Teaching is Learning
Last week, I started my 200hr Yoga Teacher Training certification at Live Yoga in White Rock. Dan Clement is running the course, with guest speakers (Todd Caldecott!!) leading specialised components.
Today is Day 6 of the training. I am completely blown away by the amount and depth of information there is to soak in! With every day comes a huge and boisterous variety of new theory, practical applications and teaching methods to learn and apply.
Before coming in, I had no idea about the detailed philosophical and cultural trends in yoga’s history. I didn’t know about the joints and their movements. I had never heard of the acromion process or what it meant for movement in the shoulder. I knew how lovely physical adjustments were, but not how to do them. I knew what “Downward Facing Dog” looked like, but not how beautiful it sounds in Sanskrit.
With every day compounding more and more inquiries and explorations, the trainees are voraciously taking in as much information as our muscle memory and minds can contain. It is brilliant as a teacher-in-training to have the exposure to someone as amazing as Dan. He always seems to know the answer to every question and never gets impatient with our endless queries (he is teaching public classes at Live Yoga through July – check out their online schedule!).
I am realizing with every passing hour that teaching yoga is all about learning. Yesterday, Carol Wray came in to teach us Restorative Yoga and said, of learning, “it never ends.” She proceeded to lead us through a two-hour practice, before teaching us some of the ins and outs of Restorative Yoga. While I am very excited to learn more about the different styles and how to teach them, it was simply marvellous having an afternoon of supported poses, where my body and mind could relax and feel the simple sweetness of yoga. This practice has so much to give.
Dan Clement, Source: http://www.indigoyoga.ca/
