When I began to practice yoga I felt a profound calling to dive deep into my body.
For years, I had felt constricted. I was sometimes “here,” but often not. I wondered what I could do to have a better relationship with my inner being.
When I began to take my practice seriously, I realized I needed to take a teacher training. I knew I’d not only learn the proper form and depth of wisdom associated with the poses and discipline, but I’d be able to deepen my experience of yoga in order for it to become a complete lifestyle.
The poses have always been fascinating to me. These poses made me wonder what I could aspire to. The process of trying to twist into a pretzel or hold my entire body up on two hands created this inviting challenge. I wanted to learn how to emulate the poses and experience the life-changing effects of what yoga offers. When I set out to deepen my practice, I couldn’t have foreseen a future where I would leave my rigorous law practice to become a teacher. Nor did I see how the passion I felt for the experience and wisdom inherent in yoga would lead me to a profession where what I loved could become my life’s work and blessing.
Every person dreams of a life where doing what they love will yield a viable income.
It is in this spirit that I would love to expose you to the path I’ve journeyed through in order to realize such a dream. In extending this knowledge, it is my sincere hope to inspire you to reach for a way of life beyond what you thought was possible.
Yoga is not just a means to an end, it is a lifestyle that makes you feel empowered and blessed. These are two adjectives I’m sure most of you could use these days is in your high-powered, always on-the-go lifestyle.
Yoga is a pick-me-up. It helps with the day-to-day strains that weigh us down and deplete our energy source and well-being. To me, yoga is a restorative process. It’s a tool to help me confront the treacherous waters of my reality—these are waters that threaten my clarity and stamina. It’s so easy to get caught up and forget what’s important in life. Yoga has become my powerful ally in the fight to keep me rooted within my being and present in this funny business called life.
Yoga teacher training is accessible to anyone interested.
Contrary to popular belief, yoga training is not exclusive to yogis alone. You could be very serious about your practice or curious about what it would be like to branch out into teaching in order to deepen your awareness and understanding of your own practice. Whatever the reason, there is a plethora of knowledge and varied schools of thought regarding the different types of yoga practices available to you. Every single one of us is unique in our beings and have different styles speak to different people. You need to find what speaks to you at a soul level and I’m here to show you what is out there so you can decide for yourself what feels mostly like you.
Like many famous yogis of our time (Seane Corn, Shiva Rea, Natasha Rizopoulos, Kathryn Budig, and Kia Miller), I found my calling through YogaWorks.
YogaWorks spoke to me primarily for its emphasis on its clean practice and alignment. My early teachers were all trained by Maty Ezraty, founder of YogaWorks. Their teachings solidified the direction I wanted to take my own practice.
Seane Corn, a renowned yogi, who has graced the cover of Yoga Journal and various other magazines and presented at yoga conventions across the country, was my first teacher in Santa Monica during the mid ’90s. Her influence led me to go through the training myself and years later, inspired me to bring this profound training to Boulder.
YogaWorks is about to launch its third 200 hour export teacher training very shortly and its first 300 hour export advanced teacher training in January of 2013. This is an exciting moment for Boulder and YogaWorks as I strongly believe that yoga is a way of life and can benefit the masses in unprecedented ways.
YogaWorks draws from Ashtanga and Iyengar yoga, integrating both into their own paradigm—a balance of precision and flow. The program emphasizes the student’s personal practice as the source for creative teaching and devotes a large portion of teaching their students how to sequence a class, which is essential for flow.
Unlike other schools of thought, YogaWorks students are not limited to one branch or style of knowledge. This enriches the depth of understanding a teacher holds when conducting a class. YogaWorks students are exposed to the studies of anatomy and physiology, and are required to intently study the philosophical underpinnings of yoga, practice meditation, pranayama and investigate the subtle body and science of ancient Ayurveda. This spectrum of knowledge deepens a student’s understanding of yoga as a living entity and whole life practice.
YogaWorks has also spent 20 years perfecting their teacher training manuals. While Chuck Miller and Maty Ezraty, the original founders of YogaWorks, implemented the system, it has only improved over the last two decades. Another bonus is that many of the the YogaWorks teacher trainers have studied for half of their lifetimes before they teach a teacher training. There are no newbies teaching these trainings!
There are so many other renowned teacher trainings out there for you to investigate too. Some, like Kripalu or Jivamukti, offer a complete immersion into the yogic lifestyle by placing you at the forefront of your learning experience day in and day out. Other programs like Corepower Yoga or Baron Baptiste extend curriculums over the course of eight weeks, six months, or in modules in order to accommodate a student’s busy lifestyle. Some programs are run by well renowned teachers who have created their own curriculum like Richard Freeman, David Swenson, Darren Rhodes or Christina Sell. Even universities like Naropa, in Boulder, have programs where you can major in yoga.
Which one will you pick to allow your inner teacher to awaken?
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Editor: Brianna Bemel
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