I decided to try practicing yoga as I thought it might be a nice way to get some exercise and to ease the day to day aches and stiffness I was beginning to experience. While all of that was certainly true, at Yoga Minds I found that yoga practice is so much more and I fell in love completely. My body has become stronger and more flexible, but the mental transformation I have felt has had the greater impact on my life. I quickly noticed that I was leaving yoga lessons with a sense of lightness and contentment that would stay with me for much of the day. Throughout my life I have carried a lot of self-doubt and I did not anticipate that through yoga this cloud would begin to lift. The ‘moving meditation’ that yoga gives us is a beautiful way of bringing some peace to the mind and beginning to quiet those nagging internal voices. It starts to remove the inner obstacles we have so that we can live our lives more peacefully and comfortably both on and off the mat. I decided to take part in the Yoga Minds Academy Teacher Training as I wanted to deepen my understanding of yoga. I found the history, philosophy and anatomy fascinating and they have greatly enhanced my practice. Perhaps most importantly, the emphasis on Svadyaya, self-study, is helping me to look for greater degree of self-awareness. This is a path that is complicated and at times difficult, but ultimately very rewarding. The happiness that yoga has brought me is enormous, and I hope that I can in some way share this through teaching.