Reinforcing humility and devotion in practice: Kim
Writing these blog posts are great reminders of the values that I hold dearly to my yoga journey and practice. To reiterate the importance of stillness, to stay grounded and seek quiet strength, but also of humility and devotion to practice. I was captivated by the origins of Astavakrasana, or Eight Angle Pose which is named after the Sage, Astavakra. Before he was born and still in his mother’s womb, the Sage had heard his father mispronounce one of the verses of Vedas and decided to correct him. His father flew into a rage and as a punishment, proclaimed that the Astavakra would be born with eight deformities. Despite being bent in eight places – thus the name Asta (eight) and Vakra (bent) – the Sage prevailed to be a wise and spiritual man despite his physical deformities and challenges. Being in Astavakrasana takes one to a very humbling place. As an asymmetrical posture, it requires strength, balance and equilibrium. It has been an incredibly powerful reminder of self-reflection; of devotion, humility, mindfulness and patience in practice during my YTT. Learning to overcome my irrational fear of inversions was one of my key goals for this YTT. Perhaps at the root of this aversion is the act of going upside-down, losing control, and the possibility of falling. Now being in an inversion, an asana where your head is above your heart, is strangely addictive and energising. It requires perceptive awareness of your body – to tuck ribs, have shoulder awareness, and engagement of the legs and lower body. An inversion ultimately builds mental strength and focus, nurtures patience and perseverance, and asks that we be brave and trust the process. I will make it a point before the year ends, to finally have the courage to go into Salamba Sirsasana without relying on a wall for support. Kim 200HR YTT
Folding into Uttanasana and Paschimottanasana: Kim
Five years ago, the very idea of touching my toes seemed far away and impossible. Always looming over my head was the perception that my lack of flexibility would impede my ability to twist into funky shapes, or express myself in a heart-opening backbend. Something as basic as touching my toes was almost laughable. I remember the ‘sit and reach’ as my weakest component during the annual physical fitness tests in school, which would often be the reason I’d miss out on the coveted ‘Gold Award’ by just mere centimetres. But like many things in life, even folding into a simple Uttanasana (standing forward bend) requires practice and dedication. What I hadn’t realised was that despite the basic action of bending over to touch my toes, I was not consciously engaging the right muscles to bring me into a deeper stretch. During the YTT, I developed awareness to hinge from the hips and engage my core to bring my stomach closer to my thighs. It is by lengthening the spine that I can extend further forward towards the ground and have my fingers not just graze the mat, but have my palms flat. Even bringing the crown of my head towards the ground and ensuring my shoulders are away from ears, allowed me to experience this stretch more deeply. Similar to uttanasana, I applied this awareness with Paschimottanasana (seated forward fold). That it wasn’t just stretching to touch my toes, but to also move with the breath. I am conscious of inhaling, keeping my front torso long and leaning forward from the hips. As I reach for my big toes, my core is engaged to pull myself forward as I keep my chest open and retract my shoulder blades. The benefits of both poses include to calm the brain to relieve stress and mild depression, reduce fatigue and anxiety, soothe headaches, improve digestion, and stretch the spine, shoulders and hamstrings – a truly effective asana for the stressful day-to-day living. Kim 200HR YTT
Motivations for embarking on the 200YTT: Kim
Taking signs from the universe that this year is about embracing transformation and change, I embarked on this YTT programme with great courage and optimism. It truly turned out to be one of my best decisions for 2021. For a while, I had been exploring various programmes that will work on mobility and also holistically strengthen my body and being. This proved challenging since I wasn’t seeking a purely physical fitness programme/course, and for a long time, I didn’t think yoga was at its core, what I was inclined towards. I was neither flexible or nimble, nor did I look like the slender yogis that permeated my Instagram feed. Still, out of sheer happenstance, a friend who is a fitness trainer and instructor, mentioned The Yoga Mandela (TYM) during our lunch earlier this year. I asked if she knew of training programmes that merged strength and mobility within yoga and she mentioned TYM’s Yoga Teaching Training (YTT). Prior to this, I had googled “YTT” months ago and none of the programmes really spoke to me. However, looking at TYM’s social media presence and its dedication as a teachers academy, I took the leap of faith and visited the studio, and decided to sign up for the YTT later that week. Writing this now as we have entered the teaching weeks, it has made me realise how far we’ve progressed in our yoga journey and practice. From grounding our pranayama practice, learning the various asanas, working on verbal and physical adjustments, to now creating our own sequences and delivering a 60-minute class. I would not have thought this was even possible two months ago. If anything, this YTT has taught me to be patient in my practice, to nurture purpose and intention in all that I do. To not rush into poses but to enter each asana with understanding; to engage the muscles and parts of my body and activate them knowingly. It reiterated that yoga is an ongoing journey and even after YTT is over, I will endeavour to continue my practice with focus whilst instilling quiet strength. Kim 200HR YTT
