Why take a yoga teacher training. (Maybe you end of teaching. Maybe you end up living.)
You may have always dreamed of teaching yoga; you may be at a place in your practice where you feel you need some guidance to go deeper; maybe you are in the doldrums of life but always feel better after a yoga asana practice and wonder why that is. If so, a yoga teacher training may be for you.
At Blossom Yoga School, we have offered 200-hr yoga teacher trainings since 2018 and 300-hr (advanced) yoga teacher trainings since 2021. We love this work; we love these incredible thinkers and doers who come through our program; and we love watching the evolution that happens during teacher training and beyond. We’ve graduated lots of heartfelt humans from our programs who go on to…live life!
Over 11 cohorts of trainees, here are some reasons people joined our program:
Desire to know more about yoga, beyond just the asanas (postures). There’s A LOT more to it than the practice on the mat!
To deepen your personal practice. Cultivating a more well-rounded understanding of the practice will naturally lead to a richer personal yoga practice. It doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll nail that posture that you’ve always struggled with (although you might), but it will absolutely lead you to more intention, more discovery, and a more thorough understanding of your body, your mind, and your soul. In fact, it may lead you to taking your practice of yoga well beyond the yoga mat.
To learn how to cope with stress and anxiety. Yogic philosophy recognizes the implications of being in the human condition, and many parts of the practice - from postures to breathing to meditation to mindfulness - help reduce or alleviate anxiety and stress. A yoga teacher training exposes us to those practices and keeps us in consistency, allowing us to cultivate a lifestyle that includes daily work with these practices.
To connect with other people and yourself. Yoga teacher trainings typically take place over many months, allowing participants to meet new people, develop friendships, and discover more about themselves. Regular study, practice, understanding, and discussions within a yoga teacher training can help put us in conversation with our Highest Self. From this, we express ourselves authentically, communicate with others from a place of compassion and acceptance, and even align our lives with who we really are rather than based on the external forces of society.
To learn alternative ways to be well and feel whole - physically, mentally, and spiritually. Yoga philosophy carries ancient wisdom, but in our contemporary western lifestyles, we seem to focus only on the postures, meditation, and/or the breathwork. Further, we aren’t always exposed or encouraged to adopt wellness as our default. Instead, we seek treatment for ailments and take up health fads that may not consider the whole person. Yoga teacher training illuminates yogic wisdom and ALL parts of the practice and philosophy and can support participants in creating ritual and routine around simple, whole person wellness.
Change your life! Ok. That may be a little inflated! But a yoga teacher training can help us clear our perspective, discover what we are made to do and who we are made to be in the world. From there, we develop compassion and acceptance; we are able to exist in the present moment (rather than being weighed down by the past or worried about the future); we become committed to a life of evolution and healing; and because of all of this, we might just live with a little more ease.
My first yoga teacher training was a long time ago. I went because, after 12 years of practice, I felt like I was missing something and could benefit from some professional guidance. I knew yoga was powerful, but my practice was falling short of putting me in that power. After an 8-month program, I walked away changed. I still looked the same. My practice on the mat was maybe a little bit stronger. But my training and my teachers in that program put me on a path of devotion, of understanding (myself and others), and of continued growth and healing. I didn’t set out to teach yoga. It just kind of happened in a pretty big way and over many years. I credit my teachers and my experience in yoga teacher training for that. They and the program led me to take the next right step. Again and again.
I still train as a way to sharpen my skills. I’m curious, and I love to learn! But along with the information and knowledge I’ve gained, I’ve also forged some of the most critical and strong friendships I’ve ever known. Along with the applications and deep understanding of yoga I’ve gained from trainings, I’ve been reminded over and over what my gifts are and that applying them to everything I do doesn’t necessarily make life easy, but living with purpose is essential to me and has a rippling effect. Everything that I’ve learned, practiced, studied, and assimilated from my yoga teacher trainings has and will continue to allow me to live a heartfelt life, to approach the human condition with resilience and openness, and to stay in accordance with my True Self.