Reflection: One year since completing my 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training

Where has the time gone?!?! It’s been one year since completing my 200-hour teacher training and I cannot believe how fast the time has flown by! On one hand it seems like it was just yesterday, and the other it feels like it’s been forever since completing my 200-hour teacher training! My 200-hour teacher training was really just the beginning of my yoga journey. In the past year, I’ve fallen more in love with my practice and become so much more comfortable teaching & guiding others through their own yoga journey. So what have I done on in the past year? Well…

I digested the information that was provided in my 200-hour teacher training.

In my 200-hour yoga teacher training I was overloaded (in a good way) with so much useful of information. Each asana that I learned was broken down and discussed in depth. I learned the alignment necessary for each asana, what to look out for, modifications, anatomy/ the muscles used, the flow of energy, benefits of the asana, warm-up poses and counter poses & so much more. I also learned about yogic philosophy through texts such as the Bhagavad Gita and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. All of the information was overwhelming and exciting at the same time! The month after my teacher training was mainly focused on digesting everything that I had learned. Thankfully, as I had taken my 200-hour teacher training over the course of several months, I had time during the training to digest & review the information each month and not just at the end.

I practiced, practiced, and practiced teaching some more.

Oh man, did I practice my teaching skills. I still do! It sounds rather obvious, but this is the only way to get better as a teacher and develop your own style. Before leading any formal classes, I practiced teaching all the time. I didn’t wait until after teacher training program to do this either. From the very first week of my 200-hour teacher training, we started breaking up into smaller groups and practicing our teaching. I was always taking the opportunity to teach small classes to my friends & family. Even now if I’m trying out a new sequence, I’ll talk myself through the sequence to see what works and what doesn’t. By the time I lead a class, I am 110% prepared.

I continued my personal practice.

After completing my training, I was so focused on practicing my teaching & talking myself through asanas that I forgot to practice yoga for myself. I did it without even thinking. Once I noticed that I wasn’t feeling as fulfilled in my personal practice, I started to set specific times for when I would practice teaching versus when I would just get my personal practice in, whether it be at home or at a studio. This has been critical in keeping myself committed to my practice & committed to teaching.

I continued learning about all aspects of yoga and teaching.

As I said earlier, the 200-hour teacher training was just the beginning! I’ve continued my learning through yoga workshops, textbooks, online tutorials, observing other teachers, and even simply conversations with other yogis. As a new yoga teacher, there’s always so much more for me to learn and I’m fortunate enough to live an area where there are so many talented yoga teachers and practitioners. Every time I take a studio class or have a discussion with others who practice, I learn something new that I am able to bring into my class.

I’ve learned to step out of my comfort zone

When I signed up for my 200-hour yoga teacher training I had two main thoughts:
1. I love practicing yoga, and
2. I want to teach everyone yoga so they can love yoga too!

Sounds great, right? What I didn’t think about (or maybe more just didn’t really care?) was the fact that get terribly nervous when speaking in front of a crowd, especially when everyone’s looking to you for guidance/instructions. This is why I stressed earlier that I practiced teaching so much. It wasn’t so much knowing what to say and what to look out for but rather becoming comfortable and confident with teaching!

The more I teach, the more I realize how critical it was for me to step out of my comfort zone. If I hadn’t, I would’ve missed out on the opportunity of doing something that I love!

Namaste.