#sparkyogattspring2015

[practicemakespranablog]

Three years ago today, I had just completed the first weekend of my 200hr yoga teacher training. I had no intention of actually teaching; I simply wanted to deepen my own practice. I had a major fear of public speaking—even thinking about teaching for 60 minutes filled me with dread. This weekend, I’m teaching 4 classes and I couldn’t be more excited. I still get butterflies when I teach at a new studio, but once I begin, I’m in the zone and totally comfortable. I’ve learned to go into a class with an idea of what I’d like to teach, but mostly, I wing it—I can’t plan a whole class when I don’t know what kind of students will show up. I’ve messed up my left + rights, I’ve demoed poses and fallen out of them, and I’ve laughed at myself A LOT. It’s been a crazy, wonderful journey so far, and I can’t wait to see what the next 3 years bring 😊🤸🏼‍♂️🧘🏼‍♀️🙏🏼#sparkyogattspring2015 #yogateacher #vinyasateacher #yogateachingjourney #yogaeverydamnday

[practicemakespranablog]

One of my fondest memories of @spark_yoga teacher training last summer (and exactly one year ago today!) was the night we lined up our mats and mirrored the person across from us, who was simply going through a flow, doing whatever felt good in their body right in the moment. I had the luck to be across from the beautiful @ecvaghi, and I have a vivid memory of feeling happy and motivated, yet also humble. 😊 Thanks to @anat.amy for capturing this fantastic moment! #yogateachertraining #sparkyogattspring2015 #warriorii (at Spark Yoga)

[practicemakespranablog]

I love that so many of us were able to get together -- 10 out of 16 isn't bad for a Wednesday night! Sending lots of love to those who couldn't make it, and extra yogi goodness to Tony the birthday boy! #yogitribe #sparkyogattspring2015 (at Sehkraft Brewing)

[practicemakespranablog]

I'M FINISHED!!! Although my last full TT weekend was 3 weeks ago and we passed our tests, taught our classes and got our shirts, it wasn't until 5 minutes ago that I finally submitted all of my requirements and it feels SO GOOD! Now I just need to sit back and wait for my 200-hour RYT certification from the Yoga Alliance to arrive! 🙆🏼 I want to send a big THANK YOU and I LOVE YOU to my amazing friends and family that were so supportive and understanding these past 6 months and ALSO to my new loving family of 15 that has laughed, cried and sweated with me on this crazy, amazing journey!!! WE DID IT!! #sparkyogattspring2015 #iteachyoganow #ryt200 (at Spark Yoga)

[practicemakespranablog]

After really considering the belongings in my trunk this morning, it appears that I'm officially a yoga teacher! 🙏🏼🙆🏼 #yogaeverydamnday #sparkyogattspring2015 #inmyjeep #yogamatsfordays (at Towers Cresent)

[practicemakespranablog]

Today marks my 65th class at Spark--I’m getting so close to my 80 class requirement! Like I mentioned in my previous post, I’m going to knock out these last 15 as fast as possible so I can focus on studying, practice-teaching, and...well, maybe finding some time to relax!

[practicemakespranablog]

One of my fellow Teacher Trainees, Lindsey, held her 60 minute class this past Sunday morning outside in Clarendon--it was such a fantastic start to a perfect day! The weather was great and flow was even better; I would LOVE to attend her classes on a regular basis. Hint: Lindsey is the one in the front with the blue pants and I’m in black pants and pink top in the front row, almost directly in front of Lindsey.

[practicemakespranablog]

I’ve been relying mostly on my Instagram pics to carry my blog these past couple weeks; needless to say, finding the time to blog has been difficult. Though I’ve been spreading myself thin lately, I was happy to hit a milestone yesterday 10 days into the 30 Day Challenge--I’ve taken 50 classes and I’m 33% finished with the 30 Days. My body was feeling it at the end of last week (and I have the bruises to prove it), so I was thankful that I was out of town this past weekend on the boat. However, I had to double up on classes on Friday and Monday to adhere with the challenge rules (home practices don’t count and unsurprisingly, there aren’t any yoga studios near the lake...but we ARE allowed to take 2 classes the day before and the day after we are out of town). I paired Hatha Yoga with Yin Yoga (counting towards my Saturday practice) on Friday and Vinyasa with Aerial Yoga (counting towards Sunday) yesterday, so it wasn’t too much on my body (read descriptions of each type of yoga here). 

