Yoga Teacher Training ~ Day Eight

Have to admit the initial frustration I had with this training programme has mostly evaporated. Having now practised - hard - every morning for two hours over eight days, I feel my body has become a lot stronger. I can now slip into (proper) Virabhadrasansa II, Ardha Chandrasana or even Sirsasana without much problem (okay, fessing up, I have NOT been practising regularly the past 2-3 months). Though I still disagree with some of the stuff our instructor has been saying about yoga/ practice (he's for too military in my humble opinion), I think his teaching does work. This morning he showed us how to get into Urdhva Dhanurasana and I felt totally LIGHT in this pose (which I find totally incredible and amazing). 

But the real challenge is now ahead. There is a two-month gap in between now and the next 100-hour training session. So in the meantime, I will HAVE TO have much self discipline to practise every day, at home. Only then can I really stay in the same physical condition I am in now. I will also need to go over the set one-hour class sequence again and again and again until I'm super familiar with it. Only then will I be able to pass the course next January. I'm just SO worried that once work starts I'll lapse back into the state of slackness again...

Discipline and Focus!!!

Yoga Teacher Training ~ Day Six

Laptop went into service (finally upgraded to Windows 7 from XP!) so wasn't able to blog about my yoga teacher training until today. 

So what exactly have I got myself into?

This is a 200-hour Yoga Alliance Accredited Teacher Training Programme that is billed by my local studio as a foundation course that prepares keen yoga practitioners/ students to teach. It does warn that the course "will require a strong commitment and personal sacrifice, as well as the support of the student's primary support network. We emphasise that this programme may not be for everyone." I'm taking the first 100 hours this month and will complete the entire programme next January. And I've survived 60 hours.  

Getting up every morning @ 5.30am in order to attend a two-hour morning intensive practice actually hasn't been that bad. The session itself is challenging but fun, and fellow students and I do find ourselves learning a lot about not only our own practice (we've been doing some of the poses wrong) but also ourselves. Most of my classmates are, like myself, keen to learn more about "yoga" and don't really have plans to teach (not in the immediate future anyway). But I think therein also lies the problem because I think the head of the programme does (quite rightly so) expect us to be ... more committed. It really is like going back to school. He drills us everyday that we must give our practice 200%, focus, focus, focus and that we must be really, really serious about yoga... learning to chant and all the poses in Sanskrit. 

Sanskrit?

Oh yes. So, downward facing dog is adho mukha svanasana, warrior 1 is virabhadrasana 1, and hand to big toe pose is uttitha hasta padangustasana. Like, what?!? 

Basically, yoga is about suffering (apparently) ... and without which we won't be able to savor the fruits of the ... suffering. It's very Indian (?) and how yogic...

There is also a bit of yogic philosophy and anatomy thrown into the mix. As well as an one-hour sequence that we must all learn by heart by the end of the course. And this sequence is pretty detailed ... like, step you right foot forward, place your back knee on the floor, bend your left elbow and hook that onto your right knee, hands in prayer position and twist. It's THAT detailed. For 60 mins. I guess that will come in useful should I wanna share my practice with my friends.  

Have to say there is a slight discrepancy between my and their expectations of what the course is but will try my best to learn, without stressing self out.  

Okay, bed time! 

Yoga Training ~ the Preparation

Okay, will have to put down Sen no Kesike II for awhile.

The yoga teacher training course that I signed up for earlier this year will (finally) start in a couple of days. I feel both excited and anxious: am I physically, psychologically, intellectually and spiritually up to it?? While the course also promises to be a journey of discovery: "You will learn how to listen to the dictates of your own spirit and learn how to be amazed by who you are, what you can do, and what your potential is". Hmm, I think I need a bit of self assurance/ confidence cos at my/any workplace there are always people who undermine others (so to justify their own self importance) and the arrogance on display can be overwhelming to say the least (some don't even know that themselves). Anyway, I shall remain humble ... I actually am hoping that by the end of the first 100 hours, I will feel motivated enough to give up work!!

The course is actually quite intensive; everyday starts @ 7am with meditation, breathing and physical practice for two hours, a break, then 10am to 6pm to "study" ... that is an awfully long time to be studying!!! There are some set texts including The Bhagavad Gita and Light on Life by the late BSK Iyengar. Have to say I tried reading them and they are pretty tough going (and I'd studied Eng Lit as a student!) The Anusara Teacher Training Manual is pretty fun to read though (though this particular yoga style isn't really my thing)...

Over the next two weeks I will be blogging about my experience & basic insight, and I hope I will come out of the first half of the training being able to share what I've learnt with my friends.

All Things New

Having a very materialistic week: Downloaded the new Sen no Kiseki II game before getting the limited edition box set too (though it's not the OST). Love this game. It has a great story, some excellent dialogue and solid (turn-based) gameplay. Though while waiting for the new release, I tried playing another game (Ao no Kiseki - Evolution) from the same (Legend of Heroes) series, cos it's in Japanese, I just couldn't get into it. Also the earlier game looks so dated now I think SnK is much better. Have been playing it for a few days and the developer has added a lot more features to the battle mechanism, which is a bit confusing at the beginning but fun once mastered. 

    

New game has a much better cast

Last week also saw a number of new mobile phone releases (other than iPhone 6, which is quite yummy) and the one that I'm tempted to buy is Sony's Xperia Z Compact. It's just that both my Xperia Z and Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo seem to be playing up BUT I really don't want to trade them in (yet) cos they are still relatively new (I bought Z April 2013 and Neo in May this year). But getting a new phone means I will have to carry two instead of three phones around ... so what to do?!? 

Some Thoughts on Ageing

Saw this video with British actress Emma Thompson visiting the Arctic (with Green Peace) and when she was asked whether being "50s is the new 30s", she said that was just "bullocks" ~ I agree with her. So many times have I told friends that I wish I'd started practising yoga when I was younger because no matter how much you exercise, your physical form does deteriorate with time ~ though, of course, with exercising, most of us can slow down that ageing process. Like, I know this young yogi who had made so much progress the past year in his yoga practice and I put a lot of that down to his youth (hard work, too, no doubt). 

As I was lying down in a reclining hero pose (supra virasana) today, my knees and lower back were complaining and I never had that much problem with this pose before (well, maybe a couple of years ago). In fact, my knees tend to complain a lot these days mostly because despite having a regular(-ish) yoga practice, my hips/pelvis are still very tight ... and all the pressure of some poses just go directly to my knees, which is not good. And, yeah, I still can't do the lotus pose ... but I'm hoping I'll get over these hang-ups when I take my teacher training early next month.

I'm glad I'm no longer a teenager though (ha!) all that raging hormone imbalance (!!) Then the 20s was all about insecurity and (unrealistic) romanticism; the 30s desperation and obsession; and, thankfully, now that I've passed my mid-40s I'm finally quite happy with the place that I'm in. Kinda looking forward to my 50s if I live that long... 

Sen no Kiseki I (Part Three)

Clocking up to 127 hours playing this game and have now reached the final chapter. Since the sequel is not released until end of this month I might as well take it slow. The finale, apparently, is amazing. In the meantime, just enjoying the fact I can play the characters I really like:

Rean the Protagonist

Machias, Fie, Jusis and Emma

Sen no Kiseki I OST

Love this game music ...