Teacher Training: Take the Leap, by Tyler James
I live most of my life in my head. Planning, rationalizing, storytelling. Trying to cope with the strict limits on what I can actually control. I’m a word person, so most of my futile attempts to gain total control over my experience rely on language and concepts. I feel more safe in the abstract, which I think is a kind of shying away from what’s raw and unmanageable in direct experience. Busy thinking, I forget that the most fundamental fact of life in this world is having a body, and our relationship with it doesn’t need words to be deep. Yoga helps me remember, and teacher training at Hothouse was especially effective in reminding me of what’s really real. The process helped me feel more at home in flesh and bone and prepared me to share what I know with others.
If anyone reading this is having doubts about signing up for teacher training due to their flexibility, “skill”, or experience, I want to assure you that it doesn’t matter. I had only been practicing for a little less than a year when I signed up. I dove in because I wanted to commit, and had no plans to actually teach. I just wanted to go deeper into the practice. I was nervous, but I knew it was the right move.
Nothing about my physiology or prior training made me an obvious choice to be a yogi, let alone a yoga teacher. Growing up, I was the kid in gym class who couldn’t even reach the bottom of the sit-and-reach device to get a measurement. When I broke my ankle as a teenager, the doctor who put on my cast informed me that I had “the tightest hamstrings he had ever seen” with genuine awe in his voice. Also, I played sports up through high school and my thinking and feeling around physical activity was tied to competition, so any awkwardness or unfavorable comparison to others was classified as “failure” or “weakness.” Fortunately, yoga, and teacher training specifically, helped shift my orientation around physical activity from competition to exploration, and from judgment to curiosity.
The biggest factor in that shift for me was the culture and community in teacher training. Along with all the moving and breathing and learning, you also get time for authentic conversation and connection with the group. I’d never had a chance to share a practice that was both individual and communal, and it was transformative for me. Throughout the process I felt safe, supported and encouraged. I try to bring that same energy to the classes that I teach now.
Even if you have no aspirations to actually teach a class, teacher training is invaluable for yogis at any point on the path. It provides a framework for understanding the practice, and all of the knowledge is grounded in felt experience. If you’re considering it, I highly encourage you to take the leap, and if you have any questions, I’m happy to answer them!
