I searched around for over a year before walking into URU studio and being welcomed by the bright, sweet light known as Beckie. I was searching for a studio to do my 200 hour teacher training and hadn’t had any luck. I walked in, expecting to feel unwelcome, awkward, out of place; imagine my surprise that I got to meet Beckie and Chris, her special person she’s doing life with.

I was so apprehensive to being in a group of people who were obviously going to be better at yoga than I was. A group of women who would judge me and think I didn’t belong there. I thought they’d see “right through me” and know I hadn’t practiced a whole lot in awhile. That I didn’t have the right yoga clothes. Or the right personality to be a teacher. I could go on, but I won’t.

It turns out, this group of women COULD see through me. They could see me for who I was, who I am, and who I could be. I found some of the most supportive women I’ve ever met. People who believed in magic, and each other. The first few days were awkward, we danced, played weird name games, Beckie made sure that we broke the ice, and she accomplished that quickly! I was with a large group of women that I thought I’d never learn their names, or really get to know them at all. I was thankfully wrong, yet again. I got to know these women well, I made lasting friendships and connections that I know I can count on.

Over the 8 month program, we went on silent meditation walks, practiced loads of yoga, had bonding moments, difficult moments, took silly pictures together, supported the local mexican restaurant together. We had group circles where everyone got a chance to sit in the middle and hear how others saw us, it was enlightening, uplifting and empowering. We enjoyed funny videos together, stumbled through practicing sequences, especially sun salutations! We went on adventures together, whether it be walking to the cool restaurant down the street to going to Cow Fest in Mississippi together. We all cried together, laughed together, had serious moments together and made huge steps in our lives together. We all had that moment where we were practicing yoga and happened to look up, make eye contact with Beckie and just absolutely feel the love pouring out of her. It’s something I’ll never forget. All shapes, all sizes, all religions, all colors, we are all welcome at URU and it’s not hard to see that once you step inside.

Now that YTT is over, I’m fully involved in teaching. Even though I thought I would never be comfortable in front of others, let alone instructing yogis through a practice. I teach at several studios, 4-5 classes a week and I love it. YTT gave me the courage to become a life coach as well! If you’re considering taking the leap into YTT, I strongly encourage you to do so. You won’t regret it.

Let your light shine,

Bethany

My Journey

Deciding to go thru with yoga teacher training wasn’t the scariest decision I’ve made in my life. I knew it was something I needed. I knew it would be one of the longest commitments I would make and that it would result in even more sacrifices being made to get through it. I committed to my training when I was sick. I committed to my training when I was tired. I even committed to my training when I had no one to keep my daughter, she just tagged along. I sacrificed a few events, a wedding, a baby shower, and a few girls’ night outs. I sacrificed for my practice. I wouldn’t regret it for a thing!

So, you have made the decision to go thru with yoga teacher training, or YTT.

Now what?

The first day walking into training very much felt like the first day of school. You don’t know anyone; you have no idea where to lay all your stuff down. You find the first person to make eye contact with and if they smile “bam” that will be the person I sit next to. You make little introductions; names will have to come later.

That first weekend was daunting. We sang, danced a little bit and got to know each other in small segments. It was the most uncomfortable thing ever. Ha! It’s hard trying to explain to someone you just met what yoga means to you and why you chose to go through the training. If anything, that was the most nerve wracking thing of the whole training, even more so than getting up an actually teaching.

We practiced yoga, a lot of yoga. We repeated things over and over again. I was never sorer than in that first weekend from yoga training and I loved it!

The weekends will be long and as I mentioned before, you will miss out on a lot. But you will be cultivating so much more. When I was missing out on the events I looked forward to attending, I just thought of my future and I thought of my practice. I remembered why I decided to go through with training. I met women from all walks of life. Single moms, stay at home moms, full time working moms… We all had this one thing in common, yoga. And yoga is what brought us together.

Many weekends when training was over for the month and I found myself tired and not wanting to go on, I pushed through. I knew the end result would be so much better than the present moment. I cried, so much and I questioned my decisions. But I pushed and pushed. I talked to my mentor; I talked to the other teacher trainees. You create this family of wonderful people and each and every single one of them is there for you. It’s the most amazing feeling. I found a group of like-minded people and I ENJOYED being with them.
As the months passed on, I grew close to all the other trainees. We practiced together, we laughed together, cried a lot together and we just enjoyed being in the moment with one another. I don’t think I would have enjoyed training as much as I did if it weren’t for the amazing people going through it with me and our amazing instructor/mentor/yogini mom, Beckie. Yoga teacher training was just about over and that was a bittersweet feeling.

Eight months later, I am here. I am a yoga teacher and I am still very much a yoga student. After graduation, I was high on the thrill of completing this HUGE goal/commitment I had made to myself. I had all these ideas of what I wanted to do and to teach. Now what do I do with all that knowledge and information?
You share it with the world and you teach yoga.

Namaste, Karen Elmore

For more information on the URU 200 hour teacher training, click here.