Tag: Whistler Yoga

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Just because it hurts doesn’t mean you should quit

The yoga posture begins when you want to leave it.

Practicing for the past week at an ashtanga-style studio where we contort ourselves into the primary series’ postures and then hold each one for five breaths (that’s four seconds in, four seconds out, times five) has really emphasized Iyengar’s point that la posture commence quand on a envie de s’arreter.

The good stuff starts when you feel like quitting. This is true of adventures.  When you lose the high trail at 4:45pm in November and realize you don’t have a headlamp. THAT’s when the adventure begins.

Because adventure takes on many forms, and the best ones start out uncomfortable.

It’s being at the trailhead with a too-heavy pack. It’s climbing a mountain that no amount of training could have prepared you for. It’s deciding to go to another country for six months. It’s realizing you can’t get back to the other side of the mountain because the tunnel closed twenty minutes ago. It’s dragging your blistered feet to the summit. It’s enduring the storm in an inadequate sleeping bag. It’s sneaking into the museum and then getting locked in. It’s moving away from everything you know and attending university in a foreign language. It’s sharing a cab with the locals. It’s trusting the locals. It’s arguing with your travelling partner, even though he’s the only person with whom you can speak English. It’s sprinting through the station, but missing the train anyway.  It’s realizing the next train isn’t for three days.

Adventure is a chance to push beyond the discomfort and see what awaits on the other side. It’s sticking with the plan, even when you feel like quitting. It’s enduring the pain and knowing it’s not in vain.

See you on the mat. See you on the mountain. See you on the adventure.

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Uncategorized Yoga

thank you Whitegold!

To the ladies (and fellow) of Whitegold Yoga: thank you! Thank you for being a community of commited yogis. I have practiced at a lot of studios in a lot of places, and yoga usually feels like an individual sport, a solo endeavor. Indeed, as a teacher I frequently encourage my students to look within and reflect on the self. Prior to coming to WGY, my yoga practice included sitting quietly, practicing without paying attention to the individuals on the adjacent mats and leaving with a nod and a thanks to the instructor. The students at WGY do not allow for this type of lonely yoga practice and for this I am grateful. In the minutes leading up to practice at WGY, there is chatter, catching up on each others lives and families, discussion of cooking and skiing and above all, positive encouragement and support offered between the mats. Thank you, Whitegold yogis. I have lived in Whistler for over ten years and repeatedly heard talk of the amazing community and friendly and supportive people. But until I started practicing and teaching at WGY, the “whistler community” was only folklore. Apart from skiing, I hadn’t found a group of friends in Whistler; I hadn’t been introduced to the community. Whitegold Yoga IS the community. To the ladies and dudes of Whitegold Yoga: you are Whistler in miniature. Diverse, strong, ambitious and, above all, supportive. It has been a pleasure and an honour to practice and teach alongside such extraordinary individuals. To the ladies and gentlemen of Whitegold Yoga: thank you for your suppport and friendship. I will be back.

To everyone else, if you haven’t practiced at Whitegold Yoga yet, there is a wide variety of classes including several free karma classes with new teacher trainees and you should go. With Erin at the helm, you are certain to step off your mat feeling strong, supported and inspired. Whatever your reasons for practicing yoga, try it with the WGY team. They embody team spirit,acceptance and kindness. The first and second limbs of ashtanga: The yamas and the niyamas consist of striving for kindness to yourself and to others around you. Whitegold yoga teaches kindness through strength and support.

Whitegold Yoga: on Nancy Greene Drive in Whistler, BC

www.whitegoldyoga.com

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Uncategorized Yoga YTT Blog

Five Reasons to take a Yoga Teacher Training program

1) you will discover patience within yourself. Or you might discover some other attribute within yourself that you didn’t know you had. The point is that yoga teacher training will take you beyond the physical realms of yoga and will calm your mind and create space for new and exciting emotional qualities.

2) You will meet a group of amazing people who come from unique backgrounds and have chosen to expand their knowledge about yoga. You will get to know strangers and learn, laugh and balance together.

3) You will learn enough about yoga to make an educated decision about what type of yoga you want to do (and teach). The choices of yoga classes can be overwhelming, but with a solid foundation on the fundamentals of yoga, you will be able to choose what you like about yoga, and which aspects you are less interested in. Maybe you will only want to teach chair yoga to seniors, maybe you want to teach meditation to recovering addicts, maybe you want to teach introductory poses to a rugby team. Yoga teacher training gives you the knowledge to know what you love about yoga, and the skills to share that knowledge.

4) Yoga is not some trendy fitness fad. Despite branding from clothing manufacturers who convince you that yoga and yogis have to look a certain way, yoga can be pretty much anything you want it to be. Yoga is an ancient tradition, folks! Learn more about it. Discover meaning in your practice. Relate to people around the world and through the ages who are practicing the same poses. It’s amazing to think that, with some knowledge of the practice, you can walk into any yoga studio around the world and hear the same words being used to describe the same physical shapes. Teacher Training will make you understand and appreciate the complexity of these poses.

5) Yoga Teacher Training will make you strong and resilient. Emotionally strong, physically resilient. Physically resilient, emotionally strong. Try it and see for yourself.