Yoga Background
Holiday Workout Plan & Nutrition E-Book Now Available!
Good morning! Did you have a good weekend? Ours was very low-key as three quarters of the household was feeling pretty junky. Peter and the kids have been sick all weekend. I can feel my body fighting it off, too. I don’t feel too sick, but I don’t feel 100% either. I just hope we’re all better by this weekend!
Anyway. Last week I shared about my decision to pursue a 200 hour yoga teacher training certification. I originally planned to include a little background as to why I was interested in this at all. Until I realized that made the post way too long and decided to hold onto that section I wrote for a later date. That works out in my favor since I’m not feeling 100% up to creating a Move It Monday workout. So the yoga background will be what you get this morning. Works for me. Oh, by the way. This blog won’t become a yoga focused blog but I do hope you enjoy some of the things I share along the way on this journey. Starting with my yoga background and why it has led me to decide to do teacher training. And…go.
*******************************************
I started doing yoga almost 4 years ago. After my fitness competition in early November 2009, I had to scale back a lot on my workout intensity, gain some weight, and get my body back into a regular cycle in order to try to get pregnant. My gym had a yoga class that I had previously always avoided, since I naively thought it wasn’t a “real” workout, but during this time I decided to give it a try. Yoga ended up being a perfect fit for that time of my life – a lower intensity way to exercise that also helped relieve some of the physical, mental, and emotional stress my body was under. I regularly attended 1-2 times per week and kept going once I got pregnant with Braedon about six or seven months later.
Once Braedon was born I fell in love with running. Running became my form of exercise that helped me appreciate my body for what it could do while also providing a sort of mental and emotional outlet in the process. I would often pray while running and enjoyed that physical and mental/spiritual connection in my workout. I trained for a 5K, then a 10K, then a half marathon, and then a full marathon. I kept going to yoga as a form of cross training and stretching during this time, but it wasn’t with the same regularity as before and would generally be once a week.
Fast forward a couple of years and a couple of stubborn running injuries, I started trying a combination of less running and more cross training – including more yoga. I began attending classes 2-3 times per week at my new gym that had a separate yoga studio included in the membership.
I began falling more and more in love with yoga. Over time, as I stopped training for races, I found myself naturally choosing running less and other workouts – strength training circuits, workout DVDs, incline walking, barre workouts, etc. – more. And yoga. Yoga was becoming my go-to workout. Namely because it was the only other workout that, like running, always left me appreciating my body for what it could do and giving me the mental, emotional, and spiritual outlet alongside the workout. Sure, I always loved any workout that I did…but, for some reason, running and yoga were the only two that connected me to my body in a different, more whole way.
I had been attending yoga at various studios since the beginning of this year, but never found one specific studio to call home. Then this summer, when I saw a Groupon deal come through for a studio down closer to Atlanta with rave reviews, I gave Red Hot Yoga a try. It became my yoga studio home and solidified my already 3-4 times per week practice into a 4-5 times per week practice where I couldn’t get enough.
I was learning something new every class – both physically and in the life applicable messages the teachers chose to present each class. Every instructor seemed to have such a giving heart and deep passion for sharing the love of yoga with others and the benefits of it, especially the studio owner, Bethany. In a short time, I gained the utmost respect for her and her instructors and what she presented in her studio – a safe, non-judgmental space that you couldn’t help leaving with a great love of self and others.
I have a thirst for knowledge for anything fitness related, so when I heard that Bethany offered yoga teacher training it intrigued me. But I didn’t think it was something I could do and I doubted if I was even ready for it. Then, I learned that the studio was offering the three trial teacher training weekends for those wanting to see what it was all about or for those just interested in treating it as a few yoga workshops with her. I figured it would be fun and I would get the chance to learn a few new things, so I signed up. The first one was what I attended this past weekend and the experience only solidified my desire to go deeper and learn more.
As I said before, it feels like a natural step for me and I know I would regret it if I didn’t go through with it. Do I plan to teach following? I would love to and will see where God takes me. {Side Note: Yes, my relationship with Christ is a part of my yoga. Some may not agree with that, but I think so many of yoga’s teachings are applicable even in my personal faith. I just filter them through the God of love and mercy I know personally. It works for me. And I expect many others won’t hold my same beliefs during training and that’s okay to me too. I’ll approach yoga how I believe I’m called to approach anything in life as a Christian – no judgment and just love, what yoga is about anyway. #sidenote} So, that’s the background.
I will take the six months of the program day by day, hopefully learning more than ever about myself, my beliefs, and my practice along the way. Then, one day, I would love to share what yoga has brought to me with others as well by teaching it. It’s just what I do – share the love of fitness and the positive it can bring to the whole self and the whole life. It has always been my goal as a trainer and with Best Body Bootcamp and will be a goal I continue to strive to achieve in years to come in this new way. As always, thanks for the love and support you give. Namaste.
