B L O G

Before coming to the YTT class, I could not do pushups, never imaged myself doing Chaturanga Dandasana (Four-limbed Staff Pose). After one month, magically, this pose becomes very easy and natural for me. Jessica gave us very detailed step-by-step practicing guide to help us building our shoulder and core muscles.   I started with knees down pushups with block under my chest, then gradually reduced the height of the block. Initially, I had some problems like elbows going outwards and lacking strength in my upper arms. I tried to engage my whole arms during each practice and be present. I also could not do the 3 sets in one video and had to take break after each set. During the process, I learned how to listen to my body and be comfortable with it.   After one week of practicing 3 sets of 10 easy push-ups and one minute plank, I could already see huge improvement in my following class. By simply following the homework instructions, one can really surprise himself with the things he could achieve.   Our body is adaptive, don’t overthink, focus and practice, you will reach the goal!   Shuyan 200HR YTT Jul’21 Weekend

I felt more confident; however, I wasn’t confident about my abilities, but I am now confident in accepting my limitations and flaws.   We started to practice Pincha Mayurasana. Most of my batch mates could hit the pose; however, I have difficulty tucking my tailbone when inverted. This resulted in me having an arched back that affected my balance. I was frustrated, such an easy task of tucking in the tailbone, and I simply couldn’t do it when inverted. However, this frustration did not stay for long. I reminded myself to embrace my issues and continue to work on my limitations.   When I am writing this post, I am still unable to get into the pose fully. However, I no longer feel frustrated, and in fact, I am comfortable with my progress, and I believe I will correct my issues eventually get into the pose.   This week’s highlight wasn’t hitting any new or sexy poses, but instead, it was observing how I could get into poses with greater ease. What has yoga taught me: “Progression over Perfection.”   Titus 200HR YTT May’21 Weekday

One of the reasons I always enjoyed studio class for all sorts of workouts is community presence. As doubts constantly came to my mind, I am grateful to Jessica and my batchmates for their positive energy and sincerity. We are not here to compete to see who is better than the other but to learn and progress together.   “I can’t do it!” gradually became “not yet.”   Things started to fall into place as we journey into weeks 2 and 3 of YTT. Challenging physical poses became easier, teaching instructions were clearer and smoother, and humor and laughter started to fill the studio.   It is possible to lack love, but there is no such situation as an abundance of love.   In this uncertain world we live in. We need more love, encouragement, and positive vibes. What has yoga taught me: “Community! Uplift each other, extend a hand, show more love and exercise grace.”   Titus 200HR YTT May’21 Weekday

One of the earlier assignments was learning Sun Salutation. BORINGGGGGG!!!!! That’s the thought that immediately came to my mind. We were tasked to teach in the subsequent days. How difficult can this be? Mountain pose, forward fold, plank, Chaturanga, down dog, etc. I will ace it for sure!   Spending a few minutes the night before to memorize the instruction, I arrived at Telok Ayer feeling confident and un-challenged.   Despite seeing how my batchmates fumbled on our first attempt into teaching sun salutation, I was still feeling confident.   Within ten seconds of my routine, my world came tumbling down. I felt defeated once again. Defeated not by anything but by my ego and pride.   I deemed myself as an excellent multi-tasker. However, I just could not adapt and function. My brain was overload with the tasks. I was doing the physical practice, reciting the Sanskrit, providing step-by-step instructions, etc. I was in a mess.   Once again, I ended the day questioning myself if I should be here in the first place.   What yoga had taught me: The famous Chinese saying: “台上一分钟　台下十年功” one minute of performance on stage, ten years of hard work off stage   Titus 200HR YTT May’21

In the past, I have been a casual and inconsistent practitioner of yoga. As mentioned in one of my previous blog posts, I would mostly attend Yin or Restorative classes. Being a naturally sensitive being, I used to feel very overwhelmed by the fast pace of life in Singapore. I constantly felt overwhelmed with information and the busyness of life here.   After a series of challenging life events, I have had the opportunity to discover ‘the power of now’. Literally, my favorite book by Eckhart Tolle has this title. With this truth comes the power of the breath, being the observer watching your thoughts and meditation. I think this is why slow, meditative movements like in Yin and Restorative yoga have always been my favorite. I am now discovering a new found love for Hatha and Vinyasa flow too. I realize they have great benefits and this YTT journey has truly taken my out of my comfort zone, which is a great place to grow.   YTT at Yoga Mandala has gone beyond yoga poses and we have discussed topics like Grounding, Ayurveda, Pranayama and Chakras. These are all topics that I have had an interest to learn more about. I now realize that they can overlap within a Yogic lifestyle and I have been so excited to learn and absorb all the knowledge and information shared with us at Yoga Mandala. On one particular day, we learnt about Yoga Nidras. After learning about it, we had the opportunity to experience it. It was so relaxing and I remember realizing that I had almost ignored myself in the business of adult lifestyle in Singapore. Experiencing the Yoga Nidra allowed real me-time. Every part of my body got a chance to experience some awareness and in turn real relaxation. How wonderful it would be to be able to teach others about these life changing exercises that can help to relax the mind, calm the nervous system and bring a sense of stillness beneath everyday activities. I am grateful for the YTT course and what it entails.   It will always be a challenge to find balance in the hustle and bustle of the city life. I hope that with a fresh perspective and deepened knowledge about meditation, Pranayama’s and Yoga, that I can prioritize to set time aside for myself. This way, I can show up and be better for others around me too.   Tiara 200HR YTT May’21 Weekday

