My intention for enrolling in Yoga Teacher Training (Yoga Teacher Training) was to go deeper both into my practice and into my body. I was fueled by the realization that I was no longer happy with the kind of personal development that only takes the mind and mindset into consideration.
And that’s saying a lot for a Psychology nerd like myself.
Perhaps it isn’t that Psychology is wrong, but rather that it is telling an incomplete story of healing. It might have been an intuitive bit, but I just knew that if I wanted to heal and transform myself to the core, I needed to get the body involved in the process.
The true essence of Psychology thus takes into consideration a view of the Psyche as the totality of the person.
Psycheology — The study of the Psyche.
That means the study of the mind, body and spirit.
In the end, for me, Yoga Teacher Training was more than 200 hours spent learning about how to teach others to twist their bodies into Pretzelasana. It was a three-week process of coming home to myself.
That is perhaps why yoga is such a sought after tool for healing — it brings you home.
It connects you back with your inner-being.
It helps you remember the truth of who you are underneath the layers of societal conditioning you’ve picked up along the way.
I wrote this article for you, who like me, might have decided to take your yoga practice deeper by enrolling in Yoga Teacher Training, hoping to share with others the transformational power of yoga.
Let me start by saying that Yoga Teacher Training is an incredible transformative experience in itself. If you are wondering whether is right for you, or are curious about what you’d get yourself into by enrolling, I wrote this article to share the 10 things I learned from my own Yoga Teacher Training that I would recommend you take into consideration when you choose your Yoga Teacher Training program.
1. You will learn about the true meaning of yoga
In T.K.V. Desikachar’s own words “we may begin to start understanding yoga through the experience of the body.”
As I mentioned earlier, what really drew me to Yoga Teacher Training was the quiet realization that I wanted to go deeper in my yoga practice.
I didn’t know what that meant, I just knew I wanted to go deeper.
From the physical body’s perspective that might mean that I wanted to stretch deeper, find right alignment, or even access more challenging or complicated asanas like the fabled Pretzelasana — which, by the way, does not exist.
But you already knew that.
After a month of yoga twice daily as part of the training, however, I walked away with something much more deeper than how far I could stretch my hips in Anjaneyasana.
I walked away a different person and yet more of myself.
“I have arrived. I am here,” became the mantra playing in the back of my mind when drinking in the joy and gratitude of BEING and knowing that I am always at the right place at the right time.
But what is it about yoga that we should come to it with the purpose of getting a good stretch and walk away transformed?
Asana are powerful tools for spiritual growth and development. They train you to look inside, to find and sustain your focus, to tap into the power of your breath, and to move beyond your limits.
There is, however, one missing ingredient that is not often talked about in yoga classes — coming face to face with your divine nature is the result of going deep within yourself.
Yoga then is about the systemic transformation of our minds so that we may unite with the Divine.
That is what yoga is all about.
Internal and external discipline, asana, meditation, union with the divine…
According to T.K.V. Desikachar, yoga is…
- To come together or unite
- To tie the strands of the mind together
- To attain what was previously unattainable
- To act with focused attention
- To be one with the divine
“When we feel in harmony with that higher power, that too is yoga”
T.K.V. Desikachar.
2. You’ve been doing it all wrong, but that’s ok
To help me decide whether I wanted to enroll in Yoga Teacher Training or not, I read an article by Ana Rova in which she describes her own experience going through Yoga Teacher Training in Bali.
One of the things that piqued my attention was that she realized that she had been doing the poses “wrong” or out of alignment.
I echo Ana’s sentiment. As much of the anatomy and asana lectures were focused on proper alignment so as to be able to teach yoga in a way that keeps students out of harm’s way.
Above all, the experience reminded me about how in my hot hatha days I would feel very competitive about the progress I had made and how deep I could access certain asanas.
Yoga Teacher Training helped me realize that yoga is a system of which asanas are but one piece of the puzzle. A puzzle whose sole purpose is to help us achieve union with a divine and greater power. To focus on the physical aesthetic aspects of asana only tells a minute fraction of the whole story.
I wasn’t just out of alignment in the asanas, it was also my ego that was not aligned with the true intention of yoga.
In the end, I admit I love beautiful photos of yogis in challenging asanas. They inspire me to continue my practice, to breathe deeper and to have a steady drishti.
But it’s probably smarter to not take your alignment cues from Instagram.
3. Your body will stretch, but so will your mind
Through Yoga Teacher Training the stage is set for a very profound mind-body transformation to happen as a result of the spiritual and physical work you engage in.
I know I just wrote that the physical aspect of yoga is an incomplete picture of what yoga truly is all about. But it doesn’t change the fact that the asanas themselves are powerful catalysts for the spiritual and emotional transformation we go through when we practice them.
Asanas are part of the puzzle and should be practiced mindfully as such.
