An Ode to 10 weeks Yoga Teacher Training
So long a dream, reality in sight
Enhance my practise, seeking new light
Such excitement, two places remaining
Signed up, relieved, the start of my training
Meeting the Masters, mantras and chanting
Gifted, inspiring, challenging, chiding
Yoga, the union of body, mind and soul
The training begins to achieving my goal
Sanskrit, the language really is key
But these asana names will surely evade me
Oh my poor head, my memory fading
Baka, Bhujanga all part of the grading
Everything Sanskrit, what does this mean?
Oh my poor head, I’m really not keen!
Anuloma viloma, breathe and be still
Boot-camp style warm-up, is this meant to kill?
Flagging, exhausted, discouraged, spent
Mentally ready, physically drained
Sweat dripping, mats soaking, physically pained
Can I survive this, was I wrong to begin?
No! Perseverance. Hold up that chin!
Patanjali, Ashtanga, Eight limbs and Sutras
Not forgetting the many mudras
Khundalini Serpent, Raja in mind,
So many yoga styles we start to find
Bhakti Devotion, Hatha Sun-Moon
All these styles are for yogis a boon
Iyengar with props, Vinyasa to flow
Practice will strengthen, beginning to glow
Return re-booted, knowing the score
Boot-camp revisited, collapse on the floor
Alignment and strength, a beginner once more
Decades of asana, yet corrections galore
Focussed, determined, but eyes gaze at the door
Ayurveda discovery, cycles and time
Rajasic, Tamasic, Sattvic we chime
Why one hundred-eight Malas? Understanding the point
Chanting the OM sound and peace will anoint
Muscle and movement, a new dimension
Elevation, Retraction, Flexion, Extension,
Abduction, adduction, rotation, joint action
Isometric, Concentric, Eccentric contraction
System connections, circulation, digestion
Getting to grips with hormones and egestion
Heart chambers and blood, connections with yoga
Respiration and lungs, effects when in Cobra.
Feeling much stronger. Boot-camp results!
Dristi, Bastrika, Kapalabhati exhults
Primary series beginning to flow
Cleansing and toning a path we now know
Mudras, Mula Bandha, Nauli and systems,
Five elements. Dosha, Pitta, Vada and Kapha
Kriyas for cleansing, postures for healing.
Vajrasana digesting simply by kneeling
Pranayama life energy and expansion
Samvritti equal inhale to exhalation
Bastrika Bellows, anxiety will ease.
Sit. Breathe with Chin mudra, sense inner peace
And so by just breathing we feel the release
Nadi Shodana, Vishnu in hand,
Calming Nerve vagus the heart beat will slow
Freeing the channels, letting energy flow
Trigeminal senses, eyes, mouth and nose
Through a network of Nadi, the chakra centres go
Follow the rainbow, seven chakras and centres
Each with a colour, sense and emotion
Each with an element, frequency and sound
Enhancing our life force so health may abound
Muladhara the root, smell, earth, fear, red, Lam
Svadhisrhana the sacrum, taste, water, gratitude, orange, Vam
Manipura the navel, sight, fire, fulfilment, yellow, Ram
Anahata the heart, touch, air, love, green, Yam
Visuddha the throat, hearing, ether, blue, Ham
Anja third eye, insight, intuition, violet, Sham
Sahasrara the Crown at the top of the head
Re-sounding the Om, here the chakras unite
Altogether fusing in White.
Sequencing classes, instructing the pose
Balancing chakras, mastering Crows!
Teaching our poses, teaching a class
The language of yoga, familiar at last
Steady the breathing, keep the hips square
Attempt Tittibhasana now if you dare
Calm down the heart-rate after back-bends
Transitions to hand-stand, inversions to end
Centred and balanced, rooted to the ground
Seated in lotus, let the lungs breathe
Sink into stillness, here in the now
Meditation discovered, peace at the brow
Ten weeks have passed
Ten weeks of learning
Ten weeks of practise
Ten weeks of growth
Ten weeks of friendship
Ten weeks of memories
The friendships, the laughter, the sweat and the pain
My practise is deeper, self-discipline gained
Many thanks for the teaching, advice and the guidance
Now on to my next step, finding my way
To gratitude, health and happiness, I humbly say
Namaste.
Lisa Harte – 1 June 2017