If you’ve ever wondered what happens in yoga teacher training, take a sneak peak with Aaron. Now a leading instructor at Yoga District, Aaron recounts the closure of his yoga teacher training journey. Find out how he tackled the mountain of homework and how his first public yoga class went.
This is Aaron’s final story in a series of blog posts about his yoga teacher training journey. He hopes you gain some insight into what happens during yoga teacher training and if it might be something you would want to try yourself.
Life After Yoga Teacher Training (YTT)
When I got back home after the last day of YTT, I took a moment to reflect. Absorb how much of a privilege it was to experience. The beauty of it all. And how much of my life had revolved around it since the time I woke up, ate, slept, and socialized. It was all influenced by YTT. And now that it was over, I found myself wondering what to do next.
I felt like a little bird standing on the edge of the nest for the first time. Unsure of how to navigate my journey to becoming a yoga teacher past the protective nurturing space that was YTT. Albeit a bit scary, I was also excited by the opportunity to put what I learned into practice. As both a practitioner and teacher. Thankfully, the post YTT assignments gave me structure to do that exactly.
3 Sections of Post Training Homework
The post YTT homework assignments provided a framework for us to dive deeper into our studies of yoga while also giving us opportunities to put those studies into practice. This provided a systematic way to complete the requirements by Yoga Alliance for becoming a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT).
After finishing the Post YTT homework, I realized that YTT provided me with the tools I needed to teach. That the post training homework gave me more time to practice using those tools.
Since speaking with people who’ve done YTT at other studios, I’m under the impression that YTT assignments are handled differently everywhere. At Yoga District, it’s sectioned into three parts:
- Community Practices: This requires taking five yoga classes and observing five additional classes. Additionally, teaching five free community classes. Plus writing a draft blog post or short educational article that touches on something learned during teacher training.
- Self Practice: This section includes practicing and journaling consistently about:
- – Doing a set asana sequence (1)
- – Doing a specific breathing and meditation practice
- Readings and Retention– This section includes several readings. Including books like The Heart of Yoga by T. K. V. Desikachar, The Bhagavad Gita by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood, Yoga Anatomy by Leslie Kaminof (2,3,4,).
YTT Homework: Self Practice Section
Post YTT homework doesn’t have to be done in order. So I delayed the community practices so I could have some time to work on the feedback from my fellow trainees and training teachers. Plus I wanted some time to just get back to having my own personal practice again.
So I started with the Self Practice section. The breathing and meditation portion of the self practice section included chanting, calming breath, alternate nostril breathing, Kapalabhati breathing, mantra meditation, and seedless meditation (5,6). When I started my day doing these practices, I noticed I was able to be more present in the moment. Additionally, I felt a sense of groundedness afterwards.
For the asana portion, we’re recommended to practice either the Dharma or Power sequence. But I was able to get permission from Yoga District to study the Rocket 1 series instead (7). The Dharma and Power series are great. Yet in training, I was inspired by how much fun I had in the Rocket class taught by my teacher Blythe. Therefore I selected Rocket Yoga instead because I wanted to learn to sequence it so I could teach it.
Completed Yoga Teacher Training
I
’ve completed Yoga Teacher Training. I appreciate and love that my study of how to practice yoga and teach it to others will be a lifelong process. It’s an honor to be able to continue the ancient tradition of yoga as a teacher of it. While some people might interpret this as a job title that implies cueing people through an exercise. I see it as playing an active role in continuing the practices and teachings of yoga that have existed for thousands of years.
I’m acutely aware of the stereotypical imagery that comes along with the words “yoga” and “yogi” as being out of touch with what society tells us is “important”. Although,direct experience has made me a firm believer in the power of yoga to improve mental, physical, and spiritual wellbeing. I believe large external changes start from internal ones. With that in mind, it’s my goal that my practice of yoga and teaching of it will help play a role (however small) towards making a more peaceful, healthy, and happy world for all living beings.
I’m aware of how much I have to learn to become the yoga teacher I wish to be eventually. Although, I’ve reached a point where I think the best way to get there is to supplement my studying with actual teaching. My first official yoga class that I taught was an audition/interview class at Yoga District entitled “Flow Yoga Basics + Yin Stretching”. Based on the feedback from the students that attended, I could either be made an official Yoga District teacher or need to keep retaking the audition until the student feedback comes back positive enough.
The first class went pretty well. Was it perfect? No, but I was prepared and did my best. I had made some improvements based on the feedback that I got from teacher training so I looked forward to teaching again. Confident that with each class I teach that I would get better at effectively communicating the practices and teachings of yoga. Thereby better serving the people that attend my classes.
Becoming a Yoga Teacher
I hope to see you in class someday, if you’d like to join me in this quest of exploring yoga together. Either as the teacher. Or even cooler as one of your students, should you choose to do a Yoga Teacher Training (YTT) and embark on becoming a yoga teacher yourself someday.
Aaron is a Yoga District teacher and also now part of our YTT teacher training faculty! Feel free to read his other blog posts that outline his YTT experience from start to finish. If you might be interested in signing up for yoga teacher training then check out the dates for upcoming sessions.
Sources
- Sequencing Fundamentals & Guidelines, https://yogateachercentral.com/free-yoga-teaching-resources/free-resources-yoga-class-planning-sequencing/free-resources-sequencing-fundamentals/
- The Heart of Yoga by T. K. V. Desikachar, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56303.The_Heart_of_Yoga?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=iEh6tVEdzt&rank=1
- Bhagavad-Gita: The Song of God, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/581621.Bhagavad_Gita?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=A20aJRJsXU&rank=4
- Yoga Anatomy by Leslie Kaminof, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1044807.Yoga_Anatomy?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=U0gXa6TGgP&rank=1
- Kapalbhati Pranayama, https://www.yogapedia.com/definition/6469/kapalbhati-pranayama#:~:text=Kapalbhati%20pranayama%20is%20considered%20an,order%20to%20clear%20the%20nadis.
- Mantra Meditation, https://www.healthline.com/health/mantra-meditation
- Rocket Yoga, https://www.stylecraze.com/articles/rocket-yoga-what-is-it-and-what-are-its-benefits/
– Aaron C.
