Could I be a yoga teacher?

November 10, 2010

A couple of months ago, we were in Nicaragua at this amazing house on the beach near the town of San Juan del Sur.  It had been a couple days since we arrived and I missed my mat.  My other two girlfriends on the trip were thankfully also into yoga and we decided to have a home practice to an audio class on my i-pod.

My body responded immediately to the poses, like every muscle was waking up from a long nap, yawning, stretching, ready to start a new day.  Oh yoga, I love you.

The class was a slower practice, good for beginners.  I usually improvise more advanced moves and I knew that my two friends were deeper into the practice as well.  

Without realizing it, I started to walk them through options...adjustments...opportunities to take the pose deeper or into another pose.  And then a thought occured to me...could I actually teach yoga?  Do I know enough?  Do I have what it takes to guide people through this amazing practice that has completely transformed me?

Then, just recently, I ran into a co-worker in the hallway of the office, a fellow yogi and we chatted about my upcoming move to Connecticut this spring.  He mentioned that his sister and her husband do a teacher training in the Hamptons every year and that his fiance had actually just started the program.  She flew from Arizona to New York once a month to spend the weekend in Sag Harbor for training.

His sister, Coleen Saidman Yee, married to Rodney Yee were the teachers.  Rodney Yee?  The guy who I started my practice with on a DVD in my living room before I had the courage to go to a class?  Yes!  He said, "you know Jeni, Hartford is only like 4 hours from the Hamptons..."

The excitment pulsed through me as I once again considered the possibility.  Could I teach yoga?  Could I take training from these two amazing teachers?  Could I drive to the Hamptons for yoga?  Who does that?  Who gets to do that?

My mat now takes me on a journey full circle to becoming a teacher, learning from those who taught me at the very beginning.  Another amazing piece to the puzzle drops into my plan for expansion.  As I start the planning for my cross country move in the next five months, I can't help to wonder what else is in store for me, both on and off my mat.

Namaste,

Jeni