CIYT Level One Achieved
Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher: This mark is able to be carried by West Coast Yoga now that I have achieved my level one certification.
I’m stoked to announce that I have passed my level one Iyengar Yoga Teaching Certification (CIYT) at the end of February 2022. A huge shout out to my teacher Suzi Carson (pictured below), who was instrumental in helping me transform from a chair-bound journalist to a professional yoga teacher. I continue to train with Suzi at Four Winds Yoga to facilitate my ongoing teacher development and feel incredibly grateful to have found such a kind, caring, dedicated mentor to support me to pass on the Iyengar method.
Forever Grateful: Thank you to my teacher Suzi Carson for the countless hours she spent training me to become a certified Iyengar yoga teacher.
There’s no doubt it was a long, hard slog to get to the assessment weekend with COVID-19 lockdowns postponing the event a few times. However, on a beautiful, baking-hot weekend in late February, we were finally there! I joined five other teacher trainees from around the country at the Iyengar Yoga Centre in Grey Lynn, Auckland, to sit our level one assessment. It was the first assessment in the new Iyengar yoga teaching structure created by B.K.S Iyengar’s granddaughter, Abhijata Iyengar, in Pune, India.
The assessment began on a Friday afternoon with us, the trainees, the assessors and the moderator coming together to recite The Invocation To Pantajali. The commitment shown during these assessments is epic. Everyone volunteers their time for the Iyengar Yoga Association of New Zealand to uphold the legacy and pass on the teachings of B.K.S Iyengar.
As the temperature soared, we trainees practiced our āsanas from the level one syllabus for the next hour and 45 minutes, followed by prāṇāyāmā, while the moderator and assessors observed. After the practice was complete, I was so pleased that I’d put so much time and dedication into my training because it’s a tough practice and I managed to get through it!
The next day I headed back into the centre to do the teaching portion of the assessment. Prior to the weekend, we’d all completed five assignments so it was weight off our shoulders that this process was done.
The teaching would be my last chance to prove to the assessors that I had what it takes to become a certified Iyengar teacher. Just 30 minutes before I went into the room, I was given the āsanas that I would teach to the students. These included teaching Sīrṣāsana (headstand) to one student and Sarvāngāsana (shoulder stand) and Halāsana (plough) to the whole group. Man, was I nervous just before I went in there, but as much as I could I tried to keep calm by using my breath.
The teaching segment went by in a whirl and before I knew it, the clock struck half past, my 30 minutes were up and the students I’d taught were lying relaxed on their mats.
I went home and, with another 24 hours to wait before I would get feedback and learn if I had passed, I was once again so grateful to have a yoga practice. I got up on Sunday morning, rolled out my mat and did my regular practice - some standing postures, a few back bends, a forward bend, a twist, some inversions and finished with prāṇāyāmā.
Feeling refreshed (and of course still a little nervous), I jumped back in the car on Sunday afternoon and drove the long, winding road over the Waitakere Ranges from Piha back to town. When I arrived, all six of us trainees waited together to learn our fate. I’ll never forget the compassion we showed each other and the camaraderie that will exist between us forever as we counted down the minutes before we stepped into the room to learn what the assessors thought of our practice and teaching.
It was wonderful to find out that all six of us passed. I looked over and shared a secret smile with my fellow teacher Heather Sharplin from Yoga Tree Taupo. We have trained together for many years and she was such an awesome, supportive buddy to go through this process with.
This is the thing about Iyengar yoga - it’s not just a practice. When you become a teacher, it’s a lifestyle and we’re so blessed to have a dedicated community of practitioners to support each other and our students.
Want to join me to learn Iyengar yoga in the Piha studio or online? BOOK NOW.
