Category Archives: Teaching Yoga

Congratulations and “Breathing Easier”

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As unbelievable as it seems, tonight is Whole Life Yoga’s tenth Yoga Teacher Training graduation.  I swear every year goes just a little bit faster than the last. (And I know I get a little bit grayer!)  Tonight twenty brave souls who started class last September will practice together for a final time.  I hope our celebration will be filled with more laughter than tears, but I’m betting there will be plenty of both.

My soon-to-be-graduates tell me that they have mixed emotions about tonight’s graduation.  They’ve been working their collective butts off this past ten months designing sequences, writing essays, practicing, and teaching yoga. And they’ve spent every Monday evening, rain or shine, together in class.  Frankly, they’re pretty happy to get their normal lives back.  And yet they’re sad, too.  After all, they’ve spent the last ten months learning, practicing yoga, and supporting each other. They’ve had the privilege of spending every Monday evening with an incredible, supportive community of like-minded people.

Speaking personally, I feel their ambivalence. In fact, I suffer the same pain.  Nothing in my professional life is harder than leading this teacher training program.  Nothing is, at times, more frustrating. Nothing pushes my boundaries or forces me to grow more, both as a human being and as a teacher.  And absolutely nothing is more rewarding.

I remember giving a speech at my 8th grade graduation. It feels like a hundred years ago, but since I was thirteen, it must have been somewhat more recent than that.  I don’t remember a single word of that speech, except how it ended.  I closed with a poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Its last line has guided my life ever since.

“To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”

I started teaching yoga because I wanted to make a difference.  I wanted to leave my world a better place, even if only subtly.  Some days I feel more successful than others. But I never feel that difference more than when I think about my teacher training graduates.

This current group has been through a lot in the last ten months. We’ve seen each other through job changes, illnesses, car accidents, pregnancies and births.  And we’ve learned to navigate these sometimes-overwhelming life changes using yoga tools.  Students have found their own voice, gained confidence, forgiven past mistakes, and learned lots and lots and lots about yoga practice. I wish I could take credit for all this. But the most profound learnings and changes are a direct result of this lineage and its ancient teachings.  I’m just the messenger.

My sadness tonight will be lessened only because I know these wonderful individuals are heading out into the world to share those same teachings with others.

To you, my soon-to-be alumni, a message. I’m proud of you. I’m humbled by your skills, your perseverance, your humor, and your forgiveness of my many, many mistakes.  I’m happy to send you out into the world, and yet so very sad to see you go.

The teacher in me bows to the teacher in you.

Namaste

Tracy

More information about Whole Life Yoga’s teacher training program can be found at our web site:  Yoga Teacher Training at Whole Life Yoga.

Why I love Viniyoga

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I admit it. I’m a Viniyoga snob. I won’t practice any other style of yoga, and I certainly won’t teach any other style. But I didn’t start out that way. Like most people, when I took my first yoga class I didn’t even know different types of yoga existed. I thought all yoga was the same, and honestly, I thought all yoga was a little weird.

My first yoga class changed all that, even though it wasn’t Viniyoga; it was Iyengar-influenced Hatha yoga. If you don’t know what that means, don’t worry. Neither do most of the people down-dogging next to you. Suffice it to say that Hatha is an umbrella term for the physical practice of yoga, and Iyengar is a specific style, focused on holding poses with exact alignment.

I liked my first yoga class. A lot. In fact, I liked it so much that I was afraid if my yoga teacher knew how much it was hurting me, she might not let me attend anymore. She knew of my injuries, but even though she was a well known and very experienced yoga teacher (she even co-authored a yoga book!) she didn’t know how to adapt yoga for my body. But that didn’t matter to me. All that mattered was the incredible peace of mind I received from practicing.

Then that teacher went on a month’s vacation.

Determined to keep up my practice, I went to a number of studios in the Seattle area and tried a variety of styles. Luckily for me, one of those styles was Viniyoga. I didn’t know why at the time, but for the first time, I left a yoga class feeling not only mentally, but also physically, better. Over time, I continued to experiment, but I kept coming back to Viniyoga. And then one day I knew: I was destined to teach this wonderful lineage.

