Great joy about my yoga teacher certificate

Yoga Alliance 500 Hour Teachers Training completed!
Why I made this choice to share the completion of my ‘private’ yoga teacher training here after all, although I generally only use my column for professional topics. Some things can't be separated, especially when something seemingly private also has a professional impact. Just like the intensive immersion in the world of yoga.

The goal of yoga, one of the great Indian philosophies, is to achieve inner transformation (or to put it simply, to become a better person) and ultimately reach liberation or enlightenment. Part one is - with restrictions and assuming a lot of practice and self-reflection - a reasonably viable path for many of us, part two remains to be seen. Of course, practising part one also has an impact on everyday professional life - on how you deal with yourself, teams, colleagues, partners and customers. Hence this very personal text.

I have been practising Ashtanga, a holistic form of yoga that is also known as ‘meditation in motion’, for more than twenty years. It has ancient roots and consists of eight parts: the ethical rules yamas (dealing with others) and niyamas (dealing with oneself), the physical exercises asanas, the breathing exercises pranayama, the preliminary stages to meditation pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses) and dharana (concentration), the meditation dhyana and finally samadhi, the becoming-one and superconscious state as a step towards enlightenment and ultimate freedom kaivalya.

I mainly practise the asanas and pranayama, including the cleansing techniques kriyas from hatha yoga. Meditation results from pranayama. Never very long, but still. I also try to be aware of the yamas and especially the niyamas - five of each - in my everyday life and see myself failing every day with amusement and sometimes annoyance. After all, we are all only human. The old yoga scriptures are becoming increasingly important. Initially as compulsory reading for training and examinations, now more and more out of curiosity and the desire to re-read them with a broader understanding. They are the cradle of religions and philosophies; many things seem familiar, such as approaches to trauma therapy, positive psychology or sustainability.

Recovery. It was only during my yoga teacher training that I realised how much Ashtanga yoga - together with many years of (trauma) therapy - had contributed to my own recovery. Yoga can help to process and alleviate trauma stored in the body. The combination of therapy, breathing exercises and asanas has worked wonders for me. I am very grateful that I was able to afford it through the gift of a strong will and financial independence.

My yoga path. It was always clear that I would never leave the yoga path again. The training to become a yoga teacher remained a vague wish for a long time. It wasn't about actually becoming a teacher, but much more about delving deeper into the big topic and improving my asana practice. And now I have realised this wish. I am very happy about the certificate and a little sad that this training programme is over. However, the yoga path is a long one, true to the motto: ‘I know that I know nothing.’ And so the next steps are already in the pipeline: Unexpectedly, I will be teaching in a private setting, which gives me great pleasure - and opens up the field for new experiences. I will definitely also gain new experiences in January when I go to India to practise with Ty Landrum , who specialises in philosophy as well as asana. And then there's Swami Nityamuktananda Saraswati in Merano and Alex Medin in Norway and ...

Pureyoga. I am grateful and happy about the experiences that I was able to gain in the almost two years and 500 hours of teacher training, as well as the new and intensive friendships that I made there. And of course I am delighted with the ‘Yoga Alliance 500 Hour Teachers Training’ certificate, obtained at the Pureyoga Ashtanga Yoga Centre in Vienna. Many thanks to my teacher Margit Kapfer and my teacher Horst Rinnerberger. I look forward to walking many more sections of the yoga path with you!

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