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| Finally, I will get certified!
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Upon checking the AYC website the other day, I noticed that Jennifer Elliot was going to lead a teacher training starting in September of this year. It is going to occur two weekends per month from September through January. I'm really looking forward to attending it. Moreover, Jen Fleisher is co-leading the training, so I will get to study with -two- of my regular teachers, yipee!
Ever since my retreat over memorial day, I have been giving time to meditate almost every day. Generally speaking, I find sitting still and quieting the mind a very challenging thing to do, but I have been reading about, and practicing, mantra yoga over the past couple weeks. It has been quite rewarding. In particular, I have been chanting (mostly in my mind) the Gayatri mantra. I typically chant this in my mind 27 times whilst in a sitting position. I've practiced it in lotus posture (lotus becomes quite difficult to hold for any length of time without assistance!), and I've practiced it sitting in a chair. Yesterday, while sunning myself outside, I chanted the Gayatri mantra in my mind 54 times (27 times a side). I have definitely noticed that I am more peaceful while engaging a meditation practice. Asana seems to make me feel good, and provides the background for good meditation (a light, strong, steady body), but mantra seems to provide a different sort of connection between the body and mind. I suppose that one does not have to chant a particular mantra. One could pray, perhaps chanting hail mary's for a certain number of times, or any other word grouping with spiritual and personal significance. My hope is that, after some time, I will begin to wean myself from dependance on the mantra to a "higher" sense of meditation.
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Posted by YogaMatt on 2008-06-10 14:45:54 | Rating: | Views: 43
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by getting certified you are just talking about 200hr teacher training and not Certified Ashtanga by Guruji in Mysore India.Enjoyed your article and I have done workshop with David he is a wonderful teacher with great knowledge and its a honor to have studied with him at YogaSpot in Durham NC.
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Posted by larryrama
on 2008-08-12 08:54:44
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For the edification of readers of this blog, the following clarification is made:
The literal sense of the word "cerfified" is used in this blog (see here: http://dictionary.die.net/certify), not the one particular to the ashtanga vinyasa yoga lineage of Pattabhi Jois of Mysore, India (see the recently-updated http://www.ayri.org/teachers.html.)
Yoga Alliance offers its own criteria for certification of yoga teachers. A review of this blog would reveal that there is no indication that the author is interested as to another sort of certification other than the 200 hour yoga alliance criteria at this time. See Yoga Alliance criteria here: http://www.yogaalliance.org/Standards.html.
Additonally, the term "Guruji", as larryrama refers to in the comment above, refers to Pattabhi Jois, the guru of the ashtanga vinyasa yoga lineage who resides in Mysore, India. "Guruji" is an affective term given to a guru by his (or her)followers, be it Patthabi Jois, BKS Iyengar, Ravishankar, etc.
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Posted by YogaMatt
on 2008-08-12 11:25:20
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