Aligning the right stuff (Part one - Finding the truth)

Everybody's Yoga journey lines up differently, there is no set way, we have to take different routes to suit our own alignment.

I just completed the first module of my Yoga Biomechanics course with Jules Mitchell and it didn’t disappoint.

First off, picking a Teacher Training (TT) is hard, there are so many out there, and just as it can be scary to muster up the courage to attend a single class with a teacher who is new to you, imagine coughing up substantial amounts of money and submerging yourself in a 1-6 month long (or more) commitment.

I was incredibly lucky to get it right for my first Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) Training. I searched (and searched and searched), picked three qualifiers, and then consulted my favorite local yoga teacher Evan Soroka (check her out, she’s not just local anymore and is doing wonderful things). She used her yogic clarity to pinpoint the right TT, told me “these guys seem legit,” and a few months later, after the gnarliest visa and preparation logistics I’ve ever experienced, I was on my way to the Parmanand Institute, an Ashram in Indore, India.

Guruji, Dr Omanand is a wonderful spiritual guide and teacher. With generational Yoga embedded in his DNA,
​he  has changed lives, my own included.

I still study with Paramanand and see my Guru online weekly, but I wanted something different for my RYT300 (the 300 stands for minimum number of training hours, the first one is 200). As I’m based in a highly athletic town where knee tears, shoulder separations, fractures and many other activity- induced injuries keep our healthpros busy, I was interested in a sophisticated and academically inspired TT that addressed fundamental biomechanical knowledge and more specifically, one given by  a U.S.- based teacher to better align vocabulary and principles with future peers. Sanskrit is a wonderful and energetically charged language but perhaps less practical for exchanging information with physical therapists. 

Jules's educational offers are rich, she is one of the most thoughtful and well organized teachers of today. She offers lots of courses, online, in-person, recorded and interactive. 

​I traveled to attend an in-person workshop with Jules, took online courses, and attended her book club. The more I learned about the body, the more I wanted to know and Jules was the perfect teacher. This year her RYT300 was offered online and with some financial charity I was able to register.

​I just finished the first of three modules, and I’m more in love with Yoga than ever. The content I’ve absorbed, combining research literacy, an abundance of science and Yoga, is clearly the right path towards my own perfect educational alignment. My teacher’s surrender to knowledge combined with her faith in Yoga, as well as my classmates' infinite curiosity has dissolved the idea I had about Yogis allowing blind faith to eclipse the truth. There are lots of dedicated yogis in the world, the most mindful ones just aren’t always the loudest.

For me, the ultimate truth of the Universal Energies is still best experienced through practice and detachment (and of course the 8 limbs for systematic achievement of this). But  for the benefit of my students and patients who might not have the same interest in “Yoga every damn day,” this direct and modern alignment of Yoga and Science is already elevating my confidence as a Yoga teacher and growing seeds for a rich garden of insights to share as a future Yoga Therapist. 

Thanks for taking an interest in my Journey!

​What does your Journey look like?

Om Shanti!