Today, it’s back to the practice every day. I’m in Richmond for work tomorrow, but I was able to organize my schedule so that I could practice this morning, drive to Richmond tonight, work the day there tomorrow and then make it back to Arlington tomorrow evening to catch the 7:45pm class (a fine example of spreading myself too thin?). 

I don’t want it to sound like I’m not enjoying it. The best part of my day is often my practice--it’s just the logistics of fitting in a daily class that can get stressful. Thankfully, I’m here the next 4 (YES, FOUR) weekends, so I’ll be able to get in a lot of weekend practices and hopefully find some down time. The third weekend in town is our 6th Teacher Training weekend; our second to last weekend already! I need to start thinking about the remaining requirements, such as the class and the workshop that I need to teach. We also have homework before the next TT to create a 30 minute Vinyasa sequence, complete with a playlist. I need to set aside an evening to work on that, because I know it will be here before I know it. More logistics...who knew yoga planning could be so arduous?

[practicemakespranablog]

Since this is my third 30 Day Challenge, I thought it would be fun (and insightful!) to compare some of the poses that we’ve done for each Digital Instagram Challenge.

Last fall, I thought that getting my heels to touch the ground was the goal in Downward Facing Dog--you can see here that my stance is shortened and my back is pretty rounded. I learned a bit more in the beginning of 2015 with a wider stance, but still having a small curve in my back. This summer, it’s awesome to see that my Down Dog has really improved over the last year. My stance is much wider and my back is completely flat. It’s clear that teacher training!

[practicemakespranablog]

Yogi fun during our 5th weekend of teacher training! #sparkyogattspring2015 #yogaeverydamnday #downwardfacingdog #downdogtrain (at 2201 Pershing Apartments)

[practicemakespranablog]

This is pretty much the only successful group shot from this weekend's private SUP Yoga class! We all attempted a pose but found none of us could coordinate and stay stable at the same time, so this was the best we could do, ha. Thanks to @dc.yoga.mom for a great class and the group pics! #supyoga #yogaeverydamnday #yogaonthewater #sparkyogattspring2015 #potomacpaddlesports #latergram (at Old Angler's Inn)

[practicemakespranablog]

This weekend focused on learning how to give proper assists to students during class. Friday through Sunday we experienced intense eye contact, super close physical contact and LOTS of sweat. 

Some of us were concerned about assisting during a fast-paced Vinyaasa flow, but Jennifer proved to us in this video that assists in a class like that are possible. Note that I did kick her at the end, but Amy and Jennifer warned that we’ll definitely experience that, no matter how hard we try to stay out of the way.

[practicemakespranablog]

Valery + Tony playing around with partner yoga at the end of this weekend's TT! Such a fabulous (but exhausting) weekend 😌 #yogaeverydamnday #sparkyogattspring2015 (at 2201 Pershing Apartments)

[practicemakespranablog]

Colorful yoga during our Sunday teacher training #sparkyogattspring2015 #yogaeverydamnday (at Spark Yoga)

[practicemakespranablog]

Completing another requirement for our TT and taking a (free!) Prana Flow class with @sao_mai! Thanks for the class, Patagonia! #pranaflow #yogaeverydamnday #sparkyogaTTspring2015 (at Great Pacific Padagonia)

[practicemakespranablog]

Our third TT weekend included a lot of practice, but also some lecture on chakras. I was happy to learn more about them because the seven chakras was my topic for our homework that was due last Friday. Frawley's Yoga & Ayurveda had a handful of inconsistencies with everything I had learned elsewhere, so writing the paper was a bit challenging. #sparkyogaTTspring2015 #yogaeverydamnday #chakras #latergram #lululemon (at Spark Yoga)