Becoming a yoga teacher starts with being a yoga student. And before I was a yoga student, I was a yoga hater. I’d rather stab myself in the eye with a fork than sit on the floor and breathe. But then I broke up with my boyfriend and suddenly had a lot of free time.
It just so happened there was a yoga studio half a block from my apartment and I noticed they had an introductory offer: 2 weeks of unlimited yoga for $40. I wasn’t keen on the whole relaxing side of yoga, but maybe the power or hot classes would be a good workout. Also, this was something I could do everyday – a place I could go everyday – while I figured out what to do next with my life.
That studio was YYoga and it became my home for the next 6 years. The teachers there are world class and I can say that because I subsequently travelled to 38 countries and haven’t found teachers of a higher calibre anywhere. They taught me technique and philosophy. They created a safe space to process all my thoughts. Or just have a nap. Yoga changed me for the better. It changed my relationship with food, my perception of my body, and my attitude towards myself and others.
As I practiced over the years, I often wondered if I was ready to do a yoga teacher training (YTT) course. One Friday evening I was in Jasmina Egeler’s class and she said “If there are any teachers in the room who haven’t started teaching yet, start now. What you observe in your students will shine a light on your own practice and you will learn from them.”
I knew it was time for me to become a yoga teacher.
HOW I CHOSE MY SCHOOL
There are so many YTT programs all over the world, how’s a girl to choose? Well, I had some criteria:
- Registered with Yoga Alliance – Yoga Alliance is a global non-profit that registers yoga teachers and schools. If a school is registered, it means Yoga Alliance has approved its YTT curriculum.
- Location overseas – I love Vancouver and know the YTT programs there are first-rate but I knew I was going to be travelling the world so I wanted a school overseas so YTT would be part of my ’round-the-world travel experience.
- Multi-style curriculum – Some YTTs focus on one style of yoga. I wanted a program that taught multi-style because I felt that the more styles I could teach, the more valuable I would be to studios.
After some research, I chose Trimurti Yoga in Goa, India. I chose it for the following reasons:
- A very high rating on Yoga Alliance from a large number of reviews. If everyone is saying it’s good, they can’t all be wrong.
- Location in Goa, India – I heard it was beautiful and wanted to see it (spoiler: it IS beautiful)
- They teach multi-style
- The price was in line with my budget
I signed up, bought a travel yoga mat, and hit the road.
A DAY IN THE LIFE
I’ll skip over the details of my arrival in India because flying across the planet on New Years Day is not a pleasant scenario for anyone.
05:45 – Alarm clock rings but I’m already awake thanks to a rooster who took his job REALLY SERIOUSLY.
06:00 – Sit on the floor of the shala and chant in the dark. It was still chilly at this time of year (January) so I bundled up in a toque and wool socks. I initially loathed this time of day but by the end of YTT it was my favourite, listening to the voices of my friends chanting peacefully beside me.
07:00 – Morning practice! Hatha, Vinyasa, or Ashtanga. I loved these practices led by our amazing teachers.
09:00 – Breakfast. We ate in silence and were not allowed to speak until Anatomy class at 10:00. Did you know that food tastes better when you aren’t vocalizing every ten seconds? These peaceful, contemplative breakfasts were another highlight of my day.
10:00 – Anatomy class. We learned about the muscular system and the skeletal system, joints and range of motion, and breathing.
11:15 – Alignment & Adjustment class. We learned how to give verbal instructions and cues to help students get into proper alignment in a variety of poses. We also practised hands-on adjustments with each other.
12:30 – Lunch. Our diet at the shala was ayurvedic. That means no meat, eggs, spices, or strong flavours. I felt pretty good eating this diet and never got sick, although it did become a bit monotonous and I missed hot sauce.
13:00 – Philosophy class. This class tested our ability to stay awake in 38-degree heat after eating lunch. The guru also had this hypnotic voice that did us no favours in the staying-awake department.
14:30 – Art of Teaching class. We learned about different ways to structure classes and create sequences. We practiced teaching each other in progressively larger groups and in different yoga styles.
16:30 – Evening practice! This practice was a real treat. It would be Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Hatha, Yin, or Yoga Nidra. It was a wonderful end to the day, having this time to tune into our bodies and synthesize everything we had learned.
19:00 – Dinner. Another ayurvedic feast. We were allowed to buy coffee and hot chocolate from the kitchen boys and I don’t know how but those guys made the best coffee I have ever had. I treated myself to one a day.
OUTSIDE THE SHALA
Sundays were free days and we would usually go to one of the nearby beaches: Patnem, Palolem, or Agonda. They are all beautiful beaches – not the most amazing I’ve ever seen in the world but still really nice.
Alcohol was strictly forbidden at the shala and even when you’re out it’s kind of pointless because the local beers have very low alcohol content and cocktails are overpriced.
It was fun to get out of the shala but I had a hard time with the school being located in the middle of nowhere. There were no sidewalks, so we couldn’t really walk anywhere, forcing us to be dependent on tuk-tuks, which we always had to bargain for and sometimes had to wait a long time for them to show up.
There is a lot of really amazing vegan and vegetarian food in Goa and it was a delight trying different restaurants with my friends. We also enjoyed shopping for flowy dresses, handmade notebooks, and other souvenirs.
NOW I’M A YOGA TEACHER
After YTT I took time off from yoga to enjoy travelling. I spent a month in Singapore, four months in Israel, and two weeks in Eastern Europe. Then I was offered a job teaching yoga in Bali, Indonesia. I accepted in a heartbeat. What more could I want than to teach yoga in paradise?
I absolutely love my job. Planning the classes and guiding the students through poses they might never have tried before is endlessly entertaining and fulfilling. Several students have thanked me for providing them these practices that both relax and energize them. And Jasmina was right: teaching does shine a light on my own practice, and I have learned from my students.
So all in all, my YTT really did equip me to teach, which is exactly what I wanted out of it.
What I also got out of it was 30 new friends who I have stayed in touch with long after YTT finished. We support each other from all over the world and I am blessed to have them in my life.
ARE YOU READY FOR IT?
I wanted to become a yoga teacher in my second year of practice but I was always afraid I wasn’t ready. So, I continued practicing for six years until I could do all the poses I encountered in a standard yoga class.
When I got to YTT, I discovered I had been practicing a lot longer than most of the other students. I thought, “Oh. I guess I could have done this years ago.” However, I found that I was better able to keep up with the physical demands of YTT because I was accustomed to practicing for three or more hours a day, while most of the other students who didn’t practice that much found the daily practice schedule of YTT challenging.
To prepare, try taking two classes a day, a few times a week – one in the morning, one in the evening. You’ll see your practice improve dramatically! And even if you don’t necessarily want to be a yoga teacher, but enjoy practising yoga, I still recommend doing a YTT program because it will deepen your practice and help you make connections in the yoga world. I loved it so much, I’m actually thinking of doing it all over again…
