Diary of a yoga teacher in training: To be continued
The best part and the most challenging part about my job is travel.
The travel is a highlight 95 percent of the time. Time out of the cubicle gives me a chance to work with many of USA Hockey’s outstanding volunteers and young players. We stay in nice hotels, are taken care of with per diem and get to rack up frequent flier miles and hotel points.
I genuinely enjoy it, especially because my 6’4” inch frame that longs for movement and activity, and my generally restless nature make it difficult for me to spend extended periods of time in a traditional office setting.The difficulty comes in maintaining a healthy lifestyle through the long days, sometimes infrequent meals and late-night visits to the lobby bar. Is it me or is it impossible to only have one beer at a bar?
My yoga routine also suffers when extended travels are on my itinerary. During a recent stretch, I spent five days in Michigan and 12 days in Vermont, with about 36 hours at home in between. I was able to squeeze in a class during the one day at home but otherwise was not able to take a traditional class.
These travels also gave me an unwanted “sabbatical” from my yoga teacher training journey. I look forward to resuming my training later this summer. Although this break wasn’t my ideal scenario, it has given me a great opportunity to continue my never ending development as a student of yoga, finding the cues and themes that resonate with me while also providing a greater appreciation for the particular gifts each instructor brings into the studio.
The travel is a highlight 95 percent of the time. Time out of the cubicle gives me a chance to work with many of USA Hockey’s outstanding volunteers and young players. We stay in nice hotels, are taken care of with per diem and get to rack up frequent flier miles and hotel points.
I genuinely enjoy it, especially because my 6’4” inch frame that longs for movement and activity, and my generally restless nature make it difficult for me to spend extended periods of time in a traditional office setting.The difficulty comes in maintaining a healthy lifestyle through the long days, sometimes infrequent meals and late-night visits to the lobby bar. Is it me or is it impossible to only have one beer at a bar?My yoga routine also suffers when extended travels are on my itinerary. During a recent stretch, I spent five days in Michigan and 12 days in Vermont, with about 36 hours at home in between. I was able to squeeze in a class during the one day at home but otherwise was not able to take a traditional class.
These travels also gave me an unwanted “sabbatical” from my yoga teacher training journey. I look forward to resuming my training later this summer. Although this break wasn’t my ideal scenario, it has given me a great opportunity to continue my never ending development as a student of yoga, finding the cues and themes that resonate with me while also providing a greater appreciation for the particular gifts each instructor brings into the studio.
A vagabond by nature, Matt has lived in Arizona, Montana, Texas, Illinois, Minnesota and Saskatchewan before settling in Colorado. The game of hockey is mostly responsible for Matt’s frequent changes of address. At 15, the game took him from the desert to the plains of western Canada, where he attended a private boarding school to study and skate. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mass communications and a master’s degree in sports management at Minnesota State University, Mankato. He now works in the Coaching Education Department of USA Hockey in Colorado Springs.