Flash-forward 12 years, and I can now explain what makes this style so unique. My teacher calls it The Four Key Differentiators of Viniyoga:

  • Linkage of Breath and Movement: Viniyoga links movement with the breath, which makes each movement more powerful, mindful, and structurally integrated than non-breath-centered movement.
  • Use of Movement and Stay: Viniyoga students move in and out of poses before staying in them. Movement systematically prepares the body to hold a pose by warming the muscle groups that will be taxed in that pose. Movement also helps reprogram habitual movement patterns, so students move more functionally, even in non-yoga activities.
  • Adaptation: Viniyoga adapts poses to the practitioner, rather than assuming there is one “right” way to do a pose. The goal is to achieve the function of a pose, instead of its form.
  • Sequencing: Viniyoga teachers carefully design classes so that each pose prepares for or erases strain from the poses before and after it.

But I’ve found something even more powerful in Viniyoga—community. Viniyoga emphasizes the teacher-student relationship. With no “one size fits all” approach, a Viniyoga teacher must be present with her students, get to know her students, even care about her students to be effective. I came to love practicing Viniyoga for what it did for my mind and my body. I came to love teaching Viniyoga because it made me a more observant, caring part of my larger community.

More than anything else, that’s why I love Viniyoga.

Namaste

Tracy

Come visit Whole Life Yoga in Seattle!

Savasana (Corpse Pose): A Time to Rest or a Time to Become Fully Awake?

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I can almost hear the collective sigh of relief when I tell my students it’s time to transition to the period of rest at the end of each yoga class called Savasana, literally translated as “Corpse Pose.”

As each student settles in, I offer softened lights, peaceful music—even neck pillows and bolsters to put under their knees.  Experienced students often cover their bodies with blankets and their eyes with eye pillows.  I tiptoe around the room and verbally guide each student into a quiet place where they can hopefully find, even if for just a moment, a place of internal peace.  I’m rewarded for doing so.  As my students relax, I feel the energy of their tranquility. I sometimes even hear a soft snore or two as they melt away into oblivion.

I don’t think we can underestimate the power of that quiet time.  In our busy world, we rarely take the time to relax and let our minds just be free.  Practiced this way, Savasana provides a time of inner peace. A moment of relief from the information overload of our always-busy lives.

But I sometimes wonder if we’ve missed the point.  According to the teachings, Savasana isn’t really about relaxation.  In fact, I’ve heard Savasana described as the most difficult of all yoga postures.  A posture in which, bodies completely still, we are challenged to keep our minds focused.  The pose is named “Corpse Pose” for a reason. We are to act as if our bodies had dissolved away—as if were already dead, so to speak.

When practiced this way, Savasana is a powerful tool.  It can help us momentarily become less identified with our bodies and less attached to the trappings of our lives. In those last minutes of class, we can reconnect to the pure, perfect essence that already exists within each of us.

I’d like to offer you a challenge. The next time you rest in that final yoga pose, try not to simply melt into rest and oblivion.  Don’t fall asleep, either literally or figuratively.  Instead, stay truly awake, in a sort of resting meditation.  Lie still, in complete silence, present with the sensations of your body and completely aware of the random thoughts of your mind.  Use that time to connect with the beauty and perfection that is already within you.

It won’t be easy.  It might not even be as pleasant as that ten-minute nap you were anticipating.  But finding that quiet place within yourself will be well worth the effort.

Namaste

Tracy

Come visit Whole Life Yoga in Seattle!

Staying Balanced when Teaching Yoga–Response to a Student Question

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I look forward to answering your questions in this blog.  Please feel free to leave a comment or e-mail your questions to tr***@***********ga.com.

A Whole Life Yoga teacher training graduate asks: Is it possible for a teacher to absorb the energy of her students? I recently worked with a client who is currently in an emotionally dark place. She felt better after our session, but I felt worse. I even cried later in the day, for no apparent reason. Have you experienced this, and if so, how do you protect yourself?

The short answer is, yes! Yoga tools impact the human energy system, and in teaching them, we open ourselves up to our students’ energy fields. This feels great when students are in a balanced place. It can be challenging when their energy is stressed or sad.

