photos courtesy of Allen Brisson-Smith
UPTOWN STUDIO
I am thrilled to announce the opening of CorePower Yoga's newest studio in Uptown! I am even more thrilled to be given the opportunity to manage the studio and be part of this eclectic community. To find out more about the Uptown studio, click here.
HOLIDAY CHEER
My dear friends Sarah, Lisa, and Nora from CorePower Yoga put a little dance together to spread some holiday cheer! Click here to laugh out loud!
TEACHER TRAINING
My experience going through teacher training brought to light so many issues that I didn't even know existed for me. Physically I felt ready - I was strong, my practice was an integral part of my life and I was hungry for more. What that "more" was I didn't know. I had questions about what was happening in my life that I knew were a direct result of my practice. I just wanted everything to fall into place and make sense but usually life delivers what you need, not what you want.
I decided to go through the training without having the expectation or even the desire to teach. I just wanted more of what I was craving for.
In the middle of teacher training I realized that I was at least 5 paces behind my peers with whom I was going through the training with.
'What are all these "sanskrit" words they're using? What the heck is a sun salute??? I can't do a handstand! It was daunting. It was frustrating and there was way too much to learn in two months. I definitely felt like giving up but part of me was too embarrassed to do so.
The day came when we were asked to teach sun salutes to each other. After I figured out that I had done sun salutes hundreds of times without knowing what they were called, I thought it was going to be a cake walk. I stood in front of the 5 teachers in training that were in my group and proceeded to butcher Surya Namaskara B. I was humiliated and so defeated. Luckily, I wasn't the only one. Most of the group failed miserably and we all proved the point that our teachers Maty and Lisa were trying to make: teaching yoga is not an easy thing to. We are not regurgitating poses so that people can get a work out - that's what jazzercise is for. There is something powerful and sacred about what yoga teachers pass on to their students and it's not something to take lightly.
After the humiliation of my first, botched teaching experience I saw one of the teaching assistants whose class I had just taken and sought some nurturing. I asked her, "Did it take you a long time to get the teaching thing down?..because this sucks."
She replied, "Oh yeah! What you guys did in there we ALL did. I know it feels like a long ways away but it's going to happen one day!"
And it did.
I made myself just do it. The more I did it the stronger the call for teaching became. Teaching yoga is such a joy and I am humbled with every opportunity I have to teach. And now I find myself guiding students to become teachers.
What an honor that is.
Whatever compels you towards teacher training, listen! There is a reason that you hear it: to deepen your practice, to begin your teaching journey...whatever it is, just listen.
I invite you to be part of the next CorePower Yoga Teacher Training which begins on September 19th, 2007.
Namaste,
Kai