One of my favourite parts of teacher training is the weeks that follow the end of a yoga teacher training course- not for a minute because I am pleased to say goodbye - but because its the time that follows graduation where people begin to find their wings.
Teacher training is so often a process of unlearning, we need to go back to basics and not learn how to do yoga but how to teach yoga. I think for some students this is the biggest shock of all, we have an image of TT in mind where we will go to a beautiful location, switch off from daily life and do nothing but indulge and develop our own practice. And whilst this is certainly a big part of the course - after all, we cannot really teach what we dont know - I think a bigger part is learning who we are, who we might want to be as teachers - finding both our voice and. So during the course - its emotional, its hard and its so often exhausting! But then - the pause - we go home, we take a break and we start thinking 'right - what now'. And for me, its then that the messages satrt pouring in - 'this is a picture of my first yoga class' or 'I did it!' and 'gosh, I just never thought I'd be able to do this, but here I am - a yoga teacher - wow' And this is by far one of the most rewarding parts of what I do. During Teacher Training, I am asking you to find your voice and hopefully creating an enviromnent where you have the sapce, confidence and freedom for this to happen - and once you go home, the pieces come together and it just works.
So today as I sit, with a sick little boy asleep and grabbing 5 minutes to put my thoughts down, I am grateful. Grateful for all the students, for all the personality types, and body types, and injuries and resistance and willingness to dive in and grow and change and become. I am grateful for every little thing the TT graduates have taught me over the years and most of all grateful that my job allows me to grow and change too, its never boring, its never the same and its always a total privelidge to be able to see people during a month.
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