Blog 2: Rediscovering myself with Yoga + Reflections (Day 10/20 of YTT)

Taking up this YTT course was a pure coincidence – my actual work was rescheduled to start in September, and I completed my research work with my University in End-June. Was looking around for something to ground me during this two-month break and chanced upon the studio’s social media ads for the YTT course. Coupled with my friend’s recommendation about the program and the studio – I took a leap of faith and register myself for this YTT.

For a long while, I wasn’t really sure if I was doing the right postures and was very uncertain about my foundation work for Yoga – there was a lot of things I don’t know and probably knew the basic Hatha Sequence and Virabhadrasana A. Despite these fears, i wanted to pursue Yoga proper too. Little did I knew how steep my learning curve would be – it’s like constant information overload for every single day and I felt I stressed that I don’t have time to digest the things I learned – be it the sequence, the poses, the Sanskrit words that we have to memorize, and the yoga philosophy – it felt overwhelming at first but subsequently, I think we managed to keep up with the tempo of the YTT schedule and find that right momentum to keep going. I always thought that Yoga is all about sequences and poses, but I realized there is more to practical work – the philosophy parts are equally important as well, which is something that isn’t taught in most places where I practiced Yoga.

With YTT – there were a few lifestyle habits that I had to force myself to change – for example, I started to eat breakfast (because Ashtanga Yoga is really intense for a morning session), also started to sleep earlier as I’m a night owl – I tend to sleep at 2-3 am, started to appreciate a routine lifestyle as previously my university life was literally all over the place – I don’t have a consistent schedule. As someone who craves stability, having a routine lifestyle was great, and slowly I began to enjoy it. I love that every morning I get to eat, read my news, see the sunrise from my bedroom, and get ready to go to the studio for the practical. It is something I will keep up after the YTT ends, and I like this new discovery of myself.

I also appreciate the morning philosophy sessions + mental exercises with Master Sree, I found that many yoga philosophies are aligned with what I knew from my religion (Buddhism), and there were things I felt I need to hear and remind myself again before I embark on a new journey – at my mid-20s where the world is changing rapidly, I need to keep myself in check and realign my life goals and principles – what truly matters to me and how do I keep myself grounded in this world? What are the values and principles that I should anchor myself with for the upcoming changes in my own personal life; what bad habits should I continue to work on – and what I need to learn to let go of.

It’s been a very tiring 10 days, and I wish I had more time to digest the things I have learned, however, this YTT opened my eyes to new perspectives that I never thought of and forgotten about, and indeed is a journey of rediscovering myself, and really grateful to be working on my spiritual awareness at the same time.