On becoming a Yoga Teacher

Finding Yoga (Again)

The seeds of yoga were planted in me by my friend. My idea of yoga until then was that you hold a variety of poses and that’s that. I wasn’t sure of “for what”. I was a bodyweight workout person in my early 20s, then a gym freak post-COVID. Around that time, my friend went knee-deep into her yoga practice. She would post her Apple Watch hitting 300 calories. I was like… wait, yoga is supposed to do that? How? Isn’t it supposed to be calming?

By the end of 2024, I left the gym and my body stopped moving completely as I focused purely on my career. Big mistake.

In 2025, I went back to yoga, hoping for a cozy start into the fitness journey unlike the gym. It was anything but cozy. I started doing vinyasa. Breathless, barely conscious, barely able to move my body after. That was my chat exchange with my friend after one such vinyasa class. But I kept coming back, beginner classes, YouTube videos, not consistently but regularly, hopping onto the mat.

Around this time the AI boom was also happening, and in the moments of pure existential crisis it made sense to think about alternate modes of income. Long term, my retirement plan was to teach tech to other people. In the AI era, if I’m not teaching tech, what else am I teaching?

I want to teach Yoga

The more I did yoga, the more I wanted to come back to it. If you know anything about me, anything I love, I want to turn around and teach it to other people. A 200-hour yoga TTC was an idea etched in my brain throughout this time. I did my research, asked around about the level of commitment it needs, how to prepare my body. But I never felt ready.

Then I saw this Instagram ad out of the blue. One month. 9 AM to 5 PM. Same city. Affordable. I had only one question: I am a beginner myself, can I actually finish this? They said yes. I leaned in, more like questioned myself 100 times and then said yes, I am doing it. I paid the lock-in amount and went Vipassana right after. Vipaasana showed me that I have the strength to do uncomfortable things.

Training to become a Trainer

March 2026. I walked into the studio already complaining about the long drive. My attempts to find accommodation closer had failed — it cost more than the course itself. Twenty-two people crammed into a room, not knowing each other. Some of us were going to become best buds soon.

Class began with some grounding and an hour of yoga theory. Then we moved to the larger room, big enough for all of us and our mats in a circle, and the fun began. Our teacher taught us the first Suryanamaskar, and we followed along several times. Three rounds in, he asked people to instruct one after another. After all, we were all there to learn how to teach. Twenty-plus people, one side each. That is 10 rounds. I felt like I was dying. On day one, I was so hungry and had the craziest sugar craving ever. This continued the same way throughout the month. Every day, we would learn a bunch of yoga theory followed by a new surya namaskar, and alignment lessons post lunch.

We had classes on philosophy, anatomy, different styles of yoga, postures, alignments, how to structure a class. Everything we learned, we formed groups and taught each other. By the end of week 2 I could see my progression and strength building back. My energy was high.

One of the things I never thought I’d do — my first headstand.

Our cohort had people from Korea, Japan, Italy, Canada, Dubai, France, and of course Chennai. On the yoga mat, none of that was visible. In the lunch area, you could map out exactly where each country sat. By the last day, we all went out together, one table, hearts and stomachs full. My inner circle of three crazy souls formed early. A month later, the sisterhood is still going strong.

I am a teacher now

Throughout the course, I learned so much about yoga, but also about myself, the body and the mind. About the nervous system. In an era of mental health crisis, we have an amazing tool with us that we barely use. 25 days and multiple classes later, we walked up to the stage, got our certificates, and exited the studio as trainers.

Right after certification, I left for PyCon US. Through the jet lag and tight legs from hours of sitting, yoga was what saved me. Want the energy to teach a 3-hour workshop with jet lag? Five rounds of Suryanamaskar in the morning will get you going. I started teaching right after I came back home. My first student is my mom. That first class was an hour long. She loved it so much that she booked a slot every day. 11 AM, no matter what, we meet at the mat.

• If you think yoga is all about cozy poses, you’re wrong.
• If you think yoga is for your body, you’re wrong.
• If you think yoga will fix all your problems magically, you’re wrong.
• But here is something, give it an honest shot, for 3 months consistently
• Start with Vinyasa classes, move to hatha, try a few pranayama
• You can quit if even after all this you don’t experience any change