Yoga Teacher Training Weekend Four

Friday night kicked off for yoga teacher training with my first experience with a mandala class. I got some new fun tank tops, so I was excited to sport those for the weekend as well. My happy place... lolz.

For those unfamiliar with mandala (like me) here's a more detailed description of what the class entailed. It was very spiritual and moving and reminded me a lot of various Native American events that I have experienced. Always striving to celebrate and heal the earth.

After the flow we went back to the studio to learn more from Erin. Erin has a yoga studio in Sioux City and went through the same teacher training that we did three years ago. To see what an awesome instructor she is in that short of time is awe inspiring. She recently completed her journeyed through the Inkan Medicine Wheel with the Four Wind's Society and became a full Mesa carrier in the Q'uero tradition. If you're like me and have no clue what all of that means, it was a very fascinating evening! We learned about her experience and the things she is passionate about and also spent some time using a special kind of sustainable wood to clear each other (similar to smudging). I didn't want to shower after because it had such a beautiful scent!

Saturday I woke up to my favorite running weather. Cool, rainy, still. Most folks were thrilled the weather was dreary, since we've had some truly sunny and gorgeous weekends where we've been "stuck" inside the studio for training. But for me, all I wanted to do was go run for a couple of hours.

sigh.

Luckily, I was treated to an awesome yoga flow to start the day, and really spoke to this runner girl: Awaken the Psoas!

This class was led by Melanie who is from Omaha with the teacher training trainers. She is an anatomy guru and was here to cover that section of our lectures. The class was awesome, but really hard for me, because my psoas are incredible TIGHT. I left the class feeling a lot looser than normal, and wished that I could have taken notes on the flow to do daily!

Then we settled in for anatomy. This was one of the sections I was most excited to learn about, and Melanie did not disappoint. I love learning from people that are incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about what they're discussing. I learned so much from her.

I also got hit on by this creep.

After class, Ollie enjoyed some mom and pug time. I laid on the couch and within moments she was parked in this spot.

Sunday started with an hour long flow and then we discussed the ethics of yoga and the business side of yoga with the yoga studio owner. It was really interesting and made me realize that I don't ever want to own a studio. :P (Or a business in general for that matter, man, what a lot of work! I'll stick to my library.)

We also discussed our areas of passion with the group. My list is ever evolving and I'm fully aware that I'd need eleven lifetimes to accomplish it all. 

During the lecture portion, Becca constructed this amazing yogi recliner and I had to snap a picture to document it (and to remember it for future training weeks. What a smart chica.

The latter half of the day was spent practice teaching in small groups and then teaching the larger group. The more we practice, the more I feel like I could actual teach yoga (it's the darnest thing, I tell you). I really excited to see where this journey could take me.