So… It had not dawned upon me that the exams are a week away until my friend had asked me about an upcoming getaway happening the following week. Realising this, my inner nerd awakened and suddenly, it’s “mugging” season all over again. As I was going through my illegible scribbling in my notebook, I couldn’t help but to reminisce on the good times the class had together. That really did put a smile on my face.
I also took this time to reflect on my Yoga Teacher Training course thus far:
Before YTT, I had to rely on caffeine to give myself a mental boost in the morning.
After YTT, Kapalabhati is my caffeine.
Before YTT, I woke up at 7am, occasionally snoozing to 7.15am.
After YTT, I wake up at 6am, do the 5 Step Morning Sequence + 3 Rounds of Sun Salutation.
Before YTT, I had the impression that flexibility is the key to do asanas (as most people do).
After YTT, I realised that it’s a combination of flexibility, strength and endurance. Being naturally flexible helps though.
Before YTT, my core, upper body and arms strength was close to zero.
After YTT, I can finally do push ups properly! YAY! 😀
Before YTT, I used to contain my frustrations within and it would show on my face, resulting in a clenched, tight jaw.
After YTT, I’ve learnt how to channel my “frustrations” into doing positive tasks. Sometimes I will hide out in my office’s meeting room to meditate and clear my thoughts.
Before YTT, my impression of salt was that….it’s just salt, ’nuff said.
After YTT, I find myself browsing through the salt aisle at the supermarket. Learning that salt repels negative energy, I make it a habit to bathe myself in salt at least once a week or when I’m feeling low in energy to get rid of the negativity. I’ve also placed salts in the corners of my house to purify the space.
Before YTT, they only muscles I knew were biceps, tricep, quads and hamstrings.
After YTT, I realised that there are multiple muscles working (either as synergist or antagonist) in one seemingly simple pose ie Vrksasana.
Before YTT, I am hungry all the time (read: glutton) and eat anything that comes my way. In Singapore, we call this tam chiak.
After YTT, learning about my own dosha, I took a conscious effort to make certain adjustments to my lifestyle/dietary choices and I’ve never felt better 🙂
It’s amazing how small changes in your lifestyle can have such a profound impact on your daily life. I came into this YTT programme with the intention of improving my own asana alignment so that I can practice safely at home, but I must say that I’ve come out of this learning so much more.
I really want to take this opportunity to thank Master Paalu and Master Wei Ling for all that they have taught us. I’m also thankful to have met the awesome people in the YTT course, I’m so glad that we embarked on this amazing journey together. Oh, and of course not forgetting Elliot for being the awesome model.
Tammy Lim, YTT200 (Sep’17-Weekend)