Private work is even more problematic. Private clients allow themselves to be much more intimate and vulnerable than students in group classes. As a yoga therapist, I’ve worked with clients struggling with severe debilitating diseases, clients recovering from trauma, even clients who were in the end stages of terminal disease.

To say, “It isn’t easy” seems more than a little trite. But honestly, I don’t have a simple answer. When I started this work, I actually felt guilty. I thought I should feel worse about my clients’ situations. But I quickly realized that I can’t do this work unless I keep some distance. Otherwise I’ll be on a quick path to burnout and depression. I had to give myself permission not to take on my clients’ pain. The Yoga Sutras agree. According to the sutras, yogis should practice active compassion without joining the suffering. Once we take on the pain of our clients, we’re of no good to anyone, especially our students.

The best way for a teacher to keep that needed distance is to actively practice yoga and meditation herself. That seems obvious, but for some reason, teachers often stop practicing. They even kid themselves that teaching is their practice. Wrong answer! When we teach, we should be 100% focused on the students in front of us. Our personal practice, on the other hand, should be all about us. So if you aren’t currently practicing, start.

Second, I firmly believe yoga teachers should take periodic breaks from teaching. I take a six-week teaching sabbatical every summer. I still work at the studio, but I refuse to teach a single yoga pose. Instead, I focus on filling my own energy well. How full is your energy well? If it’s sucking mud, maybe it’s time for a break.

Third, sometimes our reactions to people around us are symptoms of something already happening within us. I recently wrote an article about Daurmanasya (Depression), which is one of the symptoms of an inner obstacle. So is Svasaprasvasa, which means disturbance of the breath, including uncontrolled crying, as you describe. The sutras list a number of actions you can take when you’re up against an obstacle. Review sutras 1.32 – 1.39 and consider adding one or more of those tools to your daily practice.

Finally, remember to spend time doing things that make you happy. If you’re sensitive to negative energy, you’re likely sensitive to positive energy as well. Nothing picks me up like time spent with puppies or upbeat friends. Others are refueled by playing with children. Still others by gardening. Spend time re-connecting with the touchstones that bring you joy. Allow them to refuel you, just like you do your students.

I hope that helps!

Namaste

Tracy

More information about Whole Life Yoga’s teacher training program can be found at our web site:  Yoga Teacher Training at Whole Life Yoga.

A Better Forward Bend

One of Viniyoga’s key differentiators is our principle of adaptation, or modifying a pose’s form to achieve its function. Because of this principle, we often do poses in a Viniyoga classes significantly differently than in other styles.  This is especially apparent in forward bends. (Actually, lateral bends as well, but that’s a blog topic for another day).

In Viniyoga, we categorize postures based on their primary and secondary intentions.  The primary intention is the “have to have,” if you will, or the most important effect of a posture.  The secondary intentions of a pose are the “nice to haves.”  Those effects that, while useful, can be sacrificed if needed to achieve the primary goal of the pose.

In forward bends, the primary intention is usually stretching the low back.  Secondarily, the pose may also stretch hips, hamstrings and the upper back.  If you feel a forward bend in your hamstrings or upper back but not your low back, then you are likely getting the secondary intention of the pose at the expense of the primary intention.

The photos below are of a student doing a specific forward bend, called Uttanasana. In the photo on the left, she is stretching her hamstrings, but not her low back. The photo on the right shows the same student with improved form.  Note how a slight bend in her knees has changed the pose significantly.

Of course you can’t see your own form when you’re practicing, but you can still tell whether you are doing the pose “right” by how it feels.  If you’re doing Uttanasana correctly, you will feel a stretch in your low back and perhaps a small stretch in the backs of your legs.

Coming out of the forward bend should feel a bit different, and this is where things get tricky.   While it is vitally important to stretch the low back, you should do so while keeping the rest of the spine, particularly the inter-vertebral discs, resilient and safe. Therefore you should not keep a rounded position as you come back up to standing. Doing so puts pressure on the front of the discs, which may lead to disc wear and even disc herniation over time.  Instead, contract the low back muscles and come to a neutral or even slightly arched back at the half-way point.  From there, press through the feet and return to standing. Many teachers call this “lifting through a flat back.”   I often describe this movement as “lifting from your collar bones.”

