Personal Practice

As a part of the yoga teacher training certification, I am required to spend 20 hours doing personal yoga practice, which includes just my mat and me.  Before taking the teacher training I always only attended yoga classes or practiced yoga with a DVD.  I remember hearing my yoga teachers talk about one's personal practice, and I couldn't imagine doing yoga on my own.  I didn't feel like I'd have known what to do.  Now it makes more sense to me as I've been studying the poses and sequences more thoroughly.  The idea of a personal yoga practice in which I learn to listen to my body's needs and move accordingly feels exciting and nurturing.  Although attendance at class is definitely a favorite of mine, the fact that I can practice on my own, with no teacher nor dvd feels very liberating and relieves some of the stress I sometimes feel when living in a schedule and trying to get to class.  As I envision my post-summer life picking up again with school and internship and the trillion other things I do, I feel a great sense of relief in picturing myself on my yoga mat alone in my apartment in Boston, taking care of yoga in my own way without having to rush off to a yoga class.

In order to complete my yoga teacher training and qualify for certification by the end of this week (my goal), I have several things left to do, one of which includes 8 more hours on my mat in personal yoga practice.  In the 12 hours I've already done, I've started becoming familiar enough with the practice that these last 8 hours seem like they'll be a nice experimental plot of space and time through which I'll delve deeper into knowing my body, the practice, and the internal peace that accompanies a regular and consistent yoga practice.  Whether it's a class, a dvd, a youtube video, or your own personal practice, I invite you to delve into your practice to see what greater depth and knowing you can experience.

Yoga.  Mmmmmmmm.

http://www.gobodhiyoga.com/