I did it – YTT 250 over and out!

Yes! I did it, I finished my 250hr YTT at Yoga Tree in Toronto!! It was an amazing experience and although I was overwhelmed at first, it slowly just all made sense and I am so happy I made the decision to finally jump in and start training. My training was all day Saturday and Sunday, spread out over 3 months. I’m really happy I took it this way rather than the intensive one month program because with all the new things we were learning and the homework, weekdays were much needed to fully absorb it all.

I was grateful that my program covered many things: anatomy, ashtanga, hot yoga, restorative, yin, prenatal, philosophy, kids yoga. I had the time to go through each practice and have an experiences teacher guide me through it. I learned that kids yoga is actually really hard and probably not for me lol!

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It was great to brush up on my anatomy as well. I did the basic highschool science and biology courses, but this experience was totally different than that. I was immersed in the body and how it functions, and completley drawn to learning more about it. We applied the things we learned about muscles and bones to yoga poses as well and the benefits of each. It was so helpful.

The main thing I loved about this program was all of the hands on adjustments and teaching they had us do. There were os many teaching exercises from the start, like day one, really! We had just learned Surya Namaskara A + B and were asked to try and teach it to the class. That would have been so nerve wracking but my classmates were amazing – we all clicked and and worked together well. The exercises became harder during the end, teaching a full class to someone, or guiding one person at the front into a pose. The best thing is that we really had the chance to see the growth in each person. By the end of the program, everyone was teaching so much better and our voices grew and sounded more confident as we added our own styles.

I’m amazed at how much I learned and how much I have grown mentally and physically. I have discovered a better me and one that makes me happy, and I’m thrilled to see all the opportunities that have come about already! My chaturangas are stronger than ever as well, so that’s pretty cool too. It’s a wonderful way to start off the new year.

I am scheduled to teach my first class at Yoga Tree, it is a hot yoga class at 3:30 on January 30th! Join me if you’re free 😉

 

 

New life changes with YTT

Isn’t it funny how different life can be in only 3 years? For me it’s totally different – a new lifestyle, new goals, new career changes, and it all has been slightly terrifying I must admit. Sitting at my computer working full time building website after website, I thought that was what I wanted to do forever. I loved it but at the same time, it was becoming static and my posture and body were also suffering for it. Developing carpal tunnel, bad eyesight and a hunched back, I was constantly in and out with my chiropractor who told me to take up pilates and yoga! I tried a few classes, and started becoming inspired by friends and people online to self practice as well.

I bought my first yoga mat and was on a mission to learn to do a headstand. I practiced prep postures and my headstand everyday, and after a month I felt it. That little burst of strength mixed into a sense of balance I have never felt before. Even though I toppled over less than a second after, I felt this intense feeling of joy, progress and accomplishment. Ananda : pure bliss. I was hooked after that. (I also learned to practice Aparigraha : non-attachment – because I didn’t get my headstand for a whiiiile :P) I was constantly practicing at home though, any chance I had!

I began my Instagram yoga page @asanavanessa October 2015 – so it has been just over 2 years since I started sharing my journey online. I was always pretty flexible, but never had an ounce of strength in my life – and hate lifting weights and working out at a gym. This huge community of global Insta-yogis made me feel comfortable and I ended up learning a lot about myself. To be more kind, patient, and change my lifestyle for a healthier way of living (I still indulge). But MAINLY deciding to put my full-time Web Dev career on hold for a more part-time position to take a chance and head into my Yoga Teacher Training!

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@yogatreestudios where I am completing my training!

At first it was scary, waves of regret would wash over me, like am I making a huge mistake!?! But then this feeling of ease would overcome me and I would tell myself “no, you were meant to teach yoga, and maybe you can help someone else fall in love with the feeling of the practice too!” 

The date crept up pretty quickly and there I was, in my TT sitting there with 20 other people who also decided to take this huge leap in life. I haven’t posted too much about my first few weeks but so far I REGRET NOTHING! 😀 I can’t believe how scared I was to just listen to my heart – as cheesy as that sounds – and just believe in myself. I can do this, I can teach – I may suck at teaching now, LOL, but I am passionate to learn, and grow and challenge myself constantly to be a better teacher. And that is my current mantra to repeat to myself because wow, is it an overwhelming training filled with so much amazingness to learn.

