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How yoga teacher training made me a better student

by Ellen McKenzie

My mother introduced me to yoga as a teenager while growing up here in Grand Rapids. From that time my practice has ebbed and flowed, as it does for so many. Despite the fact that I would walk away from my mat for months, sometimes years at a time, I found that my path would somehow always bring me home to yoga. It was this revelation that made me begin to think that I would eventually make a deeper investment in my practice. What that investment was…I did not know.

A few years ago I began to think that this investment might be in the form of teaching. But, I was working a lot, still felt like a novice, and could not rationalize spending the money or the time away from home. So I put the idea at the bottom of my priority list, and did not anticipate it moving up from there anytime soon, or at all.

However, the universe had other plans for me, and in 2008 Viki Distin (Cascade Yoga Studio owner and yoga teacher) asked if I would be interested in participating in a teacher training. Not only was this going to be here in Grand Rapids, it was going to be at CYS - and only one weekend a month. With that being practically too good to be true, I thought I should at least attend the informational meeting. From the day I met Lori Gaspar, I knew I would be in safe and capable hands. She had a way about her that was down to earth, accessible, relatable…real.

In March 2009 training began, and each time we met I could feel myself being drawn deeper and deeper into my practice. At that point I had no real intention of teaching; I just wanted to learn. Lori introduced me to meditation, pranayama, philosophy, and asana in a simple, yet profound, way. This practice that at one time seemed vast and overwhelming, was suddenly becoming something I could understand and apply.

Lori’s training taught me to break down each pose, each breath, each queue, and each thought. I had to think about how I would teach someone else, and in doing so began to truly grasp the awing nature of yoga.

I found that my practice began to seep into my daily life, slowly transforming me in the process. My daily practice became more thoughtful, I began to think differently about the way I interacted with the world, and found that the breadth and depth of yoga was now exciting…not scary. This transformation continues each day as I learn more, dig deeper, and begin to realize the true peace that yoga brings.

More information on Prairie Yoga's teacher training program offered at Cascade Yoga Studio this fall >