Mantra Yoga, Sound of Yoga, Mala Making & More ~ A Whole Weekend of Yoga

Yoga Teacher Training two weekends ago was from 8am to 6pm Saturday and Sunday. I am not sure I can write in a short post all the amazing goodness of this weekend but I am going to try!

Saturday was all about music, chanting, and Mantra Yoga.

Our teacher Samantha led us into the morning with Mantra Yoga. I loved chanting with MC Yogi, similar to the one below:

Teresa Doyle came to teach us about singing Mantra and learning how to chant. What an experience, to learn how to use our voices and feel the difference in ourselves. Teresa taught us more than just how to chant, she is a fascinating woman.

We learned about the Sanskrit alphabet, wrote each letter in Devanagari script, and practiced each sound it makes and where the sound should be coming from (gutteral, palatal, dental, etc). It was fascinating. I feel that I can now understand how to say some of the mantras.

The last part of Saturday was another amazing experience with the sound of yoga. Trevor came in with many instruments, flutes, drums, crystal bowls, wind chimes, and others I didn't know what they were called! We were able to sit back and listen to everything, feeling the vibrations of the music he made.

Being able to get some inspiration and ideas on how to incorporate chanting and sound into our own future yoga classes was very helpful and what I took away from that day.

On Sunday, we continued with mantras, starting our day with a physical practice. We also did a few rounds of sun salutations, with each of us students practicing teaching to the class.

We then spent a good part of the morning learning and making our own malas! I feel like the making was a great exercise on its own, not just the crafty part which I love, but for me an example in letting go of perfection and control. I had all my beads chosen and placed exactly how I wanted them, all laid out on my mat. After I got the string and started beading, I realized some would not go through the thread at all. I had to adjust and make second choices, adjusting as I went along. Instead of a perfect laid out plan, I free styled until the half way bead point (the 54th bead) and then repeated the pattern all the way to the 108th bead on the other side. I got the message and a beautiful mala. We chanted Om Namah Shivaya 108 times with our malas and then wrote it in Sanskrit 108 times! It was like the old fashion writing lines in school, but after a while, the rythmn took over and I enjoyed it. My mind was entirely focused on writing and repeating as I wrote. Meditative.

We learned more balancing poses in the afternoon, before finishing our weekend with another Yoga for Charity class. It was a great turnout! I taught the warm up part of the class and truly loved every minute of it, even though I was so nervous about it most of the day!