I ended up working as a Karma Yogi at that studio so I could attend unlimited classes and spend more time with the Teachers I found so inspiring and I was quickly developing ambitions to follow in the footsteps of. Classes were nearly always practiced to music, and each teachers personality peaked through in their playlists, which I know is very Westernized version of Yoga but I think it really helped build a sense of community and connection.

I decided to do a 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training in January 2019. On the first day we were asked why we want to train as a Yoga Teacher, my answer was simple - ‘to share the good news..’ Everyone laughed, but it was true. Nobody close to me at that time in my life was practicing Yoga, nor knew much about it, and I had experienced so many magical benefits through it I wanted to learn the tools to share it with those I loved.

The training was over the course of 8 Wintery weeks, in a small room on the 11th floor of drafty old building in mid-town Manhattan from January to March. Our Savassanas were often to the sound of Sirens and Fire Engines from Times Square just below. I worked a full time office job and then went to Teacher Training in the evening and weekends. It was an hour commute from where I was living, if the weekend trains were running smoothly, which was usually not the case. I often had to resort to cycling 6 miles through the dark New York Morning in freezing temperatures and icy winds. It took serious dedication to continue coming back and learning about the 8 Limbs of Yoga, studying and deciphering the Ancient Texts and practicing cues and sequencing with other determined aspiring teachers. It opened up a whole new world for me. I made a new Best Friend. When we completed the course we went to a Dive Bar in Bushwick and drank Beer and Tequila Shot combos. . Now we’re friends for life. I didn’t teach at all in 2019. To be honest, I still didn’t know how. I had deepened my understanding of what Yoga actually meant, shifted my own relationship with the Lineage and the practice and that Teacher Training was a humbling and invaluable experience.

That summer I visited an Ashram in Upstate New York and explored meditation, chanting and attended Kirtans there and back in the City. I didn’t teach much, but continued to Karma Yogi at my Brooklyn studio and deepen my own practice, which had now extend beyond Yoga Asana.

In the Winter of 2019/2020, an opportunity arose which lead me to signing up for a second 200 Hour.By the time we completed this training the world was in Lockdown, all of us itching to practice teaching, and suddenly with copious amounts of time  to spend at home, on our mats, developing our self-practice. I am so grateful for the time and space I had during the first lockdown of 2020 to really dive deep and develop my relationship with Yoga and in turn how I taught and shared it with others.  

It was around this time of the ‘Zoom Boom’ that myself and my fellow trainees co-founded The New Yogi Collective, offering accessible and creative online Yoga Classes during the pandemic. I moved home that Summer and continued teaching online, sometimes several times a day for the next year.

In the Summer of 2021, settled back in Ireland, I started The Joga Club, a community space where my friends and friends-to-be were invited to come and move, grow, and be still together, cultivating physical and emotional strength and resilience in a supportive and fun environment. I teach weekly classes in Clare, Limerick and Cork. 

Since 2016 I have met so many people who 'fill up my cup' through practicing and sharing Yoga and I can't wait to continue doing so. Creating and Holding space for others to come together and practice yoga lights up my entire being.

If you read this far…fair play & thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

See You on Your Mats

Jo

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