The Law School Transplant - If you don't find me helpful, hopefully you'll find me at least mildly entertaining.

As y’all may know, I first started practicing yoga about nine years ago, and have practiced since then with varying degrees of regularity. It’s good for my body and mind, and I think those around me appreciate it when I have a regular practice because I’m much saner. A few months ago, over casual dinner conversation, Dave posed the query, “What does it take to become a yoga teacher?” “The short answer,” I replied, “is 200 hours of training and some pretty decent coin.” And so it began.

In the months since that discussion, I’ve done a lot of soul-searching, tons of research and had countless conversations with yoga instructors and current teacher trainees. I’ve run the numbers, trying to figure out if it is a wise investment of money that’s not entirely my own. I didn’t talk about with very many people because I didn’t want to say anything before it was a done deal.

Dave asked me to write a business plan. I said I had no idea how. “No one does,” he said. “And it will probably be entirely wrong. But the point is to make you think about things you otherwise wouldn’t have.” And so I drafted a business plan, discussing my options for teaching post-graduation and how I will market myself. We discussed it, I revised it and we discussed it again.

“You know,” I said, “This program is pretty intense; on training weekends I’ll be gone for 12 hours on Saturday and ten on Sunday.” “That’s okay,” Dave said. “It will be worth it.”

Finally, I pulled the trigger. After a thorough written application, an in-person interview and a demonstration of a few asanas, I was accepted to the teacher training program at the superb Peachtree Yoga Center. It begins this Saturday.

“I’m going to be a real, actual yoga teacher,” I keep saying over and over in my head. But it hasn’t really sunk in yet. The last week or so has been full of details and minutiae: Registering an LLC, getting a domain name, setting up e-mail, looking for a bank. I find myself struggling to take a moment away from tackling the business side of things to reflect on the super amazing inexplicable personal journey that is waiting for me. Probably because it’s easier for me to focus on the things I can control and the things that are certain (of which there are few, of course).

I’m so humbled and grateful for this opportunity, and for the support of those closest to me: Dave has provided his time, support, love, feedback, and so much more, and is okay with me being almost entirely absent for ten whole weekends. My dear friend Victoria has been privy to my hemming and hawwing and has been an amazing cheerleader. And my wonderful family has been wholly supportive of this endeavor.

I’m excited, but also nervous. It feels like my first day of school all over again. Except, instead of carrying a shiny new Rainbow Brite lunchbox, I’ll be carrying my shiny new Manduka PROLite mat. I’m not quite sure what to expect. But I’m sure it will be amazing.