Translating lessons from the mat into real life

This follows on from my last post about being patient about yoga poses. I can safely say that I am less fussed about not being able to nail yoga poses because that I know with practice and patience, I will eventually get the pose. Why can’t I translate this lesson to off the mat? How do I translate this to real life? I have been feeling very down about my personal life as of late. Many things weren’t going the way that I wanted it to be, and I thought that I would be more successful than I presently am at the moment. I keep trying to force things to be a certain way when they aren’t meant to be. Like trying to bend a metal rod when it’s not meant to be bent. I’ve learnt many lessons from my yoga practice, and now I need to learn how to apply them in the other non-yoga aspects of my life. I need to be patient and appreciative of where I presently am in my life, and not feel frustrated when things don’t work out the way I expected them to. I need to believe that there is a time and place for everything, and with hard work and diligence, good things will come my way. Namaste, Lyssetta, @yogi.lys

Reflecting on YTT

YTT has been an absolute journey – physically and mentally. I remember the first week of YTT – my body had never been pushed so much physically before. It was well worth it though, as I started making breakthroughs after breakthroughs. I never imagined that I would improve so much so quickly, but it goes to show how the human body can change in such a short period of time! I learnt so much about my body as well. I knew that I always had hunchback (kyphosis) but I didn’t know that I had lordosis as well, and pronated feet. Probably my biggest takeaway from YTT physically is being more mindful of my posture and learning how to correct myself. Now I try to stand and sit up straight all the time, and I am noticing more frequently whenever my back is starting to round. In fact Jessica had warned us that our backs may start to ache due to us readjusting our alignments, and true enough my lower back started to ache in week 4 of YTT! I’ve learnt so many lessons on the mat that I want to translate to real life. Executing certain asanas has taught me to be appreciative and content with where my practice is. Trying to nail certain asanas has taught be to be disciplined and patient with myself. Teaching classes, while absolutely nerve wrecking, has made me feel more confident in myself. I came into this YTT hoping to learn more about yoga, but I learnt so much about who I am and my personality. This YTT has reinforced in my mind that yoga is so much more than the physical postures or looking good. Practicing yoga has made me a more well rounded individual which I am eternally grateful for ☺ Namaste, Lyssetta @yogi.lys

YTT Teaching Week

YTT teaching week has come to a close and it has been the most memorable week of them all. Firstly, I don’t think I have ever subjected my body to such a level of physical intensity. I clocked 20 hours of yoga classes in the past 5 days, from attending my YTT classmates’ classes. Definitely a record! Secondly, it was definitely an experience having my friends come into The Yoga Mandala and teaching them yoga. My first class was just to my YTT classmates and one close friend, who had prior yoga experience, so I set the class at an intermediate level. For my second and third classes however, I had more of my friends come in to attend the classes and even though I knew them all personally, somehow it made me really nervous! I still remember Jessica asking me before my third class (which had the most of my friends attending) why I was nervous. I said it was because I knew my friends had come down to support me and I wanted to give them the best class I could. It was also my first time teaching to beginners, which I found more difficult to teach than to advanced practitioners as you really have to break down each pose to its very fundamentals. It was a huge test of my teaching skills and I had to remember and give all the verbal adjustments for each pose and ensure that they were doing them correctly. At the same time, you have to be patient, and not get frustrated when the students do not get what you’re trying to say. Teaching week was a very memorable week for me and I am so appreciative to everyone that had attended my class. It made me feel very loved knowing that there were so many friends that wanted to support me in my yoga journey and it has definitely inspired me to be a better instructor! Namaste, Lyssetta @yogi.lys

Patience and all is coming

Being one of the considerably more seasoned practitioners in my YTT course has given me the rare opportunity to teach my fellow YTT classmates about certain poses. Rare because I hardly consider myself as advanced in any way! One day after YTT we were working on asanas, and someone got frustrated because she wasn’t strong enough or flexible enough to nail the asana. It reminded me of when I was at that stage of my yoga journey and wanted to be able to do poses NOW. I would end up feeling very discouraged that I wasn’t strong enough, flexible enough or I just couldn’t get the mind-body connection required for the pose. After a while I realised that yoga isn’t about instant gratification, its about the journey to the pose – the diligence, discipline, consistent practice and the patience gained – which makes the result all the more sweeter… Now when faced with a difficult pose, I’m less worked up about not being able to get it right, because I know that with practice and patience, it will come in time. Namaste, Lyssetta @yogi.lys

Should we bend our knees in Uttanasana?

I was teaching my Dad Surya Namaskar A in preparation for teaching week. As I know he is super inflexible, when it came to Uttanasana I just rattled off on autopilot, “bend your knees until your belly touches your thighs”. He asked, why? I knew the answer had something to do with lengthening the spine. However, this doesn’t apply to me. Whenever I’m in bent knees Uttanasana, I don’t feel like my spine is lengthening or that I’m stretching out my lower back. Hence Uttanasana feels more like a hamstring stretch to me, which is fine, because I love stretching out my hamstrings anyway. But then I wondered, why not just do Uttanasana with straight legs? So I went onto google to find out why, and surprisingly discovered that apparently the (online) yoga community is very divided about whether or not to bend your knees in Uttanasana or not. When you bend your knees in Uttanasana, the hamstrings become slack, which relocates the stretch to your low back. By bending your knees you are able to gain more mobility in your pelvis, as the hamstrings are able to relax, and the pelvis can tip forward. But some websites have stated that stretching the low back can be problematic as most people have very weak back muscle, and stretching a weak muscle leads to greater weakness and instability. I don’t know what the correct answer is, so I don’t really have a conclusion to this – except that its fascinating to read different viewpoints on yoga poses and that teaching my Dad has made me realise the importance of questioning why do we do each thing for every asana. Namaste, Lyssetta @yogi.lys

