Why I Didn’t Take Yoga Teacher Training to Teach Yoga. By Andrea King.

Wait, what?

Okay, let’s flash back to 1995. I’m practicing yoga in my bedroom. Just a copy of Yoga Journal magazine and my bare feet on the floor, doing my best to follow the poses in the magazine, trying not to smash into my cat. The cat thing remains the same in my home practice, by the way.

My practice was solely mine. It was like my little secret. It took quite a few years before I told anyone I did yoga. After all, I was a punk rock girl and I honestly didn’t think it suited my image. I loved the magazines. I loved reading about the teachers and the sequencing they put together. I also loved to flip to the back to pour over the lists of schools and studios. I would sit and dream about immersive programs in Costa Rica or California. I became completely obsessed with all things yoga, but I never actually thought about teaching.

Practicing in a Yoga Studio

Yoga stayed a part of my life and eventually I started practicing in public. Gasp! I even let other, non-yoga people know it was part of my life. I still held onto the dream of teacher training, but it was something close to my heart that I didn’t share with anyone. I dove into my career as a hairstylist and continued my yoga practice. I even added meditation and dove deeper into learning about myself. Then I reconnected with a friend who was enrolled in a teacher-training program. I couldn’t believe the level of jealously that bubbled up inside me. “How could she be in teacher training!? She hasn’t even been doing yoga as long as me!” Oh, man. The stories that came up. Eventually I gained some perspective and asked her about the program and how it was going so far. Her answer surprised me.

Personal Development and Yoga

She told me she took the course to improve her practice but she wasn’t planning on teaching. Huh? She explained how she was learning so much about herself and the course provided a ton of personal development, all while nerding out about asana and yoga philosophy. I didn’t even know that was a thing. To enroll in teacher training, without the intention to actually teach!? But suddenly, my brain went into overdrive. I was working for myself, so I had the time flexibility to get super deep and nerdy about my practice. I could totally do this. I got in touch with the facilitator and sent my deposit immediately.

The Unexpected Outcome

One of the great things about YTT is that it’s set up as a self-discovery course, allowing the space for you get to know yourself better. Physically, it can reshape your practice and invite a sense of body awareness that is indescribable by my knowledge of the English language. The part I didn’t expect about this process is that I love teaching. I hope that’s evident if you’ve shown up to my classes! If not, I’d love to have you in one of my classes at In Fine Feather Yoga on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday evening or Saturday morning. In Fine Feather is a huge part of my journey as a yoga teacher, I met my fellow teacher Jackee Desimone while I was in my own teacher training program as she was an assistant in the program. I found out she was also from Hamilton and that she taught classes at IFF. Still on the hunt to feel comfortable in a studio space, I started attending Jackee’s classes and the hunt was over, I found my yoga home. After practicing at the studio for a while, Helena offered me an energy exchange position and it was such an amazing way for me to immerse myself in the IFF community, connecting with members and enabling me to try more of the classes on the schedule. Eventually I made it on the sub list, and when needed I was able to hop in and teach the very community that I was a member of.

Present Day at IFF

Fast forward to now where I teach 4 classes on the schedule and have even had the honour of helping out with the 2018 YTT program. In Fine Feather asks only that you do your best, and I’m so happy I get to do my best with them. So, if you’ve been looking for a way to deepen your practice beyond attending classes, or you’re feeling stuck, I urge you to consider YTT. If you’re looking for a deeper way to connect with yourself and your community, this could be your way. And remember, you don’t even have to have an end goal in mind! This could be something just for you, like it was for me. Who knows what will happen? Don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions by email here.

More About Andrea

Andrea King doesn’t just love to teach yoga to yogis , she also has an intense passion for teaching yoga teachers!  Quickly after graduating from her own teacher training she was signed up to volunteer with the next group of future teachers and hasn’t stopped since. She is also a 2019 YTT facilitator at In Fine Feather Yoga; beginning in January. From this passion of teaching teachers, Andrea has began offering mentorships  to new graduates as well as advanced training to new and experienced teachers. You can contact her for more details here.

Meditation - Why you need to be practicing it right now. By Meagan Santa

Meditation is proven to reduce stress, improve sleep, enhance self awareness & promote emotional health. So why aren’t more of us practicing it daily?

