Spending an entire month in Bali, Indonesia in July 2016 for a Yoga Teacher Training was life changing to say the very least. 

I don't think I knew what I was getting my self into, I was just super excited that it somehow happened to be ok for me to leave my full time job in academia for an entire month. The stars aligned that my boss also took a month off during that same month, and the rest was history.

One of my office mates was teaching yoga at the Public Health School in Singapore. For about a year, I was intermittently talking to her about her yoga teacher training, where she did it, how it was etc, as I had been thinking about it for the past 2 years. I didn't end up going to a single one of her classes UNTIL I had already agreed to take over her classes once she got pregnant - which is when it all started.

When she was about 7 months pregnant, she told me on one of our numerous yoga chats that now certain yoga poses were getting difficult to do, and that she noticed that she was loosing her breath faster in some poses, that if I was thinking about doing the yoga teacher training, that I should go do it now so that I could take over her classes in a couple months. 

It was only 2 months before I actually started my training before I decided to go. The amount of preparation and reading that needed to be done before hand, was mind boggling how it even was possible to accomplish in such a short span of time. 

Before I even went, people were congratulating me for taking a month off for myself, and telling me what a big deal it was to do that, and how much I must love myself for giving myself so much time to be on vacation.

I mean this was a yoga teacher TRAINING, not a retreat or vacation, what were they talking about? I had no clue. 

As I was observing what people on the outside were feeling about my decisions, I thought it was strange that they had so many things to say about it, and even more strange, so many positive things to say about it? For a second, I thought I probably didn't know what I was getting myself into, clearly I didn't and don't even think that clarified much till this day hahahaha. 

I certainly had no clarity going into it. 

My mind was into, 'whether or not I could physically practice yoga every single day for 1 month, what if my body can't, or doesn't want to practice one day, would the trainers force me to practice, and whether or not I would still be able to get my yoga teacher training certificate? Whether or not I had overstated, if I did have an ongoing personal practice, a question that was posed during the pre-training Skype interview? Or whether or not my personal practice outcomes of stretchability and strength, would be good enough to even be allowed to enter into a yoga teacher training?

Whether or not I would learn spiritual things that I would think is absolute bullocks, or the spiritual things I learn seriously challenge my faith as a Baha'i?

Whether or not I could stay focused enough on my training, or maintain the habits that I intended for myself during the training? Whether or not I would have enough money for food? Whether or not I budgeted enough for the trip? If I would like the room that I would be staying in for a month? If I would get along, or be able to connect with the other yoga trainees? Whether or not I would cry in front of people? 

The only reason why I include such an extensive list of questions in my mind is because I know this is what people think about before a yoga teacher training, and it helps to know that other people have the same anxieties that you have AND ITS OK - cause they will all pass once you get there ;) I promise.

There were also some more less emotionally driven questions that I had before I went into the yoga teacher training, that were pretty concrete and solid from the get go that I was hoping to have clarified once I got there.

1. Whether or not my interest in yoga had anything to do with the Baha'i Faith? 

2. Whether or not Yoga talked about God? 

3. Whether or not there was a DIRECT link or explanation in the Baha'i writings for the physical postures in yoga? 

The rest of the things I wanted to know had more to do with learning more about the classical philosophy of yoga and be more familiar with how exactly, does yoga connect to the sciences. The rest I knew would be made clear with the training, but the three questions I had were specific questions I was wondering before going into it.