So my intro post may have seemed a bit of ramble to get to the point of yoga. But that is a me, rambled thoughts all over the place, ambitious and simply just busy.
So let me explain why I chose to blog about yoga.
I've been doing yoga seriously since I arrived in Canada. It's extremely accesible here in Toronto, and some days I walk out the door catching a glimpse of myself carrying my yoga bag and think, wow I really fit in the typical Toronto 'look'. A city where its cool to be seen in your workout gear. Where your workout gear labels are a sign of status and fashion. Where I'm from, gym clothes are for the gym, and if you allow yourself to be seen in those comfy clothes, you're really making a statement, or quite frankly, a slob. But now even I'm drawn in to the fancy Lululemon and Nike tank tops, and admittedly they are not even that comfy any more, but look pretty and cute. When people asked me what I wanted for Christmas, there was no surprise of the answer of workout clothes, and sweaters to wear over the top, plus a yoga bag. Obviously my boyfriend says I have enough, but I'm sure I'm not the only yogi who can confirm you never do.
That besides I had tried yoga when in England at gyms and when I lived in Mauritius for 14 months, I had a Rodney Yee DVD which I practiced a few mornings a week. I'd never been in a yoga environment or met anyone with a real passion for it. My background is dancing, but I stopped seriously dancing when I finished university in 2008. Street, ballet, hiphop and cheerleading were to name a few styles, but I never believed I excelled in any. I watch video's of myself now and believe I look gangly and out of control and I'm never surprised I didn't make it as a professional as once hoped. But I always loved to dance. I loved how it could bring so many people together to share a passion. To try things, to fail, to laugh and to praise, I belonged to a great community. But my travelling bug I guess stopped that as I moved further and further away from those opportunities to find people who shared that passion. Plus my workaholic attitude gave me a schedule too busy to commit to such a hobby.
Arriving in Toronto in 2010 I was adamant I would meet people out of work and find a sport or activity where I could meet people. The problem was, and still is, I suck at any types of team sports. I get highly embarrassed of my efforts and take comments of team mates or opposition to heart. Even when I subbed in a football (soccar) game at the last minute, I still remember each moment of it and still frustrate myself with such clumsiness. I joined the gym and took on swimming for fitness more seriously. I found a great yoga instructor at the gym, who's class I attended every Friday night religiously. I loved her classes and she made it so fun. I loved her passion and the way she tried to learn something about each student in her class. Before I knew it I had tried most classes at the gym and the equipment thing was getting boring that I was then only going to the yoga classes. Now I know what some people think, gym yoga is not real yoga, and at first when I told people I practiced at the gym people would tell me so. So much so I startred to defend why I went. I then gave up the membership and took on the internet deal frenzy crazy deals. My plan was to try as many different places for as cheap as possible to stay healthy. I then started to learn something very important, for me it doesn't matter where you practice yoga, it's about the teachers teaching you. I went to some studios and they were nothing compared to my teacher from the gym, I found classes boring, unchallenging and as a teacher, the teaching style had everything to do with me, and most of the time I wasn't finding that connection.
Then one day I bought a coupon for Fireflow Yoga. It was perfect, not only did I find a great deal but the location was awesome (near to my place), and the times of classes worked well for me. So the class I first attended was the Friday night Vinyasa. I remember it well, I remember Shareen and I remember the fulfilment after the class. I liked it that people were regulars, that the standard of the class was high, the lessons were clearly planned and the flow of poses linked together.
After my deal time was up, I thought I would definitely sign up, but financially I was nervous about committing. I still continued with yoga, but was never really fulfilled. I was going to stay flexible and to try and relax. Then another challenge commenced. I signed up for a marathon. The training ruled my life, and I restricted myself to yoga, as I didn't want to observe my inflexibility increasing and even take away from training time.
As the time grew nearer to the marathon, I did what I seem to always do, plan the after. Plan the next stage in my life. What would I learn now? How could I better myself? What was on the bucket list?
I had always toyed with the idea of yoga teaching, but never looked into seriously. But I started to wonder how something like this could support my regular work. I work with people physically, I teach about breath control, movement and direct a class of children. Yoga I saw was a fun way, and even if it couldn't support my role directly, I was interested how such a program could help this audience. Could it be accesible for them? Is this something I could do?
Then I decided it was time to get back on the bandwagon of yoga and this time I knew I didn't want try and save a buck, but to go where I enjoyed. You pay for the knowledge and service you receive. I was heading back to Fireflow the week the marathon finished. Then looking into their schedule I came across the teacher training with Shareen. Her name had stood out a year ago when I first went, and I knew I would definitely respect all she could teach. I wanted to do it so badly, but there was so much to consider. Could I make it work with my schedule? How do I tell Matt I would be busy every other weekend, when we only ever have one day off together anyway? How could I fund it? But the more I thought, the more I knew I wanted it. I knew when that start date came around, I knew I would regret it. The more I looked, the more I liked the format and layout of the course. The more I looked I noticed what a phenomenal deal it was (unlimited access to the studio while training plus all the hours to eventually get RYT (registered yoga teaching) status.
So in September I began. I only signed up a few weeks before and I was nervous as I really believed everyone was going to be this amazing yogi and then regular old me. But I was excited that I had a goal and a focus. We had reading material and a study guide. It had been years since I did anything like it. It turned out, as a group we all had very different backgrounds and I wasn't the only newbie there. I loved the studio. It was so welcoming, and a perfect setting to prepare and relax you before and after a class. I knew the first weekend I'd made the right choice!
