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A student of mine recently asked me what was on my bucket list.  Ya know, all things you want to do before you kick the bucket.  He happened to ask me two days ago when Betsey Downing, co-chair of the Anusara certification committee, gave me the call to congratulate me on being officially certified.  So I told him that I just checked one off the list.


I took my second Anusara Yoga class within the first few weeks of moving to Austin on Sept. 3 2005.  The class was with Liz B and that is where is got my calling to teach Anusara Yoga.  There is a wonderful story about how I even found Liz's class , but that is for another post at another time.  Almost immediately I was on a plane out to Pasadena, CA where my dad lives.  It just so happened that Noah Maze and Naime where teaching an Anusara Immersion and Teacher Training at a studio near his home. In those months spent with Noah and Naime my mind, body, and heart where blown away at the beauty of the Anusara Yoga system.  As a virgo I'm fascinated with systems, methods, and all things orderly.  Really Anusara Yoga was the opposite of who I was at that time...... which was a beautiful mess.   As a yoga teacher I was swept away by the language.  The way Anusara Yoga teachers got their students into poses, each instruction  colored by inspired words and an intelligence that I had yet to find in my own teachings.  Not to mention the depths of opening and power that I was experiencing in my own body. 


A really long journey and story short.  Soon after my time in sunny California I met John Friend, Desiree Rumbaugh, and my local teacher Charly Pivert.  Two years later Christina Sell came to town.  Each one of my teachers have rocked my world in the best and also the most challenging ways. Truth be told I have not always had nice and gracious feelings toward some of them. Other's, especially John, i've been blinded by a bright light and couldn't imagine seeing them as anything else but amazing.  But at this moment I have nothing but gratitude for all my teachers.  How can one aspiring young ambitious yoga teacher be so fortunate to have so many teachers?  Well as the saying goes...when the student is ready the teacher will appear.  And many apparitions later I've entered into the realm of standing alongside the giants of the yoga teaching industry.  


 To end, what does it feel like to be a Certified Anusara Yoga teacher?  In some ways it was anti-climatic, and in that very humbling.  It's not like it has any universal recognition, a truth that I came to realize only 24 hours ago.  Most people have not a clue what Anusara Yoga is.  And yet at the same time there is a great sense of accomplishment and success.  The feeling of immense gratitude towards my teachers and students is like nothing I've ever felt before.  So I  feel divinely discontent and asking okay whats next while triumphantly checking something off my bucket list.  Feels pretty darn good.
 


Comments

Shannon
11/17/2010 06:14

A new beginning within a longer story. . .I'm glad you're writing. I'll be reading. . and enjoy sharing this journey with you in class and within the kula. Thanks for being you.

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11/17/2010 07:26

We see you, Mandy, and recognize your amazing accomplishment - certified Anusara Yoga instructor!! We are so fortunate that you have been on this journey and shared its fruits with all your students in Austin. I look forward to more learning with you over years to come. Thanks for being a part of my journey.

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Elizabeth Kunz
01/03/2011 22:09

Congratulations Mandy! You are an AMAZING teacher and what an incredible accomplishment. Being on the Anusara certification path myself, I am inspired by you that it can actually be DONE. Can't wait to get back to your class.

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Neil Meyer
01/18/2011 14:22

Congratulations! I don't know you, but do know that it takes a lot of dedication and effort to be an Anusara teacher. I moved to the East Coast several years ago from The Woodlands where I was lucky to study yoga, and always feel very comfortable in recommending to anyone interested in yoga that they seek out someone trained in Anusara. The teachers are invariably insightful, well-trained and welcoming. So feel good about your accomplishment and just teach from your heart and what you know. I hope to take a class with you someday. Until then, best wishes.

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04/07/2012 06:11

I have been practicing Anusara Yoga since long. While Anusara Yoga lessons are light hearted and playful, poses are subject to a set of concise alignment principles. Anyways, Congratulations!!

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