| I am excited to announce Heartland Yoga’s first yoga teacher training.
Although Heartland has been open almost 18 years, we have never offered a teacher training. I have taught several of these trainings in Cedar Rapids, but never felt drawn to start a program in Iowa City. My reasoning for this was that there were already so many yoga teacher trainings in the area, and so many yoga teachers, that I felt strongly about not flooding the market.
But my reasoning has changed. Although there are still plenty of places locally and online where people can become trained to teach yoga, I have noticed that too much of current yoga culture is focused on strengthening, stretching, improving, and fortifying the body. While this absolutely happens, what has seemed to be lost, and what is at the heart of yoga, is that it is a practice for the mind.
I’ve been a practicing psychologist for 22 years now, so my focus and work has always been on the mind. Mental health concerns in our population continue to be amplified. These are unsettling times and change is happening so quickly that most of us our reeling. Our bodies, the densest aspect of self, can hardly keep up with the changing landscape our minds are experiencing. All of this contributes to dysregulated nervous systems where we feel tired and wired at the same time.
My passion for mental health and trauma informed practices (because the majority of us are holding trauma in the body) are a big impetus for why Heartland is going to offer a yoga teacher training. People need yoga. People need meditation. People need to learn to breath and down regulate their nervous systems. People need to learn tools to manage the stress and quiet the mind. I’m no longer worried about flooding the system with teachers – we need more people teaching, practicing, and above all, living their yoga.
When I took my first teacher training 20 years ago, I had no expectation that I would teach. I was curious about it for myself, and was thinking I might apply some of what I learned in my psychology practice. I had no idea that I would go on to open a studio and devote my work life to yoga and psychology integration. This is to say: you don’t have to even believe you will teach to take part in this. If you feel the nudge, but have no idea what you will do with the certification, know that you will be shown, and if it is just for your personal growth and evolution, it will be well worth you investment of resources and time.
I am thrilled also to have such a “dream team” of teachers for this training. Uma has a depth of teaching experience, and her literal roots are in India, so she brings an understanding of the tradition that few do. Kimberly brings her years of teaching plus her study of social justice and end of life care. Learning from multiple teachers with different voices and styles is ideal for students to see multiple ways to approach teaching yoga.
The training starts in January, and all the details can be found here. We are having an informational meeting on Sunday, September 28 @ 1PM. |
