Christine Matroud totally gets ‘The Yoga Thing’. She inspires me with her genuine passion and love for yoga. Let her inspire you too:
1. How long have you been teaching?
I have been teaching for a bit over three years.
2. What motivated you to start teaching and what have you learnt from teaching?
I started practicing Bikram Yoga in 2010. After my second class, I was hooked. Seeing how beneficial it was to my health and well being, I immediately felt the need to share with friends and family. Which quickly extended to anyone and everyone I met. I became so passionate about practicing yoga that I knew that I would be teaching it one day. They say “The best way to learn is to teach". What I have learnt from teaching is that just like how there are infinite ways of learning, there are infinite ways of teaching.
3. What is something that you have learnt from a fellow teacher?
When I was teaching in Australia, a fellow teacher, named Kaz, shared true words of wisdom. She said ,“When I started practicing, I would look at teachers that were in the room and admire their perfect or close to perfect looking postures. Today, as a teacher, I see people come in with all types of injuries and problems. And I see them try their best, work hard and get better. And that's what inspires me today". Hearing her say that shifted my perspective on things as a fairly new teacher.
4. How many times a week do you practice?
3 to 5 times a week in a consistent way. Sometimes everyday or almost everyday.
5. Who inspires your practice?
Students do. Seeing people with crazy busy schedules make time for yoga inspires me to practice.
6. Why is it necessary for you to be consistent?
Practicing yoga is the most efficient way for me to take care of myself. It is a science. We get to work all of the systems of our body. When we say “Bikram Yoga is a workout from the inside out, bones to the skin", what we mean is that it works from our skeletal system, all the way through to our integumentary system, passing through the circulatory, respiratory, muscular, lymphatic, nervous, and digestive systems of the body.
7. What message do you like to spread through teaching?
It's not about being good in yoga; It's about the yoga being good to you. It's not about what you can or can't do in yoga; It's about what the yoga can do for you.
8. Where are you currently teaching?
I am in Hawaii at the moment and am teaching at Hot Yoga Hilo, and Bikram Yoga Kona, on the big island.
9. How has yoga helped your character develop?
A big part of who I am is being in control of my emotions and not letting anyone or any situation steal my peace. Having some parts of the yoga class be more challenging and raise our heart rate allows us to master our breathing so that we can get through the postures, by slowing down our breath. When we slow down our breath, we get to slow down our heart rate, our thoughts ,our mind. Which allows us to be in control of how we feel, rather than letting our emotions take over us.
10. What has kept you practicing all these years?
I get to feel brand new after every class I take. Over and over again. There is nothing like it.
11. What would you tell yourself when you started teaching yoga?
That I couldn't wait to get good at teaching. I just wanted to give my students the kind of class that I enjoyed practicing.
12. What are the best ways to start teaching at a yoga studio?
Reaching out to studios by emails ahead of time is a great way to start teaching somewhereabroad. If it is at a local studio, the best way would be by practicing there.
13. Why is breath so important in your practice?
Breath is everything. Being aware of when we hold our breath allows us to know that we are working with a challenging situation, both on or off the mat. What's great is that when we catch ourselves holding our breath, we can go less deep in a posture by coming out of it just a few degrees, find our breath, and then move forward into the posture, together, with our breath.
14. What is your FB name? IG name and twitter?
FB Chris Matroud IG chrisnodramas Twitter n/a