A Yoga Intensive

When they called it a 'yoga teacher training intensive' they weren't wrong... Intensive it sure is. This morning we woke with the sun to walk to the area where we will practice for the next three weeks. It is a wooden open sided hut covered in flowers and overlooking rice fields: translation, it's beautiful. The cottages we are staying in are called 'Ananda', meaning 'bliss', and doing yoga in this setting makes it very clear to see why. After some morning meditation we begun a two hour class followed by a short break. We then went back to learn some theory, had lunch, learnt more, ate dinner and went back to our rooms to do some homework for tomorrow. I must admit I'm very tried (and I'm not sure how much longer I can pass it off as jet lag), but I am still having so much fun.

There was a large focus on spirituality in our teaching today. We learnt a lot about the philosophy of yoga, it's purpose and traditions. I found some of this quite challenging. It is very new to me and was at some points quite confusing. But I think it's great to try and translate everything into something more tangible and understandable for me. One great explanation of yoga I heard today was how it is finding 'quiet in movement'. For me this has two meanings, on one hand it is stilling the mind there and then by concentrating on the flow of postures, and on the other it is helping to find stillness in the craziness of our everyday lives. I think that one of my favourite things yoga helps to teach is being present in the moment - by doing that it stops anxiety and worry; it helps you to live to the fullest. So maybe I shouldn't be worrying about how hard the teacher training will be. Instead I need to enjoy every second spent in this beautiful place, because I am so lucky.