Diary of Hot Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training: Week 1 of 4
October 31st, 2015
We finished our first week of 200h – Hot Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training yesterday at Hot Yoga Academy. I feel slightly enlightened and empowered, but mainly, I feel exhausted. I was prepared for increased physical activity, but I don’t know that I was prepared for how emotionally taxing the course would be. Yoga is not just a “sport” or a form of exercise, but it is also a spiritual tool used to explore the planes of reality and ourselves that we so often neglect. Taking classes regularly helps us explore these planes to a certain extent, but the intensive training really sheds a new light on all the spiritual aspects that are repressed by the monotony of day-to-day life.
Within the first hour of class on Day 1, I was brought to tears. We were all asked to share about bit about ourselves – the typical “get to know you” exercise we have been practicing since grade school. Eight yogis and two teachers, from all over the world, all with different backgrounds in yoga and different goals for the training. This I expected when we began the exercise. What I did not expect was to hear about these people’s incredible journeys that brought them to Barcelona, to my teacher-training course, and to feel so emotionally invested in sharing this experience and their journeys with them. What incredible dedication and strength so many of these people possessed, and I was honored and humbled to be surrounded by them.
When you think of your typical “yogi”, what do you imagine? When I imagined whom I might be taking the course with, I imagined a few hippie types, some soul searchers, and perhaps one or two exercise addicts looking to fulfill their next physical pursuit. Those are not the yogis I met! These yogis are fighters, survivors, entrepreneurs, intellectuals, mothers, fathers, and overall normal human beings. Beyond that, I began to realize that we were all here searching for a greater purpose or fulfillment, not just a certificate and another title to add to our resumes.
As classes progressed throughout the first week, I got to know more even more about these wonderful people I got to call my classmates. I got to know their bodies, their limitations, their strengths, and their weaknesses. Where some excelled, others struggled, but each brought something incredibly valuable to the course. Not a single of them proved to be anything less than exceptional. I felt blessed to conquer this feat with these amazing people and I could only hope that they felt the same. This week had a heavy focus on yoga philosophies, the body, and the mind, but has taught me much more than that. It has emboldened me and made me feel stronger than I have felt in a lifetime. I am weak and vulnerable, but I am present and I am doing this. That is where the real strength lies. My biceps are looking pretty great after all those chaturangas though I will have to admit. One week down, three to go. If this is only the beginning for me, I cannot wait to explore what the future will hold.
Namaste,
Meagan Klein – New Hot Vinyasa Yoga Teacher
Read more about this Hot Vinyasa Yoga Teacher’s Training experience and discover what happened in week 2 of 4