720000 seconds

and that’s 200 hours..

I can’t believe that it’s nearing to the end of YTT! Where did all the time go?

Doing YTT on top of my regular job has proven to be quite a task because it absorbs a lot of my attention and energy.

But I love it! Even though it comes with many sacrifices, but life is always a balancing act right?

Now that this training is ending, I’m starting to reflect on my journey. Even though we only spend 20 days (ok, 18 so far because there are still 2 more days) in the studio, a lot of learning actually takes place outside of that for me. When I’m revising the content, reading up articles and books for my project research – there’s always constant learning and reflection.

Some takeaways or small things which i’ve learnt and managed to apply to my daily life:

1.Living in the present.

People always say you only live once, so you gotta live in the present. But how do you actually live in the present without worrying about the future or get hung up on the past? It’s easier said than done.

A few days ago, something happened at work which really made me feel very upset and kept me up. After awhile, I started to think to myself – why am I getting so angry? It’s bad for my health and I know that. Then I started to shift my perspective. I thought about the things I can do in the present, instead of worrying about what the outcome will be and if it will still be unfavorable to me. I choose to focus on what I have in the present moment and embrace what comes. Then, I found happiness again. Not too bad, right?

2. Withholding judgements

Well, I will admit, I have a tendency to judge. Who hasn’t been met with the occasional comment  – What’s with that shirt? Well I’ve had quite a few of these similar comments when I was younger and that snowballed into my sense of judgement forming. Of others, and myself.

But after going through this training course, I feel humbled. There are so many things that I do not know and have yet to master though I’ve spent months and hours in this topic. It led me to appreciate the people who are good at what they do, because they made the effort and discipline to learn and hone their craft.

It made me look at my hair dresser in a different way. As I watch her skillfully cut my hair, I wondered about the amount of time and effort she must have put in to be able to give her clients good haircuts. Instead of first judging her clothes, her hair, etc. I learnt to see her as a person.

When I let go of my judgements of others, I let go of my judgements of myself as well. I’m slightly more expressive than I was reserved. Because I realised, we’re all human afterall.

3. Yoga is much much more than just Asanas.

It’s not just about posing for nice pictures in challenging asanas on instagram. It’s a practice that encourages you to discover your inner self (not the self your ego defines you as) to eventually attain peace and happiness through various practices. Asanas are just one of them. There’s also pranayama, pratyhara and so on..

Atha yoga anushasanam. 

I know, this journey has only just begun.

Namaste.