Last night I attended was my first session in the MBody 200 hour teacher certification program. We started out with introductions and discussion and ended with a vigorius practice, during which Mark pushed us to our limits.

The backbends were a challenge for me, as always, but the real butt-kicker was holding frog pose for what seemed like 10 minutes. (note that Frog <Bhekasana> refers to a different pose in different traditions - in Baptiste and Yin yoga you are face down with kneees out to the sides dropping your hips toward the floor). I don't ever practice this pose in my home practice and having only vague memories of doing it and fearing it when we learned it in my initial teacher training program at Asheville Yoga Center. This is a deep hip opener and accesses all kinds of fear in me....which is what this training is all about - facing my fears and pushing past my current limitations. Mark definitely took us there the first night.

Here is a video showing the pose (I think the sound is messed up in the video but you can see the pose if you are curious about what it is):

There are 12 of us in the program, ranging in age from twenty to forty-seven. It should be an interesting journey! More to come.....