An Ode to Yoga Teacher Training

 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