The journey of learning

So they say time waits for no man. Or rather how many wait till time is lost then realize how short time has given them to live a fulfilling life.
This is the end of week 4 of the 200 hour yoga teacher training and I have saved this last homework blog nearest to the deadline to pen down my learning journey in this course. Next week, we will be certified yoga teachers [when I pass my exam of course, and I will :)].
The learning journey have been so overwhelming that I do not know where to start. I will begin with my objectives of attending the teacher training course. I had wanted to deepen my practice and understanding of yoga after my first yoga class in 2010. It was also my intention to share its beauty and power of yoga to all people around me. With this intention in mind, I walked my path and that was how my yoga teacher training commenced. I was immediately challenged by my attitude towards this training in the first 2 weeks. The physical training from Master Paalu reinforced the essentials of the physical fitness as a yoga instructor. Students see the teacher as a role model. They see how teachers lead a healthy lifestyle with high fitness level and set a benchmark in their heads.
Week 3 came along and left like a bullet train. There were focus training on personal strengths and weaknesses. I have probably tried things I have never been able to do in my life, and somehow it was done in this week. I learnt the importance of correct physical adjustments on students. A good physical adjustment makes the students remember you and want to come back for more. It is a piece of art that comes along with experience. The more you physically adjust your student, the better you become. So if you ever take up a teacher training in your life, make sure you adjust every course mate of yours, then go home and adjust everybody in your family into the correctly aligned asana. It was also the week where I felt unison together with our class mates. We have relentlessly come to a stage where the counting of push ups, sit ups and bunny hops becomes so automatic that we will all count together aloud without the need to tell each other to count. The energy in the room just got greater by the vibrations of our counting! Hooray!
Then week 4 just ended around the corner! Teaching week! Almost everyone of us had dark clouds over our heads, trying to remember our lesson plans, adjustments tips, verbal adjustment cues, counting, pacing, tonality and demonstration all in 5 days. For me, I returned home every evening and found myself talking to myself in the room and to the ceiling before I shut my eyes. This morning I was rehearsing my lesson plan while walking to the train station with some odd “air physical adjustments” when this gentleman looked at me oddly as he passes by. The teachers were very good at creating high pressure tensile environment to make us perform and bring out the best in us. I believed it did drive many of us to perform, to go back home, do their own research and practice. Most significantly, the first 2 weeks of super tough physical training was well used in this week. We were attending many hours of free yoga classes from our fellow course mates teaching of course, some came with free tanning sessions when we practiced at the balcony! This was a week of physical and mental resilience, and practice of high level of emotional intelligence as well!
There was a day in every week where we have special classes that focuses on meditation and energy chakras in our body. Poses were held longer, staying as still as we can in every pose. As quiet as the class may sound, the internal struggles between the mind and the body was real. Yet, it is these classes that transforms a person the most for a more balanced life.
Referring to how time waits for no man in the beginning of my blog. To me, it is not a valid statement. If you were present in every moment that you lived in, felt it with your mind and body, what is the time loss for you then? You lived in the time, time is with you, and you do not need to chase after it. I have lived and felt every moment in this 200 hour journey and I thank all the teachers that made this journey so meaningful. With my intention in mind, I will keep learning and live every moment to work towards this intention.
Namaste.
Jasmine Yeo
200Hr March 2015
(weekday batch)