Today we’d like to introduce you to Tracy Bleier.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Tracy. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
It was nineteen years ago when I tried yoga for the first time. I was a pretty type A young mom of two, a full-time high school English teacher and a native New Yorker. I had a masters in Education from Colombia University and I had dreams of becoming a writer or a teacher of writing in some form or another. I had never tried yoga until a friend of mine who was a long time meditator and yogi showed me a few poses in my living room.
The poses intrigued me so I sought out a class. At the time, yoga studios were few and far between – but I found one ten miles from my home. When my friend called me to ask how I felt after the class — I had a hard time describing the feeling.– “I feel amazing” was what I said. And he paused and said something that changed my life trajectory: He said, “Well, that is how you should always feel.” It was a moment of intense clarity.
I realized that I never gave myself permission to “feel amazing” or whatever that distinctive feeling I experienced in that yoga class — I spent the next decade seeking, learning, traveling and soaking up all the experiences I could that would lead me to understand how to build a life that valued what I believed was “amazing.” — Teacher training was not a thing – but I was a devoted practitioner of Hatha yoga, Ashtanga, vinyasa –I was also passionate about teaching.
I opened one of the first vinyasa yoga studios in my hometown which gave me a chance to combine my love of practice with my love of teaching. I saw building a yoga community similar to starting up a school where learning was cherished and I went on to develop training, specialty workshops and a curriculum that embraced more than the physicality of asana — I taught in the same community for almost fifteen years and I loved creating a vision and ethos of our studio which kept evolving –Studio owning and teaching continued to be my identity for over a decade.
A few years ago I was going through some personal shifts in my life that opened an opportunity to move out of the town I lived for most of my adult life — It felt like it was time to go— I showed up in Chicago with my husband and young son and was in a huge rebuilding phase –as a teacher and a yogi. Currently, I teach public classes at three different studios, lead a series of yoga and writing courses, and am in the process of offering a boutique training with my husband. Teaching with my husband is one of my favorite things in the world– as we share a rich history of practice as parents, individuals, and yogis.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Smooth road? Can you point me in that direction? (lol) The road has been anything but smooth, but I also think the bumpy ride has a kind of perfect beauty to it. I used to say that the heart’s truth is never convenient — When I set out on this path I had no idea what I was after –I made some impulsive choices in relationships, in parenting, in finances, in business – some were the greatest teachings of my life, others were profoundly heartbreaking — and I may not have seen the value in those heartbreaks until later on.
One was a partner dissolution from my first yoga studio. It was a transition I had a lot of remorse over. But the transition taught me about forgiveness and acceptance… It was a kind of coming of age. I was always a teacher before I was a businesswoman — though I was fortunate to own and build successful businesses I always ran them with my heart more than my head. In some ways, this was a gift — as I always saw teaching as a service, and to have a community is a great privilege. But in other respects, I ignored a lot of the pragmatic and important aspects of what makes a business run smoothly. I am developing these strengths to this day.
Moving to Chicago three years ago was humbling. I was used to being a popular yoga teacher/studio owner in a small town and I arrived as a stranger — a small fish in a big yoga town. At first, I took it all so personally, the small class numbers, the off-peak times I was asked to teach– but in time I realized that teaching like practice is about invoking a greater presence not about being liked or popular. This transition forced me to find my voice and be unwavering about that — It also softened me in such necessary ways.
Please tell us about Advanced Yoga Teacher Training.
I co-created and co-teach a special yoga training with my husband, and longtime teacher Mitchel Bleier. Our training (and I often pre-empt this by saying this is so much more than a yoga teacher training) But… the training is called Advanced Yoga Teacher Training (www.advancedyogatt.com) and it is a year-long non-dogmatic module based course.
We meet six times a year for five days and people can participate a la carte or as an entire education. (And yes, it is a 300 hour registered yoga school). But, what makes this experience unique (aside from its flexible, family-friendly schedule) is that we see it as a co-leadership –We do not position ourselves as masters or gurus or the holders of all the information –if anything we work together to create a safe, warm space for people to hear each other, and we learn so much from each other just by listening.
At its heart, the training holds the craft and art of teaching at its center — (rather than an adherence to a particular brand or system) — In fact, one of our taglines for the first module is “in order to preserve yoga’s past, we must make its future.” Meaning the curriculum we teach is inquiry-based, evolving, creative, diverse and profoundly welcoming and inspiring. I love to think of the experience as a revitalization and even a kind rehab for teacher’s voices– a place we can remember why we fell in love with yoga and how we can keep falling in love with it…
Often we invite a special guest faculty to add dimension and texture and innovation to the curriculum. We also curate on online yoga school – so people can join in from anywhere and gain access to all the content and materials. The content provides a wellspring of inspiration for teachers and for all practitioners.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would have been better with money. Seriously, a piece of advice I offer new teachers is to live within their means. As I write this I can say I wish I did a billion things differently — but then I also see that while we have great agency in what can happen to us in life, I also believe there is a greater design to how things play out — so while I could say I wish this thing never happened in my life — then I might not have arrived here with the insights I have gained — there is something liberating about our karmic debts beings paid and done.
Pricing:
- Single 5 day in person module: $650
- Online single module: $249
- Online meditation training with Dr. Lorin Roche online: $111
- Online Expressive workshops: $99
Contact Info:
- Website: https://advancedyogatt.com/
- Email: advancedyogatt@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/advancedyogateachertraining/ and @tracybleierpractice
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/advancedyogatraining/
- Other: www.tracybleier.com
Image Credit:
Mary Carrol Photography, Ally Maher Photography
Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
