Ashtanga 100 – Six Months Deep
Six months ago, I began a journey towards deepening my yoga practice through a 100-hour ashtanga intensive teacher training. This training was open to those who planned to teach and those who had no desire to do so. For me, it would serve to expand my practice (asana, pranyama, spirituality and knowledge) and provide me with valuable information I can use if ever I decide that teaching is right for me.
The program consisted of:
- A LOT of reading
- Monthly writing assignments
- Weekend training sessions x 6
- Hands-on adjustment clinics
- Semi-private lessons x 3
- Monthly one-on-one sessions with my teacher
The best part of the experience was that I got to hang out with these really cool people.
If I ask myself what has changed in the past 6 months, the word “awareness” quickly comes to mind. It is what I have gained and also what I need to work on.
We’ve studied on alignment, breathing, having an open mind, energetic factors such as mirror neurons, and anatomy, just to name a few of the concepts. All of this new growth has made me more aware of how much more I have to learn in my practice. The focal concept of One eye in; one eye out (not two), is a huge take away for me. More so than staring at the tip of my nose or over my shoulder, is the need to keep my attention from drifting past the nose to the goings-on in the room but also on staying connected to what is going on inside of me. This has always been hard for me but, now more than ever, seems like the next logical step.
It’s hard to believe that it’s over already. Time truly flies by when you’re having fun. My amazing teacher, Erika Abrahamian, asked us all what we will be cultivating in our practice in the short term. With the end of the intensive aligning with the start of school for my son, in addition to a huge ramp up in intensity with work, my short term goal will be to stay positive and motivated in order to promote continued growth in my practice.
This means: No dawdling, No pitty party, and No excuses!
It’s only been a week where had to get up and on my mat at o’dark thirty. It is not easy. The body’s complaints are more intense in these hours. Yet, there is something kind of sweet about the quiet of the early morning.
Although I am currently working on recruiting help, a couple days each week, I’m starting to get used to this new schedule. Unfortunately, the dogs are too. They are now tuned into the chime of my Now & Zen Clock. Like Pavlov’s dogs, my dogs begin whining if food does not magically appear within 5 minutes of the hammer hitting the chime — thereby taking the “Zen” out of my wake up routine.
And that’s kind of funny too.
Stay Positive!!!