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!