Faces of HPY: Alice
Faces of HPY: Alice
Alice graduated from our part time 200 hour yoga teacher training with us in June 2022. We sat down with Alice to talk about her yoga journey, and her experience learning and teaching with Hotpod Yoga.
Tell us a little about you?
My name is Alice, I am a driven social researcher and (now) yoga teacher! I am social justice minded, curious and learning to be more playful in my yoga practice.
When did your yoga journey start?
I started practicing yoga in about 2011 and started considering teacher training in about 2019.
When did you decide to do teacher training and why?
I have felt the benefits of yoga for 10 ish years, from helping me find focus and direction to helping me heal from trauma, burnout and mental health challenges. I decided to pursue teacher training back in 2019, mostly because I wanted to be a teacher and learn how to make safe, fun and explorative spaces for others, and dedicate myself to my yoga practice. I also wanted to learn more about more than physical yoga and become stronger and more playful in my own practice. I didn’t commit and actually register for the training until 2021 (pandemic and life got in the way!)
What made you choose Hotpod Teacher Training?
I wanted to train part time and in the UK so I could do it around work – and Hotpod teacher training offers this. The training has a practical focus in terms of how to become a teacher and the ‘business’ side of it, which I liked. Hotpod also had training around cultural appropriation, Sanskrit and history which was quite unique at the time I was searching for courses. This was important to me. Finally, although undoubtedly the financial commitment is significant, Hotpod felt to me like the best value for money in terms of course content.
How would you describe your teacher training experience?
Empowering, community building, interesting, challenging, honestly one of the best things I have ever done.
What was different from what you expected?
The training content is more extensive and holistic than I expected. For example, so much more than yoga is taught; we were coached on voice, body language, being authentic and confidence.
What would you say to anyone thinking of doing teacher training? What advice would you give?
I would recommend it, it’s a wonderful journey to start. My advice is to have an intention from the beginning and fully commit and dedicate yourself to your learning.
What are you planning to do now that you are a qualified teacher?
I aim to have a side hustle, teach a few classes a week. Eventually I would love to arrange fancy but accessible retreats and teach within the LGBTQ community!
If Alice has inspired you to start your own journey to becoming a yoga teacher, then read more about Hotpod Yoga teacher training here.