Ok so it’s official… I have been a yoga teacher for two years now. I remember graduation day like it was yesterday! The cramming, revising and even doing the exam… followed by the most beautiful ceremony, dinner and party.
So what have I learnt over the past two years? Well simply put… a lot!
But I’ll summarise the key points below to save you reading my life history…
- Teaching yoga isn’t all lycra, turmeric lattes and yoga studios… in fact it’s mostly excel sheets, emails, running across London and planning meals.
- Yoga is a full time job! You really got to give it your all… there’s no switching off because it’s the way you live your life. So often what I teach on the mat is a direct relation to something that’s helped me or a practise that’s close to me in that moment.
- Doing yoga everyday doesn’t make you super flexible and able to do handstands… sorry to all my friends that think I’m super bendy and strong… I’m not! BUT yoga isn’t about the asana (the postures)… It’s about what happens after the class… how you deal with emotions and situations that come up (more on this later)
- Every job has it’s ups and downs. There can be some incredible highs like when people message you and they have been able to take a breath and catch themselves mid panic attack… or yogi’s messaging saying they’re able to do tree pose now. These moments are like little treasure chests- they burst open and fill your heart and soul. But, there’s also moments where it’s tough trying to find places to teach or people to attend the events you’ve worked months curating… there’s the late nights and early mornings and erratic pay. BUT those treasure chests make it all worth while.
- Once you’ve completed your yoga teaching training you don’t know it all… in all honesty you’ve just scratched the surface! I’ve been known to be a ‘serial courser’ because I feel like there’s so much out there left to learn and I love that I will always still be a student.
- Being a yoga teacher doesn’t make you a super chilled, surfer, tree hugging, painter person. Anxiety and panic attacks still come back… they still catch you at random moments (train, social settings and even on the motorway). What I’ve learnt is how to recognise the signs… how to communicate… how to breath and ground down. I’ve learnt it’s best to vocalise it straight away or journal it out to give myself distance and space from it rather that holding it in.
- You’ve got to get good at more than just yoga… somehow you’re expected to be social media experts, youtubers, expert web designers, accountants and photographers. But as I move deeper into my teaching I have been able to focus on a few of these and know that I really don’t need to be a master of everything (no matter what social media shows me)
- I’ve learnt to tear my heart wide open… to the good, the bad and anything in between. To show the world who I really am, share from a vulnerable place, cry often and hug even more. The biggest part of my yoga teacher training actually had nothing to do with yoga but more to do with me and my own healing. I met two incredible people who helped me get over a lot of my social anxiety. Who told me “You do you” and to never apologise for being myself. To them I’m forever grateful!
- Life is short… and we need to live, love and cherish everyday. So often life will send us this reminder in the most heart wrenching way, but in those moments you learn, cherish and practise what legacy has been left to you.
- It makes you aware of how you’re living your life off the mat as well. I’ve become so conscious and aware of every action, decision and purchase I make… It’s made me really consider what legacy I want to leave and how I want to respect and honour this beautiful planet we live on, in the most loving, kind way I know how.
Most Importantly two years down the line and I still feel like I’m finding my feet in this world… before that may have scared me but now I’m ok with it. I know we’re all just doing the same but I now just have better tools to deal with it all.
So that’s me two years on… still rambling away in Blog posts but thank you all for following along, cooking with me or just reading some of my posts.
Love A x
Today we smile 