Gratitude: Titus
Into the final week of YTT. There is a slight sense of accomplishment that I will be officially a certified Yoga teacher. As this beautiful chapter will come to a close, I believe many other unique doors will open. I am truly grateful! Grateful for… The opportunity to be part of this YTT He who gives me this grace and strength Experience of being humbled YTT instructor Jessica for her knowledge and teachings Opportunity to share yoga with others Good health through these five weeks A contained COVID situation that allows us to still practice in the studio My love ones who have supported me in this journey A new perspective of yoga A unique experience Doubts that became courage Awesome and sincere batchmates Learning so much about myself throughout these five weeks Alexis for ensuring things went smoothly Simply put, I am grateful for life. What has yoga taught me: “Be thankful for the journey.” Titus 200HR YTT
Breakthrough: Titus
Week 4, 10 more days to the end of this fantastic YTT journey. I started this journey feeling afraid; fear eventually grew into doubts, but I simply hope that this YTT does not end. There were frustrations during the past four weeks when I cannot achieve certain poses yet. It is not a good feeling to see my batchmates hitting peak pose after peak pose while I fall and fall. Did I even think and believe I could hit a single-arm balancing pose or one inversion? To be honest, NO! But, somehow, this disbelief did not stop me. Even my conviction level was not high, but I just want to continue working on the poses and gain progress. Awesomeness started to happen in week 4, and I began to hit poses after poses. Beyond my imagination, I am upside down and seeing the world from a different perspective. What has yoga taught me: “Breakthrough comes to those who patiently and quietly put in the hard work.” Titus 200HR YTT
Peers and Instructor: Mable
Honestly, I have learned so much throughout this YTT program. It re-evaluates old value, challenges my way of thinking and have a different perspective in life. I learned not only from the YTT program itself. I learned from the peers and the teacher as well. Birds of a feather flock together. This is perfectly well versing my feeling when I meet my peers during this YTT. I enjoy the time we are working toward the same direction same goal. I like how we learned to compete with oneself but not with others. I like how the supports and encouragement from them. We cheer for one another. A very positive learning environment. It has become my favorite times during the weekend. I must also give a credit to the teacher. Sometimes I feel grateful that I can learn from someone who possess years of experiences and knowledge. Most important are the teacher being humble, patience and in selfless fashion. She willing to share her knowledge and try to let us understand the basic theory of yoga in a simplified form. Of course, she will push you and get tougher. I do not like Chaturanga since the first day I practice yoga because I got no arm strength. I even find myself having difficulties in doing push up with knees off the mat. She saw and reminded me to ‘elbows inward’. Guess what. I manage to go down with no more shaking arms. Sometimes we do not need much strength to success a pose. What we need is the correct instruction to enter the pose with the correct strength exert and hold the pose. Thanks for always pinpoint the obstacles that stop me from progressing. For me, this YTT marks a commitment to self-growth and transformation. Thank you, my fabulous teacher and awesome peers! Mable 200HR YTT Jul’21 Weekend
Pranayama: Mable
Breathing can help to relax. This sends a message to the brain to calm down and relax. This YTT have taught in a total of six breathing techniques. There is an approximately of 30minutes breathing session every time before the class begins. Each breathing technique has own unique and specific effects on the mind or body. I always thought that I’m the person who cannot sit still for long periods. It comes to my surprise that I do not begin fidget when I try to focus on my breathing. It becomes a habit that I do practice Ujjayi (Ocean’s Breath) when I’m on my way to work. I realize this really can help soothe and settle my mind. It Is calming meanwhile stimulating the process of oxidation. Ujjayi was introduced by the YTT teacher on the first day of YTT. It is an inactive breathing technique and easy to learn compared with the rest. I still remember I do not know how to constrict my throat or what does the means of rubs against the back of my throat on the first day. Practice makes perfect. I started to breath more effectively without making any conscious effort now. I have also once experience Bhastrika pranayama on the first day of my moon cycle. I felt how the blood circulates benefits of this breathing technique once I finish practicing. Well. I have learned my lesson. Practicing pranayama is to pay attention to your breath. Somehow, I cannot focus when practicing Brahmari (Bumble Bee Breath) if I do not cup our hands over the ears and when everyone in the class try to ‘Ham’ as exhales. Still, I prefer Nadi Shodhana compared to all the breathing techniques that I had learned so far. It relieves my migraines once, hence I believe it does improve hemoglobin levels. This pranayama brings the balances of the brain. Left nostril link to right brain and vice versa. There is a saying that this Nadi Shodhana can cleanse the past life karma and helps bring the mind back to the present moment. And I think I believe in this saying. Mable 200HR YTT
