New Year, New You- The One Where I’m a Yoga Teacher

January 9th 2017

lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu~

The day has finally come and I have been waiting for this for so long. As of last Saturday, I officially graduated from yoga teacher training and making my way out into the world as a certified yoga instructor.

The journey to become a teacher has been filled with challenges and roadblocks, but I think that the struggle made the feeling of being done all the more amazing. I am finally able to teach what I love and share my passion for yoga with people in a safe and professional way.

I want to take this moment to give a little background as to what yoga means to me and why this accomplishment is so important to me:

I started yoga at the beginning of college as my way of staying active and getting involved on campus. I would attend a yoga class on Tuesday evenings and occasionally on Thursday evenings when I would stay on campus for the weekend. It wasn’t until junior year of college that I got really into yoga, practicing at home daily and looking for a studio to join. I joined my first yoga studio in late January of 2016 and that was really a huge turning point for me. I would go to the studio every weekday for 1-3 hours and practice and refine my asana poses. I began getting into the philosophy aspect too, learning mantras and mudras, and studying up on chakras.

The prospect of being a yoga teacher was brought to my attention in the summer of 2016 and from then on I was determined to get there one day. After I finished college in May of 2017, I signed up for training and now I’m here.

Yoga has given me a new way to express myself, manage my anxiety, and live a more educated and fulfilling life, full of inspiration and hope for the future. I came to yoga as a way to feel involved and found more than I ever expected. I have found a safe space, new friends, a new outlook on life, a new appreciation for a body I once hated, and a reason to keep going. I have found that the lessons I have learned on my mat have followed me into my personal life and vice versa.

Being that I just graduated, I am nervous for what lies ahead but excited to grow as a teacher. I hope to start posting some more yoga inspired content throughout the new year and I think this new chapter of my yoga journey will really help me create helpful content.

I am looking forward to share this gift I worked hard to manifest and help people who read my blog or take my classes.

Jess~