This website was created with you in mind! Like many new yoga teachers, I came out of my initial YTT (Yoga Teacher Training) feeling somewhat unprepared, lacking confidence, and doubting my abilities. This was due in part to my lack of teaching experience, since there is little time in the 200 hour YTT devoted to practice teaching.

Due to the vast amount of information available to yoga teacher trainees, I sensed we had only touched on a fraction of what I needed to know. The learning process has continued for me and I don’t plan on stopping now! Read on to hear a little more about my 200 Hour YTT experience.

My role as yoga instructor AND blogger evolved over time. It was quite an adjustment to retire from a full-time job of almost 20 years in higher education (2nd career) and transition into my dream job. I feel so grateful to be able to pursue this path and share my passion and knowledge of yoga with others.

For now, I’m here to introduce myself and tell you why I created Yoga Teacher Journey!

So, hello, I’m Cher. I’m a fairly new yoga instructor (RYT 200, October 2018; RYT 500, July 2020), here to tell my story and share my knowledge – which I am hoping will help future yoga teacher trainees and new yoga teachers. Why? Because during my 8 month 200 hour teacher training there were many, many times when I felt disconnected from the group. Of course during those intensive weekends, we met, we bonded, we learned, we practiced, we laughed (some cried), and then we went home. At times, six weeks would go by before we met again. During that time, we were on our own. Nothing structured in place to reinforce or apply what we learned. Sure, we had readings and homework (this wasn’t all due until the end of the entire training), but usually the reading was for our upcoming topic. When we would meet for the next intensive weekend, there was no time to review what we learned previously before we moved on to the next topic. For me, this caused a major disconnect. Most times, I felt completely on my own to learn the material – and to learn it correctly. (I do believe I received excellent instruction from my lead trainer during my program in-person. Everyone learns differently – for me, I needed more of a connection, reinforcement, and application.)

So here I am, hoping to save you from those same struggles.

Hoping that this blog will help you feel connected and give you a place to gather information outside of your training. Here’s to us! And here’s to learning all that you can during your yoga teacher training (even during those weeks in between your meetings) and beyond. And, here’s to feeling connected to the process.

Welcome to the Sangha (Sanskrit for community)!

Namaste,

Cher