So let me explain why I chose to blog about yoga.
I've been doing yoga seriously since I arrived in Canada. It's extremely accesible here in Toronto, and some days I walk out the door catching a glimpse of myself carrying my yoga bag and think, wow I really fit in the typical Toronto 'look'. A city where its cool to be seen in your workout gear. Where your workout gear labels are a sign of status and fashion. Where I'm from, gym clothes are for the gym, and if you allow yourself to be seen in those comfy clothes, you're really making a statement, or quite frankly, a slob. But now even I'm drawn in to the fancy Lululemon and Nike tank tops, and admittedly they are not even that comfy any more, but look pretty and cute. When people asked me what I wanted for Christmas, there was no surprise of the answer of workout clothes, and sweaters to wear over the top, plus a yoga bag. Obviously my boyfriend says I have enough, but I'm sure I'm not the only yogi who can confirm you never do.
That besides I had tried yoga when in England at gyms and when I lived in Mauritius for 14 months, I had a Rodney Yee DVD which I practiced a few mornings a week. I'd never been in a yoga environment or met anyone with a real passion for it. My background is dancing, but I stopped seriously dancing when I finished university in 2008. Street, ballet, hiphop and cheerleading were to name a few styles, but I never believed I excelled in any. I watch video's of myself now and believe I look gangly and out of control and I'm never surprised I didn't make it as a professional as once hoped. But I always loved to dance. I loved how it could bring so many people together to share a passion. To try things, to fail, to laugh and to praise, I belonged to a great community. But my travelling bug I guess stopped that as I moved further and further away from those opportunities to find people who shared that passion. Plus my workaholic attitude gave me a schedule too busy to commit to such a hobby.
Arriving in Toronto in 2010 I was adamant I would meet people out of work and find a sport or activity where I could meet people. The problem was, and still is, I suck at any types of team sports. I get highly embarrassed of my efforts and take comments of team mates or opposition to heart. Even when I subbed in a football (soccar) game at the last minute, I still remember each moment of it and still frustrate myself with such clumsiness. I joined the gym and took on swimming for fitness more seriously. I found a great yoga instructor at the gym, who's class I attended every Friday night religiously. I loved her classes and she made it so fun. I loved her passion and the way she tried to learn something about each student in her class. Before I knew it I had tried most classes at the gym and the equipment thing was getting boring that I was then only going to the yoga classes. Now I know what some people think, gym yoga is not real yoga, and at first when I told people I practiced at the gym people would tell me so. So much so I startred to defend why I went. I then gave up the membership and took on the internet deal frenzy crazy deals. My plan was to try as many different places for as cheap as possible to stay healthy. I then started to learn something very important, for me it doesn't matter where you practice yoga, it's about the teachers teaching you. I went to some studios and they were nothing compared to my teacher from the gym, I found classes boring, unchallenging and as a teacher, the teaching style had everything to do with me, and most of the time I wasn't finding that connection.
Then one day I bought a coupon for Fireflow Yoga. It was perfect, not only did I find a great deal but the location was awesome (near to my place), and the times of classes worked well for me. So the class I first attended was the Friday night Vinyasa. I remember it well, I remember Shareen and I remember the fulfilment after the class. I liked it that people were regulars, that the standard of the class was high, the lessons were clearly planned and the flow of poses linked together.
After my deal time was up, I thought I would definitely sign up, but financially I was nervous about committing. I still continued with yoga, but was never really fulfilled. I was going to stay flexible and to try and relax. Then another challenge commenced. I signed up for a marathon. The training ruled my life, and I restricted myself to yoga, as I didn't want to observe my inflexibility increasing and even take away from training time.
As the time grew nearer to the marathon, I did what I seem to always do, plan the after. Plan the next stage in my life. What would I learn now? How could I better myself? What was on the bucket list?
I had always toyed with the idea of yoga teaching, but never looked into seriously. But I started to wonder how something like this could support my regular work. I work with people physically, I teach about breath control, movement and direct a class of children. Yoga I saw was a fun way, and even if it couldn't support my role directly, I was interested how such a program could help this audience. Could it be accesible for them? Is this something I could do?
Then I decided it was time to get back on the bandwagon of yoga and this time I knew I didn't want try and save a buck, but to go where I enjoyed. You pay for the knowledge and service you receive. I was heading back to Fireflow the week the marathon finished. Then looking into their schedule I came across the teacher training with Shareen. Her name had stood out a year ago when I first went, and I knew I would definitely respect all she could teach. I wanted to do it so badly, but there was so much to consider. Could I make it work with my schedule? How do I tell Matt I would be busy every other weekend, when we only ever have one day off together anyway? How could I fund it? But the more I thought, the more I knew I wanted it. I knew when that start date came around, I knew I would regret it. The more I looked, the more I liked the format and layout of the course. The more I looked I noticed what a phenomenal deal it was (unlimited access to the studio while training plus all the hours to eventually get RYT (registered yoga teaching) status.
So in September I began. I only signed up a few weeks before and I was nervous as I really believed everyone was going to be this amazing yogi and then regular old me. But I was excited that I had a goal and a focus. We had reading material and a study guide. It had been years since I did anything like it. It turned out, as a group we all had very different backgrounds and I wasn't the only newbie there. I loved the studio. It was so welcoming, and a perfect setting to prepare and relax you before and after a class. I knew the first weekend I'd made the right choice!
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