Bionic Teutonic

I just finished my first weekend of yoga teacher training at 8 limbs here in Seattle and I’m feeling soooo good about it. I’m enjoying every aspect of it so far. I really like all of the instructors, the community of fellow students feels like it’s going to be a really good, enriching one, and what we have learned so far has been amazing and really inspirational. We started on Thursday evening with an opening circle and introduction, and then had all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, which we will do once a month for the next 5 months, with a week long retreat at Breitenbush at the end. I’ve come away from the first weekend already feeling like my practice has been enhanced immensely. I never took an intro class, so despite having done yoga regularly for years now, there is much of the basics that I’m learning for the first time. We have anatomy classes, Asana classes (which were fabulous, we spent 2 hours going over minute details of 3 standing poses), Sanskrit, as well as classes exploring the art of teaching. We actually took turns leading groups through various poses and flows, which was really enlightening. I think the process of developing the teaching toolkit with which you will lead class is going to be really interesting and eye opening as well. While I’ve had a lot of anatomy classes in the past, it’s great to have it specifically linked to yoga practice.

I had only taken classes at 8 limbs twice before. I decide to take it there because it was the only one I could find that worked with my work schedule, and I like the fact that it’s spread out over 6 months and not all at once. It gives you more time to digest and explore avenues of interest during your off weeks. That being said, I was a little nervous about going in slightly sight unseen. I didn’t know the instructors, and didn’t have much of a sense of the kinds of people that 8 limbs would attract for the program. I’m very happy with how both have turned out. The instructors are all very knowledgeable and you can instantly tell that they really strive to live yoga and not just have a collection of knowledge. And all of them have wonderful laughs, which always makes me feel good about somebody. As far as the students go, I’m really enjoying the instant community that this training seems to engender. We obviously all have at least one passion in common, but it feels really well balanced in terms of diversity of backgrounds also. I’m really looking forward to continuing study. There is much to study and practice between now and next month, which is good, because I need somewhere for all the excitement I’m feeling to go.

I sent out a song I just finished to a couple friends recently. My friend Ariel V responded with maybe the most satisfying response I’ve ever gotten to my music. I love how she references times in the song along with her story. This makes me happy.

“I listened, and I love it!  It’s got a sense of wistfulness and mystery that are engaging.  Here’s my journey:  You’re  going on a treasure locating adventure in the woods, softly going along the trail, trees blowing gently in the breeze.  And then you find a dark pond (1:08) and you’re all like “what’s going on in this pond,” and then you see that it’s full of lovely fishes! 1:30.  So you hang and dance by the pond while the fishes do their thing, and then you look up at the trees (1:53) and you all wave your boughs.  You’re pretty happy here, your smile grows.  Then at 2:23 you take a little rest, remembering your distant sweetheart who is away on a long challenging adventure, and you don’t really know where things stand with her so you’re kind of wistful, but you know she’s off rocking the world and that’s cool.  Then you remember (3:27) that life is kind of like that, a long challenging and also beautiful journey with both sadness and coolness, and there is no need to be wistful, it just is what it is.  You walk back on the trail, this time more evenly, and head back home having solidified your sense that it is all part of the whole.”