Pollyanna was the winner of this year’s Yoga Teacher Training Challenge – her essay ‘Yoga: My Life’s Journey’ gathered over 1300 votes on Facebook with people around the world showing their support. I spoke to her about how winning the challenge has changed her life and taken her on the first step towards her dream.
Pollyanna became aware of the challenge through a friend at a mother and toddler playgroup and decided to apply to Pranashama “I didn’t know about Pranashama before but the training sounded amazing. I considered the Isle of Man studio but I decided that Bali would just be incredible. The 30 days on the beach for my son and husband would be very good for them – my son loved the beach in Brazil.”
I will be teaching what I most love – when you do what you love, it isn’t work anymore.
She and her husband Ali had been unsure of the next step on their journey. Pollyanna did not want to have to leave her 2 year old son in nursery while she was at work and wanted to find a job that would allow her to continue spending time with him. Her husband was looking to go back to school to study Chiropractic but this would have meant leaving their current home in Scotland as his course would have required a move to Wales. Life seemed uncertain - “He told me ‘if you win this competition I will be so much more confident with life.’”
“Sometimes you think it’s so complicated, we have a baby, he’s going back to university – he was unsure about whether this was the right path. When we found out I won he was so pleased – it felt like our life was much more certain.”
When she travels to Bali in June next year Pollyanna will be able to bring Ali and Elijah with her. They are all looking forward to a summer in the sunshine.
We see winning the challenge as a sign that we are on the right path - what we want is what was supposed to be. If we’re willing to fight and try for it then it will happen.
She and Ali had always agreed that when they were in a position to teach Yoga they would offer people the chance to study for free – the Yoga Teacher Training Challenge has reinforced this belief “I think the way the challenge was run was a great idea”
Pollyanna’s ambition is to create a retreat with her husband Ali where people can come to learn Yoga, Reiki and other wellness and healing modalities – becoming a Yoga instructor is the first step on achieving this dream.
The rest of the essays for the Yoga Teacher Training Challenge can be found here. Some were moving, some were funny, but all of them showed how much of an inspiration Yoga can be in people’s lives. http://bit.ly/PdKbmC
Comments Refresh
Beijo bem grande!
Mami