How A Sea Change Was Born
I completed my first 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training in 2007 at Yogaview in Chicago. I was 22 at the time, fresh out of college, and so fortunate to have a job as a graphic designer at a boutique ad agency down in River North. I was also completely disinterested in agency life and while my original vision was for me to be Helen Hunt from What Women Want, I knew that my feet liked to be bare more than they liked to be in heels and my time on my mat was much preferred over time in strategy meetings. As one does at the ripe age of 22, I prematurely quit my job and walked right into the world of teaching yoga.
I have several moments I’ll never forget in my early years of practicing. When my teacher Erica tried to externally rotate my shoulders in down dog but I had no idea how to move my body the way she was asking. When she nudged my knee forward in side angle. When my other teacher, Quinn, put a block under my hand in the same pose. And my other teacher, Alicia, put her hands on my hips in Tadasana and brought my pelvis out of its consistent anterior tilt. I remember the first time I balanced on my own in a headstand, the feeling of finding my toes in Kapotasana, when my elbows touched the ground in Upa Vista Konasana. In all of these moments, a new world opened up. And I became aware of my progress and my ability to understand my physical body even more. But then there were the moments when I learned how to breathe during something that was challenging. When I became aware of the voice in my head that always had an opinion about what was going on. I noticed when I was off of my mat how I had the self control to not react immediately when something irritated me. I found the value in working toward being present. My yoga practice became more than just physical. And that’s when I booked my spot into teacher training.
My training at Yogaview was so transformational that the moment it was over I wanted to do it again. I knew yoga would be a part of my life forever and the conversations about all of the non-physical aspects of yoga were something I craved. I sought out yoga groups on MeetUp and had some bizarre encounters with some bizarre people. I kept attending classes and kirtans and dharma talks, but nothing felt quite like the environment that was created during TT. So a year later, I flew to Thailand for another 200-hour training with YogaWorks and an additional four weeks of solo travel. I was addicted. The following decade took me to countless workshops and specialty bite-size trainings and every studio in Chicago that I could practice at. But it took 12 years and a global pandemic for me to embark on another big yoga training. The moment I became immersed in my 300-hour program, I was reminded of how enriching the conversations were when in a group of likeminded people who are hungry to learn. Due to COVID, I only had a couple weekends in person. The rest was completed through the tiny squares of my screen on Zoom, but the conversation and the topics and the connection with my fellow students remained at the highest caliber. I was reminded of certain topics and texts that I was really passionate about (koshas and sutras and Indian mythology), I became curious about learning topics I’d learned before but now from a different vantage point (pre- and post-natal, Ayurveda, chakras), and I left the training feeling absolutely certain that teaching yoga is my life’s work. It is the reason I am on this planet in this body at this time. Without a doubt.
When my 300-hour ended near the end of 2020, I experienced the same withdrawal symptoms that I had after my first 200-hour in 2007. Knowing I don’t have the time or the money to continue being a student in these year-long programs, it got me thinking. What if I took the concepts I love from being in trainings (the connection with others, the stellar teachers, the fascinating topics) and I just created my own community centered around transformation and inspiration? And that is how The Sea Change Collective was born.
Sea change is an idiom derived from the Shakespeare play The Tempest, where the word describes a metamorphosis, a transformation. A quick Google search will define it as “a profound or notable transformation,” or “a substantial change in perspective, especially one which affects a group or society at large.” How perfect! I thought when my sister shared the word with me. I hadn’t heard it before but when I was trying to come up with a name for this group devoted to transformation and inspiration, my sister and I were brainstorming all of the possibilities. “What about innerchange? A play on interchange,” I said. And my sister said “Is it too close to sea change?” I looked up the word and, once again, a whole new world opened up. That was it.
The Sea Change Collective functions as a monthly virtual meet up and hosts a new teacher each month on a topic of their choice. Some months we might read a book and discuss it. Some months it might just be a conversation on a particular topic. No matter what, it will be community-based discussion (not just lecture) and is meant to invoke svadhyaya, or self-study. It exists for your transformation. It exists for inspiration and deep connection to yourself and others. It exists for the pure joy of staying in conversation and deepening our curiosity to the world around us.
Please consider this your personal invitation to join this complimentary collective. Everyone is welcome. All it takes is an open mind, your voice, and the commitment to simply show up. I can’t wait to see you there. It will be a sea change.
