my YTT journey

This weekend, we worked on our handstands and also practised other inversions and arm balances. We all love challenging ourselves and getting every improvement we can, to get into these difficult poses. It is definitely the most physically demanding aspect of asana and common among practitioners to aim to achieve. For me, I have wished and dreamt for the longest time to be able to hold a pincha mayurasana/handstand, and every new arm balance I try still gives me exhilaration. That sense of achievement is something we all seek and enjoy. But besides the superficial perks from inversions such as looking fancy, physical fitness and ability, or simply enjoying the thrill, I think inversions and arm balances also train the mind. The more obvious benefits from attempting these asanas would be perseverance (how many times have we fallen or failed before we can get 1 successful 0.5 second hold?), and focus. What is the most challenging for me, more so when going upside down than balancing on h...

This week, we learnt how to safely adjust students to help them into proper alignment while in poses. I would have to say this is by far the most challenging part of teaching to me. It's easy to process what to do when watching a demonstration, but when it's time to do it myself, I fumble and feel so unsure. I do hope with more practice and visualisation, this would come more naturally to me. Even though we were paired up, I was kiasu and practised on another friend when there was any extra time xD Analyzing a different body type in a split second is really challenging and also needs practice and experience. We've also been layering our teaching more and more - on top of walking around while giving cues now, we also have to start observing what students are actually doing and give customised verbal and physical adjustments when necessary. That's the end goal and a necessary skill that a teacher needs. While it is helpful that we are taught how to adjust for each individ...