I was first introduced to meditation in my yoga teacher training in 2016. I learned 3 key points that encouraged me to explore different types of meditation and work it into my daily routine since graduating. The idea of meditation can seem overwhelming, intense and it carries stereotypical weight. Before I walked into meditation training, the vision in my mind when I thought of it was a man sitting cross legged for hours somewhere tropical. But I had also heard of many successful people, mentors, and teachers finding incredible benefits from this practice. So I walked into class that day with an open mind and open heart to what I could learn. These 3 key ingredients stand out to me and helped me build my meditation practice- explore various types until you find your meditation match, know you don’t have to be in easy sitting pose to mediate and remember it takes practice!

Find Your Meditation Match

I remember feeling overwhelmed when reading the various types of meditation. Some included mantras, others focused on mindfulness elements, walking meditation, chanting, vibration or sound, morning meditation, etc. So where do you start?

The first three types that I practiced were guided, sound and mantra. I suggest you try one each day for 5-10 minutes. After those three days, reflect back on which type of meditation felt the best. Which would you be more willing to try again? All three variations can be found on Google, YouTube, and various local classes, including In Fine Feather Yoga.

Guided meditation is a voice leading you through either by recording or in person. It’s helpful to stay focused on the present moment and voice with this tool as well as providing you the chance to explore various topics covered in guided meditations, like gratitude or relaxation depending on the recording or class. Sound meditation quickly became one of my favourites. A bell or singing bowl is often used in classes or recordings to provide a guide to come back to the present moment when the mind gets distracted. I found this type of meditation to be simple and relaxing. Mantra meditation is the practice of chanting or repeating a word/phrase out loud that holds meaning. It gives the mind something to focus on when it would normally get distracted. “Om” is known to be the most basic and powerful mantra. Many chose to combine the words “Om” and “Shanti” as it means peace in Sanskrit. It can be repeated as many times as you’d like or followed along with a recording.

How To Sit in Meditation

Contrary to belief, easy sitting pose isn’t the only way to meditate. Traditionally yoga was practiced first, followed by meditation because it prepared the body to sit for a longer period of time. With this in mind as a beginner, it’s really important to take time to find a comfortable position. That could be seated against a wall to support the spine, laying down, using blocks to support the knees, sitting on a meditation cushion, hand weights for grounding, etc. The more often you practice in a seated position, the better your posture will get and the quicker you’ll find yourself relaxing. Lighting candles, using essential oils, or soft lights are not necessary but can help to create a more relaxing environment wherever you chose to mediate. What I believe is so powerful about this practice is that it can be done anywhere for any length of time and you are bound to feel better afterwards. Whether that be 5 minutes in your car on your lunch break, 10 minutes in the morning before the kids wake up, or after your yoga class.

It Takes Practice

I could give you a list of meditation techniques or what my meditation practice looks like. But at the end of the day, you just need to start. Even if you sit for 5 minutes. Build from that number and eventually it’ll be 10 minutes, than 15 minutes. We scroll our phones or watch numerous TV commercials in that same span of time. It’s a choice and a commitment we must make to ourselves. The long term benefits are worth the time put into practice! You may feel more immediate benefits like stress relief, less anxiety, body awareness, lower blood pressure and/or better focus. My favourite app to support my meditation practice is the Insight Timer which offers lots of resources, guided meditations, a timer with a sound/bell tool as well as a tracker to motivate you!

Our Intro to Meditation Classes

You can find me leading the Saturday morning Intro to Meditation class at 11:15-11:30am with a $5 drop-in. Additionally, we are hosting classes on Thursday and Sunday mornings at the same time. Check out the schedule HERE. These classes are designed to teach students how to sit comfortably, breath deeply, release the body & still the mind. Each week we'll explore new methods of meditation, some with full guidance and some in silence.

More About Meagan Santa

Meagan is a graduate of the In Fine Feather Yoga 200 Hour Teacher Training Program and the assistant manager at the studio. Check out her blog post where she shares her IFF Yoga Journey. Come meet Meagan on the mat at In Fine Feather Yoga in Hamilton! Check out her bio HERE and find her on the class schedule HERE.

