At a turning point

Community Welcome New Members
#1

Hi all! I’m new to the forum, just registered today. I started doing yoga when I was 16 (I’m 26 now), and I’ve been working in a rather unsatisfying career for the past 2 years. I’ve always considered getting certified to teach yoga, but I’ve never felt certain I’d be a good yoga teacher. I have really benefited from the things yoga has taught me, but I’m far from your ideal student. But I keep coming back to this idea, and with the direction my life is taking right now, I feel like maybe it’s time to go for it. I can’t see myself being happy in the corporate life for the long term, and aside from teaching yoga and writing, I don’t see any careers out there that might truly allow me to live the life I want.

So, the reason I came to the forum is that I know I need to learn more about yoga in terms of history, anatomy and philosophy. And I’m hoping that by being here I can start to figure out if the teacher certification is the direction I should take.

I’m looking forward to getting to know everyone here!

#2

Welcome Welcome Welcome!

#3

The paradigms in the corporate world are so tied up with survival and the rat race,and of course competition and some it’s sinister sides.Though that is in all walks of life from bankers to crinimals.Human beings are essentially all the same though.

Yoga & spirituality can show a way how to leave all that nonsense behind whilst still helping us deal with the practical challenges of living.

It not be for everyone, but it is worth xploringIt is a vast areaAnd There are always new visatas of experience to be had, and knowledge to be gained…

One’s paradigms do change as we get older.I have met many, the lucky ones mind you who have chosen to change or can see clearer, that have related this shift ,the shift i speak of is one that invariably moves from an interest in the pursuit of earning more money or being more “successful” to one of finding more lasting happiness.They have often given up big salaries for something else,something invariably better.

If you can see tthrough that 'well- disciplined illusion , that veil of ignorance then you would make imo a fantastic yoga teacher

As for certification well if loonies can be certified, then so can teachers.You don’t need to be a renegade or an outsider or even that good ,just see that there is more to life .

You are probaby bored of it already…i can tell…Dog eat Dog and all that. Personally i just feel alot of it is balderdash and politics and it’s ashame the world has not quite woken up just yet.

Welcome Home!

#4

Heron,

Namaste and welcome to the forum. This is not going to be easy, I made a similar decision way back in 1997 when I choose my own business and a yoga practice above a comfortable corporate career. Not easy, but today I look back and I can say it was well worth it! I am glad I did make the change, becasue that was inevitable as I had to express outwardly what was inside me.

#5

Thank you all for welcoming me. :slight_smile:

The feeling I have right now is that my life looks a lot like a Sims game, if you’ve played it. I mean, I go to work, I deal with a lot of nonsense, I push papers and make phone calls and dodge sales calls and shrink into my chair when my boss walks by because my primary motivation in this job is simply Not To Be Hassled.

Then I go home, tired and grumpy from a day of doing meaningless work for people who don’t particularly care about me. I drive a long commute throughout which I feel guilty for polluting the environment. I hunt for new jobs knowing that the new job would be just like the old one except (hopefully) for a shorter commute.

I cannot accept that this is all there is to life. I desperately want to have meaning in my work, and that’s what keeps bringing me back to yoga. I feel that teaching yoga could be a lifestyle-- a form of work that supports my values and the full life I want to live, as opposed to a corporate job that may support me financially but is really crushing in every other way.

Hmm, I’m going on a bit long now, but thank you for your feedback so far. It’s extremely clear to me that I need a career change, but I don’t have total confidence that I could teach yoga, yet. I’m going to go for it anyway, though, because I don’t have much to lose. Luckily, I can even persue the certification while still having my pay-the-bills job, which could make the transition easier, because as much as I don’t like my job, I am in a way addicted to the financial stability it provides (even though it’s a relatively low-paying job, it’s at least reliable).

#6

[quote=Pandara;21156]Heron,

Namaste and welcome to the forum. This is not going to be easy, I made a similar decision way back in 1997 when I choose my own business and a yoga practice above a comfortable corporate career. Not easy, but today I look back and I can say it was well worth it! I am glad I did make the change, becasue that was inevitable as I had to express outwardly what was inside me.[/quote]

Your example is always inspiring. :slight_smile:

#7

[quote=Heron;21164]

Hmm, I’m going on a bit long now, but thank you for your feedback so far. It’s extremely clear to me that I need a career change, but I don’t have total confidence that I could teach yoga, yet. I’m going to go for it anyway, though, because I don’t have much to lose. Luckily, I can even persue the certification while still having my pay-the-bills job, which could make the transition easier, because as much as I don’t like my job, I am in a way addicted to the financial stability it provides (even though it’s a relatively low-paying job, it’s at least reliable).[/quote]

Your asessments are the seed. Eventually they will grow into actions. And just as in case of a plant, you cannot make it grow instantly, you cannot rush things with your life, either.
I remember, when I first wanted to leave the firm I was working for, I was so afraid my knees were shaking. It takes great courage to just leap into the unknown, and if one is not the Jack London type, than it is better to make your move more carefully.

Being my own boss did not make my life easier, but at least now I only have to pay for my own faults, only. Greater freedom, greater responsability. It is certainly better, even if it is actually harder.

Just stick around, there is a very nice community here.

#8

Heron,

I am so like you, but a bit older. I’m not in the corporate world but am in a similar environment – a large law firm – and have been doing that for 27 years. Arghh! For several years now I have been having mind shifts, knowing that being a legal secretary is not the “be all and end all” of career choices. It was fine for a while, but it’s time to move on. My practice of yoga for the past nine years has created a restlessness in me – or a power, so to speak – that is telling me that I need to do what I love instead of pursing something that has no meaning anymore. I am a yoga teacher, but I am not certified. I teach a class once a week at my church. My students are mostly the church ladies who aren’t really that serious about yoga but who come because they like to feel good and get out for the evening. I want something more than that, so I am pursuing certification, in little bits and pieces along the way. It can be expensive, so choose accordingly. My goal is to teach seniors and women in midlife, and those with chronic conditions, perhaps in assisted living facilities and senior centers, and teach restorative yoga and gentle yoga in studios, that kind of thing. I know the money won’t be the same, but who says I can’t become the next Judith Lasater! Here’s to your new career as a yoga teacher. Keep reading and learning, and practicing and focusing! You’ll get there!

#9

Heron --welcome to the forums!!

While you are in your pay-the-bills job, there is opportunity to Be the Change. I hope, whichever way you take your life, you will contemplate what opportunities are presenting themselves here.

Not every good change need be external, and sometimes external changes are not sufficient.

Let us know what’s next for you!