First of all my Thanks go to Susanne as she was the one talking about signing up for a 6 week intense yoga course.
I was very intrigued by the thought of doing something ‘different’ besides my regular runs or tennis matches in the mornings. Knowing my ‘weaknesses’ – not having really worked on my core muscles over the last 15 years as I don’t like the pain in my lower belly or to work with my own bodyweight was the ‘kick’ to challenge myself. The other reason was to hopefully find some inner peace. Over the years I became a very restless and a more often ‘unhappy’ person.
Finally over the summer holidays expectations and tensions and a hell of a lot of respect were building up, week by week – and finally September 2nd arrived!
The highlight after the first week was the discovery of the holistic approach in Yoga. I loved the physical exercise and to get to know my body better (ie my problem zones) as much as the introduction into Pranayama. I can for sure say that I am a shallow breather, not paying much attention to it. Pranayama opened new doors for me and raised my awareness towards my breathing in different situations. The downside of this is sitting in Sukhasana, which is not very comfortable.
The second week started with 2 really intense asana days, my body didn’t ache as much as in week 1 but I felt really tired. Having said this, surprisingly I had more energy to do things in the afternoon, which I normally don’t really like to do, like administration or grocery shopping but it somehow didn’t matter anymore. Day 3 and 4 were equally intense and I suddenly realized that I will be far off to achieve perfection in the asana’s but that by the end of the 6 weeks I will have accomplished a big personal goal: improving my body and mental awareness.
The third week felt different as the movements became more ‘natural’, still challenging but less painful. The highlight of the week was getting up into 2 different headstands and a guided backward bend into the bridge.. I feel a lot stronger in my shoulders and arms as well as in my abdominal. I truly enjoyed our theory part whether we spoke about the 3 bodies, Karma or Chakras. I started to understand my family members chakras – fascinating and eye opening! All in all I feel happy and good in my skin.
The fourth week was another intense asana practicing week; the movements are getting more fluent in Suryanamaskara A and B as well as in the standing asanas. I still struggle with the ‘jump through’, ‘crow pose’ and all the other poses where I have to lift my own body weight as I am somehow not able to use my lower core muscles in the right way. A total new experience was our Yoga Nidra lesson, I first struggled to concentrate on the tape and the talking and suddenly I had to concentrate that I won’t fall asleep! I managed to stay awake and for the first time I could ‘see’ the dark blue light of a lake. It was an amazing feeling and I felt for the rest of the day just great! Anyway, on a spiritual note, I am much happier, fulfilled and resilient towards negative influences. The group dynamics suddenly changed towards the end of the week as we started to talk about our teaching practice and homework!
Week five was totally different as the main focus lay on the teaching. It was a hard week – following the teaching plans of my colleagues, teaching myself and preparing all the different lessons. The group dynamics suddenly changed and it felt ‘strange’. I quiet enjoyed the teaching and figured out that my long-term goal could lead to teach either pre natal yoga, stressed managers or people at my age or older. Anyway, I feel, I still have to practice for many years and learn much more before I will feel really confident to teach someone else. On totally different not, I had another highlight end of this week as I manage to get into crow pose with resting my chin slightly on a block – ti feels really good to achieve something new!
My journey for the blog ends here and my final personal quote is:
After the 5 weeks of intense yoga training I feel much stronger and grounded and well prepared to continue my yoga journey. Thanks for everything.
Christine/200hrs