Yamas and Niyamas

The practice of apariagraha is of non-hoarding, of non-attachment. Its not only material things that we let go of though, but it also about ideas, people and places that we hold on to, act possessively towards or hoard. This clinging onto something or someone is a barrier to freedom. This would probably be very applicable for me with regards to clinging onto my time spent in the UK. When I went back to London a few weeks ago I sometimes felt miserable and hated myself that I wasn’t good enough to get a job to continue living there and instead had to come back to Singapore. I loved life there and my entire trip there I kept thinking “I want to live here so much”. I was holding onto the idea that my life would be great if I could move there and live there and as a result felt like a miserable failure. This probably links quite well to the Niyama Ishvara Pranidhana, which means surrendering to the fact that you cannot control everything in life. Isvara Pranishana can be seen instead of fighting against life’s twists and turns, we remain open to experiencing life as it unfolds. I only have a vague idea of how my life looks like for the next few months and this worries me sometimes, because I like having plans and knowing what I’ll be doing. But I think I should just learn to take things as they come and appreciate being in the present moment. Namaste, Lyssetta @yogi.lys

My first teaching assignment

Today marks my very first “real-life” yoga teaching session! Apart from our pretty batch ladies and my supportive Aunt, I managed to conquer my fear and invited my neighbours (whom i have never met!). When they responded to come, I was really excited but at the same time, thoughts came running…. “omg it’s going to be real, teaching strangers… did I, erm… overdo it?”. The Sequence: Digestive Booster Drafting the sequence was fun and yet, a brain-killer. Thinking of the various class levels, wondering what would be good for all levels, as I knew my neighbours and Aunt were Beginners/ Intermediate, and with our strong batch ladies… plus I kind of wanted to start my first teaching with more gentle touch. So, I decided to complete my sequence by focusing on massaging on abdominal organs and muscles instead of basis on class level intensity. Partly also cause I tend to have constipation and after YTT started, it definitely improved my bowels ALOT! So yes, then was the deciding factor. Teaching experience As time drew closer to the class commencement, I start to panic…. My mind was like “neighbours may eventually not turn up… that would be less stressful..” Then the time ticks 12pm and they did not arrive… So class started, and when i was about to go start Pranayama, I was told they are coming, but got lost. It was literally “小鹿乱撞” aka “intensified panic, stress, happy, excited, worried” feelings battling inside me. I am glad I managed to calm myself down somehow, not sure how but it did. And so I started teaching…. and in the second set of Navasana, all of a sudden I felt a sense of happiness trying to engage the class and seeing everyone focusing, trying to do the poses together… That feeling definitely helped encouraged me. It led me towards the completion of my first teaching assignment. Oh and it was my first time seeing people in Savasana! I was really relieved and glad to see everyone fully relaxed and enjoying it. That marked the completion of my first teaching assignment! Feeling excited on the next teaching assignment~ Marilyn (YTT200 – Batch July to Sep 18) @yoga.shootingstar

My Gratitude

An unexpectedly fulfilling journey taking YTT200. It is sad that the course is now coming to an end, I would never forget this learning experience. Especially grateful to Jessica, our instructor who pointed out and helped me corrected my tiled head that I didn’t even realize! I also came to know I have slight scoliosis that could be corrected overtime. I am thankful that my hunchback have improved tremendously just in 4 weeks due to YTT! It is no doubt Yoga helps each individual to focus on connecting to their body and mind. It also allows people from all sorts of life to come together, just like our batch ladies. We sweat, study and learn and “pose” together creating friendships! It is a course that I will never regret taking. Definitely. Looking forward to the continuous realization of oneself˜ Marilyn (YTT200 – Batch July to Sep 18) @yoga.shootingstar

My Second Teaching Assignment

My second teaching assignment was quite a time ticking challenge! The intended teaching slot was 45mins as the studio will be holding a class thereafter. I was nervously waiting, as the clock ticks while the class before mine continues… I knew i had to cut short my sequence to be able to finish 15 mins before the studio starts its class. But how short to cut, to be able to fit the time, yet able to achieve my peak pose of Baby Bakasana? My class started, and halfway through my standing sequence, i was told i left 10mins! My mind went like “omg…. what should I do?! I just started the sequence!!” I turned and look at my notes, and decided to continue my poses with 1 set each as i wanted to have the preparation poses completed. Thankfully I was able to complete my intended peak pose with the students with an overrun by 5mins. and i missed one side of one standing pose. It was really a good learning experience. Marilyn (YTT200 – Batch July to Sep 18) @yoga.shootingstar

More about Teaching

When i was a kid, i always wanted to be a teacher in secondary or primary school or something. It didn’t happen but I’m really looking forward to being a teacher now. I’m excited to share the knowledge I’ve learnt. I’ll just have to work on finding my style and hopefully I’ll find people who will be excited to learn from me as much as i’m excited to teach! Lesley @lesleyflows YTT200 Aug Intake