So this blog is a place to share, ideas, thoughts and different musings. Mostly I have used this blog to write about theoretical concepts and ideas, but today I feel I just want to share something personal. The picture featured here was just taken this past Sunday, and it is is of me holding my IAYT Certification. The IAYT is the International Association of Yoga Therapists. I had thought it would be quite a grueling process to actually get this certification, but through tremendous Hashgochah Pratis, ( Divine Guidance and Divine Protection) I was able to qualify for a pathway that made it quite manageable and possible... this particular pathway will no longer be open after June of this year, and from then on, achieving such a certification will truly require a much more intense and prolonged commitment. I am so grateful to Hashem that I started my training when I did, and that I was thus able to qualify for this in a manner that while still incredibly demanding and time- consuming, was actually possible for me to accomplish despite all of my other commitments as wife, mother, grandmother, ( baruch Hashem) and teacher .
I believe that all of my life I have wanted to serve in some way, offer my talents to others in a manner that could be truly helpful and to quote a cliche, " be of service". For many years I dedicated myself to teaching Torah, and I believe that in the process many folks ( somehow seems like the best word for now) benefitted a great deal by acquiring insight and information about our timeless heritage, and of course as every teacher knows, I benefitted the most from all of that teaching, not only through getting so much more familiar with all of our amazing texts but having many wonderful Torah students over the years from whom I learnt a great deal. However, while involved in all that theoretical and philosophical teaching, I often wondered if I was doing justice to the material at hand and if there was a deeper, more holistic manner in which I could not only convey the deep concepts being discussed, but also accomplish the deep spiritual work required myself more fully and authentically. I also wondered if my teaching was really making a difference on an essential level in the lives of those whom I taught or was I just sharing "information" that was intellectually engaging.
We live in the world as a soul within a body and are truly a combination of Soul and Body or Body and Soul, and it began to occur to me, that true change, true learning and transformation really does need to involve both body and soul... and thus began my journey of learning to teach Yoga as well as Torah. ( I have practiced yoga since I was about 14 years old, but somehow becoming a teacher of the practice, and sharing it with others marked some sort of critical shift.)
The world is a very challenging place and so many of us are hurt and damaged in some way. I am so grateful that I am on a path and continue to learn more every day, how to bring in the gifts of deep breathing, stretching, strengthening, meditation and learning to let go, not only for the benefit of my students and clients, but as mentioned above, as every teacher knows, we teach and share in order to learn ourselves... I am grateful I am learning everyday how I can breathe more deeply, slow myself down more frequently and in the process, learn to listen more attentively while I stretch and strengthen.
My commitment when I began this journey of learning how to teach Yoga was ultimately to assist and deepen my sharing of Torah, in an integrated and holistic mind-body-soul combination, and I continue to be motivated to do so.
Currently, I am teaching a class called "A Taste of Tanya", hopefully in this class, I can achieve the kind of integrated learning that I have been aiming for.
The point of this blog was to share my joy and gratitude to Hashem, that I can now truly claim the title of Therapist, which in the context of my almost 54 years is a big deal and in a way a culmination of a lifelong journey, dream and ambition ( even though I don't think I really even realized it myself for most of those years..) and hopefully with Hashem's help I will be able to do justice to the title...!
