Photography: Adriana Salazar Caro
When I first heard that I had been given the opportunity to take Inspire Yoga’s 300hr training, I couldn’t stop thinking about what a huge opportunity it would be for me to become who I want to be on my mat. Of course that was followed by a lot of questions.
Will I be good enough? Will I be able to handle all of this while I work, teach, and go to school? Will I be the only 20 year old idiot full of self doubt, and a constant stream of perceived self crises? Will I be the only one asking 10 million questions? Can I do this? Of course I can do this. Just like how I can write this post even though I procrastinated for weeks because I thought I wouldn’t be an adequate blogger. Do you see a pattern here…?
Before walking into the studio for the first meeting my heart was racing just thinking about all of the beautiful, perfect, and thriving women I was about to train with for 9 months. Then I remembered the first yoga class I took when I was 14 – same thoughts racing through my head (will I be enough). That group of women turned out to be the biggest platform for growth and healing I could have ever asked for during a time when I really needed it. Much like this time in my life, which is full of self inquiry and doubt.
After the first Friday evening with the group all of my fears disappeared, as I was greeted with warm smiles, hugs, and laughs from an enchanting group of ladies that I am now grateful are in my life. This time, we will all grow together.
I’m still a newcomer to Inspire Yoga so the first weekend was a lot of observation for me. I quickly learned how creative and authentic their teachers are. This was especially true of the lovely Adri Kyser, who lead our first module focusing on assisting and making a connection with your students. I would definitely vouch for Adri being the perfect candidate to lead that part of the training. She made each of us feel important, and empathized with each of our stories, answering all of our questions with careful thought and grace.
I especially like learning new assists, because I appreciate that extra “love” you get from the instructor, so I like to be able to give that too. Practicing the new tricks we learned on each other was a fantastic way to get to know the group, and build trust in one another. “Is this where my hand goes…?” What a great icebreaker!
As we practiced our awesome new assists on each other I began to notice that each of us was comfortable and capable of giving different levels of touch. The lightly stepping, graceful Ranjani offered a much more subtle, empathetic assist, than Leanne the funny, body intuitive dance teacher.
Each with their own style and voice as a teacher. Each with something great to offer.
We touched on that too, before the closing of the first weekend. What does it mean to awaken our inner teacher, and to step into our true selves? Big intimidating questions for me. I still don’t know what “me” is sometimes, especially when I’m teaching, but I have this strong feeling that I’m on some sort of mission…
The second weekend with my group of 300hr trainees, (who are all impressively successful and inspiring by the way) was lead by the hilarious (and quotable) Tara Munro Pedersen. Seriously, I wanted to write down everything she said and I kind of did so I’ll keep this short. That weekend we focused on anatomy! I can remember the dreaded announcement of an anatomy lecture during my 200hr. We were all thinking, “Oh yay! Good thing I have my iPhone and this manual to hide behind!” Totally not the case for us. Tara brought in her friend Rick Robinette, a seasoned massage therapist, to go through all the bits and pieces with us. From the external intercostals, to the lymphatic system, this guy knew his stuff. The best part – he taught it in a way that normal people (like yoga teachers) could really grasp it. I remember specifically his word play with the different muscle systems, connecting the fascia to the under-armor shirt he was wearing. He really broke it down for us, and made it all very accessible and applicable. A first in anatomy for me.
A theme continued although the topics shifted, the second weekend also touched again on this idea of stepping into our true selves on our mat and discovering what we have to offer the world as teachers of yoga. What I want to develop further, and offer to everyone is this;
>>>A community of empowerment and growth for women through yoga.
My name is Madi, and I invite you to go on this journey with me through Inspire Yoga’s 300hr training.
