Can you believe I'm already half way through? In just two weeks, I'll be a 200 hour certified yoga teacher! Even though the afternoons seemed long, this week actually flew by. The change of perspective I had towards the end of last week about the training (see week 1 post) really helped me dive in each day and take in as much as I can this week. I love it and the more I learn, the more I want to teach.
sequencing practice
To date, we covered neutrally and externally rotated standing poses (think Warrior 1 and Triangle, although I like to refer to them now as Virabdhadrasana 1 and Trikonasana, yay Sanskrit!), sun salutations (my favorite) and inversions (yes, I'm working on my handstand, who would have thought?). Prior to this training, I just followed along during sun salutations and now feel I can lead them – wait for it – in Sanskrit! Also, I didn't have an inversion practice at all and am now finding them challenging, but attainable.
It's amazing how many classes I've gone to where teachers encourage inversions, but don't actually explain how to get into them or even give modifications. That's normally the time during class when I would sit for 10 minutes in Childs Pose or sometimes pretend to attempt what I was nervous to do. This training has enabled me to understand the structure and alignment of each posture and inversion so well that I have faith I'll be able to do them. I already got my headstand and forearm balance against the wall! With patience and practice, I think I'll be able to improve on those and get others.
before and after learning how to work with hyperextended arms
My whole practice has changed from soup to nuts – even "simple poses" like downward dog are completely new to me. As Chrissy and Nicole teach us to practice intelligently and skillfully, I'm learning new things about my body and the mental limitations I place upon myself due to fear, which I'm working on facing (handstand). For example, I never knew I had hyperextended elbows and had to learn how to work with them properly so my arms are actually straight and not hyperextended in poses like Downward Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana), which prepare for poses like handstand. (See pic to left.) That was a major aha moment for me.
We also began learning about the YogaWorks method of sequencing, which is so strategic that after learning it I appreciate that I chose this training so much more and am beginning to look at my classes through a new lens. I'm proud to be learning from YogaWorks and can't wait for next week as we'll be diving into arm balances, twists and backbends. I know it's going to be challenging, but after a weekend of rest, I'll be up for it!