My Karma Yoga Experience in Hamilton By Kerry Ann Bourgeois

This Yogic Exploration All Began with a Yoga Teacher Training Assignment.

Director of In Fine Feather Yoga, Helena McKinney shares what started Kerry Ann’s yogic exploration.

This summer at In Fine Feather Yoga, all the students enrolled in our 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training course took the summer months off. Which meant they were out of the classroom and putting their training into purpose and action. They had a number of assignments and self study projects to complete throughout the summer, one of which was 5 hours of volunteering within the community. The intention of this exercise was to bring the moral principals of the Yamas and Niyamas into the volunteer work they did with an organization or charity that was not related to yoga. Specifically, looking to explore and exercise these principle to help guide them through the experience of volunteering. We felt really inclined to share one particular students Karma Yoga exercise because it is the embodiment of how the Yoga practice should be lived and explored everyday to enrich our personal growth but also our connections to other people. When Kerry Ann submitted her paper, we were so moved with how the principles of the practice came to life. If you aren't very familiar with the Yamas and Niyamas, you will still love this article, but we've also provided you with a link HERE to do some background reading if you feel included to know more about the philosophy.

Kerry, we want to thank you again for your bravery in sharing this. You are raw and honest and show yourself so much through this piece. We are honoured to be apart of your growth!

Seeing the Principles of the Practice in Action

Karma Yoga is the yoga of service. It is translated as the path of “union through action”. It means doing something without any thought of gain for yourself or any fulfillment of selfish desire. I think this is one of the most beautiful forms of yoga because it really cultivates the essence of becoming one with the flow of life it gives the yogi a lot of freedom. They are able to forget themselves and see the interconnectedness of all life. You are able to see yourself in others practicing this type of yoga.

This assignment helped me in many ways. Upon studying the Yamas and Niyamas to see which one I would use to focus on for my Karma Yoga, I was first inspired by the first Yama, Ahimsa. I love this Yama and I try to integrate it into my essence daily. I meditated on my compassion towards all living things and thought about how I would do something based on that. I belong to a Facebook group called Crafting for Charity and I have thought often of making items for this group, but never set time aside. I saw that the woman who runs the page was taking preemie hats to the hospital the following week and thought this would be a perfect opportunity for me to finally make something for charity. This also ties into another Yama, Aparigraha. I realized studying this Yama and myself that I have a hard time of letting go of my attachments and trusting in the abundance of the universe. I am like a squirrel this way, storing more than I will ever use in fear that I will be without one day. I also realized that I have an attachment to my material thing through my hoarding of yarn. There is a saying in the crafting word “Stash to outlive you” and I definitely have that. I even inherited my mother’s yarn stash when she died. I have so many bags and containers of wool that I saw this as a great opportunity to use what I have for a beautiful cause. My stash of wool became a metaphor for me. I noticed the emotional attachment that I have to my wool. In the past I have used crafting to make money when times have been financially tight. I keep my large amounts of wool so that I can generate income when I need to which made me realize that I have a deep seated fear of not having food or the money I need to pay my bills. I have gone through periods in my life of being poor and barely getting by that I had developed a fear of that happening again. I was able to look into my past and see that I have always been provided for and have never gone without what I truly need.

I was so glad to find a way to use some of my wool to help ease the suffering of the little preemies. I also thought about what it must be like to have a preemie baby and the worry it must be for the parents. I decided to make a set of hats using all the colours of the different houses in Harry Potter. I thought it would put a smile on the parents face to see their little Gryffindor baby. I think that when we start with Ahimsa and see the world through compassionate eyes then we can see ourselves in everyone else. It helps us see where our own suffering lies and we can know what kind of healing we can bring to the world around us. It really is by giving purely and not expecting anything in return that we can heal our own sense of not having enough. It helped me understand that we all need one another and that we are all interlinked. That we need each other as a community. There was a need in the community for preemie hats and those of us who could help fill that need did. When I went to take the hats to the woman who was taking them to the hospital I saw how many hats she had from other people. It was truly amazing to see the generosity of time and materials to help provide comfort and healing to those in need. I felt part of a bigger community by taking part in this opportunity to volunteer this way.

-Kerry Ann