Hey everyone! I’ve just returned from my yoga teacher training course (TTC) and I’m feeling on top of the world…as well as exhausted and very achy lol!
An experience I’ll never forget, the TTC was everything I’d imagined and more. I still can’t quite believe that I did it and came out the other side with a certificate stating I am now a certified yoga instructor! Woop Woop!
I should also mention that, at first, I found it very difficult to be without makeup and with messy hair the whole time but after a while, that faded. In fact, I’m even going to share some photos with you completely make-up free! And my hair, which is in that awful growing out phase, is such a mess but it’s okay. I found peace with that lol 😉
(you may recognise most of these pics from Instagram which I posted while I was away)
Receiving my yoga teacher training certificate. I was ecstatic!
The course was difficult, I ain’t gonna lie about it. Dr. Venky, the course instructor, is not your average yoga teacher (my colleagues and I liked to call him Guru Venky) – in his eyes, the most important aspect of the entire course is safety and that’s why I chose to study with him.
Yoga Teacher Training: Anatomy
Specialising in back problems and anatomy, Venky’s course is most definitely heavy on that side of things. And that’s what made it tough for me. Learning such details about the human body is tough generally, even more considering I’m a ‘mature student’! And biology was never my strong point at school.
Yoga on the terrace…beautiful!
Although I was utterly intrigued, I did find it difficult to remember. The other girls (all in their mid twenties) seemed endlessly capable of recalling practically everything whereas I would stutter, blush a deep shade of red and shake my head. Oh…to be back at school again.
I consider myself extremely fortunate to have been taught by such a patient teacher as Venky, who continually assured me that it was normal, ‘you need to read the books seven or eight times before it will really make sense to you,’ he said on numerous occasions. I’m still hoping that will happen.
Tears at the Yoga Teacher Training
On another note, there were also tears. I’m sure you’ve heard about people who cry on the yoga mat? How yoga can release hidden emotions and cause you to break down? Well, I never thought it would happen to me considering I’ve been practising a few years but it did. And it happened one morning during pranayama (breathing techniques) / meditation.
Suddenly they came, and I couldn’t stop them. Loud and wet tears, leaving me shuddering with breathlessness too. I was so shocked and quite embarrassed. But everyone was so understanding (that’s the yoga community for you).
I cried another time too – but that was more to do with my own feelings of inadequacy which arose several times in the first two weeks. I kept wondering, ‘what am I doing here?’ and ‘I can’t do this’. I was wrong of course.
Moving into the third week, I started feeling much more confident in myself, my strength was improving, my stamina too. I found pranayama was getting easier (I struggled with ujjayi breath in the beginning), I was able to focus like never before and things started making much more sense to me. I even did my very first handstand (supported) – I never even tried to do handstands as a kid because I was terrified of getting hurt! I was ecstatic.
I was finally loving it. But I was also very home sick. Lucky then, that I only lived 45 minutes away! Two weekends I headed home and one weekend, Michael visited for dinner. Wonderful 🙂
But back to the yoga teacher training course. A month long intensive course, it taught me the importance of so many things – and I’m not just talking about yoga and how you should move your body in certain asanas (postures) and how to breathe properly, but rather the importance of love, patience, acceptance, etc. We are all so hard on ourselves these days, and we really ought to take time to ourselves to just be.
A new woman
Since I’ve been home (I got back last Friday afternoon), I’ve been practicing yoga every morning at 6am out on the terrace (I’m so lucky to be living here in Portugal where this is possible for much of the year). Just to be outdoors, to witness every sunrise while doing yoga is utter bliss. I never thought I’d say that to be honest. I was always quite lazy in the mornings, rolling out of bed after eight and then feeling groggy after eight or nine hours sleep. Not any more. I can honestly say I’m a new woman. And I’ve got my awesome yoga family (Venky, Mei, Julia & Aga) and the yoga teacher training course to thank for that. Namaste <3
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