This past week and weekend, I traveled to Texas to finish up my Hatha Yoga teacher training at  Namah Shivaya Yoga in Dallas. 

As of May 18, 2014, I finally became a certified Yoga Adhyapak: Teacher of Yoga.

I started the training in August of 2013, and have been attending classes for 8 hours a day on the weekends every month. Each time I return, I learn something new about myself and about the world. I never leave with anything but love and peace. I feel like many of the answers I have come to over the last few months have happened in the two rooms where I trained at Namah Shivaya.

I experienced my first true meditation experience in the subtle body, and have learned to take the practice home with me. I could go on and on about how much I have learned and how badly I thirst for the knowledge and enlightenment that the philosophy and metaphysics of Hatha & Kundalini Yoga has already given me.

Two of the greatest things I learned during this training was:
1. Not everyone is on my path. Even though this training changed my life for the better and realigned me with the Divine Light of the Universe, other people have different paths they are on that will also lead them to themselves. This also gracefully casts down my plan to "only teach the traditional 8-limbed path of yoga." Some people of other cultures or spiritual backgrounds may not respond to this path, and so what harm is it for me to form to what they will respond well to? If you help lead them to the light and truth within themselves, you have done good. 

“People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness. Just because they’re not on your road doesn’t mean they’ve gotten lost.” - Dalai Lama XIV

2. Intention is everything. I recently read an article where the writer was blasting white women in America jumping on the Yoga bandwagon. There was another article that slammed the trend of people becoming yoga teachers and then knowing nothing. The people writing these articles were yoga teachers or people who had practiced yoga many, many years. It was discouraging, but I gave the fear of what other think away and found that my intention for becoming a yoga teacher is what matters. I do not have to explain myself to anyone and when someone challenges my intention, it is ok. Responding with compassion and love will be key to remaining fearless from others' opinions.

So, now that I am back in Boulder I am settling back into my, "routine." Being able to take yoga off the mat and into my routine is where I put my practice into practice. The calmness I feel about what will happen next is peaceful. 

“We are not going to change the whole world, but we can change ourselves and feel free as birds. We can be serene even in the midst of calamities and, by our serenity, make others more tranquil. Serenity is contagious. If we smile at someone, he or she will smile back. And a smile costs nothing. We should plague everyone with joy. If we are to die in a minute, why not die happily, laughing?” - Swami Satchidananda, The Yoga Sutras.