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My amazing yogi friend @queeniephair who inspires me everyday!!

I am going to write a separate post about my experience in the training – COMING UP SOON. But all I can say is I can’t wait to see what the next 2 years hold.

I bet it is going to be life defining.

 

Phair : BROGA at PeterPan Bistro

Of course when my friends Jonathan and Queenie Phair said they were teaching a YOGA + BRUNCH at a restaurant I had been dying to go to, I said YES immediately. Mostly because… food – but also mostly because I had done an hour of the Phair’s yoga sesh before and it was intense and a new experience for me! Anyone who has taken this class will know what I’m talking about. This one was the same, from the first ten minutes, they had us warming up our wrists in the hardest ways possible! We fully just jumped right into it doing high planks on the flip side of our hands, a warm up I will be using from now on because even though in the moment it hurt, they feel so much stronger the day after already and feel like they can handle a lot more impact!

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We flowed to some amazing music, a more chill electronic style. It was amazing because there were a lot of familiar faces there including lovely Su and Mike, and also THE Brian bchanwarrior and lovely Arin who I had the chance to meet at the BYOGA community collective event! I brought my B-Mat which was perfect for this practice because it was a sweaty one. So many warrior flows, I sure felt the burn.

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We did a little partner work too, supporting the others ankles while they are in a plank, teaching them to lift up into a handstand. My wrist were beat by this point to be honest but we all pushed through it because there was too much to learn and absorb in such little time! Also I just need to mention that Queenie and Jonathan are beasts and can do crow pushups – they just effortlessly float into handstand – GOALS for real!

We took a little savasana at the end and Su explained a little about her KEY Education project which is incredible and I will have to write more about it in another post but for now you can learn about it here

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Then the smell of food started to waft in as the doors opened. I smelled potatoes. There were potatoes. And also the most amazing assortment of unique dishes like Shakshuka, Lebneh, Frittata, Latkes, French Toast – it just goes on – scones, quinoa salad – SO GOOD! I also had to have a Mimosa with Brunch because it was well deserved! We all sat down and ate, chatted, learned more about each other until it was time to go home!

Most people went home but I stayed behind with a few to take some photos in the beautiful PeterPan space. To say I wish this was my apartment couldn’t be more true. I would live there in a heart beat. My bf martin stopped by to say hi to everyone and snap a few pics of some extra stuffed yoga bellies before we all walked home together.

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What a lovely event, I love when I get to connect with so many amazing people and we can all flow and eat in the same room! Can’t wait for the next!!!

Eleuthera 2016 – Surreal Beach Yoga Experience

So we didn’t really go on this trip so I could do yoga on the beach, but squeezing it in to our relaxing time in Eleuthera, Bahamas was not so bad, especially since it felt just so RIGHT! The warmth of the sun on your skin followed by that sweet salty breeze is the most wonderful experience. Especially when the beach is at low tide and the sand banks appear – yoga right in the middle of all that water, where you can walk for miles before it reaches your knees.

Mala pictured above is from Seed of Intention where you can use the code ASANAVANESSA10 for 10% off. I am also wearing HEAT Swimwear in the above photos. We had this idea that we would explore the entire island, and see every single beach. Well, we didn’t see the whole island, no matter how deceivingly small it may seem – we would need months to discover every beach this beautiful island holds. We did manage to see the top beaches on the island, with the above photos being from Alabaster Bay – one of the highest rated beaches on the island. Gaulding Cay was also one of the nicest beaches we went to (pictured below), but only because it gave us an awesome first time snorkelling experience to the island. I would highly recommend making the treck out to this beach just for that alone.

Bikini by @wetchic_beachwear

Speaking of top rated beaches, one of the top in the world belongs to this tiny island – famed for its coral coloured sand. We had to see this beach. So we woke up early and made the hour long car journey to the docks to take a small ferry boat over to harbour island. We had to rent a golf cart once we got to this tiny little island to make it to the famous beach, but that was so much fun as it is how the locals ride around. Every golf cart to themselves riding around in the sun on narrow roads, where you have to remember to drive to the left! Feet in the sand below, can you see the hues of pink in this sand?

