I am officially a practitioner in-training with Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy! As a graduate of Level 3, I am now ready to begin practicing on volunteers.
What is PRYT? Check out this link and video: http://pryt.com/about-pryt/whatispryt/
In short, PRYT offers a bridge between body and mind, allowing the receiver to connect with the wisdom that is within, and thereby heal, or overcome, or have that AHA! moment we are often seeking.
But in addition to asking what PRYT is all about, people have been asking me WHY? Why I chose this path, and this particular school. So here is my story…
I am a student for life. From the earliest age I can remember, I have craved learning, and teaching. I love the academic setting, both formal and informal. I played school when other kids were playing house. So as my career has progressed, it has been natural for me to go from one degree to the next, and from one level of certification to the next. Upon completing my 500 Hour Yoga Teaching Certification, I knew that my next adventure would be a 1000 Hour Yoga Therapy training. But it took awhile.
Along the way, I started a teacher training school, Yoga Assets. To date, we have certified over 500 teachers who are doing great things in the community. Our teachers are going into schools, jails, recovery centers, hospitals, corporations. We’re starting a 200 Hour program in the Utah State Prison this week! I have 4 trainers working with me, and they are all amazing. So I began to see that this could be the time for me to step into “what’s next”.
On a trip to Southern California with my son, I started to research programs. I ended on the phone with Lori at PRYT, and after a few minutes I knew this program was for me. The premise of the work is so simpleā¦get into the body, listen, let the body be the teacher. These words spoke to me. I have spent 35 years as a student of the physical body from an anatomical perspective, but have very little knowledge about the psycho/emotional aspects of the body/person. So I signed up for Level One on the spot.
My Level One was an embodied and felt experience. The day before I left for Denver was the day of my Fathers’ funeral. I came into Level 1 raw, grieving, undone. Bev Johnson, our leader, invited me to just be in the space and get what I needed. I feel like the whole week was just for me to begin the process of healing from a deep loss in my life. I left feeling like I hadn’t learned much, but in fact, I learned the PRYT way from the inside out, which is the best way.
After Level One, I came home and I immediately noticed that my personal practice, and my classes started to change. I left more space for listening to the body, and gave less cues. I stopped telling my students what they were supposed to feel and starting asking what they felt. The response was something I didn’t expect. Students started coming to me after class asking about emotions and processing. I was out of my scope of practice, so I hurried and got to my Level Two! There I learned more about dialog, guiding the process with questions, open ended and less directive. I added these skills to my practice and my teaching.
Level 3 helped me put it all together. At level 3, I experienced the peeling back of layers of myself. I saw how my busy-ness and drive to “do it all” had created a prison of sorts for me. Little by little, I am beginning to let go of those bands of tight expectation, and listen to what my body has to say. And in doing this work for myself, I am getting better at holding the space for others to do theirs.