Yogi - Not the bear

Now that I have kept everyone waiting it is time to share my new adventure!!

I am not one of those people that really likes to exercise. I get bored at the gym and the thought of cardio machines kinda makes me want to stab my eyes out with a dull pencil. Quite a few years ago my mom introduced me to Bikram yoga and that opened up a path of new exercising experiences for me. I have continued to practice different types of yoga throughout the years and find it really helps keep me sane when 'life happens' and I don't get bored with it.

Now, let me say I was home-schooled for my middle school years (another story for another time) and while that whole experience was wonderful it made me realize that I NEVER EVER wanted to be a teacher. I didn't have the patience for it or the personality. I just wasn't good at grasping why someone couldn't understand a concept that I just 'got', let alone teach them how to 'get' it like me... So here I am 16 years later completely in love with yoga, finding that it brings such relief to my life, and finding that I want to share it with people. Do you get what I'm saying here? I have found myself wanting to TEACH yoga! What the what? Who am I?

For a little over a year I have been looking into yoga teacher certification programs. I don't live in the most populated, hip area of California so what I have been finding is that, 1) everything is far away from me and 2) that yoga teaching programs take place in the Fall. Well being a winemaker the Fall is kinda, like, not applicable to me! Well, after my trip to Ohio and a daily, morning, yoga practice I came home with a freshly renewed spirit to give it another go and look for programs again. Guess what? I found one!! 20 minutes south of my house starting at the end of October and they were willing to work around my schedule!! I found out I got accepted to the program a few weeks ago and I could have died happy right then!!

But let me tell you, my happiness a few weeks ago was nothing compared to my elation this past weekend. Since, harvest takes up my whole Fall I have to make up some classes that I am going to miss during my training. So this past weekend I made up my first class in Valencia at another training facility. I am doing my training through a company called YogaWorks. Holy cow what a comprehensive and ah-mazing program!

I went down to Valencia on Friday night after work and we had an info session for 2 hours. The teachers were two of the most inspiring ladies with stories of loss and a true understanding of everything happening for a reason at the right time! We all shared our stories of what brought us to yoga and wouldn't you know we all found such peace in our practice! Then we went over the teaching manuals, yes plural. There are 5 teaching manuals that are incredibly in depth and illustrated. Then we went over the required books/DVDs:

My yoga library is getting huge! There is so much information in these books. I can feel my brain smiling at me and cursing me all at once. So after our info session on Friday I drove back to my sister's house to try and catch a few hours of sleep before 2 yoga packed days.

Class resumed on Saturday at noon and we did a 3 hour yoga practice with the teachers physically adjusting us and explaining the reasons for the alignment cues and the injuries that can come from doing something improperly. After we ate a quick snack it was back into the studio for 2 hours of 'lecture' and hands on 'posture clinics'. Saturday was a tough day for me. It had been a very stressful week at work (to say the least!) and all of that stress and frustration makes its way out during an intense workout. I returned to my sister's house completely wiped that night but so ready for more!! On Sunday we started at 12 again but we did 2 hours of yoga and 3 hours of 'student teaching' and lecture.

I felt like I learned so much just in those 2 days I can't even imagine what the next 5 months hold for me! The only thing I am a little sad about is that I won't be continuing my classes down in Valencia. What an amazing group of women I met. They were all so genuine and kind and really made me feel like a part of their group. Thank goodness for Facebook! There have already been friend requests flying back and forth!

I hope you all will stay with me on this journey. I am beyond excited and I hope I can share that with all of you without completely boring you!

So until my next session, Namaste
("That which is of God in me greets that which is of God in you.")