What I Didn’t Expect to Learn in Yoga Teacher Training

written by Aishwarya V

When I first decided that I wanted to learn yoga formally, all I thought about was how yoga could add to my resume as a psychologist and help me showcase my extracurricular development. So, therefore, when I signed up for the Yoga Teachers Training (YTT), I had a very pragmatic, logical and surface-level expectation: I thought that I would be becoming fit through movement and meditation. I also thought it'd help if I felt confident to start teaching at the end of the course.

I have always questioned my path in life, and being a student of psychology, that kind of reflection and the desire to know more about myself always burns within. In this sense, the YTT was my cup of tea, even though I hadn’t anticipated that we would delve deeper into philosophy and how its roots help navigate life’s challenges, along with the physical practice. In retrospect, it’s safe to say that I was two different people: one before I entered and one after I finished the training.

As I went through the YTT-200, my experiences moulded me; I sensed a steady shift in my perspectives towards life and the practice of yoga by itself. I was set on an intriguing journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance, of which I’m still learning how to be kinder to myself and allow myself to go with the flow. My learning from the YTT has stayed with me in many unimaginable ways. Whenever I feel discouraged or irritated by the fact that my body isn’t moving the way I want to or my day isn’t going all that well, I keep going back to a conversation that we had during one of those invigorating classes. The teacher told me, “Stay with where your body is at in the present moment and learn to become an active observer of everything that is happening to you in life, without any judgment”. 

This serves as a reminder to just observe my reactions and internal happenings instead of

Stressing to relax?!

being quick to react, then take a step back and then give an informed response. Another important takeaway from the YTT is my journey with the paradoxical nature of relaxation. While on the surface, relaxation seems like something anybody can easily do (I mean, after all, who can’t relax and spend time doing nothing?) I began to realise that true relaxation is a proactive process. I understood that it begins where I learned to accept the discomfort and the chaos of tangential thoughts, and slowly negotiated with it and allowed tranquillity to settle without force. Relaxation, to me now, is a practised skill. I found that the body is the key to getting to the mind, which holds all the secrets to consciousness and the unchangeable truth. 

My fellow kindred spirits

I was a part of an interesting cohort of women of different ages, of whom I was the youngest (the others were at least 15 years older than I). Each of them brought stories, life experiences and had their own distinctive reasons for being there:  one wanted to explore yoga as another career option, one was there to learn philosophy and how yoga could help them navigate life’s curveballs, and for another, this was the next step in the self-discovery journey. Yet, there was a kindred spirit of a shared experience, where all of us were able to create a space for each other to express ourselves and be vulnerable, adding a layer of depth and a sense of community and belonging that I cherish to this day.

I learnt that it is very reductionistic to think of the YTT-200 as just a course that would help you ‘teach’ the practice of yoga. I would like to think of it as an experience that transforms your worldview, challenges you to greet parts of yourself that you have refused to acknowledge, and forces you to push the boundaries of what you thought you were capable of, both physically and mentally. It invites you into the enchanting world of philosophy and existential questioning, where, like peeling the layers of an onion, you begin to discover layers of yourself, with every stretch and bend. 

So, who should do this course? Anyone who is looking to take a step towards knowing themselves better while having fun and making new friends. I would say, “Don’t think twice and jump right in. It’s a rollercoaster, but you’ll walk away with a greater understanding of yourself and also much more physically fit! If you want to be all of the above and more, this might be the right thing for you!”