Monday, December 29, 2008

Chasing a Dream

After years of thinking about it and wishing for it . . . and a couple more years of procrastination and finding all the reasons why I shouldn’t pursue my dream, I finally decided to just go for it and start my training to become a certified yoga instructor. I am both excited and scared. I do worry that all the reasons I conjured up for not going through with it are still valid. There are some poses that I’ll never be able to achieve. I still have old injuries and funny body parts that will not cooperate in some poses. I am also a little old for a new career adventure. But regardless of all these things I still want to pursue it. Even if I never get out there and teach a real class, at a real studio, it means a lot to me to have the training. Yoga has always fascinated me and my desire to learn more is getting overwhelming.

Due to my current schedule of having way more things to do than time to do it, coupled with the fact that I live in the middle of nowhere, I decided to try a ‘distance learning’ course. This won’t be the first study-at-home certification course I’ve taken. A few years ago I became a certified ‘interior redesigner’ and I was very impressed with the course. I learned a lot and enjoyed every minute of it. I knew I wasn’t going to switch careers, but instead I gained a lot of valuable knowledge that I feel enriched my life. I’m taking the same approach to this yoga training. Although I don’t feel that a study-at-home program is the optimal way to achieve training certification, it will certainly teach me a whole lot more than I currently know about yoga.

My course package arrived just before Christmas and so far I’ve read 90 pages of the text book. My head is already bursting from everything that I learned. It is amazing how much more to yoga there is than what meets the untrained eye. Up to this point I’ve spent the past 7 years just exercising my muscles without really understanding the benefits of the postures and movements. My brain is hungry and eager to learn more and more. I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to start my journey, but I sure am glad I’m on my way.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good luck on your yoga journey. There are many ways to come to teaching. I am reminded of Jung's quote - "Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens." Yoga lies within us, and while it is wonderful to have others to show us the way in, we can take that journey by ourselves. After all - how did the first yogis come to yoga?
Blessings,
KL

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on honoring your dream! I will be very anxious to hear about not only your study experience in general, but also how the process is via a long-distance program. Yoga is a passion of yours; thus, you are PERFECT for Teacher Training! Period!

Amy, WA

so public.... still getting there said...

Nice work diving into your dream... I have been looking for something similar- namely a distance learning yoga course. Can you provide me with more information about the course you are taking. Thanks,

DM

Unknown said...

Here is the link to the program that I'm doing now: http://www.yoga-teacher-training.org/level-1-yoga-course.htm