The quiet calling of Yoga
Sometimes, we fall in love with the idea of doing something, or it looks nice on someone else’s life, so you become intrigued and curious as to how that might fit into your life. I get like that. A lot. I get like that with house designs, pets, what to make for supper, what activities to do with the kids etc. But yoga was one of those things that I felt I just needed to do. No one else was doing it here. Social media “yoga celebrities’ didn’t even exist. I didn’t know who to turn to for advice or information on yoga, so I just read. And practiced. And read. And practiced. No one I knew even really heard of yoga. True to my character, I was compelled to do something against the grain. The unpopular route. Yoga was kind of that “quiet calling” I guess, that I felt I had. I loved practicing it, and it fit and felt right in terms of encompassing holistic health and well-being. The yoga studio (and that can be anywhere) is my church. My temple. The mat is my alter. Sharing what I learn and know to be true, pure and sacred, is what I do as a teacher. Teaching what you know should come easy.
How I became a yoga teacher
I started off small- teaching and offering yoga to children after completing a Children’s Yoga program on Vancouver Island to enhance my Montessori preschool program I was offering. I don’t usually mean to do things that way, but kids help me break the ice a lot of the times. I would be a completely different person without my kids pushing me to constantly move out of my comfort zone.
Thank you Alessandra & Annalise ♥♥.
Copyright: Kylie Matechuk
After doing a little photo shoot after my training, people were super interested in learning yoga for adults. I freaked out a little bit. I could teach them what I know? I guess?…eeeesh. Scary. So I started teaching to just my friends until I wanted to do this as an actual business. So I had to get my teacher training.
Yoga teacher training
Yoga teacher training is definitely an experience that will blow your mind. It is a sacred experience, I don’t know what else to call it. I still share so many great connections with those from some of my earliest teacher trainings. The time spent together was magical.
Copyright Photography by Kristie Crate
Copyright: Rainbow Kids Yoga
Become solid in your own yoga practice so you can then teach what you know
If you want to become a yoga teacher, practice yoga first. Practice and practice and practice, until a little voice in your head tells you it’s time. Don’t become a yoga teacher just because you want to enhance your personal training gig. Yoga is not just fitness. Even as a modern yogi myself, who teaches cardiovascular intense powerflow classes, I can confidently say that.
Like Martial Arts or Tai Chi, yoga is to be respected for what it is. It is 100% fine to practice yoga for fitness, and to use some aspects of yoga for fitness, but it isn’t just fitness. Or stretching. It is not just a physical practice. This needs to be understood before teaching what yoga is to others.
Living sooooooo far away from any kind of yoga community, I had to travel, be away from my young children (one who I was still breastfeeding), and have spent over ten thousand dollars just for some of my trainings. I would never trade those experiences for anything, but as a yoga teacher in a modern world, I felt it was my calling right now to offer a yoga training that is more accessible and attaintable to people who live in similar communities as I do. How do I do this? Contact me and I will work with you to become a passionate and motivated yoga teacher on a mission to share this path with others.
Teaching yoga will never be complicated if you refine your why
Whatever your reason, find that sacred space and that beautiful why for your reasons to become a yoga teacher, and then express it in a way that speaks to you. When you find YOUR why, teaching yoga to others, anywhere at any time, in any space will be as easy as breathing.