In the photos below, the student on the left is rounding through her back as she comes to standing.  On the right, she is using correct form. Note the return of the subtle arch of her lumbar curve.

Again, you’ll know if you’re doing the movement “right” by how it feels. When you come to standing, you should feel your shoulder blades move together, your collar bones lift, and a slight curve return to your lower back.

Still not sure if you’re doing it correctly? Ask your teacher to watch you closely and give individual feedback.  Sometimes a even minute change in form can have a dramatic impact.

Namaste

Tracy

Come visit Whole Life Yoga in Seattle! And if you have back pain, we offer specific yoga for healthy backs classes to help!

Teaching Yoga to Kids

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This week’s blog entry was written by guest author Liziah Woodruff. Liziah is a graduate of Whole Life Yoga’s teacher training program. She  can be contacted at li****@*****il.com.

The Teacher said: “Put your hands on your belly and think of a color for your balloon. Breathe in and blow up your balloon; breathe out and deflate your balloon slowly. Breathe in, blow up your balloon–uh oh it pops!” Little mouths with big laughter fill the room. Welcome to the dynamic, creative, challenging, sweet, fun world of Kids Yoga! When I first started studying to be a yoga teacher eight years ago, I knew that translating the magic of yoga to kids was something I wanted to do.

I have been working with kids for most of my life. They follow me everywhere, so I have no choice. I have been a nanny, babysitter, school teacher, god mother and mentor.  Adding teaching  yoga to my work with children was not too cold, not too hot–it was just right! However it has taken me years of trial and error, study, creative exploration and many, many, many groups of kids to learn how to teach them confidently.  And of course I am still learning.

Children’s natural dramatic energy is activated in yoga as the kids and I climb together up mountains, become strong warriors, turn into fierce lions, wise owls, and soaring eagles. Yoga poses named after nature and animals–things kids love–lend themselves to easily connect to kids. There are endless stories and adventures that can be told with yoga poses. I like to make up my own adventures, which always change a little or a lot depending on the group.

I blend my classes with movement, music, story, active and calm poses, and resting at the end of the class. It is very common that the kid who didn’t seem like he would ever want to be still says during the closing circle: “I like resting the best.” Or a shy child that wouldn’t even say her name in the beginning circle becomes the most vivacious volcano of them all. Teaching yoga to kids is a skill.  It requires finding the right combination of active and quiet yoga, balancing the shy and expressive personalities, keeping the kids engaged, flowing and in control, and knowing what works for each age group.  And believe me some things work and some things don’t. I used to fear three and four year olds, but now I have learned how to teach even them!

Yoga teaches kids how to feel good in their bodies, how to challenge themselves to get stronger, more flexible and hold that tree pose for as long as they individually can. It teaches kids that focus and peace is possible to find within themselves. It inspires them to feel power within, not power over. It shows them that, like the roots of trees in a forest,  we are all connected.

I believe the ancient teachings of yoga are modern medicine for our children as well as us.  I am excited to have the opportunity to teach  what I have learned so far about  teaching yoga to kids in the Yoga Teacher Training for Kids Workshop at Whole Life Yoga on July 1st. I hope you will join me there and  in a family or kids yoga class soon.  Let’s give the gift of yoga to our kids! Let’s thrive and improve our whole selves together.

The light in me sees the light in you. Namaste.

Liziah

If you would like to see me teaching, check out my kids yoga video, The Changing Star.

Come visit Whole Life Yoga in Seattle!

Insight from Injury

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This week’s blog entry was written by guest author Jenny Zenner. Jenny is a graduate of Whole Life Yoga’s teacher training program. She  can be contacted at jz*****@***il.com.

I recently spoke on KUOW’s The Conversation with Ross Reynolds sharing my yoga injury story during William Broad’s appearance for his new book The Science of Yoga. His book and recent article “How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body“ have sparked a lot of discourse within the yoga community. As a journalist who suffered a significant injury in yoga, he’s played the publicity game well, getting the attention of many to challenge certain practices while shedding light on the true benefits available through yoga.

