If you had told me two years ago I would one day become a yoga teacher, I would have laughed in your face. I think my friends and family would have too. If you had told me just a short time before that I would be a yoga student I would have laughed in your face. Before I started yoga, I thought it was mostly hippie dippie baloney. I never imagined you could get a workout from doing what I thought were silly poses. My first class showed me how wrong I was, and the incredible muscle soreness the following day hammered that lesson home with every movement. Since then, I’ve been an addict, and over time, I realized how much it had changed my life, and not just physically.
It gave a boost to my anxiety medication that I didn’t think was possible. If I go to practice feeling upset or angry, I leave calmer. I’ve learned how to meditate and calm myself during panic attacks without medication. It’s been an amazing experience for me over these last two years when I started to practice.
Physically, I’m stronger than I ever thought I could be. I’ve gotten more flexible than I ever thought was possible. I’ve never been able to touch my toes in my entire life. One practice about three months in, I touched my toes for the first time. I nearly cried in the middle of class. Now I’m learning arm balances and I’m super close to doing a headstand. All of these things I always believed were out of my reach. With yoga I’ve learned that it’s never what I can’t do, it’s about what I’m not able to do yet. And most importantly, it’s about trying. What’s the worst that can happen? You fail? Well, now you have a goal.
A friend of mine is a yoga psychotherapist, something I had never heard of before, but it made perfect sense. Yoga has helped me with my anxiety; I know it can be helpful to several others too! Then it dawned on me maybe I could use what I’ve learned to help others. As I was looking into getting my own yoga psychotherapist certification, my friend told me her office was about to offer their own school on yoga psychotherapy. The first step is a 200-hour certification, which is required by all yoga teachers. But in this program, they bring in the psychotherapy and science behind yoga, which is fascinating. This 200-hour program is also just one step toward a 1000-hour certification to be a full yoga psychotherapist.
The program has been fascinating so far, but after a few months, I started to wonder if I could even be a yoga teacher. Could I stand in front of people? Could I help them get into correct poses? Could I create a practice that makes sense and flows? My test came with our annual family trip to Galveston. My sister asked if I would lead yoga in the mornings, and I agreed. Then I had a complete panic attack. I would have to create a practice on my own, and one for those who have never really done yoga, like my mom and my aunt. Before we went down to Galveston, I went through my class materials and came up with four practices with four different themes. I couldn’t believe how much I enjoyed that. But then I had to teach my family, and that’s when the real enjoyment set in.
My students started to drop out each day for various reasons, but my aunt stuck through it and she liked having the private practices together. It was an amazing experience, one that taught a lot about what I can do as a teacher, what I need to do as a teacher, and what I should never do as a teacher. The next time I had to get up in front of my own certification class to teach a practice, I felt calmer and more ready to do what I needed.
This. This is what I love doing, and I never would have thought that this is a plan God has for my life. I’m already making plans to start a business with private sessions after I get my certificate in February. I still love writing about video games, so until that goes away completely, I’m not going to look for life in a studio doing group classes just yet. But I have already talked to my own teacher trainers about the second step for psychotherapy, which will start in April.
I’m not sure how I got here from being a paralegal or even a Russian major in college, but I wouldn’t change a thing. I’m looking forward to officially starting this next chapter in my career!
Leave a Reply