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My Yoga Journey

Writer's picture: Catherine CloutierCatherine Cloutier

I often get asked how and when I started practicing yoga. I started practicing yoga regularly in the early 2000s after graduating college. I was working a pretty stressful job and commuting into Boston which took a huge toll on me mentally and physically. My mom kept trying to get me to practice yoga and so one day I decided to buy a dvd. LOL yes a DVD, now I'm dating myself! It was a Power Yoga DVD with Rodney Yee and I used to practice it pretty consistently. The funny thing is, I always wondered why some stuff was so repetitive and it wasn't until months later I realized we were practicing Sun Salutations!


Shortly after that I decided to start taking classes in a studio. Most of my studio classes were actually at a local YMCA which I thoroughly enjoyed. I bounced around a bit, but always found myself back at home at the YMCA. At some point I decided I wanted to take a teacher training. My children were both young at that point, but it felt like the right time to do it.


Two interesting facts are that I never actually knew if I really wanted to teach yoga or if I just wanted to deepen my practice. There was a part of me that thought about teaching, but I wasn't sure. The other interesting fact is that I was TERRIFIED of public speaking! To the point I changed an entire college major because I didn't want to take a public speaking class. go figure!


After doing some research I found a 200-hour teacher training program about a half an hour from my house and attended the information session. Now, I had about 100 questions before that program started lol. I always tell people I must have emailed them 10 times asking them the most crazy questions. I was so paranoid I wouldn't know how to do all the poses, I wouldn't know the names in sanskrit, and a billion other concerns. In the end, it worked out perfectly!


Shortly after completing my 200 hour training I started teaching right away. Over the past 10 years I have taught at multiple studios, taught countless private lessons, taught corporate classes, taught at local high schools, and even taught many classes over Zoom. To date, I’ve taught almost 2,500 hours!


My training didn't end with that first 200-hour training. If you checked out my bio you'd see I have a thing for trainings lol. I love learning and feel like there's never enough time to truly learn it all. Each training teaches me something different and each time my practice shifts in a different way.


Both teacher training and yoga have truly changed my life. I hope you feel the same!


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