Formation of New Habit: Mable
Forming a habit is easy, but does not mean it’s easy. This requires repeating the same activity at the same place at the same time until it becomes automatic. According to Maxwell Maltz, a new habit takes a minimum of 21 days to form. Duration of habit formation is differed depends on individual and what are trying to do. My YTT teacher has seen our body weakness after few weekend classes and decided to give us weekly homework. This is to improve our physical strength, flexibility and lower injury risk when perform yoga especially advanced poses in the future. She requests us to do some drills or practice some poses and film it. No doubt that it really helps strengthen my body. It also makes it a habit of mine unconsciously. I will stop whatever activities when the clock strikes at 6pm. Go to the same spot in the house, roll out my yoga mat and started video my homework. Sometimes I will self-practice of some poses which I think I need to work on after I have submitted my homework. Sometimes it can be a real struggle to do it by myself. When the teacher honestly pinpoints the error I made and what I need to tweak, I become more determined to practice the drills and perfect the poses every time. Excitement came when I know I did better than yesterday. Unfortunately, I have forced to make a pause when I took my 2nd dose of vaccine. This makes me feel irritated when I’m not allowed to do any exercises inclusive the homework for at least a week. This also makes me aware of this new healthy behavior has consistently continue, eventually form a new habit within me unconsciously. To be honest, I’m quite enjoying this new habit and decided to maintain it even after the end of this YTT journey. Mable 200HR YTT
Finding Confidence within Myself: Mable
I never thought that I can teach in front of a group of people. I never thought that I manage to conquer my fears and tries inversion yoga asana. Slow but it’s progressing. Everyone sort of having the voice of self-doubt in their head. I have self-doubt. I have insecurities. I have low self-esteem. I have stage fright. I worried about how people thought about me. I always try to avoid things that I’m not confident. This is me before I enrolled in this YTT program. I’m not saying I’m perfect now. But I know the minute I remove my self-doubt, I can achieve what I never thought possible. I’m glad that this time I did not hesitate and decided to enrol the YTT program after N years of excuses and procrastination. This YTT requires us to teach in front of our peers. This is precious experience. I know I need to overcome the insecurities and eventually it makes me overcome the fears. I learn to receive constructive feedback. The morning asana practices every weekend morning did helps and strengthen my body. I notice the muscle gains and improvement through a dedicated practice and with time. More soreness and muscle definition. Practice makes perfect. I become more confident when I can do the same poses better than yesterday. Especially I learned how to retract my shoulder, tuck in my ribs, and engage my glutes. I still can recall how my YTT teacher encourages me and pushes past my limit but does not force me brutally. She said ‘Mable, tell your mind you can do it. Take a deep breath then do it. Remember to tuck in your ribs.’ Guess what. I succeed my first Pincha Mayurasana ever (although with legs on the wall). Still, this is a huge improvement for me. Be courageous and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Trust yourself. I’ve taught myself not to listen to my own self-doubt anymore. Mable 200HR YTT
Headstand: Shuyan
If you ask me, why did I choose to attend the Yoga YTT class, maybe I can give lots of rational reasons like learning how to self-exercise at home, learning Yoga systematically, becoming strong, etc. In fact, the actual reason is the calling, the signal. I simply caught it and acted. In life, most of the people believe that we are rational and logical being. But I do believe in something else. I feel there is an ultimate version of me giving the current me guidance in life ever now and then. Maybe I cannot tell the reason at this moment, but it always connects with my other life experiences which are yet to happen. Every moment in life is a miracle, so is this YTT journey. The class is reaching the end. As someone who never experienced inversion before, I am proud of my achievements like headstand. In this article, I want to talk about how Jessica helped me to learn headstand. The foundation is all the pushup practices and hamstring stretching poses which happened in the first month. After one month exercise, I was able to enter the first stage of the pose. To begin the pose, one should come into the tabletop position with forearms on the mat, then grab the hands to create a triangle space for placing the crown of the head. Afterwards, one needs to straighten the knees and walk the feet forward so that the hip can be closer to right above the shoulder. Then, lifting one leg back and up, foot pointing to the ceiling and gently hop up. Beginners usually practice this against the wall. I had the problem of round my back initially, Jessica helped me to go up to experience the pose, soon after, I was able to do it on my own. Through the whole practicing process, Jessica was next to me to ensure that I do not fall or hurt myself accidently. From her, I also learned how to become a better yoga teacher, to give students the sense of security. Shuyan 200HR YTT
