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Student Spotlight on "Jillian"
Jillian completed her yoga teacher training in 2015 and explains her journey......
"My Yoga Journey Continues
The Yoga Teacher Training course of 2014/2015 with Pine Rivers Yoga was a undoubtedly a time of challenges from the beginning to end; challenges that I look back on now with fondness, a sense of achievement and also a bit of a chortle that I had once felt so unsure and so overwhelmed by the course content.
I remember after one of practical assessments how I cried and cried; I was utterly devastated; I felt like a total failure; another student on the course happened to email me and I dramatically proclaimed that I had completely bungled my delivery and I would never be a teacher! Luckily my Sankalpa that I subscribed to at the beginning of the course was, ‘I would recognise and acknowledge the challenges along the way and I WILL complete the training’.
So I said and so I did!
Since completing the TT course I have faced more self-doubt and have been really quite nervous and hesitant at the thought of teaching. Luckily (again) I had previously committed to teaching as part of a project for the OWN (Older Women’s Network); …….there was no backing out! And …..so began my teaching journey.
I have been teaching two classes a week since the beginning of March at Picabeen Community Centre. These have been a combination of a weekly Wednesday class for over 50’s, filling in for another teacher and also I have started teaching a class just for the staff members at the centre.
It is only a small centre and the physical space for classes is somewhat limited; I didn’t imagine that this environment would bring me the experience that I needed or to be quite honest, what I wanted.
In such a short time, however, my confidence levels have considerably increased and I now see that this is the perfect place for my teaching journey to blossom. I just had to get out there and do it!
I look forward to seeing students try a new pose and quite often ‘get it’; seeing students come back each week with just a bit more confidence that they can move into a pose; I enjoy adding new poses and seeing how I go at teaching them, and yes I get my lefts and rights wrong, I stumble on some of the Sanskrit names and sometimes even forget the name of simple body parts like ‘arm’!
I do have aspirations for a future Yoga business but for now I am happy being in the Karma Yoga space.
My personal ethos is strongly aligned with the principles of social justice and by teaching at the Community Centre I am able to provide opportunities of Yoga practice to people who may otherwise be limited due to their mental health issues, their age, their mobility or their ability to pay. I aim to make Yoga accessible to whoever is willing to give the practice of Yoga a go!

Whilst I still have some nerves, I now no longer fear teaching and I am committed to working toward integrating the art of teaching into my very being.
All of this said, teaching forms only part of my Yoga journey as I continue being a student by attending weekly classes. Also, I recently attended the Pine Rivers Yoga - Yoga for Healthy Ageing Workshop, which was an amazing and a totally enriching experience.
In being the student, I am constantly reminded of how much I have to learn and as I place my trust in the teacher before me, I hope to one day be the teacher that students of Yoga look to as their nurturing hand. Om Shanti"