Looking back the past 4 weeks, it has been an adventure. I know it’s going to be tough but I didn’t know it’s going to be to so intense. I almost give up at 1 point. First was Zoom lesson and secondly teaching in class. Public speaking was never my thing. I get really nervous when I had to speak in front of a lot of people. After my second class today, I don’t feel as nervous as my first. I’ll always be nervous but I guess the more you do it, the more you’ll get used to it. Teaching around your friends makes you feel a lot less stressful and I’m surprised to say that I had fun with them today.   I’ve been practicing yoga for a long time, more than 15 years mostly with Fitness First. It’s not great for yoga but I get most of my other workout fixes there. I did stopped yoga for awhile though when I was trying to start a family. Real Estate doesn’t really work out for me so why not enroll in teacher training course? I have been doing it anyways so why not learn something new (teaching part). I’m a perfectionist, why not learn more in-depth about yoga, learn how certain poses works, how to hold a pose and techniques to do it etc. Also, some teachers doesn’t really care to teach the right technique and screams when there’s only 3 students in the class. I was thinking to myself, if I’m a teacher, that’s not how I’d like to conduct my class.   Jessica has always been very cheerful and welcoming whenever we stepped into the studio. We learnt a lot from her the past few weeks. She’s been very encouraging even though my teaching part has gone south. What she said stuck in my head, “I’m not looking for perfection but improvements” I’m totally the opposite, everything must be perfect, everything must be in orderly manner. My OCD trait is there but not extreme. I give myself lot pressure in life all the time. I’m constantly stressing and worrying about stuff. Everything is fast paced, never really relaxed. What do u expect from someone who’s trained by SQ and working on private jets? Perfection!   What I learnt from this YTT is that we don’t over think things, be happy and go with the flow. I’m still trying to make changes, definitely not easy for me but will definitely try harder. My husband will be shocked to hear this!   And to Alexis, even though you didn’t interact much with us, I know you care. Whenever we have any doubt you will take time and answer our queries. We’re thankful for that. I’m gonna miss all the routines and all the trainings we’ve gone through together every morning in the studio (and eating outside by the park!) when the training ends but I’m sure we will all stay in touch. Thanks for everything!!!   Anna 200HR YTT May’21 Weekday

This YTT has just been a string of breakthroughs one after another, week on week. But my most memorable lesson would have to be the theory session on the spine. We each had a turn to be inspected by our course mates, observing our bodies from head to toe.   Besides my overpronated feet (which I knew about already), we discovered that my hip is rotated and tilted slightly to the left, my right knee is hyperextended at rest, and my shoulders hunch forward. Despite being righthanded, I also appear slightly more muscular on the left side of my back. These, I concluded, were the product of me carrying my son with my left arm for 2, nearly 3 years now.   Besides consciously adjusting my posture throughout the day, I’ve adopted a newfound love for a few asanas to, hopefully, slowly correct these issues.   1) Standing Balances Poses that require you to balance on one leg will help to develop strength in the supporting leg. I have to be extra careful on my right leg to maintain a micro bend in my right knee and continue engaging the muscles in the leg instead of relying on a hyperextended knee. 2) Spinal Twists When performed correctly, spinal twists encourage spinal mobility and can help relieve lower back pain. I've been reminding myself to lengthen the spine before rotating further, to avoid further spinal compression (because of flat back). 3) Single-Arm Strength Building Vasithasana (Side Plank) and its different variations are super helpful in evening out the muscular strength of both sides of the body.   One of the things I love about yoga is how it helps me understand my body better. Every body has some sort of an imbalance, every body has something they have to work on. Now, I plan my sequences for my personal practice with a clear focus on improving my posture and balancing out my strength. Instead of chasing the physical poses, I remind myself that it is more important to consider how I feel and not fixate on how I look.   Nicole 200HR YTT May’21 Weekday

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to test out my hatha vinyasa sequence on my sister and her fiancé. During YTT theory sessions, we’ve been practicing creating multilevel sequences with regressions and progressions, so I was confident that it would be a manageable sequence for my (willing and enthusiastic) participants.   What I did not foresee were the old injuries that my sister's fiancé came with. He had broken his left elbow while riding a bike at six years old, lost a bit of his hamstring to a knee cap reconstruction, and had a bad lower back from daily computer work. These injuries made most of my sequence, even at beginner level, difficult for him. It was also a massive challenge for me to think of regressions for him and even adapt my cues to guide him as well.   Standing balances were difficult on his left knee, but we realised it was because he was hyperextending or "locking" his knee to maintain his balance. Constant reminders to maintain a micro bend in his knee were necessary to have him engage the muscles around the knee and in his quads.   Poses that required him to place his knee on the floor and put weight on his knee, like Low Crescent Lunge or Half Splits (Ardha Hanumanasana) were also painful for him. For Low Crescent Lunge with knee on the ground, we adapted it to a Lizard Lunge with knees off the ground, keeping him stable with his hands on blocks on the floor but still allowing him to feel a stretch in his front leg's hamstrings and back leg's hip flexors. I changed Half Split to Janu Sirsanana, and this allowed him to feel the same stretch in his extended leg’s hamstring and in his lower back without worrying about the pain in his knee.   I believe yoga can be for everybody (and every body), but you need to respect your body and its limits and take regressions where necessary to strengthen and stretch the body safely.   Nicole 200HR YTT May’21 Weekday