I completed my first week of the 200 hours yoga teacher’s training at Yoga Mandala and I am both happy and excited. I was nervous before starting YTT because I was not too sure what to expect during the course but now having gone through the first week and survived, I find that I like the pace of the training and I like the group of students I am with.
On the first day, there was a detailed discussion of Ujjayi breathing, a technique of Pranayama also known as Ocean’s Breath. I love the name Ocean’s Breath because the sounds of the inhalations and exhalations when the throat is constricted, really do sound like the waves of the ocean. After learning this technique, I want to practice this form of breathing every morning. I have not yet fully gotten the technique of inhalations with a constricted throat because the sound of my inhalations is not as loud as the exhalations. However, I believe that this is because I am not used to using the muscles in my throat. Perhaps I have been too soft-spoken my whole life! The muscle which I have to train will be the Epiglottis and my vocal cords. Maybe I should take up singing lessons? 🙂 Or perhaps just trying to speak a little louder every day will help although sometimes I feel as though when I do that I am shouting. Well, they say practice makes perfect so the Ujjayi breathing will be what I will be doing every morning before I eat my breakfast.
One last thing before I end this first week’s blog post. I would like to continue working on the sequence of jumping back from Baby Bakasana to forearm Santolasana. I have never actually done this sequence before and I find that it works on overcoming my fear and that it is excellent for my concentration. Here’s to a productive week ahead! Thank you. Christine Seah 200HR September 2018