Let me introduce Karina Natt, one of the beautiful friend that I’ve met during my Yoga Teacher Training.

She has always been here for me during the hard times of the training and I can’t thank her enough for everything that she did. Now let’s have a little chat!

Can you introduce yourself quickly?

I’m Karina, I’m 33 and you’ll hear me before you see me 😉 (which I’m now much more ok with, thanks to YTT). My happiness is my dog Saber and combine him and a trail ride on my horse, Lainie, in the forest and I’d call that bliss. I grew up in country South Australia but have lived in Adelaide and other cities in Australia. I’ve also travelled a bit overseas though I was a late bloomer in this regard. I work in politics, combining my background in law and media. I’m passionate about equality, non-harming of other humans or sentient beings, fairness and justice, and I legit get cranky when I don’t get to see the sunset for too many days in a row.

 

When did you start practicing yoga?

I started practicing yoga in December 2013. I’d had an injury for 9 months which had prevented me from running, in fact I couldn’t even walk my dogs without pain. Medical intervention hadn’t helped so I decided to try hot yoga. I remember the day so clearly, it was raining when I walked out and I felt like I was floating under that rain cloud completely cleansed. Combined with some other exercises, I was running again within 6 weeks! I’ve practiced on and off ever since.

 

When did you decide to take the leap with your Yoga Teacher Training?

I found myself in a position at the start of the year that I never expected to be in – I had lost my job, relationship & almost my dog who I was nursing back to health. I was, to use the cliche, at a crossroads. I decided to go to yoga for some clarity having not been in a while. I was lying on the mat and my teacher quoted Ghandi “As human beings our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world, as in being able to remake ourselves.” I’d often thought about YTT but told myself who am I to do that. I’m not that flexible, or spiritual, I don’t have time… but in that moment I knew I had to do it, I had to remake myself. Of course, being the indecisive procrastinator I am, I didn’t sign up until I’d researched PLAY to the nth degree!

 

Tell us about your yoga teacher training journey?

It’s hard to describe my journey because I think even now I’m still on it, still seeing the results of what I learned. But I can say for sure it was not what I was expecting. I found a belief system that resonated more than any I’ve come across in my life so far. It has filled a spiritual void. I’ve made life long friends and felt connections to people also never previously experienced. Oh, yeah, and I learned some asana and deepened my practice too 😉

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What is yoga for you?

This is a difficult question to answer because it is so much and I find it hard to put into words. I guess at it’s most basic level yoga has been about connecting with self and breath, and through hot yoga, peace which came from only being able to breathe to get through it! Now through YTT, I know the words for this are citta vrtti nirodhah, or cessation of the fluctuations of the mind. But beyond this, yoga is now everything I experienced through YTT – the belief systems, the yamas and niyamas, the divine, the asana, connecting breath to movement…

 

What did you do after the teacher training course?

Mourned the end of TT! And I went back to my job and life, but with a fresh outlook, started to make plans to teach and an opportunity landed in my lap. I jumped when I would normally have talked myself out of it and run through the usually ‘who am I to do that?’ self doubt. But knowing I thought that before YTT and it turned out to be a life changer, I knew I had to do this. So now I’m back in a similar job to one I’ve had previously, but in a different city and quite different workplace and with a different approach.

 

What did you implement from the YTT in your life? Do you see your job, things or people differently?

Yes, most things I see different (case in point above!). I am more self-aware and much less reactive, I take things far less personally and I am more confident in myself. I feel a constant longing to get back to YTT though so that I can be immersed in the feelings I had then so I know I need to recreate that best I can in my normal day-to-day life, whether that’s regular practice, meditation, journaling, connecting with others, mindfulness, etc.

 

And finally, what’s next?

To get back to yoga classes! I haven’t been in more than a month 🙁 I have had to prioritize my new job and moving interstate but soon I’ll shift some focus back to me because yoga will truly help me manage better. I knew it before YTT but after the first weekend I’d really felt it – life happens for us not to us – and so I know what’s happening right now is as it’s meant to be. And did I mention I love dancing, I think I forgot that, more dancing too 😉

 

I hope you liked this interview, if you have any questions, feel free to post us a little message in the comment section!

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