I was wearing all JVRNEY swimwear on this day. So comfortable and I loved the white top with the green palms and floral on it. Felt perfect for this setting and practicing on the softest sand ever. We even had some of the best conch on the whole island in a salad as we watched the sun start to set. It was perfect. Conch is not my favourite but the way it was prepared for this salad was divine.

We did a lot more beach exploring after this, of course. Beach after beach after beach… but I’m not complaining. memorable moments include eating food, snorkelling, tanning, floating, eating food, drinking, tanning, snorkelling, eating food. So ya know, it was awesome.

We visited the Marker bars by Schooner Cays in the first photo above. just miles and miles of sand banks in the middle of the ocean between Eleuthera and Exuma Sounds. We stayed close to the small town of James Cistern where I had to strike a pose on the dock (the locals loved that haha). And one of our personal favourite beaches in the last photo above called Ten Bay beach. Such an awesome spot where the water is like a big clear pool at high tide.

I had to do some underwater yoga at South Palmetto Beach as well. We saw a shark soon after this so that was the last photo taken before moving it on to the beach for the rest of the day!

What is amazing about the beaches of Eleuthera is how private they are. We rarely bumped into anyone on these beaches so if thats your thing then this place is for you. You have an entire beach to yourself every day – all day. It truly is magical and breathtaking place. Since it is so empty all the time and the roads are hard to drive without a 4×4, if you get trapped at a beach, then you have to wait and hope someone drives by 😀 That’s why we always packed enough food and drinks in this AMAZING Sol & Selene bag that came so handy for this trip. We stuffed it full of everything we needed to last throughout the day – I am so happy we brought it.

Bag by @solandsolene 😍 Use the code ASANAVANESSA15 for a discount at solandsolene.com

Bag by @solandsolene 😍 Use the code ASANAVANESSA15 for a discount at solandsolene.com

Other than beaches we visited the Cliffs in James Cistern – just for a little adventuring. The pools behind me in the first photo below were full of crabs and sea urchins. It is also where the Atlantic ocean crashed against the edge of the cliffside. The second photo below was a rainy day where we visited Leon Levy Native Plant Preserve and learned about the various insects and plants of the Bahamas and Eleuthera. We also got stuck in the pouring rain but made it to this lovely tower within the park, so it wasnt so bad.

Last photo is one of my favourites. From the land of pineapples we had the juiciest little ones in Eleuthera. The most delicious pineapples live here and you need to sample these babies.

We had to visit Spanish wells as well, noted as one of the most beautiful beaches. As it was super beautiful but our taste had grown quite high after Harbour Island and Ten Bay beach – this one was beautiful, but very windy and full of larger bigger fish which we couldn’t see because of murky water. That freaked me out a bit so not too much snorkelling happened. It is home to Lobster island though so we had to sample the local cuisine – SO YUMMY.

Of course I had to do some underwater yoga, taken at our most favourite beach – Lighthouse Point beach. I think if we had seen this beach from the beginning and not save dit to last, we probably would have just come here every day. WOW. It is so incredibly breathtaking. The sand is soft and pink, there is adventuring to be done with the hike up the the Lighthouse and around, and plenty of amazing snorkelling spots in deep water close to shore. this was by far my favourite spot on the entire island. You can see how clear of a pool it is below.

The white bikini pictured is from Bikini CN which I loved for cheeky tanning 😉 The top also felt like a rash guard so it was great for snorkelling. We spent the entire day from morning to night on this beach, we came prepared to do just that because this one was the hardest road to drive to get to this beach. Super bumpy for 20 minutes on a slow ride in. But so worth it.

Thank you Lighthouse beach for a last magical perfect day in Eleuthera. I had my mermaid moment here too, pictured above in my fave dress from Red Carter Swim. You can see how crystal blue the water is – I will remember this moment forever. 

Extra special thank you to my main muffin photographer for documenting some of my yoga experience on the island. love chu!