Orienting your professional life in yoga
Lucile’s path to yoga after her studies
My name is Lucile, I am 25 years old and I live in Rennes.
After several years of higher education, wandering between Lille, Toulouse, Madrid but also Australia and Asia, I now wish to settle back in my native Brittany to practice as a yoga teacher. This project was built over time and, above all, through my experiences. Indeed, my future was a priori oriented towards management. At that time, I had no idea of the precise job I wanted to do, of the “mission” I wanted to carry out.
I was living in a professional limbo but I knew one thing: I wanted to be an entrepreneur.
How I discovered yoga?
I continue until my master 2, year during which I discover yoga.
I had a knee injury and had to stop running (my sport at the time), so I was looking for a more cocooning sport. A need for sweetness and kindness redoubled by the loss of my grandmother.
During this difficult period, yoga helped me to manage my emotions, to calm my mind and to regain my confidence.
Start self-training in yoga with videos:
At the time, I only practiced yoga through videos on the internet, due to a lack of means. I don’t have access to the whole philosophy of yoga. It is thus by traveling in Asia that I will truly feel the power of yoga in its entirety.
Power over the body, over the mind, over our perception of the world but also over others. The practices are very intense: I always come out with a lot of energy and a smile on my face. I feel fulfilled, strong, alive and serene at the same time. I discover my inner resources. This feeling that in the end everything is fine, that everything makes us stronger (good and bad) and that nothing can happen to us that we cannot welcome serenely.
How did I decide to turn my professional life towards yoga?
The more I practice yoga, the more the idea of including it in my professional life is growing.
I am back to the customer relationship that I enjoyed in my previous jobs. I also appreciate the freedom and creativity that the job offers: atypical and flexible hours, varied audiences, the possibility of creating your own classes, imagining workshops and above all, meetings as little human adventures, etc.
Finally, I see a mission that makes sense to me: to provide kindness, sharing and well-being. Back in France, and after an important meeting with a yoga teacher that I interpreted as an ultimate sign of destiny, I decided to launch myself.
I start by studying the market in the Rennes area, then I write my business plan, build my website, my pages on social networks and plan my 200 hours training in India.
How did I choose my school?
It seemed relevant and essential to me to train in the cradle of yoga. I was looking for a high level professional training with an international scope.
Rishikesh imposed itself on me. Now extremely famous, the city has grown from 3/4 yoga schools to over 300. The school was recommended to me by two (French) teachers. After a study of the online reviews, I decide quickly. If I had to sum up my experience with yoga, I would compare it to a journey. A journey that opened my eyes, that made me and still makes me grow, that nourishes me, that transforms me. Like travel, yoga teaches us to know ourselves better and awakens our consciousness.
A look back at my training in India.
What prompted me to take a 200-hour yoga course
I felt it was essential to complete a minimum of 200 hours of training before offering my services as a yoga teacher. Being legitimate and credible in a professional practice was a prerequisite in my opinion. This training was also, for me, the ultimate step to confirm or not my desire to teach. Practicing and teaching are two very different things. I also wanted to explore yoga as a whole, to immerse myself in all its dimensions, not just the asanas. I wanted to put in synergy the different practices (meditation, pranayama, philosophy), to observe the impact of one on the others, of the body on the mind and vice versa.
Which yoga course to choose?
Why this course rather than another?
There are now many training courses in France and abroad. My search turned to foreign countries because the prices were more interesting and I preferred to have my classes in English in order to teach an international audience. I’m used to traveling, so I have no fear about it, but not everyone does. It is important to orient your research by taking into account your personality and your needs. I think that there is no such thing as a good or bad course in the sense that each one is adapted to different profiles.
India was then an obvious choice for me. I wanted to learn from “the source”, to respect the traditional teaching. The choice of school was based on recommendations. Two teachers in France, who without knowing it, played a determining role in my decision.
Both of them had told me about the training with, again, a lot of stars in their eyes. This experience was a turning point in their professional lives, but not only that. They both spoke to me about this adventure as a life experience, a work on oneself, above all. Their recommendation was clear: “Go for it, you’ll grow from it no matter what”.
Is it necessary to have a certain level to follow a yoga training?
Yes and no.
Of course, it will be difficult for you to keep up if this is your very first course. On the other hand, you can have a recent practice, beginner. The participants in my group had been practicing between 6 months and 2 years.
Tips on how to prepare before a yoga training?
I would say that the most important thing is to arrive rested, physically and morally. And not to have any particular expectations: arrive with an open mind.
What difficulties can be encountered during an intensive yoga training?
Physically, I had difficulties at the beginning in Ashtanga, where the teachers quickly made us aware of the rigor and regularity that the practice required. Mentally, I also had a slump, which I explain by the closed-door effect. Being in a group 24 hours a day has its advantages and disadvantages. Solidarity and the feeling of being a big family and at the same time this feeling of suffocation.
What do I get out of it?
Today, more than ever, I realize that I have just taken the first steps of a very long walk.
Yoga is an inexhaustible source of knowledge.
This adventure in one sentence?
An experience that makes us think about the meaning of our lives.
To find out what training to choose to become a yoga teacher and make a living from your passion, click here!
