How I Went From Hating Yoga to Yoga Teacher

It’s so freaking crazy to think that I went from absolutely hating yoga to becoming a yoga teacher.

Obviously this transformation didn’t happen overnight. I didn’t just wake up one day and say OMG I LOVE YOGA NOW!!!!!!! NAMASTE!

Nah, it was more of a slow, forced process.

My Struggle with Yoga.

Yoga never felt like the perfect fit for my body. This is still something I struggle with today. I have some serious flexibility issues. I’m not kidding, I can touch my toes but I’m usually the least flexible person in any yoga class (or fitness class for that matter) I take.

I’ve come to accept that it might just be the way my body works.

In a movement class I took in college we learned that some people have a tendency more towards flexibility whereas others build muscle more easily. Learning that was SO eye opening to me. My entire life (okay, maybe not my entire life…) finally made sense. I’ve always been muscular, even before I started seriously working out. I’ve also always had flexibility issues, even when I was taking daily dance classes.

I also thought yoga was boring.

In case you haven’t noticed, I’m an intense person. Relaxation is not in my vocabulary.

When I first started going to yoga classes in college, the struggle was VERY real. I would spend the entire class staring at my watch wondering how an hour could pass so slowly. It felt painfully long and boring. I’d start thinking about what I was going to make for dinner, my weekend plans, ideas for the show I was working on and homework.

I could not get into it. I also don’t think I got it. My brain couldn’t click into relaxation mode because it didn’t even know how.

At the time I was also just beginning my fitness journey. I joined my first gym when I was in college and officially became a group fitness junkie trying ALL the classes. I craved intensity and yoga felt blah in comparison.

Related: 6 Reasons Why Every Runner Needs Yoga

 

But I knew yoga was good for me.

Even though I’m not a calm, cool, relaxed person by nature, I know that I should try to relax.

I knew yoga was good for me mentally and physically and I wanted so badly to reap those benefits, even though I was struggling to get into the yogi zone.

So I literally forced myself to go to yoga.

I made it a goal during spring of my senior year of college to start working out in the morning. Mentally I couldn’t handle doing burpees before breakfast and Starbucks. That was a bit too aggressive at that point.

So I started with a 7AM yoga class at my gym. I also read the book Poser: My Life in Twenty-Three Yoga Poses to get myself amped up to wake up early for yoga. I kid you not, I really did force myself to like yoga. I was determined to be zen!

This class at my gym was my first real intro to vinyasa yoga and I liked it. We didn’t hold downward dog for a long time so my wrists didn’t start hurting. We moved quickly from pose to pose which meant if I didn’t like a pose we wouldn’t be lingering there. The class was only an hour long. And I liked the instructors style.

Soon enough I was going to class twice a week. The instructor started to recognize me. Being the little teacher’s pet that I am, I wanted to prove that I was in it to win it. I felt guilty skipping a class since the instructor now knew me.

Related: Is Yoga a Good Workout? (and does it even matter?)

 

I started noticing the shift in my life.

As someone how has always been a ball of stress, releasing even the tiniest bit of tension was noticeable. My jaw joint doesn’t fit together correctly. It’s a ball and socket joint but my ball pops out of the socket every time I open and close my mouth. Yup, it sucks. This causes TMJ pain and I tend to hold all my tension in my jaw.

Even when I was just starting to take yoga classes, I noticed less tension and therefore pain in my jaw joint. Now, 5 years later, I have more mobility in my jaw than I ever thought would be possible. I truly think this is in part thanks to yoga and releasing unnecessary tension in my body.

It’s hard to explain but my mind also felt more clear and I felt more grounded. As an over-thinker, over-analyzer and worrier, this was huge for me.

I was also becoming more and more confident in different poses (YEAH I DIDN’T FALL OUT OF HALF MOON TODAY!) so class didn’t feel like such a physical struggle.

Yoga is now a part of my routine

I won’t pretend this part happened instantly. Even after I started loving yoga, I didn’t always make a point to attend classes weekly. I went through phases where I wouldn’t take a yoga class for a few months at a time for one reason or another. Whenever I finally came back to my mat I’d ask myself why did I ever stop!?

Nowadays, it’s not something I actively have to think about. I find myself craving yoga.

It’s hard to explain exactly what happened, but after running the NYC Marathon last year I was so mentally fried. Even though it’s almost been a year (wait, WHAT?) I feel like I’m still mentally recovering from the beating my mind and body took. Actually running 26.2 is only part of the battle, for me it was a serious mental game.

Since the marathon I’ve been craving lower-intensity classes and yoga has become a bigger part of my wellness / workout routine.

 

And finally, yoga teacher

Yoga teaching training was always on the back of my mind.

Related: 6 Reasons Why You Should Do Yoga Teacher Training 

 

My biggest tip?

Find the right style for you. The awesome thing about yoga is there are SO many differently styles of yoga, especially in NYC. Sweaty, fast-paced vinyasa. Super super sweaty hot yoga. Acro yoga for the adventurous. Soothing restorative. Hip-hop infused classes. I could go on and on.

The point is, find what works for you. Try a ton of different classes. See what sticks