennessee.
I've been working a day job and teaching a few hours week for a couple of years now. My goal is to eventually transition out of my day job and into full-time yoga therapy and teaching.
Stay tuned for breaking news on that topic.
At the moment, I'm teaching two solo private students and one therapy client a week, one small-group private class, and one semi-public class at my friend's home studio.
I am constantly amazed that people actually pay me to do something I enjoy so much. Utterly, completely, thoroughly, amazed. And unspeakably grateful.
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