Yoga Alliance. It’s a term spread throughout the yoga community, and you hear some yoga teachers mention it quite often. You might even see yoga teachers refer to themselves as registered yoga teachers (RYT), but what is it and what does that even mean? In my own words, Yoga Alliance is an organization that created standards for the yoga community; and, in order to become registered with the organization, teachers and/or yoga schools must uphold and abide by these standards. Not to mention, teachers and/or schools must pay an annual fee to be able to use the name. Yoga Alliance is the world’s most popularly recognized yoga organization, internationally known for its membership credibility guide.

I never realized impostor syndrome even existed until I heard a friend talking about her own experience one day. It was like a light switched flipped on inside of my brain, and I thought to myself, “Oh, crap. That’s it!” Impostor syndrome! What even is it anyway? According to Wikipedia (because that’s a reliable source this day and age, yeah?), impostor syndrome is a “Psychological pattern in which people doubt their accomplishments and have a persistent, often internalized fear of being exposed as a ‘fraud.’”

It took me quite a long time to come to the realization that it’s ok for my body to continue to change over time. When I started my yoga practice, I was at the beginning of a health journey to begin loving myself again and getting into great physical shape after having my first two children. I had only known and understood the body that I had all of my life. Pregnancy and birth definitely changed my body tremendously and it was like I was living inside of an alien. It took some time to understand how I moved, how I looked, and how I felt.

We all strive to be better human beings. As a part of society, most of us do not like ourselves and we approach the yoga practice as a way to get better – to fix ourselves. We move the body to lose weight, to get stronger, to find flexibility. Most people come to yoga classes with a physical goal in mind. It is my objective to change how this community views not only the yoga teacher; but the yoga practice in general.

It all begins with a dream, right? Or at least that’s what society tells me. Each time I start a new beginner yoga series, it never fails that a student asks how I became a yoga teacher. More importantly, how did I even become a student? The answer isn’t as complex as you might think. I had a notion that yoga was “too calming” or “too zen” for anyone like me. You see, I have anxiety, ADHD, and most days I feel like a hot mess. No, most days I am a hot mess.