Signing Up for a 200 Hour Transformation

I first considered getting yoga teacher certified when I quit my job in 2009. It felt like a way to take my practice to a deeper level, learn more about the philosophy behind it,  and potentially offer a break from the corporate world.  Intimidated by the commitment level, I decided not to and was fortunate to find my current job that did resonate with me – but also left me very little time to do a 200-hour training course.

Fast forward to moving to Potrero Hill in 2012 and having to find a new yoga studio. I found Yoga Fountain by searching for the closest studio to our house (a very robust analysis) and fell in love with Pretzel – a veteran yoga teacher and former owner. She was everything you might expect a yoga teacher to be – nose pierced, Sanskrit tattooed, very real, zen, and a little “out there,” but all of this in the most authentic way. In the most blaze ways, she would say the deepest things like the day she laughed and said “Don’t take life so seriously. We’re all just passing through” or  one of my other favorites, "while your're in this position, go ahead and kiss your knees - they do alot for you and you never thank them."

Her classes were physically challenging and as someone who appreciates both the mental and physical“workouts” of yoga, I like a hard class.

So when I found out she was offering a yoga teacher training, I was really excited. But again I wasn’t sure I could fit that much time into my schedule – work was demanding and I was planning a wedding in a 3-month time span right before the training started. Again, I passed.

Pretzel she announced in January that she would be doing her last training. This time I didn’t hesitate. I instantly thought of an article I had just read about happiness, in which one thing that was “proven” to make people happy was learning new things. I knew had a desire to learn more about yoga.  There were still a lot of reasons I could have found not to do it – transitioning to a new role at work, newly wedded bliss , my sister’s baby on the way, but I knew this time, I wanted to make the space and the time to do it.

So I signed up. Nervous, uncertain, and not totally sure I could teach as wonderfully as I have been taught by several teachers along the way. But also totally excited. When I told a current student I had signed up, she said “That’s great. You’re going to love it. It will transform you.”

I thought, transform me? Transform me how? Physically? Mentally? Spiritually? I’ve been through alot in my life – not sure how this could transform me more than some of those things did.

But one thing I have learned from yoga is that nothing can happen unless you are open to it. So I resolved to be open to a transformation. Not to expect it or force it, but also not to doubt it.

So we’ll see what happens. Here we go…!