Yoga has helped me to grow and to find a deeper understanding of life which I had been seeking for so long.  My personal experience made teaching yoga a natural progression on this journey, and I completed my first 200-hour yoga teacher training this past spring of 2011.   I see teaching yoga as a way to grow peace in the world – supporting others to connect with their souls on a deep level, connecting with an unparalleled inner peace that is transformative, grounded, and real.    It’s an honor to share the teachings of yoga and am equally honored to learn from the yogis in my classes.

There are many teachers who have touched my life. Guru Rattan Kaur (Terri Cletro) is one such teacher who has made a significant impact on me.  When I first experienced Terrie during my “Y.O.G.A. for Youth” training, her style deeply resonated with me.  It transformed my relationship to yoga and what it means to be a teacher.  She shared yogic knowledge fused with truisms – which went straight to my heart.  She demonstrated so succinctly the human side of a yogi while bringing forth the spiritual teacher within the yogi who can wholeheartedly draw out the love, laughter, nobility, grace, intelligence, and sense of trust and surrender within a class.

I want to deepen my understanding of yoga and strengthen my teaching abilities with the addition of a hatha yoga foundation. Yoga Blend matches my goal and is in-tune with my Path which I have come to understand includes being a bridge for seemingly different perspectives, having a non-dogmatic approach, and shedding light where common vision exists.  I hope to integrate the Yoga Blend  training with my kundalini yoga background and other interests- to enhance my practice and to offer a more profound and creative experience for anyone who attends my sessions, and to create opportunities for more people to experience yoga’s benefits.

I hope to eloquently converge yoga with healing, art, and community.   As I walk this path, I know that what I learn is assuredly brought back into service. Over the past decade I have utilized my skills to directly organize across various personal/social/global issues as an organizer and advocate for human rights, in the labor movement, and through art activism.  Since practicing kundalini yoga and focusing on energy healing, I have drastically shifted my pace and directed my energy to support deep, individual transformation.  Yoga and meditation is now part of my everyday life.

I’ve learned that as I grow through my personal practice, additional studies/trainings, and through my teaching, I can create a reserve of energy to draw from and a wisdom anchored in my experience and personal truth to share with others.  I am resolved to impact the world by bringing my yogic consciousness wherever I am – whether that is in a classroom, in a women’s circle, at a picket line, at an art event, or simply walking down the street in the community where I live.

2012 Yoga Scholarship Essay

By: Liza Camba

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