Teacher Training
Tonight after work, I unofficially started my yoga teacher training. My yoga teacher training at CorePower Yoga doesn’t technically start until February 24th. Part of the required coursework for the eight-week training program includes taking 60 yoga classes in addition to attending a three-hour training session, three times a week. Those 60 classes are roughly equivalent to taking one yoga class everyday over the course of the entire yoga teacher training program. Luckily, I have the option to take 15 of those yoga classes before I start training on the 24th. I opted to get ahead of the game and start taking those 15 classes now because taking 45 yoga classes in 60 days sounded way more feasible than having to take 60 classes in 60 days, especially since I’ll be working full-time during this whole experience.
I took the Hot Power Fusion class with Jill tonight. Cool thing about Jill is that she’s the lead for the Hot Power Fusion Teacher Training I’ll be attending. I wanted to introduce myself to her and felt it appropriate that my first yoga class of teacher training be with her. She was so incredibly nice and very welcoming.
As I walked into the studio I had two intentions – meet Jill and to enjoy the class as much as I could with the nagging headache I’d been battling all day. Jill hooked me up with a couple Advil and I went inside the studio to set up my mat and towel. The class was light as in there were probably less than 10 people, two of them dudes. I refilled my water bottle and lay down on my mat, waiting for class to start. In Bikram Yoga, everyone always lays on their mat with their head towards the front mirror. In this class, most people had their head towards the back wall. I’m not sure if there’s a right or wrong way to lay on your mat before any CorePower Yoga class so I went with what was familiar and laid down with my head towards the front mirror.
Jill started class by sitting in front of everyone and sharing a story that’s basic premise was that anyone can practice yoga, no matter their skill level or physical capabilities. In yoga, there’s something for everybody. I loved hearing the story because as we progressed through class, some negative self-talk circled around in my head about my inflexibility in some of the postures, which lead me to question myself, “Am I going to be flexible enough to be a good yoga teacher?” Then of course some of my confidence got kicked down a notch because I had to look around at the other people in class to see what posture was coming next, where to put my hands and which leg was supposed to be lifted in the air. When we got to the Standing Splits, I really got down on my self because I was nowhere near having either one of my legs straight in the air behind me. I can’t even do the splits on the ground. How in the hell was I suppose to do them in the air?
Up until this point, the only style of yoga I’ve been practicing has been Bikram Yoga. Bikram Yoga is NOT like a box of chocolates because you always know what you’re going to get. With Bikram, you always know what’s coming next. It’s the same sequence every single class of two breathing exercises and 26 postures performed twice in a room heated to 105 degrees with 40% humidity within 90 minutes. I may not be able to do the postures perfectly in Bikram, but I know the sequence like the back of my hand. Because I know what’s coming next, I can really get into the postures and push my body to the edge. In tonight’s class, it was a hot yoga flow. There was some sort of sequence and some of the postures were similar to what I’ve been practicing in Bikram, but they weren’t in the sequence I was used to, not all of them were done twice and the set up for some of the postures was completely different than what I was used to. For example, the transition from Eagle to Balancing Stick was super shaky from me. Not at all what I was used. I fell out of the posture during the transition on both sides. I know. I know. This was only my first class at CorePower, but if we’re being honest here, these were all of the things running through my head, as ridiculous as they may sound.
There was one posture I really enjoyed that isn’t in the Bikram Yoga sequence – the Star posture. This posture was in the standing portion of class, right after the Hot Yoga Triangle and Warrior II posture. The Star posture is done with both legs spread apart and both arms raised up and out into the sky, making the body into a star shape. I don’t know why, but that posture made me smile and it was fun to do.
Fifteen minutes into class, I was sweating. I was wondering how much I would sweat in a Hot Power Fusion class compared to a Bikram Yoga class. Turns out, quite a bit. The studio isn’t nearly as hot as Bikram, but it’s hot enough to get your towel wet and want to towel your face off in-between postures.
One thing very characteristic to a CorePower Yoga class is the mini core workout in the middle of class. There’s nothing like this in Bikram. Once we got to the core portion of class, the music got faster, bass heavy and energetic. Jill played “Crave You” by Flight Facilities during the core workout. I LOVED it. My husband loves this song and hearing it reminded me of him. He’s in Europe right now for the next few weeks for work. It was like he was saying hi to me in class. Definitely put a smile on me and made the core workout a lot more fun. Towards the end of class, I heard a song that sounded similar to David Bowie’s “Space Oddity” and mentally made a note to myself to add the David Bowie song to the playlist for a yoga class I’d teach in the future. I have a feeling I’ll be doing a lot of dream playlist building in my head during yoga teacher training. Music has always been a huge motivator for me in everything I do.
Class #1, Hot Power Fusion (HPF-1)