Teacher Training Insights: The Art of Letting Go

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Teacher Training Insights: The Art of Letting Go

By Minna Jussila,  Lumi Teacher Training Graduate

 

Last October I was looking for different options for teacher training and Lumi Power Yoga was on my shortlist. I always liked the friendly and welcoming feel in the studio, ever since I attended my first yoga class at Lumi. It was one of the reasons I chose the studio for my training. I didn’t know much about the Baptiste-style of yoga, but knew that I enjoyed Lumi’s physically challenging classes and that the training was focused on teaching from day one – that was the deal breaker for me.

IMG_7214As much as I wanted to become a yoga teacher and share my passion for yoga with others, I was terrified of public speaking. The idea of standing in front of strangers telling them what to do, made me sweat with flashbacks from university presentations  – standing in front of the class with a shaky voice, hoping for the ground to open up and swallow me.

When the training started, I soon discovered that it wasn’t just about mastering the yoga poses, the asanas, but it was more about finding your true-self and being comfortable with your own strengths and weaknesses – without trying to hide them. The training is built so that you have a nine day immersion first, which wears you down physically and mentally! It forces you to let go of all those shields that you have built around yourself to fit into the mould you think you are ‘expected’ to fit into. For most of us on the course, the training did strip us bare of those safety layers we had created; naturally we resisted very hard, but as the training went on, it wore your resistance down and you had no choice but to let go. After sharing something you have been guarding carefully and not shared with anyone for years, it was a relief to find out that it wasn’t such a big deal after all and no judgement was passed. It was a very empowering feeling.

The Baptiste-style of yoga is focused on empowering you, not just with your yoga practice, but to give you tools you can use outside the yoga studio in your everyday life. Going through with the training was at times overwhelming and intense. To get through you have to really want it, and be ready to throw yourself in 110 per cent without really planning on how you will get through or what you will share with the others, it will just happen. If you try to plan it, it is most likely that your plan will fail. You will have to just wait, see what happens, and be positively surprised. In Baron Baptiste’s words: “Yoga is ultimately a journey into truth: truth about who you really are, what you are capable of, how your actions affect your life.”

As we learned throughout the training, our potential is held back by fear, which is created by the conditioning that starts from an early age by our parents, teachers, friends, society. For me, the hardest part has always been to gather enough confidence to show up with my strengths believing I’m enough, not feeling inferior to the others. I have always found it challenging to take the step forward out of the comfort zone into the unknown. My fear takes over and this voice inside my head has an internal battle with my adventurous side, trying to suffocate my attempts at change. It plants these doubts into my mind: “What will others think?”, “What if I fail?”, “What then…?” These thoughts are also present in my yoga practice on the mat, regardless of the continuous practice for years. I still struggle with crow, headstands and handstands, as there is a chance of falling – it scares me to really go for it. But as they say, it is yoga practice, not perfection. The learning is continuous and it helps me to be vulnerable with my teaching as well, encouraging students through my own journey. One thing is for sure, your yoga practice is never complete. There is always somewhere further to go and the feeling of achievement is really rewarding once you get one step closer to that next level.

The training didn’t just make me a yoga teacher, it made me a more confident and outspoken person. I feel stronger and willing to state my opinions more confidently and trust them being just as valued as someone else’s views. The main thing I learned from Elina & Ari, is that the most important thing you can do as a yoga teacher is to be present and really see the people who have turned up for your class. Think to yourself: what can I offer for them? As it really is all about them. I didn’t really understand this when I was in training, but as I have been slowly getting into teaching I can see the importance of this more and more.

So, if you are reading this and thinking about taking the leap to start teacher training – I can say that you will be in good hands at Lumi, as it is where the love and passion for yoga shines through. The training is all about encouragement for you, to find your own powerful self as a leader and yoga teacher.

Lumi Teacher Training is back by popular demand for an autumn session starting on 9 Oct to 15 Nov. If you’re thinking about becoming a yoga teacher be sure to come to our open house on Saturday, August 1st to get all your questions answered about the course from Ari, Elina and our brilliant new teachers. All the details are on our website here.

Stay tuned for more Teacher Training Insights  from recent grads!

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