Anonymous asked: Hi! I'd like to ask you when you first became interested in yoga and what made you decide to become a teacher. What kind of training did you have to go through and how long did it take you? I know it is a lot of questions and sorry if they are very personal. Don't feel like you have to answer if you don't want to. In any case: thank you!
I’ve been interested in Thai Chi, martial arts for a long time but when I did try them many years ago, I enjoyed them but found something was missing for me. After a while I stopped doing them. I tried to join a yoga class in London many years ago but the person I spoke to made yoga seem like some kind of elitist thing. I decided that it was not for me. About six years a go, I started to go a local yoga class. I enjoyed it and it was nothing like the lady had explained to me all those years ago - shame. I would have started yoga much sooner! I think you have to find the right person to teach you yoga. They need to have a good mental attitude, it needs to be kept simple and fun. People don’t like complicated things. Yoga is not about doing all the fancy asanas you see in magazines and videos. The ultimate goal of yoga is to prepare us for meditation but I accept many people do yoga for other reasons and that’s fine. Whether you do it for the physical, mental, spiritual part or a combination of all three, yoga has much to offer to us all.
I’m not really a yoga teacher - I do it part time. I got into that by ‘accident’. Our yoga teacher was going away on holiday and they seemed to think I was good at yoga! I took some of his classes while he was away, that was about four years ago. I teach my own class once a week, otherwise I’m just a fill-in teacher when our main teacher is not around. These days I much prefer to do on my own, rather than go to class. I feel I get more out of it. As for doing it full time - I’m not sure. I do enjoy the teaching. I’ve not taken any formal teaching courses. I’ve experienced a few different teachers, done some yoga in India at a yoga university in Bangalore. One day when I have some time and money, I might go do a teacher training course. I’m a Thai yoga massage therapist and I think for the moment I prefer to pursue that. The main thing is that you have to be passionate about whatever you want to do. Namaste and breathe!
