Early November always has me thinking about ways to take good care of myself during the hurry-scurry that is coming. Like everyone else, I want to soak up the magical moments of the holidays and avoid rushing around and feeling overwhelmed. It seems appropriate to repeat things from pretty Instagram posts…like, “do more of what makes you happy!”

Before I signed up for yoga teacher training I spent months over-analyzing my decision. I talked to friends who had gone through it and read books about all things yoga. I Googled every question that popped into my head about what to expect.

The idea of spending so many hours away from my family scared me. I also worried I’d get burned out half way through and not want to continue or, worse, I’d burn out on yoga and never want to do it again. No combination of words in a Google search box could calm those concerns for me. So I did what I do when I’m not brave enough to say yes- I said maybe. For months.

Eventually I got tired of not knowing. I got tired of looking for someone else to decide for me. I got tired of second-guessing myself. So I said yes. I said yes with my whole heart even though most of my heart was trying really hard to hide. One of the themes of the Baptiste yoga methodology instructs us to “be a yes” and to “put our attention on what we want to have happen and be for it”. So I told myself that I’d be a yes for whatever teacher training threw at me and that I’d take really good care of myself along the way.

I knew that I’d be spending many, many hours away from home. I trusted that I’d finish teacher training able to teach a yoga class (though I went in saying that I had NO INTEREST in ever doing that). I had heard so many times that teacher training would “change my life” but I had always considered myself to be immune to such magic. I am too level-headed for that. I know myself too well. I am the exception.

I graduated from teacher training in February of this year and I now teach one class a week- so much for not teaching, right? As for my life being changed, I can’t distill everything that opened up for me into a single sentence. Instead, I sat down the day after my last teacher training meeting and wrote a list of things I learned through this experience. It took me out of my comfort zone mentally, emotionally, and physically so many times and that changed everything.

Here are 25 things I discovered in yoga teacher training:

If you live near Folsom, CA I invite you to come take my class on Wednesday mornings at 9:30am at Spotted Dog Yoga. I would love to hear what you discover for yourself! xoxo