Rewriting My Story: How Shakti U's Teacher Training Transformed My Life by Clara LoCricchio
In early 2024, I took Shakti U’s 200-hour yoga teacher training and it changed my life.
If you’re reading this, and you have ever once thought to yourself, “I think I’d like to do a yoga teacher training,” you should sign up for Shakti U’s training this summer. I could tell you a million reasons why you should, but the TLDR is this: the daily practice of yoga has completely reshaped me from the inside out, and Shakti U gave me the tools, skills, and language to understand why. More than that, Shakti helped me completely rewrite the stories that I tell about myself and the world around me, and because of it, I am actively becoming the person I have always wanted to be — someone who believes in herself.
Shakti U was the best thing I ever did for myself, and I believe, no matter who you are, that it will be the best thing you do, too.
But let’s back up.
I began dipping my toes into a frequent yoga practice in college in an attempt to reconnect with my body after a years-long struggle with an eating disorder. Finding yoga felt like turning over the stone of my heart and uncovering a soft, gentle world inside of myself that I hadn’t yet explored. It was the only time during the day that my brain was quiet, that I felt grateful for all the things my body could do. But, at the time, I deemed myself a deeply inconsistent person — and yoga was never something I could commit to, never something that I understood enough to do without the pressure of a room full of people doing it beside me.
When I moved to Nashville in 2019, now in active recovery, a therapist recommended hot yoga. I was giddy — yoga as homework seemed like something I could definitely do, and with my therapist holding me accountable, surely I would be able to make the space and time for it. I found a studio that I really enjoyed, and — forever a perfectionist — decided to take a private lesson from a teacher so I could be sure I was nailing my form.
During the lesson, I mentioned to the teacher that yoga was reshaping me in a way I hadn’t yet been able to put words to. I told her, half kidding, that I would love to teach yoga one day, to give this gift of yoga to others in the same way she was giving it to me. She said, “You should do a teacher training.”
I said, “But I’m a beginner.”
She said, “You should do a teacher training.”
I said, “But I can’t even do a wheel pose.”
She said, “That doesn’t matter. You should do a teacher training.”
I left with a pang in my gut, wondering if this was an actual, tangible thing that I could do. Could I be a yoga teacher? I thought maybe I could at least try.
And then 2020 hit, and I didn’t go to a yoga studio again for three years.
Between Yoga with Adrienne and my Down Dog app, yoga remained a consistent part of my life and helped me stay connected to my body during the pandemic, but the dream of deepening my practice and, one day, teaching yoga became just that — a dream. I forgot it was something that I wanted. Like many dreams, it got pushed to the wayside, and I tricked myself into thinking it wasn’t something I cared about all that much, anyway.
Then, in March of 2023, my friend told me about a new student special at a studio on Music Row called Shakti Power Yoga. I had been itching to get back into a studio again and jumped at the offer to join her for a six am class. When I walked into the studio, I felt something shift inside me — a palpable, seismic shift. Even at six in the morning, I felt wide awake, something I hadn’t felt in a long time.
Eager to make the most of my intro deal, I went to Shakti every day in March. I immediately began to feel at home there. Teachers learned my name and welcomed me to class with genuine enthusiasm. Each teacher looked different and brought different lessons and values to their classes, and I always felt stronger and more joyful at the end of a flow. They encouraged me to listen to my body, to connect to my breath, and to trust myself.
Once, during a Friday morning flow, the teacher (shoutout Murn) queued wheel pose and said, “Even if you don’t think you can do it, just try today.” I listened to her and cried when my head lifted off the ground. I found out that day, thanks to a yoga teacher, that I am more capable than I believe myself to be.
After March came and went, I bought a monthly class pass and continued with my almost-daily practice. I felt myself become mentally, physically, and spiritually stronger every day, and I found myself wondering if maybe it was time for me to take the plunge and finally sign up for teacher training.
The stories I was telling myself nearly stopped me from doing it. I wasn’t strong enough, dedicated enough, or brave enough. I wasn’t fit enough. I wasn’t flexible enough. Sure, I could hold a wheel pose, but crow? Handstand? Not a chance. Who was I to think myself worthy of teaching this sacred practice? Who was I to try?
I vocalized this to Jeannie Wagner, a close friend and 2023 Shakti U grad who now teaches at Shakti regularly. Jeannie listened, as Jeannie always does, and told me she understood. She also told me to defy my made-up stories and go for it. She told me she was sure I wouldn’t regret it.
So, terrified, I filled out an online form. I talked to Lauren, Shakti’s co-owner, on the phone and told her, “I can’t do a handstand”, waiting for her to tell me, “Well I guess it’s probably best if you don’t do this, then.” Lauren, of course, laughed. She said, “Oh, honey. You don’t need to worry about that.”
I paid my deposit and I was still terrified. A few months later, I tried to back out, worried I wouldn’t be able to afford the training after a sudden job loss. “We’ll make it work,” Lauren said, holding space for me. “Just come.”
And so I went. And from the moment I stepped into the Shiva room on that first day of training, I felt that awakeness, that shift I hadn’t felt in so long. It felt like an arrival. A true and good thing that I was doing for myself because somewhere deep inside, under all the stories I had been telling, I knew that I was capable of doing it.
For eight weeks, Lauren and Kelly taught me and my cohort everything we could possibly know about yoga. Their structure was brilliant, each week building on the last, empowering us from day one. From the very first session, they made it clear that we were capable of teaching if we were willing to do the work — and they made the work so, so fun.
My cohort became like family, and we dove wholeheartedly into the roots and philosophies of this ancient practice. The meditation, inquiry, and physical asana work pushed me to uncover new depths of myself and the world around me. I deepened my practice, I deepened relationships, and I became more in tune with the present moment.
Each week, I shed another layer of the constraints and limiting beliefs I had placed on myself over the years. My voice, my self-expression, and my presence grew stronger. I gained confidence from learning the anatomy, alignment, and technique to not just deepen my own practice, but teach a powerful flow, and share what I was learning with others.
Through our inquiry and sharing work, I was able to finally unpack the stories I had been telling about myself for years. I realized the ways I was holding myself back and discovered how to rewrite those stories to meet my true self. The training was already working to rewrite them.
And then, in a blink, it was over. The night before graduation, we sat in a circle, sharing about what we got out of the training. I raised my hand and said, “I didn’t think I could do this. Even while I was doing it, I didn’t believe that I could finish. But I did it. And I wouldn’t have been able to do it without this community.”
Now that I’m a registered 200-hour yoga teacher, my goal is to give this gift of self-assurance, confidence, and love to others in the same way it was given to me by the teachers before me. This article is one tiny piece of that. If you’ve ever had an itch to dive headfirst into this practice — do it. And do it at Shakti. The Shakti community is so, so special. You won’t regret it. It will be hard, but it will be worth it. All good things tend to be that way.
For me, Shakti's training was the ultimate gift — I hope you’re able to unwrap it for yourself.