become certified to teach yoga

too busy right now

YES! It’s official! This afternoon, I completed my final requirement for my yoga teacher training program. I am now a 200-hour certified YOGA TEACHER!!!!!

does gigantic happy dance

It feels wonderful to have completed this program! It was a long journey, but an interesting one. I learned tons, and know that I will never stop learning about yoga. But now I do feel ready to begin to offer what I do know to people. I’ve got a job teaching at a local studio, although I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to do it before we move. Still, I figure any experience I can get right now will be a good thing.

About a week ago, I finished my penultimate requirement for my 200-hour accredation . . . now, I have just ONE MORE THING to do before I’ll be able to receive my certification! I need my instructor to observe me teaching a class, and we haven’t been able to put it on the schedule for December, but hopefully she’ll be able to do it in early January. I’m almost there!

This past weekend was our last teacher training weekend (the last classroom hours), and last night, we had our graduation ceremony! I am SO close! I still have about six hours of requirements to finish up (including teaching a class with my instructor observing), but I should be able to get these all finished up sometime in December, and then I’ll be CERTIFIED!!! YES!

I taught my first class this evening! bouncebounce My first class to adults, that is. (I’ve taught children before, but that was far less stressful to contemplate). Tonight, I taught the “Community Yoga” class at my yoga studio, which is a once-a-week class taught by a variety of instructors and no particular “structure” – each instructor just shows up and teaches whatever s/he is in the mood to teach that night, and the students know to come with no expectations and just see what happens.

I had three people in class (which was the perfect number, as far as I’m concerned, for my first time), and I taught a backbend series themed “Awakening the heart.” And it went REALLY WELL! I was far less nervous than I thought I’d be. I decided early on that I was not going to stress about this, nor was I going to put a lot of time in advance preparation. I had a sequence planned out, so I knew which asanas we’d do, but beyond that, I decided just to walk in and teach from my heart (instead of trying to practice everything I was going to say, etc.). And it went really, really well, and I got some great feedback afterwards! They said that the flow of the class was fine, and that is was amazing that this was the first class I’d taught. And they liked that I sang the Gayatri Mantra at the end, to bring them out of Savasana.

It was a lot of fun, and I felt remarkably comfortable, and I left knowing that I really can DO this. It’ll only get easier from here, and I know that I can do this. I can teach yoga. WHOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!

Finished another training weekend this past weekend, and it went well. I was particularly inspired by the guest speakers we had on Sunday – lots of stuff about putting together meaningful sequences based on a single pose, and some in-depth ideas about assists and adjusts. I’ve still got a few class assists to complete, one meditation class, and all five of my class teachings to do, but I’m getting there. I think we’ve only got two more weekends before we’ll be finished with that part of the training. I’m getting there!

Just finished our third teacher training weekend, and it was a good one. On Saturday, we did a two-hour Iyengar class. YOW! It was intense – but very good. Then, more A&P, this time the circulatory system. On Sunday, we started out with Pranayama, and then two and a half hours of asana – again, pretty intense, but we’re really learning proper alignment. Sunday evening was Partner Yoga, but instead of participating, I offered to assist Gloria, so I got to run around giving adjustments and getting props and even taking a few pictures. It was a HOOT!

Now, over the next couple of weeks, I plan to get the rest of my class observations finished, and then I’ll be able to start assisting Gloria in her regular classes. Wow. We really are learning stuff, and even though sometimes I feel like I’ll never be able to do this, inside, I know that I can and I will, and it’s going to be great! :)

Okay, so I’ve got another teacher training weekend coming up in two days, and I’ve got assignments to turn in – and they’re NOT DONE YET! :D Yeah, I’ve procrastinated this month, that’s for sure, what with one thing and another. So, why am I sitting here typing this? I should be reading the section on Pranayama, so I can write up a short paper about it! At least the one about the Yama I chose to work with is mostly finished, and I think I know all the Yamas. Ahimsa (non-violence); Satya (truth); Asteya (non-stealing); Brahmacharya (moderation); and the one I can never remember how to spell . . . Aparagraha (but at least I can remember that it’s non-attachment).

ARGH! :D I’m getting there, anyway.

On the plus side, I heard a lovely bit of “gossip” about myself yesterday, which seems to bode well for me actually being able to do some teaching after I’ve graduated (and maybe even before I’ve finished the training). :)

This past weekend, I had my second weekend session of teacher training. It was excellent – we had a workshop on Tantric Yoga, lots of anatmoy and physiology, more work on specific asanas, and a lecture/workshop on meditation. We also each did a little bit of “teaching” – leading the rest of the class through asanas with JUST vocal cues. It was a great weekend!

Wendy,
Keep us posted about how it’s going.
Could you move after 9 hours of asana practice? Or did you break up the practice enough that it wasn’t like 9 hours of regular yoga class?
I’m glad you finally got started! How many months does the whole training take?