Teacher Training Insights: Finding the answers to “Why this?”

By Manasi Sridhar, recent teacher training grad

It all started when the Events pages unravelled “Teacher Training Open House” with a bang of “Thinking about Yoga Teacher Training?” I visited and re-visited this a number of times, both on the website and in my head and one fine day simply decided to walk up and taste the open house. Constant thoughts of fear, excitement, and nervousness flooded my mind when I filled the application and sat before the couple who ran this chapter end to end. I couldn’t answer their question “Why this?”! I wanted to find that out for myself by going through this and seeing if this is what defines me.

The journey began with beautiful bonding sessions, with different perspectives of “how I would label myself”, “how I would describe my roots” and “where I belong” on display.  Every session started with an authentic display of gratitude which soon got “set” in our lives as a default button.  This was my lesson – foundation. For anything, if the foundation is set right, then no storm can shake it. I was looking forward to where this immersion journey would take me in my life. My fear for opening up started to fade. I began to trust that however these days go they’re going to bring some purpose!  Talks of gratitude were our “good mornings”, leading meditation was our “shower”, and we started our days with “nothing like” warm hugs.

This was the point when journey into power had become such an immense part of our lives. Practising yoga every day became a permanent entry in our “to-do” lists. Alignment began to have a different meaning. Standing, walking, teaching in True North truly gave a new definition to my warrior’s, my pigeon, and my Vinyasa! Finding my voice was a beautiful shift for me. It just instantaneously happened. I could connect with others when I delivered my cues. “Talk to the feet” was Elina’s direction for us. “Talk through one person, to the class”, was another. And I was able to realize what an impact it can create. Be it for one, for a group of 3 or half the class, we rose, we grew and we were shining on our mats as students and as teachers. It just isn’t about what you want to say, it is so much about how you say what you want to say! With our voices, with our True Norths, we witnessed the transformation of each one of us, and I rightfully speak for all of us here 🙂

If practising is one journey, assisting is another.  What my body is capable of at that moment, and where I can allow it to go to – assisting is a big tool here. It was just not about lifting the hips high or rooting the heels down, but had more to do with when and how I had to enter someone’s space, and had to be mindful of the support I lent, to take one’s practice to the next level. By next level, my “Why this?” was getting answered more and more. I could see myself assisting yogis by looking and listening to their bodies. I could teach by talking to what is possible.  At times, if I let myself out authentically, what I was sharing with my yogis was simply what I would go through in the pose in my mind. What was working and what was missing would tell me how I truly involve myself and where I needed to work. The next biggest shift was the day I set foot into Roots to teach! It was only a matter of minutes, but it felt strong. I was there in the moment, connecting with the yogis and simply sharing what came out from my heart, but with a voice that could reach each and every one of them.

What do I practice, when I practice yoga? What is occupying my space right now? What shifts am I going through at this very moment? Being so young with Lumi, my biggest fear amidst this group of yogis was how much of a beginner I was with power yoga practice. Ari and Elina simply made that vanish for me. I am still a beginner, but I am able to tell “yes” to myself more! My fellow yogis inspire me when they glow on their mats, not intimidate me. They welcome me every day I set foot into Wings and that, that there, is what I define as power. The power of “us” makes things possible. It is the reason I am “possible” today. Elina said to me once, “May be it was all there in you, waiting to come out! And here it is”. Here I am, right here, right now, enjoying this very moment tearing my keyboard up with the rush of thoughts, like how I tear my mat up when I become a warrior…

The next Lumi teacher training programme starts this October, so visit our website here and join our open house in September for more details!