Hello from India! I'm in my 3rd week of training and I have 6 days of classes left and 6 final exams to prepare for. I'm a little bit worn out from all the studying, but I'm so excited about everything I'm learning.
Yesterday I was interviewed by a Tamil-language TV station about my experience at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram. They wanted to know why a foreigner would come all the way to India to learn about yoga. It's a good question. The answer is that I want to learn directly from the source - KYM is known the world over as the oldest modern yoga school. I feel really blessed to be able to learn from senior teachers who were the direct students of Krishnamacharya and his son, T.K.V. Desikachar.
In my classes I've learned a lot about Indian culture and history. I've learned about The Vedas, a work of knowledge that was compiled around 4,500 BCE, give or take a millennia, which is the oldest known Sanskrit text and which contains information about the teachings of yoga. Isn't it incredible to know that yoga is more than 6,500 years old?
I'm learning the Yoga Sutras (the most important text on yoga) from Mr. Sridharan, who is the seniormost teacher at KYM, a direct student of Krishnamacharya, and a student of Desikachar's for 3 decades. I love the Yoga Sutras - I've been studying them for 10 years. I feel really lucky to have a foundation of knowledge to better understand Mr. Sridharan's teachings.
He is very kind, and funny too. He's a walking anachronism - he wears traditional Indian clothes, sits on a chair with his legs folded up under him, and makes a dense text like the Yoga Sutras come to life with funny examples like how his wireless mouse didn't want to communicate with its receiver (maybe you had to be there). After class this morning he asked me, "Are you happy (with what you learned today)?" I love learning from him.
I've also learned 48 classical asanas so far. We have a few left to go. You might think, Hey Zelinda, don't you already know a lot of asanas? The answer is yes, of course, BUT. In the Krishnamacharya tradition asanas are taught differently for the purpose of maximizing physical and mental benefit. There's a specific way to get into and out of every classical posture, and that is what I'm learning. It's very interesting to understand the reasoning behind these specific sequences.
You can probably tell I'm having a great time learning all this stuff. It really is fascinating and I can't wait to starting bringing this back to The Yoga Room.
And speaking of, please note that our 2017 200-hour Teacher Training program begins next Friday, January 27th! Last call to apply for this year's training, the next round won't begin until January 2018.
One of the great things about our training is that because of the small student-teacher ratio, you effectively get mentored throughout Teacher Training. The faculty (Emily, the director of TT, and I) really get to know our students so that we can help guide you through, identify your strengths, and your areas of opportunity, and guide you onto the right path for you.
And the other thing that I think is really great, is that between Emily and me, we have a very broad background and can instruct our students in a wide range of topics including different styles of yoga, yoga philosophy, anatomy, the business aspects of yoga, and more.
So if you've been thinking about Teacher Training for a while, now might be the right time. And if you know you want to take a Teacher Training, but you're a little bit nervous, I encourage you to go for it. It's life changing, in a very good way. Deepening your practice and deepening your knowledge of yoga opens up a whole new part of you that you may not even realize exists. You can still get into the 2017 training before the first class starts next Friday. Here's the link to the Teacher Training page - you can find the application at the Apply Now button toward the bottom.
Hit reply (or message me if you're reading this on Facebook) and let me know if you have any questions.
XO,
Zelinda
Week 3 in India
