Of yoga teacher training, struggling with poses and gym bag essentials
Photos: New Angle Yoga
Occasionally, she circled the class, correcting and guiding us deeper into our poses.
My first meeting with Dr Trish Corley went something like this:
At 9:05am, I found myself scrambling into her vinyasa class just in the nick of time. I rarely turn up late for yoga classes so this was a rarity.
As I settled myself down on a vacant mat, our eyes met and she smiled at me without skipping a beat. We eased gently into breathing exercises, combating the last vestiges of sleepiness.
Her class — a flowy combination of breath-led asanas — was challenging without leaving any of us heaving in exhaustion. The challenge came in the sheer focus required in moving seamlessly between poses. Slowly and steadily.
Occasionally, she circled the class, correcting and guiding us deeper into our poses. Most interesting of all, she encouraged everybody to use props like the yoga block.
As a regular practitioner, I sometimes prided myself on not having to use the props, but little had I realise what I was missing out. Turns out, a little block made a world of difference to my half moon pose!
Dr Trish first started taking yoga classes at a gym as a way to relax.
To glean more into the world of yoga and teaching yoga, we sat Dr Trish down for a chat:
How and when did your yoga journey start?
I started taking yoga classes at my gym as a way to relax when I was in physiotherapy school. I continued on and off to complement my marathon training.
When I moved to Houston in 2007, I found YogaOne and that is when my journey really began. I came to realise yoga is more than just stretching and strengthening my body. I was drawn to the lessons I could also take off the mat and into my life.
Walk us through an average day in your life as a Yoga teacher.
What I love about my life as a yoga teacher is that no day is quite like the next! A typical day includes teaching a yoga class or two, practicing yoga (either at home or at a studio), meditating (even if just for 5 minutes), a lunch meeting with friends/colleagues (in the yoga community; these seem to be synonymous), time at my computer to schedule workshops and develop content for trainings, dinner with my husband, and a little bit of Netflix…ok, last night there was a lot of Netflix.
What’s something people don’t know about being a yoga teacher?
Most people don’t know that you don’t need to able to a headstand or put your foot on behind your head in order to be a great yoga teacher.
The most inspiring teachers are the ones who relate to their students and reveal the truth that sometimes they struggle and sometimes they shine…just like real people!
We know you’ll be teaching yoga teacher training soon. What can students expect in a teacher training session that’s led by you?
Show us what’s in your yoga/gym bag! What are some items you can’t live without?
What’s one thing you wish you knew, when you first started practicing yoga?
What’s your favourite yoga asana? And why?
Leave our readers with one fitness advice.
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