1st weekend of Yoga Teacher Training (YTT)
28 Feb 2021 1st weekend of Yoga Teacher Training (YTT) Unlike the other students who were excited and pumped for YTT, I was hesitant and feeling under the weather during the first weekend. I took my vaccinations for Covid-19 and have been sick most of my February 2021 and was only just recovering. Jessica, the instructor for YTT asked every single one of us why we signed up for YTT. For the sake of persevering throug the 200 hours, I thought it was a good reminder to us when we are having a hard time during classes. My reasons were pretty similar to a few other yogis – I will be turning 30 next year and being a licenced yoga instructor is on my bucket list! I have been lamenting to attend the 200-hour YTT since 2015, because I felt that I am not charismatic nor confident enough to teach a class. But Covid-19 hits and I DID have some spare ‘travel’ cash saved up…so why not invest in myself instead? Practical started and it was also intimidating to see other students much stronger and experienced than me. I was also terrified that I was not able to catch up with the others – I had such poor memory and difficulty pronouncing Sanskrit! It was still the period of Lunar New Year. Thankfully, my husband was super supportive during the weekends when I was practicing the words and poses. He memorised the sun salutation- Surya Namaskar A and B with me! I made so many mistakes, but he repeated the words after me patiently. I hope that my journey with The Yoga Mandala will build on my confidence and equip me with the skills to become a yoga teacher one day…I am managing with the Sanskirt for Surya Namaskar A and B for now…but dang it, the standing sequences are coming for me next! Grace 200 Hour YTT Feb-May’21
“Vinyasa” (breathing)
I always thought “vinyasa” means “flow”. And vinyasa style has been my most favorite type of yoga class. It was only during the first lesson in YTT when I was finally corrected. The fundamental of a flow is the “breath”. It is essentially our breath that connects each yoga pose to another, allowing us to flow in movement. However, many times when we are struggling in a particular yoga pose, we are often distracted by the intense physical experience, therefore neglecting our breaths and taking them for granted, which eventually makes the pose even harder to achieve. Coming from an academic background in psychology, I read that mindfulness is about bringing attention to the internal and external experience of the present moment, with a nonjudgmental acceptance to these experiences. I thought this concept is very apt to the breathwork in yoga. Regardless of the physical intensity of the poses or the thoughts that accompanied, I learnt to breathe into areas of tension, and stay present without attaching strong emotions to these experiences. Awareness of my breath helps me to stay grounded and guides my movement during the practice. I especially like how “pranayama” means extension of life-force. The lengthening of our inhalation and exhalation brings energy to our body to allow us to achieve much more. I remember Jessica mention during one of our meditation practices that “the mind cannot be quiet, but it can be still”. It is indeed a conscious effort to maintain stability, but having said that it is an effort on our part, it is then a choice we can make, using what that is fundamental to life – our breaths. I hope to extend my awareness of breathing into my daily life, to remember to breathe deeply especially in times of distress or discomfort. The world can be overwhelming, but it can do nothing to take away the choice of returning to our own breaths, to ourselves. Evette 200 Hour YTT Feb-May’21
Arm balancing and inversions: Learning to use my fingers
It took me a while to really understand what it means to “put weight in your fingers” and to consistently apply it, but this was the one tip that made the greatest difference to me for arm balancing and inversions. I used to place a lot of weight into my wrists, and I tend to fall forward while leaning forward into the poses. Admittedly, I’ve heard variations of this advice from friends who practise Yoga: – “Spread your fingers and grip the mat with your fingers” – “Your hands are too flat on the mat. Your knuckles should be bent so that you can better activate your fingers” They helped, but not significantly. Through YTT course, I realised that these comments have the right idea, but the articulation focused too much on how the fingers should “look” or “do”, instead of the function that they are serving. Simply following the instructions at face value without understanding the principle behind meant that I wasn’t getting the most out of the action. My breakthrough came when Jessica told us that our fingers are like our toes in ABIs (she did not explicitly talk about all of the points below, but these are my personal takeaways): – Just like how we press down on our toes to find stability on our feet, we have to press down on our fingers to find stability in our hands. When you feel like you are falling forward, use your fingers to pull yourself back. – Greater contact points with the floor, and larger base, means greater stability – hence no supination of the palm (i.e. no air pockets under the palm), and spread the fingers. – Just like how we don’t use all our toes equally for stability, we don’t have to use all fingers equally – most of the weight should be in the thumbs and first 2 fingers. With this analogy, it is also easier for me to know when to focus more on activating my fingers (i.e. when I feel that I am starting to sway/lose my balance) versus focusing on the other body parts. I am hoping that over time, with practice and muscle memory, I don’t have to actively think of my fingers as often in ABIs! Nge Hwee 200 Hour YTT Feb-May’21
Meditation
I recall how I felt during the first few times we had to start off the day’s practice with 30 minutes of meditation at 8AM. I wouldn’t exactly call it dread, but probably more worry instead as to how I was going to keep still for that duration on time while my feet go numb, neck becomes stiff, and those tight hips of mine start crying for help, all while keeping myself focused and grounded for meditation. I don’t think there’s any way I can stop myself from having drifting thoughts to be honest, how I didn’t put my cup away after having coffee this morning, how I kind of might need the toilet right now, or what we were going to have for lunch later – but then I tell myself that the more important thing is not to entertain these thoughts. So I start pulling myself back to my visualisation at the beach with the ocean’s waves and focus on my breathing instead. Overtime, somehow, that 30 minutes started to feel more and more like 10 minutes instead, and before I know it, I can hear Jess’ loving voice start to draw us back to where we drifted off to and call for the end of our meditation. I’ve learnt to acknowledge and accept meditation as a way of humbling myself when I come to my mat. The same should applied to my practice on the mat as well – being focused and not entertaining any thoughts that should come my way. Funny thing is, these days, I reminisce those times and actually seem to miss those 30-minutes meditation sessions. Emilyn 200 Hour YTT Feb-May’21
Loving and Calming
21 Feb 2021 – Week 1 Coming back from the weekend class and feeling beaten, not in the mood to tidy up the notebook from the theory class earlier. While chillin’ on the sofa watching my fave series, I heard my girl said. “Mum, Loving and calming voice? Are you sure you can do it?!” Apparently she has been flipping my notebook and feels sceptical about the stuff that I noted down. For her, mum is always nagging and irritating, never loving and calming. Teenager!! Ha ha.. It gets me thinking of the Yama the Eight limbs of Yoga, the way we interact with others through words and behaviours not only will reflect on our true self but also will pass on to the people around us and affect their behaviours towards us. Lianny 200 Hour YTT Feb-May’21