The philosophy behind Yoga Psychology is that when holding certain asanas you are stimulating your nervous system, the organs and the glands in very specific ways.
Proof of the effect of asana on the body is in the abundant research that links yoga to positive psychological outcomes like increased life satisfaction, reduced anxiety, improved ability to cope with stress, social assertiveness, improved subjective well-being and openness.
Deep spiritual work, yoga poses meant to stimulate your body in specific ways, and the constant working of your muscles; muscles which store memory and emotion — and there you have it, the recipe for deeply embodied transformation.
Yoga offers a kinesthetic component approach to healing. It grounds healing in the body so that healing isn’t just an idea that you have in your mind, but an experience and process that you go through as the holistic being that you are.
You can expect that your body will stretch into complicated asanas like Pretzelasana, and that your mind will also stretch.
All of the stretching will create and give you access to new spaces in your mind that you were not aware of before.
Just beware of two things.
One. Once your mind has been stretched it will not return to its previous dimensions.
Two. Nourish the newly created space mindfully.
4. You or someone in class will cry
Expect that you, or someone in the group will cry.
You all will be, after all, tapping into deep seated emotions and releasing them through the practice.
I was actually the one who cried first when I introduced myself on the first day of the training.
How could I not cry when I just felt so loved and so grateful to be able to be back in Sayulita enrolled in Yoga Teacher Training — I had been dreaming of that moment for years and it took my mom’s passing for me to take the leap of faith.
Point being, pack some tissues. Someone will be glad you had them with you.
5. You will meet soulmates
The word “soulmate” has sort of become this romantic ideal of two people who are “the one” for each other. And while I am a romantic at heart (thank you Venus in Pisces) and partly agree with this notion of soulmates, I also subscribe to a larger and more comprehensive definition of what a soulmate is.
I believe that we meet the right people at the right time.
The Universe has an uncanny way of bringing the right people together at the right place and at the right time. Trust that you are meant to meet the humans who are also enrolled in the same Yoga Teacher Training as you.
The rather unlikely group of humans I enjoyed the Yoga Teacher Training with came together amidst and against the odds of travel bans, not to mention a pandemic, conflicting schedules, conflicting interests and language barriers.
And yet, despite the unlikeliness of our coming together, we all gathered together in Sayulita, brought our personal stories with us, and co-created our story as the February 2021 Yoga Teacher Training class of Paraiso Yoga.
We faced our shadows together and we grew and transformed together.
This is the true meaning of a soulmate.
In the words of George Russell:
“I feel I belong to a spiritual clan whose members are scattered all over the world and these are my kinsmen.”
6. What you eat matters
I’ve always made a decent effort to eat healthy and balanced meals.
I was forced to clean up my food act in response to the commitment I had made to Yoga Teacher Training. My new diet was not just a nice-if-I-would-actually-not-eat-tacos-every-single-day kind of deal, but a necessity for a body doing yoga 2 1/2 hours per day 5x week.
In fact, as part of the curriculum, we learned about the right diet as one of the five principles of yoga. The idea is to nourish your body with food that provides the right kind of fuel for your body as opposed to eating for the sake of quieting the all too familiar stomach rumble you feel when you are hungry.
Actually, nothing quite drives home the importance of a proper diet like feeling bloated after scarfing down 4 green chili chicharrón (pork rinds) tacos or hitting the 3 o’clock slump and coffee failing to get you through the afternoon lecture.
True story.
Needless to say, I focused on making a bigger effort on eating better — Eggs and beans for breakfast (because #Mexican), a green smoothie to get me through the rest of the morning, incredibly delicious vegetarian lunch meals catered by SabziTac, and cacao water to get me through the afternoon post-lunch slump.
I am even proud to admit I hardly drank coffee.
In a few words: don’t leave your diet up to chance.
I advice that, if at all possible and available to you, you order catered lunch as part of your effort to eat right. It will save you tons of time and energy.
7. The place and studio matter
I remember going to class, back in the day when I still lived in Houston, and seeing the Yoga Teacher Training advertisements on the community boards of my local studio, hoping that someday I too would get the chance to enroll in Yoga Teacher Training.
At that point in my life, enrolling in Yoga Teacher Training felt like a dream that was completely out of reach to do even in Houston, let alone entertaining the thought of traveling elsewhere to complete the training — somewhere like Bali or Thailand, or even Mexico.
Now that I’ve completed the training in Sayulita I can’t imagine having done Yoga Teacher Training in Houston, where I lived for a decade.
I just can’t.
I love Houston and loved my life there very much. But unlike Sayulita, which is a tiny fraction of Houston’s size, Houston is a concrete jungle with very few spots conducive to the kind of magic that would facilitate spiritual transformation.
