What Survived From My Yoga Teacher Training

Yoga Diploma

Yay! Did it!

When I came home from yoga teacher training in the Bahamas, I was glowing with intention. Hours of daily practice, ocean air, chanting, philosophy sessions, karma yoga, no deadlines, no meetings… I was convinced I’d return as a completely transformed human with a clear direction in life.

Spoiler: I didn’t.

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Reality arrived quickly. Drank coffee again and returned to a non-vegetarian diet. There’s always those practical things like cooking, cleaning, doctor’s appointments that don’t respect enlightenment. Neither do aging joints.

But here’s the truth: a lot did survive from that experience, just not in the way I expected.

What stayed with me is more practical, more grounded, and a lot more human.

Here’s what made it into my real life:

1. A short, doable morning practice.
   Not 90 minutes. Not even close.
   Most days it’s 30 minutes of gentle movement to remind my body it still exists and meditation when I can. And honestly? That’s enough and made an impact on my pickleball game.

2. I teach yoga. Yes, some people actually come back from yoga teacher training and go on to teach. I’m lucky to have the Sivananda Toronto Centre nearby, so I can continue practicing and teaching in the tradition I trained in.

3. The idea that movement is nourishment; medicine for the body. Just as food can be medicine, movement can also take care of those aches and pains that we attribute to ageing and resign ourselves to.

4. I’m kinder to myself.
   I didn’t return with enlightenment. But I did return with the ability to say, “Okay, let’s just do what we can today.”

5. Attitude. I like to think of this stage not as retirement, but as going back to school and a curriculum that I get to design myself. I also consider myself very lucky; gratitude is a practice that I like to cultivate daily.

6. Community; a sense of community stayed with me. Even after training ended, I kept feeling surrounded by people who were genuinely trying to live with intention (my Sivananda yoga family). And our WhatsApp group; where we still check in and ask each other what actually stuck; continues to keep that connection alive.

Here’s what didn’t survive:
The fantasy that I’d do a perfect scorpion pose, daily sun salutations, and 6 a.m. meditation sessions every day for the rest of my life.

What I brought home instead was much better for me:
a realistic, kind, flexible practice that fits the life I’m building now — not the fantasy I imagined on the beach.

Training didn’t turn me into a different person.
It helped me become a little more myself.

And honestly, I’m grateful for it.