WEEK 3 YTT update – written by student Polly

It feels like someone has hijacked time this week and sped it up to double the pace. The sun has been shining around Krishna Village, and in the yoga shala, the YTT trainees have had to bring their A game. Teaching intensity has been notched up, with not only morning classes being run by the three teaching teams, but 90 minute afternoon classes starting on Friday too.

For those that haven’t been to a Krishna Village yoga class (and you totally should!) the morning classes start at 5am and are a 60 minute yoga meditation of movement and grace in the candle lit space, followed by a gentle Kirtan – what better way to start your day. The YTT’s have been team teaching in 15 minute blocks, taking participants through a gentle expression of morning practice.

The afternoons get everyone moving, with 90 minutes of vinyasa, the process of linking sequences of poses with the breath and music to really get an intense integrated session. Letting the YTT’s loose on 90 minutes in 30 minute team block has really pushed us to know our Sanskrit, understand the art and science of sequencing a flow and how to bring it all to a close with pranayama and dhyana. 

It’s an exhilarating experience to be up the front and watching people get their stretch on, see their bodies open up and move, and be part of the experience of yoga in a group. This exposure to teaching from so early in the course is the diamond at the heart of the Krishna Village training. As trainees we are just being taught postures in an academic way. We learn, we do, we be.

Another massive highlight of this week was a day of anatomy and physiology training by legendry yoga therapy teacher Maria Kirsten. Her dynamic and engaging way of teaching made what can be a pretty dry topic come to life, and we all got to trace the origins of our weak postures back to wonky knees, shaky core strength, dicky shoulders and missing glutes. It was a fascinating part of our learning, and by making a few tweaks to how we hold our bodies, angle our pelvis and position our hips, the ease and strength of our postures changed dramatically.

Outside the yoga hall out little YTT family is getting closer and deeper, ably guided by our teaching team of Lila, Mal, Madreya and Henrike who have become our guides, mentors, inspirations, friends and champions. We’ve all bonded this week over an early morning hour long om meditation, a trip to the beach for some gorgeous surf and Sanskrit practice, and some side splitting blooper reel style class rehearsal for delivering our public classes. The love for each other has been amazing as the yoga works its magic on helping us grow and release old patterns and stuff we no longer need safely and with support. 

It still feels like a big journey, with four more weeks of honing out skills, developing our personal style and stepping in to our yogi lives. But you know what? We’ve got this!