When I first began my YTT journey, I had so many doubts about my abilities
and fears of failing. My whole purpose for embarking on this YTT was more
than what I had been telling everyone – it was beyond just “deepening my
practice” or opening myself up to teaching opportunities. It was a challenge for
myself, to push myself physically, mentally & emotionally. It was always about
growth of the mind, body & spirit, and a time I set aside to “find myself”.
The first week of YTT at TYM really tested & challenged me on each of those
aspects. I was not used to waking up so early and having such a consistent
practice. On average I used to practice twice or thrice a week so adjusting to
five-day schedule was huge shock to my body, I even fell asleep at 8pm for
the first few days! Each day I gained new aches – legs, core, arms and
essentially my body was broken by Friday.
Apart from breaking down the postures for Surya Namaskar and getting into
the details, we learnt about meditation & Yoga Nidra. Although I had dabbled
in having a daily meditation habit a few years ago, getting my mind to quieten
down and organise my thoughts / focus solely on my breath was so difficult.
Yoga Nidra also made me reflect on karmic patterns and bad habits I had
learned over the years. I never thought much about Yoga Nidra’s benefits
apart from just relaxation but after really taking Yogacharya Arunkumar’s
guided Yoga Nidra seriously, I felt like it could really be a huge tool in helping
me have an emotional breakthrough.
