Bala Yoga Archives - Susan Choi

The Courage Of The Seed

This past weekend I, along with 31 beautiful souls, completed our 200 yoga teacher training. 10 weekends, 108 asanas, mudras, mantras, and an expansion of soul, body, and mind.

To think that we all met in this time and space “randomly” would be far from the truth.

I am in gratitude and humbled by everyone’s strength, courage, vulnerability, heart, and of course wise teachings from our Rasa tribe leader Greta Hill and a multitude of other teachers who graced us with their wisdom.

Yoga has been a practice and place where I have been able to return to for strength and vitality, and I am honored to have learned the art and soul of this practice at a more in-depth level.

And how beautiful it is to wrap up Winter and step into Spring?

We all planted a seed, a rooted intention to begin this 200 hour journey, and to watch this seed continue to blossom is this sweet, magical unfolding will be truly a mystical experience.

Mark Nepo said it best in this poem below:

All the buried seeds crack open in the dark, the instant they surrender to a process they can’t see.

What a powerful lesson is the beginning of spring.

All around us, everything small and buried surrenders to a process that none of the buried parts can see.

And this innate surrender allows everything edible and fragrant to break ground into a life we call spring.

In nature, we are quietly given countless models of how to give ourselves over to what appears dark and hopeless, but which is ultimately an awakening beyond all imagining.

As a seed buried in the earth cannot imagine itself as an orchid or hyacinth, neither can a heart packed with hurt imagine itself loved or at peace.

The courage of the seed is that once cracking, it cracks all the way.

~Mark Nepo

Whatever journey you yourself have been on this past Winter – trust the process, have faith in the unfolding, watch the magic.

Here’s to planted seeds and watching them bloom.

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Kristopher Allison on Unsplash

Who Are Your Teachers?

I’ve always strived when surrounded by some of the best. Learning by example, enthusiasm, failed experiments and cautionary tales has been some of the best ways I’ve gleaned insight into other people’s lives, and therefore helped provide flavor and color to my own life experience.

These days, while I still follow distant teachers, some of whom I know and many of those whom I don’t, I have been in immense gratitude to be surrounded by teachers in the world of yoga. From mudras, mantras, asana breakdowns, and yogic philosophy, it’s been such a gratifying experience to 1) see how complementary and interwoven yogic philosophy, other spiritual teachings I’ve studied, and even science based NLP work all actually are! and 2) to be surrounded by like minded people who are in a space of “student always” and in support of one other’s journey.

So this leads me to ask another round of Powerful Questions:

Who are some of your current teachers?
In what ways do these teachers stimulate and motivate you?
- Physically
- Emotionally
- Spiritually
What teaching styles do they all have in common? Do you recognize a pattern that best works for you?
If you currently don’t have a specific teacher or teaching of study, what is one small step you can take to find one?
What types of classes or workshops are coming to your city in the next 3-6 months?
What other ways can you learn aside from student/teacher relationship?
- Oftentimes we can learn a lot about ourselves as well as strengthen our own learned teachings by volunteering, coaching, or stepping into the teacher role itself (but that is for another post!)
What other resources can act as growth for you? Whether it’s seeking out community, a coach, or accountability program with your close friends?

Clearly there is a lot to digest here but the point of this exercise is to get you reflecting on what it means to be surrounded by thoughtful teachers who care for your own best interest, as well as think outside the box when it comes to growth and expansion.

After all, we can’t always do it on our own and hearing someone else’s perspective, unique insights, and experiences can be the one thing that produces a light bulb moment for you. Whether it’s the tone, the wording, the way in which the story was told… these are all ways in which another layer of your own understanding of life can unfold and provide a richer context for your to immerse yourself in.

If you live in the Seattle area and are curious about who my yoga teacher is you can visit Greta Hill at Bala Yoga. I highly recommend taking one of her classes. Her warmth, grace, and humble attitude is what drew me into her teaching style. In addition, her very own teacher Sianna Sherman, will be spending a weekend with us (and it’s open to the public! 12/16/17 – 12/17/17).

Here’s to the never ending journey of growth and expansion, and finding teachers that uplift and support you on your journey.

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Matthew Kane on Unsplash

Yoga And The Mind

“Because personality is a process, the human being is constantly remaking himself or herself. Left to itself, the mind goes on repeating the same old habitual patterns of personality. By training the mind, however, anyone can learn to step in and change old ways of thinking; that is the central principle of yoga.”

~The Bhagavad Gita

I knew this deeper dive into Yoga would be the perfect union ♡

In wellness,

Susan

Photo by Tim Goedhart on Unsplash

Yoga Teacher Training

Yoga. How do I put into words what this ancient practice gives me?

I find myself on the mat as I go through a variety of emotions throughout this life. Elation, peace, anxiousness, hurt, you name it, the mat has felt it all.

But let’s back up a minute…

I’ve always been drawn to yoga but didn’t have a consistent practice. The earliest recollection I have of any hint of what yoga offers me now was back in 2009 when I started to go to hot yoga. What I remember most was how I felt afterward. Immense peace and awareness. A stillness even.

But it wasn’t until I moved to San Francisco and adrenal fatigue hit hard where I somehow discovered Dana Damara and in my gut KNEW yoga would be a part of my life.

If you haven’t noticed by now yoga has been the best medicine for my soul. As I find myself falling more and more in love with this practice and community I have found another layer of me that fits the alchemy of my soul and heart.

You know what’s really funny? I found an Evernote that I jotted down in 2015 (yep, 2015!) and it reads exactly like this:

Practice yoga for a few years
Take yoga teacher training(s)
Teach at some point

And this year the timing is right and things have fallen into place where I will finally be taking yoga teacher training this Fall! I am incredibly excited and honored to be experiencing what every yoga teacher has experienced and most importantly to deepen my own practice.

I’m sure this won’t be the last I write about this… 🙂 More to come as I step into 200 hour yoga teacher training.

All the love,

Susan