As someone who was dropped on their head like a pogo stick in an advanced teacher training workshop, I hope that the ripple is wide, reaching a multitude of teachers and students to improve safety on the mat. My injury occured in spite of my training. I was at a studio where I was hoping to impress the owner by taking the advanced workshop to get added to the teaching schedule. Instead of engaging my own philosophy, I followed the instructions given, doing challenging backbends, doing an additional workout the morning of the second day to “warm up” and changing partners for each pose over the course of the two days. So it was under these conditons of being sore and fatigued, trying to impress and getting assisted by a complete stranger that I attempted a posture I’d never done before. The strong but slight woman was at least 15 years my senior. In retrospect, she had no hope of being able to successfully support me, and I had no business attempting the posture. Crumpled on the floor after getting released from the failed assist, tears welled in my eyes as I regrouped on my hands and knees, embarrassed and shocked. The owner stood by, recommended I work on getting my hips over my shoulders next time, and proceeded with the class.

Fortunately I only sprained my neck and got a concussion, as the next levels of spinal chord severity are paralysis and death. I’m a safer teacher as a result. I don’t teach risky postures to strangers in group classes. I didn’t have the courage to challenge the workshop teacher even though I was a certified instructor myself. I can only wonder how many other students are embarking on risky postures taught out of tradition and pride. Alas in a recent class at a studio I was visiting, I heard a man in his 50’s gushing about a training he’d done over the weekend where they’d done Crow to Handstand, the very act that led to my concussion and sprained cervical spine, an injury that impacts me to this day 4 1/2 years since it happened. Looking at him, I wondered under what circumstances he found the need to do such an acrobatic posture. Thus I am compelled to continue the conversation by inviting fellow teachers, trainees and students to explore with me the risks of postures like headstand, plow, locust and transitions to wheel.

Join Tracy Weber and me for Prose+Pose™ at 7pm on June 21st at 5focus to question, defend, and learn. Tracy is the founder of Whole Life Yoga in the viniyoga tradition, grounded in the philosophy of tailoring practices to individuals with safety at the forefront. She will discuss what led her to viniyoga and the foundations of her teacher training program. I will lead a discussion on the sections of William Broad’s book addressing risky postures and opportunities for more rigorous training of yoga teachers.

Jenny

Come visit Whole Life Yoga in Seattle!

Measuring Progress in a Viniyoga Class—Response to a Student Question

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I look forward to answering your questions in this blog.  Please feel free to leave a comment or e-mail your questions to tr***@***********ga.com.

Hayden, a Whole Life Yoga teacher training graduate asks:  A student asked me today how he could measure his progress in my drop-in classes, since they vary so much week to week.  He mentioned, in particular, other yoga classes that always contain sun salutations, and how, if you do them regularly, you can tell that you are getting stronger. But since I don’t want to do regular sun salutations with my class, how can I design drop in classes so that my students are experiencing growth and can see it?  This seems easier to do in a series.

Hi Hayden!  As is usually the case, I don’t have any quick and easy answers to this question.  Gary (my teacher) always says that real progress in yoga practice can best be measured by your relationships.  If your relationships get more stable, your yoga practice is working, and vice–versa.   He also often says that if he were forced to measure the “accomplishments” of his teacher training graduates, he’d evaluate the level of their neuroses.  Remember, according to the sutras, physical prowess was never the intent of yoga practice.  The intent was clarifying and calming the mind.

However….

Viniyoga is multi-faceted.  It can have an orientation that is developmental (Siksana), like my Energize and Strengthen series, therapeutic (Cikitsa), like Yoga for Healthy Backs, or spiritual (Adhyatmika), like my New Years Day workshop.

Physical practice is indeed easier to measure in series classes, as you have the same students over and over again throughout a defined time period. A drop-in practice is trickier, as it’s designed each week based on the students present in class. But drop-in students can still pay attention to how they feel in common poses over time.   There’s absolutely nothing magical about sun salutations.  They are simply a series of specific postures done in a flowing manner. You can measure physical changes in any posture that is taught over and over again.

