Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Am I Ready for Teacher Training?

"I want to do a yoga teacher training, but I'm afraid I'm not 'yogi enough.' How do I know I'm ready?"

I wrestled with this question for a while when I first decided to begin my 200 hour yoga teacher training. I know the feeling well: you've been practicing yoga for a few years (or months) and you feel ready to be an instructor, you think...

The problem is that you love meat. Some weeks you only practice yoga once a week (while others it is every day) and everyone else in class is much skinnier than you are. They all have ohms tattoos on their wrists and beautiful lotus tattoos on their ribs. Everyone else is a way better yogi than you are. How are you even thinking you're ready? Are you ready? With that attitude: no.

However, with a paradigm switch, the paragraph above could be viewed as such: you're a lover of life, a foodie and a yogi dedicated to yoga asanas as well as a loving and clean life. If you change your perspective, then YES you are ready!

In my own journey, becoming a yoga instructor happened the same way most of my major decisions did, with my gut instinct & natural timing. Simply put: it felt right. I honestly believe that the more you force something to be right, the less likely it is to actually be the right step.

While making the decision to do my 200 hour teacher training, I tried many studios and teachers. I almost decided to become certified with Natasha Rizopoulos. Although she is lovely, a great speaker and full of knowledge, something seemed off with our energies. I appreciated her level of intelligence, her anatomy, her instincts and yet I decided she wasn't my yoga teacher.

I was visiting my moms' favorite studio and realized how at home I felt. The energy was perfect and I love Jen! There were a few spots left in the teacher training program and I put down my deposit two days after visiting the studio! I am so pleased with my decision to become certified under Jen Ryan &
Nicole Grant. I have a well rounded education and felt confident enough to begin my own nonprofit, Journey to Hope Yoga just three months after completing my certification. Now, as I look into my 500 hour programs, I am using my gut and listening to my body.

When you feel right. When you find the perfect (for your) studio. When you're ready - you will know. It's not about your diet (although it may eventually change), or how often you practice, what you wear or who you're friends with. The interesting thing about yoga is that it challenges you and changes you. When you begin those subtle changes, you begin to see the world differently and suddenly everything shifts. The world has more good, you bring more loving energy into all you do.

If you think you're ready, you probably are!

Get out there - do yoga & make life sparkle!
Namaste,
Jenny

2 comments:

  1. I been asking myself for that for the last 4 months and I am now certain to say that I am ready for the challenge and I know just the right place where I could start…
    SchoolYogaInstitute.com

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  2. Good for you Chelsea! :-) Have a blast & enjoy the journey.

    ReplyDelete