“The only thing that is constant is change.” – Greek philosopher Heraclitus
Change is good. Uncomfortable, but good. I’m a planner, so when something doesn’t go the way I have it mapped out, I usually have a minor meltdown. Change brings up insecurities, uncertainties, and some serious stress for me.
I’m working through this – releasing the familiar, the comfortable, and embracing the new. This last week was a test of embracing the new.
When I began yoga teacher training I started with Briohny Smyth and Dice Iida-Klein, Bryce Yoga. I completed 100 classroom hours with them, and every bit of homework to complete my 200 hour training. With only 100 classroom left to go, I was feeling pretty comfortable with where I was sitting.
Then change happened.
Through a series of events I’m still not clear on, we were told we wouldn’t be completing our remaining 100 hours with Bryce Yoga. That was a kick in the gut.
The studio brought in a new yogi, Rocky Heron, to complete our remaining 100 hours. Rocky is Noah Mazé’s right hand man, and he is an instructor at YOGAMAZÉ in Los Angeles. The Noah Maze’ method and form of teaching is a complete 180 from our previous training. Because this is a completely new system, we are doing ALL of the work for their 200 hour Teacher Training, but condensing it into a month and a half and only 100 classroom hours. WHAT?! I was feeling a little overwhelmed before I even arrived last Thursday.
Homework pre-training.
Day 1 was fun! It was so great to be back with my fellow teacher trainees. Yoga all day will never get old. Rocky is a tremendous teacher. He’s large in stature and knowledge. At 6’6″ he’s the biggest yogi I’ve ever seen.
Rocky Heron and Noah Maze’.
Day 2 was hard. My body was fatigued, my head was swimming with new information, and my ability to focus took a nose dive.
We ran out of room on the white board, so Rocky took to the mirrors.
The more I learn, the more I realize I don’t know – it was such an overwhelming and discouraging feeling. We worked through lots of anatomy and cueing. Thankfully Bella agreed to model external rotation and abduction in the hip joint.
Ahhh, now I get it. Thanks, Bella.
By Day 3, I set my insecurities aside, and decided it would be a great time to embrace the change. The YOGAMAZE’ style of teaching is clear, concise, and logical. It is the nuts and bolt of yoga. No crazy sequencing, no flowery language/cueing; they want us to leave with the ability to teach yoga poses, and teach them well. GENIUS!
Rocky teaching Trikonasana.
Me teaching Marichyasana III to the group.
And as always, by Day 4 I didn’t want to leave. Shocker.
Doing my best at looking glamourous. Unfortunately I look like I’m trying to eat Rocky’s head.
The group. Happy to be back together.
My last training module will be in the middle of January. I will be a RYT 200 hour yoga teacher in a little over a month. CRAZY! It’s been a long short 11 months.
I adore this group from the bottom of my heart. Lots of love, friends.
“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” –Lao Tzu
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[…] Yoga teacher training is a long, intensive process. 200 classroom hours, hours upon hours of homework, and the physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion is unlike anything I’ve ever been through. Click on the links to read my previous teacher training posts (Yoga, Yoga Revisited, Round 3). […]