The trick is to teach the same posture over time and ask students to pay attention to how their body responds to that pose.  For flexibility, seated postures work well. They block escape valves so progress can be more directly seen.  The lateral adaptation of janu sirsansa, deep twists, or regular old pascimatanasana work well for this.  For strength, poses such as plank, caturanga, half squats, arm balances, or all of those lovely prone postures work well.  Progress in those poses would be measured in how many repetitions a student can do or how long they can stay in the pose while maintaining a smooth breath.  For endurance, any flow done repeatedly over time works well.  Breath adaptations in asana and pranayama practices provide effective measurements of breath development.

But the bigger question, I guess, is why is the student practicing?  What do they hope to gain?  And why are they so concerned about measuring themselves? Remember, external measurements are really antithetical to the goals of yoga practice.

Finally, as a teacher, you need to decide who your audience is.  Each class you teach must meet the individual needs of the students present.  This is no easy task–believe me, I know. You may find over time that you need to segment your students into levels, such as beginning, intermediate, and advanced.  Otherwise you won’t be able to adequately meet the needs of anyone.

But above all, please remember, that emotional stability is much more important that any external physical measure.  External measures are more about ego than real growth.

I hope that helps!

Namaste

Tracy

More information about Whole Life Yoga’s teacher training program can be found at our web site:  Yoga Teacher Training at Whole Life Yoga.

Finding Your Teaching Voice–Response to a Student Question

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I look forward to answering your questions in this blog.  Please feel free to leave a comment or e-mail your questions to tr***@***********ga.com.

A student and yoga teacher asks:  I teach yoga at a health club, and I was recently given feedback by my supervisor.  She recommended that I “add a higher element of fun and joy” to my yoga classes, and said that I need to be more “light and bubbly” like the other instructors. Any thoughts on this? What should I do?

This is a tough one. The trick is integrating the feedback without compromising who you are as a teacher. Each venue you teach at will have its own style and energy.  Teaching at a health club is not the same as teaching at a yoga studio.  Teaching at a studio is different than teaching at a mindfulness center, and so on. 

Students also appreciate different styles in yoga instructors. Some like calmer, more introverted teachers, while others prefer ones that are more energetic and extroverted. It can be tempting to try to match people’s expectations—to morph yourself into a chameleon-like being that blends into her environment but is never herself.   You have your own unique personality and character—your own voice, if you will. It is critically important that you remain authentic in your teaching.  In other words, don’t try to be someone or something you are not.  If you do, you will come across as fake and your students won’t like that either. So, the trick is finding a venue and audience that matches your teaching style, while continuing to enhance and build that style.

That said, I do think many yoga teachers are too langhana, meaning they tend to speak softly and in low tones, with a meditative kind of energy.  This is great if you work in a mindfulness center—not so great in a fitness center.   And if you are on the shy side, you may back away from interacting with students, which may be part of the problem.  Here are some things I would recommend trying.

  • Connect with your students before and after class.  I’m notoriously bad at this, but try to get to know your students’ names.  Certainly get to know them as individuals.  And check in with people after class to see how the experience was for them. This is especially important with newer students, who may have questions but not feel comfortable approaching you.
  • Continue this connection during class.  Try to have a personal moment with every student at least once during class.  This can be challenging in larger classes, but is a worthy goal nonetheless.  This connection can range from eye contact and a smile to working on the finer points of form.  Of course, there’s a balance here.  You have to intervene enough to make sure the student knows you’re present, but not so much she wishes you weren’t.  😉  You’ll learn that balance over time.
  • Smile. A lot. Your voice and presence transform dramatically when you smile.  Most of us tend to take ourselves, and our classes, way too seriously. Plus, if you smile, your students are likely to smile back. Smiling students are less likely to strain and struggle in challenging poses. 
  • Use your full vocal range.  Yoga teachers tend to speak softly and in a monotone.  This works well if you’re guiding your students toward meditation or trying to lull them to sleep.  It doesn’t work will for fitness-oriented classes or classes in which you’re trying to build energy.  Vary your vocal volume and pitch to match the energy you are trying to create. 
  • Be present for the entire room.  Way too many teachers teach from the front of the room only.  Move throughout the class; instruct poses from different sides of the room; stand near the back as well as the front.  This will make you a more vibrant presence for the entire class, regardless of where students have placed their mats. 
  • Remain committed to your personal practice.  Many, many teachers become stale and teach by rote simply because they aren’t practicing yoga themselves.  To teach yoga, you have to practice yoga.  If you’re not consistently practicing, start again.  Take classes from teachers you find inspirational, and continue your practice at home.
  • Know when to say when.  Not every teacher is a fit for every class or venue.  If you feel like you can’t teach from an authentic place, then that venue may not be right for you.  In other words, sometimes the best choice is to walk away.

