Teacher Training: Inside Bre's Journey

Follow along as Denver blogger, Bre Patterson (@biteswithbre), writes about her Teacher Training journey. Bre is currently enrolled in CorePower Yoga's 200-Hour Online Teacher Training program. Bre will post each month, talking about her experience and what she's learned so far!

June 10th, 2021

I’m beaming with gratitude for everything I have learned, the people I have met, and the space I have created for myself while on my Teacher Training journey. This has been an incredible gift.

We started C2 Training by setting an intention for the final four weeks. Some students shared that they were looking forward to getting comfortable with teaching, putting their insecurities aside and judging themselves less. My intention was to master the sequencing essentials, connect with my students and be better at incorporating a theme throughout class.

For me, the intention of C2 is to deepen my teaching and focus on how I speak to students. It is learning advanced teaching techniques and being able to watch the students in my class and support them through their practice. Lara, a TT Lead, said "anyone can teach from a template but C2 takes you beyond that". It’s learning the muscle action cues (MAC) to create muscle sensations; having awareness of how to speak to different bodies and tailoring my class to be inclusive. I learned new poses like Wheel and Side Crow, with small changes that I could incorporate to unlock and personalize the poses for my students. C2 gave me the tools to be a better teacher.

One thing that was touched on throughout Teacher Training is giving and receiving feedback. Feedback should be viewed positively and leads to opportunities of change. When giving feedback, it’s important to speak from personal experience and always ask if someone would like to hear your feedback. I connect with CPY on this because I love welcoming feedback. It is the best way for me to improve and look beyond my limits. 

We closed our final C2 training with a meditation focused on “I can do hard things”. This was one of the most powerful meditations I have experienced throughout my Teacher Training. I believe it is because of the knowledge I have gained over the past three months and the challenge of teaching that is ahead for me. I have transformed physically and mentally; I know there is more transformation to come and I welcome it. I will continue to journal after yoga classes and identify what resonates with me from each class. I will take notes on the shifts I make in my own practice and continue being curious through my transformation.

I now begin my journey as a yoga teacher and look forward to meeting my students. 

April 30th, 2021

I’m excited to share that I have earned my Online C1 Teacher Training certification. The last four weeks have been an incredible experience and have me feeling grateful. I have a new found love for yoga that I would have never known about if I had not taken Teacher Training.

Week one flew by. We launched the first class by diving into Sanskrit and incorporating it into classes. Puja Singh, a CPY teacher, recognizes Sanskrit as a part of her upbringing in India through her studies of the classical language and now into her practice as a teacher. She taught us the beauty behind Sanskrit and how it can be healing. This has stuck with me because I have always found yoga practice and meditation to be healing. 

Now, with the addition of Sanskrit chants and using the language in class, I have changed how I practice on my mat. My mind craves the use of Sanskrit with each pose and I feel a connection to my body. As an example, if you have taken a yoga class you may have been introduced to Sanskrit with terms such as Utkatasana (chair pose) and Padahastasana (gorilla pose). 

From Sanskrit we moved into the sequence and posture clinics. This opened the door to learning the CPY formulas. The basic formula of Breath, Posture, Cue is the foundation of C1. My focus was on transitions: inhale, exhale child’s pose; and cues: open your knees wide, bring your hips towards your heels, reach your arms forward to lengthen your spine. I continued to study offline to learn the benefits of the poses. For example, child’s pose lengthens and relaxes the muscles on the back line of your body and relaxes your mind and nervous system. I also studied how I can verbally assist a student in a pose, encourage self-care and offer personalizations. 

In one of the journal entries, we were asked to ponder the type of yoga teacher we would like to be and how we want students to feel after our classes. I feel the more personalizations and coaching opportunities you share can help students deepen their practice. 

I have put a lot of reflection into the type of teacher I want to be, understanding what roles and responsibilities that come with it. I know this will evolve as I begin to teach and have more experience. For now, I am learning my superpower skills to use inclusive language, be concise in my words and intentional when theming. In my student manual it states, “CorePower thrives on feedback because it’s how we learn and grow as teachers, students and people. Feedback is intended to create positive change without negativity or criticism. Feedback can offer a new or different perspective.” 

The second month of Teacher Training has been a learning experience for me. I have let my curiosity take me down different paths throughout each session. I am open for feedback and ready to challenge myself. I am grateful for my teachers and grateful to be a student. 

March 31st, 2021

I’m entering my fourth week of Teacher Training and it is nothing that I had expected, but more than I could have ever imagined. I thought we would study yoga poses nine hours a week but I had no idea that the curriculum is split into four weeks of yoga training, four weeks of C1 sequence training and then four weeks of your decided major, which for me is C2. So far, I have taken the yoga poses we all know so well, such as Warrior I (Virabhadrasana I) and unlocked it to understand how to make a pose I once thought of as so simple into a more personalized pose. For those that aren’t aware, many poses focus on stabilizing your pelvis through variations whereas others are to distribute effort along your spine. We moved into meditation, which we start and end each class with, and learned how there is no wrong way to meditate. We’ve also covered the history of yoga and how it has evolved into what it is today. All of this was in the first few classes! In the following weeks, we’ve learned about the power of breath (including Om), chakras and yoga anatomy.

I leave each class feeling invigorated, empowered with knowledge and curious for what is ahead. Being an online class, I wasn’t sure how effective the virtual teachings would be, but CorePower has created a powerful structure with the most experienced trainers teaching the topics they are the experts in. I have met a plethora of trainers across the nation who are enthusiastic about the topics they teach. I instantly felt connected with the other students in my class because we all had our cameras on and were doing movements together, experiencing sensations together, being one breath together. Myself and the other students have been vulnerable in front of each other by using our bodies for learning opportunities or sharing our feelings on sensitive topics. Most recently we discussed kleshas and koshas that offered the opportunity for students to share the things they dislike (Dvesa) and the things they like (Raga), and how we switch from dislike to like. Students discussed their personal life struggles from losing friendships to pushing themselves out of their comfort zone at work. 

This first month has been a deep self discovery period of reflection - physically and mentally. Each session, we are tasked with journal questions to help review the topics we learned and to really dig deeper on how we view them. If there is one thing the first month of Teacher Training has taught me, it is that yoga is not just a workout, it is movement and breath. It is the connection of oneself on a deeper level.