Notes from Yoga Teacher Training, Weekend 1
Exhilarated, exhausted, and learning fast—Weekend 1 of yoga teacher training covered posture, cueing, history, and a surprising amount of homework. Here’s a recap.
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
The Book of Alchemy by Saleika Jaouad
If you like the idea of journaling but don’t know where to start, this book is a gentle companion. With short, thoughtful essays and optional prompts, it offers inspiration without rules or pressure.
A thoughtful, inviting book for anyone who journals—or wants to, but doesn’t know where to start.
Organized around themes like fear, love, and memory, it gathers short, honest reflections from over 100 voices, reminding us we don’t have to be “real writers” to write.
The essays are the real gift here—thought-provoking and grounding—while the prompts are there if you want them (and easy to skip if you don’t).
If you’re a writer or artist - you’ll love this book!
“Letting my hand catch up with my intuition has yielded some of the most unexpected insights.”
A joke from the old country
A joke from the old country:
Two men are sitting at a bar. The first asks, "Where are you from?"
"I was born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire," says the second, "educated in Czechoslovakia, started my working life in Hungary, did a stint in Nazi Germany, then got married, had kids and raised my family in the Soviet Union."
The first man shakes his head. "You must have travelled a great deal."
"In fact," says the second. "I never left my village."
A quick trip to Berlin, Germany
NYU Berlin, semester abroad!
Great to have her closer to home!
Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin
Wall decor. xo
I tagged along to help her settle in!