I’ve already written extensively about how magical Sayulita is. I also know for sure that whenever it is time to do other yoga trainings and retreats, I am going to be looking at places with strong spiritual energy like Sayulita.
But it isn’t just the place that matters. The studio is also very important.
Paraiso Yoga is a beautiful rooftop studio located inside a lush and peaceful garden on the north side of town, away from the noise and rumble of Sayulita’s party scene.
That isn’t to say that during 7 am meditation we weren’t accompanied by the sounds of roosters or that during the 10 am asana practice our mouths weren’t watering to the smell of freshly cooked bacon. But that’s just the charm of Paraiso Yoga being part of the community in this sleepy and dreamy Mexican beach town.
So if you have the opportunity, travel somewhere for your Yoga Teacher Training!
Go where your heart will take you.
8. The instructors matter even more
So if the place and the studio matter, the instructors matter even more.
Ana Rova recommended that you are familiar with the teachers before you enroll in the Yoga Teacher Training. I wholeheartedly agree.
Ironically, like her, I had not taken any classes with the lead Yoga Teacher Training instructor.
I had only taken one class at Paraiso Yoga back in October of 2020 so I did not know anything about Nara nor had I taken any classes with her.
Little did I know, Nara isn’t your typical yoga teacher with extensive years of experience, she’s also a Shaman. I believe wholeheartedly that her presence alone was part of what facilitates the spiritual transformation to take place.
Would I have had a spiritual awakening during the Yoga Teacher Training if Nara had not been creating the space and container for that to happen? I guess I will never know for sure, will I?
So, yes. Try to take a class with the instructor beforehand if you are able to.
You can also be pleasantly surprised if you haven’t.
I also wanted to mention that going through Yoga Teacher Training highlighted the many yoga teachers I’ve taken classes with throughout the years.
Looking back, I can count with the fingers of one hand the teachers I’ve had who take their dharma as yoga teachers seriously and practice yoga on and off the mat. These are the teachers who know their sh!t when it comes to anatomy and proper alignment, but also bring the philosophical and spiritual aspects of yoga to the classroom with them.
9. The curriculum matters too
I must admit that I did not shop around too much since I knew I wanted to go back to Sayulita and that meant Paraiso Yoga would be my only option there.
I was pleased with the curriculum and found it to be well-rounded. After looking around after Yoga Teacher Training, it looks like a well-rounded curriculum will cover everything from yogic philosophy and spirituality, to anatomy, in depth asana lessons, karma yoga and the business side of yoga.
10. Taking yoga off the mat
Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.
For 21 days I meditated first thing in the morning, did 2.5 hours of yoga on weekdays, ate food that fueled and nourished my body, walked down to the beach and sat in front of the ocean every change I got, studied yogic philosophy and anatomy, and cherished the members of my soul family I met through this training.
Research on the subject is mixed.
Whether it takes a minimum of 21 days or an average of 66 days to make a new habit automatic, the point is to show up every moment of your life and make the “right” choice.
With the end of the training, the journey is just beginning.
I left Sayulita with a clearer vision of my duty to the world.
My dharma.
Through Yoga Teacher Training I acquired the tools to follow my path. Tools which helped me walk away with the conviction that every moment and experience in my path has led me to this very moment.
So here I am, listening to devotional singing, writing these words for my audience of one under the blessings of a New Moon amidst a global pandemic.
Everything is as it should be — and that is one of the many ways I am taking yoga off the mat with me.
BONUS: Is online Yoga Teacher Training worth it?
I was not surprised to find that ,with the pandemic being a reality of our times and with studios closed, I started seeing a lot of advertisements for online Yoga Teacher Training programs AFTER I enrolled.
I know the idea of enrolling in an in-person Yoga Teacher Training, let alone traveling internationally for an in-person Yoga Teacher Training, sounds both crazy and unnecessary. But given what I experienced in Sayulita, I cannot wholeheartedly recommend enrolling in an online program.
It’s not that I’m not all for online education, I just can’t imagine that an online Yoga Teacher Training would do justice to the experience of being in an actual classroom where there is a container being created and held by the participants that encourages transformation.
Regardless, online Yoga Teacher Training really sounds like a wonderful option in that it can provide you with a strong foundation for an in-person training. For example, I am anatomy challenged and struggled to keep up as a result. I honestly could have used extensive classes on anatomy alone.
If you’re going to enroll in online Yoga Teacher Training, I would strongly suggest that you complete the coursework, and once you get the chance, that you enroll in a live session so that you can get the full experience of it.
I am all for the world moving in the digital direction, but there are things and experiences that you just cannot replicate from the comfort of your home while staring at a computer screen.
In the end, if there is one thing I took away from Yoga Teacher Training, it is that there’s nothing quite like the human interaction element to facilitate the transformation you will inevitably experience as a result of Yoga Teacher Training.
