Our Top Ten Tips (part 2)
You have decided to go on a yoga teacher training course or you are just on the end and doing your research diligently. Here are some tips that can help you on your yoga journey. If you missed part one, you can read it here.
6. Make Practical Travel Plans
The yoga school will most likely send you a practical list of what to bring with you. Do your own research about the school and surrounding area. Where is the nearest shop for supplies, sight-seeing? Is it remote? How can i get around? Also be practical about the best way to get to the school - train times, plane schedules and things like how far is the train station to the airport. Some schools will connect the students before arrival on an email or chat group. Don't hesitate to dive in and make a friend and travel buddy.
7. Prepare Your Holiday After
You might think it's a great idea to combine your training course with a holiday! You would be wrong and you might be disappointed. Training schedules can be very tight and there is so much to learn within a Yoga Alliance curriculum that you simply won't have time to see the great sights of wherever you are going. Plus, you would be tired from twice daily yoga practice not to mention hands on workshops. Your best bet to enjoy the sights is to plan a few days before or after the training to holiday. Another option is to go on yoga holiday rather than yoga teacher training if this the sort of thing you are looking for.
8. Notify Email and Social Media
Notify your family and friends that you will be away from email and social media during the duration of the course. This is the perfect time for you to introspect and spend some much needed alone time. Even if good internet is available to you at the location of the yoga course, you still might want to get the most out of your experience by having one less thing to do and having more time just to be open to whatever the experience brings.
9. Consider Sanskrit
Some schools will ask that you know the names of the postures in Sanskrit, the ancient language of yoga but there are also some schools where this will not be a requirement. It's a good idea anyway to at least familiarize yourself with the names, or even just the sounds of these Sanskrit names. This could lessen your anxiety about the yoga training course and let you just breeze through and enjoy the experience.
The teachers on the training course will most likely use these terms as well as as the English or use them interchangeably. It is so common to use the Sanskrit names in the yoga world that it makes sense anyway to know a few if you plan to become a good yoga instructor. Top of the list are names of postures in Sanskrit, names of chakras and several concepts relating to yoga philosophy.
10. Bring a Journal.
Make it a practice to write down your thoughts and feelings in a journal on a daily basis. Yoga Teacher Training is a time of growth and self-discovery. You don't want to miss out and forget those nuggets of wisdom that come as a flash o lightning. Writing is also a useful practice to sort out your feelings. Yoga practice shifts your energy system and it is normal for stuck feelings to get shifted. A Yoga Teacher Training in particular can be very intense just because you are doing so much yoga - not the asana practice but chanting, mantra, meditation, pranayama and visualizations. Writing on a journal gives you a positive outlet for these feelings and enables you to harmonize your mental, emotional and physical body.