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Well, I was going to give you all a week-by-week recap of my 300 hour teacher training with YogaWorks, and suddenly here we are in week three already! How did that happen?

Our 30-person group meets every other weekend for a workshop on revolving topics (ie. standing poses, hands-on adjustments, pre- and post-natal, etc.) and every Wednesday to discuss philosophy. During the weeks we study under an experienced mentor teacher to attend and assist her classes. We also work in smaller groups of 5-6, all under the same mentor, to practice teaching and receive more personalized guidance.

We're now two workshops, two Wednesdays, and many mentor classes in and, flashing back to week one, I'll try to pick out a most interesting observation from each week.

The lectures that tend to stick with me best are usually the philosophical studies, and our first night class on the Bhagavad Gita kept me thinking long after returning home. The story reminds us of an important aspect of life--discovering our purpose, our dharma, and acting according to it without attachment to results, awards, or success. Can we find our purpose and keep fulfilling it when it doesn't bring riches or glory? And even if it does, can we stay true to ourselves and keep doing it, unaffected by the powerful ego?

Our teacher left us with a quote:

"While remaining the same in success and in no success, such sameness is said to be yoga."

After two and a half years as a yoga teacher, I feel a certain reassurance that this teaching is what I'm meant to do. When I pass auditions or someone returns to my class regularly, I see it as a sign that I'm doing well. But really, the assurance is not about any of that; it's the joy and the flow that I get from the teaching itself. Likewise, in any work or activity we undertake, like playing an instrument or writing a book or taking care of someone, we often find ourselves doing it for the sake of doing it, unselfishly and without concern for a return on investment, simply because something inside said it was right. And that's when we really know it's the stuff for us.