| |
I came to yoga with little to no understanding of its meaning or history. Wearing a full-length fur coat, I took my very first yoga class with a friend at university. All I remember about the class was lying on the floor and laughing like a hyena; I am sure much to the chagrin of the teacher. I later became remotely interested in yoga when I was able to take free classes at a yoga centre in exchange for working as a receptionist.
At the time, I had no "real" interest in yoga and would describe myself as completely ignorant. By "real", I am referring to being interested in the theory of the practice. No one in my family had had any interest in yoga. My grandmother’s question, "How's the yo-go going?" is case in point. Like many people, I was drawn to yoga merely for physical reasons; I thought I might get a great workout.
A few years later, a more sincere interest in yoga was ignited while I was living and working in South Korea as an English teacher. After reading a book on yoga therapy written by Sonya Richmond and learning a few of the postures, I decided to teach it. I rented space in a Lutheran Church in downtown Seoul and for over a year and a half taught mainly expatriate women from Europe and North America. Of interest, no one asked about my background or teaching credentials and the classes went well. In 1997, I returned to Canada and took my first yoga program at an ashram in California. One program naturally led to another one until I found myself booking a ticket for India. I always felt that if I really wanted to know yoga then going to India was the next logical step along the path. During my first trip to India, I was immersed in a month-long program with daily pranayama for 6 hours (re: breathing exercises to control the energy) and meditation for 3 hours.
Today, I have a much more extensive and deeper background in yoga having completed many other programs and training courses. In 1997, I founded The Yoga Way, a school for structured programs that offers individual attention and teaches yoga as a progressive series. And as part of an on-going pilgrimage I have returned annually to India to study under my teachers.
All Copyrights Reserved, 2009. The Yoga Way, Toronto, Canada. |
|