I hope that helps!

Namaste

Tracy

More information about Whole Life Yoga’s teacher training program can be found at our web site:  Yoga Teacher Training at Whole Life Yoga.

Ten Yoga Teacher Trainings and Counting: The Eleventh Starts in October!

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Our First Teacher Training Graduation in 2004

When I opened Whole Life Yoga, I never intended to offer a yoga teacher training.  In fact, it was the farthest thing from my mind. I was already beyond busy teaching classes and private sessions, managing the studio, and working my non-yoga consulting job to pay the bills.  I blame Rene.  Those of you who don’t know Rene are missing out.  He’s a kind spirit, wonderful man, awesome yoga teacher, and now Whole Life Yoga employee.  (See him in Yoga for Men and his drop-in yoga class on Tuesdays!)

Anyway, Rene and I met for coffee one day about nine years ago.  He told me that he wanted to learn how to teach yoga.  I assured him that I thought it was a fantastic idea.  Then came the kicker.  He said he wanted to study with me!  I can’t remember what I said anymore, but it was likely something eloquent like “huh?” Dumbfounded, I left the meeting, the seed planted.  Shortly after, I went on vacation.  A “yoga cruise” of all things.  I remember relaxing in a deck chair on last day of the cruise.  For whatever reason, I had the epiphany.  “I can do this!”  I pulled out a sheet of paper and started designing the training.

It took longer than that day on the deck.  Over the next few months, I added a new task to my to-do list.  I began developing the nine-month curriculum and applied for certification from Yoga Alliance.  Ever the multi-tasker, I developed my advertising plan while leading a career mentoring seminar in Ireland.  I fervently hoped I’d get some students.  I had Rene, of course, but would anyone else sign up?  I hoped to get six students who would meet at my house.  In the end, Yoga Alliance certified my program, twenty students registered, and I moved the training to the Phinney Neighborhood Association, where it’s been ever since.

The first year wasn’t without bumps, but we had a great time and learned a ton. Since then, I’ve offered nine 200-hour trainings and added a 500-hour one.  We’ve certified over 160 people, with 23 more in the program now.

I can honestly say that teaching this program is the most rewarding thing I have ever done.  Leading a group of people through this process of transformation is simultaneously enriching, challenging, frustrating and sometimes heartbreaking.  It’s telling that the training now takes place over 10 months—the same amount of time it takes to gestate a child.  We see each other through births, deaths, marriages and divorces.  And growth—lots and lots of growth.  We learn about yoga postures, of course, but that’s the least of it.  By studying yoga and yoga philosophy, we learn about ourselves and grow in ways so much more profound than the physical.

As I now plan for my 11th training, I hope that some of you will join us.  Our students are varied.  I’ve had students in their teens and in their mid 70’s.  Students who are physically fit and healthy, and students with injury and debilitating illness.  Students who are pregnant.  Students who are brand new to yoga and, students who have been yoga teachers for over a decade.  Students who never intend to teach, and students who plan to open yoga studios.  All are welcome.  All add to the diversity and richness of our experience.

I hope some of you will join us in October.  And be sure to thank Rene for starting me and so many others on this journey!

Namaste

Tracy

More information about Whole Life Yoga’s teacher training program can be found at our web site:  Yoga Teacher Training at Whole Life Yoga.