I can remember being ‘in it’ during a Vinyasa class. You know those times when you’re absolutely in the zone, riding that yogi high? In that space my mind drifted to, “could I sequence a class?….no way….well, maybe…it would be so refreshing to have a creative outlet again…could I?” Those thoughts came in different forms in sporadic moments of inspiration that came from a creative transition, a thought provoking question from the teacher, an a-ha moment in a pose…and then I heard that voice off of my mat washing dishes, in bed at night, in my car when the perfect Savasana song came on. Let me be clear, I always shushed it. For years I turned the volume down, drowned out the whisper. I was a mom, a wife, worked a full-time job that I had to travel for, and my life was pretty much scheduled from the time the alarm went off until I laid my head down at night. Who was I kidding that I even had time for such silly dream? Then the Universe threw me one, then two giant curve balls and my world came crashing down.
After suffering the unimaginable loss of a child followed by another shocking swift kick to the bum, a divorce, I found myself crying on my yoga mat in despair. That was me, the weird inconsolable lady in the back of class ugly crying and sobbing from start to finish of class. This was not a one time class y’all. This became my regular yoga practice. (Thank you to all of the yogis and teachers who held space for me to fall apart on the daily.) It was in THIS moment that I knew I HAD to go through teacher training. And I had to do it NOW. To be honest, that nagging voice tried to knock my door down, “Are you insane? Now you’re a single mom with depression and anxiety, still working full time with travel, barely making ends meet…” I slammed the door on that voice as hard as I could. I just finally had enough of giving and doing for everyone else and thought, “I don’t know how in the hell I’m going to pull this off, but dammit I’m gonna find a way.”
Step 1- I got the words out my head and said them out loud. (#manifestation) “I want to do yoga teacher training”. These words were shared first with friends, then family, then strangers. The amount of support that poured out to me was overwhelming! Just thinking back to all of my family,friends, acquaintances who offered help… I’m about to start ugly crying right now. At first I thought folks were just being nice, but this TRIBE circled around me and my son supported my dream! My family came in on the weekends to help me, friends made dinner, and I became a freaking master at time management!
Step 2- Organization and time management are key. Teacher Training is a serious time commitment. 200 hours of asana, philosophy, anatomy, learning how to sequence….it’s a lot! But I had never been more excited and hungry for knowledge so making time for this venture was easier than expected. I woke up earlier. After work, dinner, and bath time I dedicated those hours to studying or getting ahead on other life things. See ya later Netflix binge watching and late night social media scrolls. We can look at time through 2 lenses. It’s either never a good time or always a good time. We are busy beings! There will never be a time when we have 10 or 20 weekends open and free. But we can choose to prioritize our time and spend our time more wisely. I was shocked at how much time I was wasting scrolling on my phone, watching TV, etc. This little life lesson goes beyond making time for YTT. But since we’re here to chat about teacher training, Wild Heart Yoga re-formatted our trainings to give students more space for all life brings us. Our Fall training meets every other weekend (most weekends) to provide a better balance.
Step 3- Money. Let’s not ignore the Ganesha in the room. YTT is expensive. It’s also an investment in yourself. I can think of no better thing to invest in than personal transformation and growth. I had a few months to come up with the cost of tuition, so cut back as much as I could on things like the movies and going out to eat. Luckily we live in a city that always has free family fun going on! From Pecan Street Festival, watching the bats, a day at Zilker, hiking the Green Belt, to movies on the lawn, Austin has it going on when it comes to free fun! I was able to combine money from my tax return with a quarterly bonus and my recent savings to make it work. Most studios have an Early Bird Special, and I was able to take advantage of that and save $300. Some studios are open to partial trade as well so if you have a skill like photography, videography, graphic design, even cleaning, speak up and ask! I NEVER want money to be the reason why someone doesn’t move forward with teacher training. I’m super proud to share that we are officially the 1st yoga studio in Austin, TX to offer financing for teacher training! Students can now make low monthly payments, and I’m not talking about a $500 car payment a month, but a real true affordable monthly payments.
Step 4- I learned to believe in myself. It had been a long time since I dove into something I was passionate about. Taking the leap, scary as it was, was the best thing I’ve ever done for ME! Investing my time and money for YTT wasn’t selfish, it was necessary. I learned more about myself in those 10 weekends than I had in 29 years! Teacher training taught me how to sequence a class, anatomy, methodology, yogic philosophy. And through these teachingsI pushed outside of comfortable boundaries and limiting beliefs and blew the lock off of the cage around my heart. It was there that I realized I’d been cramming myself, heart and soul, into this tiny box that society sold me with a bow. I felt my wild heart go free. And so here we are years later, at Wild Heart Yoga, offering yoga teacher training to share the gift that was given to me, that’s been given to so many others. Walk through the door. You got this.
Stay Wild,
Marybeth Brady