My Yoga -- Studying and Exploring

I began my Yoga Teacher Training this summer and am completely enjoying learning more about myself and my yoga practice. As I go through my training, I wanted to share my thoughts and insights along the way.

Last week we began learning about anatomy.  Although it sounds boring and tedious, I found it fascinating. Our book, The Key Poses of Hatha Yoga, shows pictures of the human body performing various yoga poses.

It reminds me of the plasticized bodies seen in an exhibit like Body Worlds, which is at the Denver Museum of Natural History this summer. My sister, Lavender Luz (aka Lori), wrote a post about attending a Body Worlds exhibit. You can check it out here for some cool pictures of plasticized bodies in motion.

Not only does the book show the bodies in various yoga poses, but the muscles are color coordinated to show which ones are stretching and which are contracting. Studying the pictures has helped bring more understanding and depth, both on and off the mat.

Each week during our Yoga Teacher Training, we will have a test to make sure we are grasping the key concepts. As I studied for this week's test, my husband was teasing me because he thought I was studying so I could ace the test.

I want to do well on the test, but my true motivation was that I was enjoying learning about the concepts, studying the diagrams and delving deeper into my own yoga practice.

I KNOW I never felt this interested in courses I had to take in school like statistics, economics or composition. Although some of the concepts in the courses were fascinating, it didn't seem as immediately applicable as what I am learning in my Yoga Teacher Training.

In fact, reading and learning about yoga doesn't feel like studying, but more like exploring.

Today I am grateful for the opportunity to learn more about something I am truly interested in with the hopes of some day teaching and sharing with others what I have learned.

Namaste!