Notes from Yoga Teacher Training, Weekend 1

I just finished my first weekend at yoga teacher training!  I’m equal parts exhilarated and exhausted. In some ways, the weekend was easier than I anticipated. My fellow students are super nice and I wasn’t nearly as intimidated as I thought I’d be. 

But wow. Memorising a 90 minute sequence is one thing - but learning the cues, transitions, modifications and the adjustments… so hard! There’s just so much to remember and so little time to say it. 

Here’s an overview of what we covered: 

🧘🏼‍♀️Posture Clinic

This one of my favourite parts of the training, wherein you go through each and every pose and learn the fundamentals. Turns out I’ve been doing chaturanga wrong for a few decades and didn’t know it. 

🗣️Teaching Practice

This is where the rubber hits the road! I’ve been doing yoga for decades, but verbalising the cures and transitions is an entirely different skill set. There’s just so much to communicate in such a short period of time. Our teacher got us teaching each other on day one, so hopefully by the end of the course, this will be comfortable. 

📖 History of Yoga

We also spent some time diving into the History of Yoga, which was interesting, but mostly big pile of words that meant nothing to me until I went home, did the reading and then summarised the material in my journal. (That’s just how I learn.)

📝 Homework

Before I leave for the Morocco intensive (in two weeks time) I have a lot of homework:

• 3 (new-to-me) yoga class observations

• Learn the YTT sequence

• Practice teaching the first few lines of the sequence

• Stat chipping away at the Anatomy material

• Read and do a book report on How Bad are Bananas? 

Yoga Teacher Training, Weekend 1 - mind map