Day 1: Introductions (all)

Day 1 of class we all introduced ourselves, teachers then students.


Hi, my name is Sarah. I started practicing yoga about a year ago when I stumbled upon Shastri's class. I was looking for something to do during my lunch break and I settled for yoga even though my impression of it was a light stretch commercialized to appeal to girls who don't want to sweat but need an excuse to wear their cute sports bra and leggings. Well, Shastri proved me dead wrong. I was pouring sweat trying to hold my balance to his count in positions some lunatic devised. When I thanked him for the workout, he told me that this was Indian yoga, not Americanized yoga, which is dumbed down to appeal to the masses (my words, not his). Real yoga requires strength, flexibility, and good cardio. Basically - this is the real shit. ...I was sold.

Around the same time I started yoga I started doing Brazilian Jiujitsu. I find these two activities complement each other very nicely - I can beat up my body one day and heal it the next. In BJJ the body is closed and combative, while in yoga it is open and expressive. Jiu-jitsu (and martial arts in general) requires a lot of strength and protection of the center-line. That is to say, you gotta pull someone towards you, squeeze the life out of them, and don't extend your arms too far or you're gonna get arm-barred. Yoga counteracts that tightness and competitiveness (ideally, but there will always be those sideways glances of yogis sizing up others). I have a longer established interest in martial arts, but yoga is similar to martial arts in many ways. Both require great physical self-awareness, a sense of balance, strength, and flexibility. Both have a philosophy of mental discipline, mindfulness, and respect. Both are a way of life.

I'm taking this yoga teacher's training program because
1) of the teachers, Shastri among them
2) I'm interested in learning the anatomy and philosophy of yoga; the latter I understand is not usually offered in teacher training programs
and 3) I want to deepen my understanding of yoga and challenge myself to delve further into my interests. I'm tentative about teaching yoga. It's definitely an option, a way for my hobby to fund itself. But I also know there's much more to being a teacher than being able to name and do the asanas. Several things hold me back, and the main thing is public speaking. It's my weakness and work in progress.

Today all the teachers introduced themselves, and then it was the students' turn. John looked around the room deciding who to call on first, and joked "clairvoyance is another skill of mine; I hear the thoughts 'don't pick me, don't pick me' - Sarah, is that you I hear?" It sure was. I then quietly and quickly introduced myself in not this many words. But, if I didn't dread talking in front of people so much, this is how my introduction might have gone. So hello. And welcome. This is my blog for my yoga journey. This is just the beginning, and I have a lot to learn.