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Grad school wasn't useless after all

Useful skills acquired in philosophy grad school, now applied to yoga teacher training:

- Am not scared of a dense text. Spent a few years reading Charles S. Peirce, now cannot be intimidated by any of the readings assigned for yoga class. (So far Bhagavad Gita, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali)

- Know my own learning process, including when it is time to stop reading and start writing. Things I haven't written about are never as clear in my head.

- Got used to soaking up unfamiliar vocabulary quickly. Eight limbs of yoga, ten ethical guidelines, each with a Sanskrit name? No sweat. Philosophers make up their own words and expect you to keep them straight.

- Already experienced the terrifying leap from student to teacher. I have already been the person at the front of the classroom with everyone looking at me, and I survived the experience. Thankfully you don't have to know everything before you start to teach; the "student" and "teacher" roles are fluid and you can move between them, like a graduate student who teaches undergraduates.

- Practiced returning again and again to something very difficult. Writing a dissertation is probably not similar to meditation in any way other than this, but at least I know what it is like to come back to the hard project day after day, for several years, until I finally get to the goal. The strategy is to set short-term goals that are possible and achievable, not to constantly expect perfection tomorrow. Sounds obvious, right? If I'd figured that out sooner, I would have finished that damn thesis a lot quicker...

Labels: yoga

posted by Jaime_sama @ 9:12 PM