Becoming a yoga teacher in Ann Arbor

Today I went to a yoga class in Osterville, MA with my mother-in-law and her neighbor. After class I had a quick chat with the instructor, who out of the blue asked me what type of yoga I studied and whether I was considering becoming a yoga teacher. I had a hard time answering the first question, and the answer to the second was “yes!”

It’s been a long time coming to that decision. I have scoliosis, so my spine is twisted and my ribs stick out more on one side than another. The ironic part about this is that without the scoliosis, I would be even taller than I already am! I spent a long time fretting about the twist, hiding in clothes that were too roomy, feeling ashamed of being imperfect. I never really considered myself, twisted and with tight hamstrings, yoga teacher material. Over time, I have relaxed these worries, and I think teaching yoga would be particularly good for my own practice and help me work on the remnants of these feelings of unworthiness.

It has been a few years now since I first articulated the intention to train as a yoga teacher. I think it might be time to act before the intention gets completely stale.

So, now the big question is which kind? I’ve studied several kinds of yoga – Iyengar mostly, as Ann Arbor has been a historical hub of Iyengar yoga, but more recently I’ve dabbled in Anusara, Vinyasa, and a teeny bit of Ashtanga. I also briefly flirted with Bikram yoga, but I found the heat overwhelming. I have come to appreciate the comfort and stability and discipline in the routine of having the same class every time, as is done in Ashtanga and Bikram. I don’t currently have a car, which would make the yoga training available at Sun-Moon-Yoga or Ann Arbor School of Yoga (Iyengar) the most convenient.

How do I choose? Do I spend a year finding the right flavor of yoga? Maybe the answer is to just start anywhere rather than hover at the entrance forever.

And then I just realized while writing this, I should pursue yoga teacher training with Elise Browning Miller, who is Iyengar trained and who teaches yoga for scoliosis. She is in California, and so I think I’d have to include training with her in another curriculum, rather than focus on her training. Funny that a weekend teacher training intensive at the Ann Arbor School of Yoga directly coincides with Elise’s weekend in Cleveland in early October.

That doorway beckons…