#yogastory: somewhere along my yoga journey

This entry comes from the end of my training – although ‘end’ doesn’t seem like the right word. Completing the four week teacher training with Evolation if anything feels like a new beginning. But I graduated and received my 250 hour certificate, so in some sense it’s the end of that stage.

Just as it would be impossible to comprehend a final objective to my yoga journey, it’s equally as difficult to pinpoint the start – but it wasn’t with Asana practice and definitely wasn’t with the hot 26+2 series I just learnt to practice, teach and fell in love with over the last few weeks. I have described my relationship with yoga practice as falling in love many times – not a romanticised love full of turbulence, possession and neediness, but a genuine feeling of wholeness and oneness that develops daily. That’s not to say me and yoga haven’t had our ups and downs, but I can honestly say I didn’t have one bad day during the four weeks of training – it was by far the best month I can recollect (by a long way).

the steps of my yoga journey

My interests in astrology, mythology and ancient civilisation led the way to meditation, which developed my sense of self care, which ignited a need to practice self love and self realisation, which finally led me to Hatha yoga only a few months ago. Then it occurred to me, taking a teacher training was the next step of my yoga journey. I chose to take the Flow teacher training, as it was the only yoga I had been exposed to…but in a unexpected twist of fate I ended up being thrown into undertaking the hot yoga qualification – and I am so glad! Starting a type of yoga from scratch was not a daunting task because of the supportive and pretty much astounding teachers I had, initially Maria and Torrey and then Mark and Zefea – as well as my fellow trainees.

I realised yoga was most definitely for me when I was in Savasana in a little gym in London – I have a shirt that says ‘I’m only here for the Savasana’ and it’s kind of true! During my very first hot class taught by Torrey, I found out you get Savasana between each posture and the one after Camel feels like levitating…!

what I learned

Practicing yoga kicked me out of my old life very quickly (that’s how I can best describe it) within a month of asana practice many relationships had broken down, I was acutely aware of my own unease about where I was in life and very soon after I was on my way to Hawaii. As soon as I arrived I knew I was where I needed to be. Our teaching group was extremely diverse, so different from the people in my everyday life, but from the first minutes of meeting one another you could feel the acceptance and love. I learnt from every single yogi, everyday during my time with Evolation – something I am going to try and continue now with everyone I meet now I have left. I came to training with almost no expectation – I suppose I suspected my practice would improve and I would meet some like minded people, but what I gained from my experience was so much more than that. It was more than I can put into words.

I don’t know now where my next step is on my yoga journey, but the training has certainly instilled in me a sense of faith that if I continue my work and develop my practice the correct path will be laid out before me.

Chloe

Chloe recently finished her 250 hour hot yoga teacher training in February of 2015 in the beautiful setting of Hawaii.