Where to even begin…….?

The first week is done! It’s weird to sit down right now and try to sum it up. I guess that I’ll just tell you how it went and hopefully some other thoughts come out along the way. I didn’t take any notes during the week and to write about what happened on Monday and Tuesday seems like so long ago. So, note to self – write some thoughts at the end of each day and this task of blogging will be much easier.

Let me first talk about our accommodations, etc. The hotel that we are at is very nice. It is a pretty huge compound with several buildings, pools and restaurants. My roommate and I are in a tower that is very close to where the lectures and classes take place. We have a pool beside our building, as well as the laundry. I think we lucked out as far as convenience goes, although no one is too far either.

We met Bikram himself for the first time on Monday and he spoke with us for about an hour about training and what he thinks it will bring to us. Then on Monday evening we had our first yoga class that was also led by Bikram himself. The room was not very hot and he was pretty nice given that it was his first time with us….he went easy! Then beginning Tuesday it was full-on. Two classes a day with lectures in the afternoon and evenings/night. The body is already feeling it after only one week!

As a part of training each trainee has to deliver (say) the first posture (half-moon) on stage, in front of Bikram and all the other students (381 of us). It is nerve-racking to say the least. I am a get-it-over-with kind of person so I didn’t want to wait too long to go. It is first come, first serve and I just wasn’t aggressive enough to get up there the first day. I did manage to deliver the second day though and was scared crapless. I pulled it off though, which I am still a bit surprised about. Bikram has some crazy ability to just listen to a person and know all about them so you can imagine that I thought that he was going to see right through me. I ended doing well and he said some very nice things to me. I felt extremely better afterwards. So, with 381 people we have still not gotten through everybody. We also had the great pleasure of watching two Bollywood movies this week! Way to start off with a bang! I knew it was coming though – I had been warned. It is like a right of passage if you want to become a part of the family. Lectures and posture clinics will begin once we get through every trainees half-moon delivery. I am looking forward to that.

As for our actual practice – the room was not very hot for the first few classes. But they managed to sort it out and it got crackin on Wednesday evening. It was very humid and I had my first self-doubt at that time. I haven’t had any moments of question about ‘why am I here’ but rather ‘am I going to be able to make it through this’. I had a couple of classes in a row where I felt like absolute crap so I decided to try electrolytes on the advice of EVERYONE around. And it actually made a difference! From Thursday morning on I was feeling good again. And, at Saturdays class felt I was a million bucks.

I’ve already met lots of cool people and can’t believe that it’s only been one week. I think that by the end of it all I am going to be sad to be leaving. And, the thought of going to back to normalcy is just weird at this point. Our room is like out little sanctuary right now.

As for being back in San Diego….well, during the week you almost forget where you are at. But, with the weekends off we might be able to venture about a bit. We'll see as the weeks pass and how much energy we actually have come weekends. We went to the beach today, which was so nice. It was a bit of a trip to be out and about today and to be seeing the city again. My gosh, I miss the weather here.
Today was gorgeous. Not a cloud in the blue sky, a perfect day for lounging on the beach, studying dialogue.

As for my own personal thoughts/reactions/growth…..I am doing exactly what I am meant to be doing right now. It is crazy how everything falls into place. Bikram has been talking a lot about trying the right way. ‘Try the right way and don’t give up. That’s the ultimate destination.’ I have heard that line before. For the past couple of years I have been trying live by my own motto of ‘work hard, live right and good things will come your way’.

Also – for the past six months or so I have been working on my patience. Patience for answers, patience while you’re waiting in line at the grocery store, patience for the rice to cook, patience for events to unfold, etc. I didn’t know if it would work but I thought about it all the time when I was being challenged. And I think that my patience has actually improved. Well, now I can’t forget about it or stop working on it but I am going to start working on my own discipline. I have always been a bit of a rebel and to actually be participating in a program that pushes me to the edge of my comfort level will be a good first challenge with this new goal in mind. I’ll let you know how that goes.

So, that’s about it for the first week. I can’t believe that I am here. It is so great. I feel good – like I am doing exactly what I should be doing. I will be in touch. Hope everyone out there is as good as I am. If not then ask yourself why not and then ask yourself what you are going to do about it. And, if you’re not sure where to begin try starting in the yoga room – it’s a pretty amazing place.

Here we go!

The adventure of teacher training has officially begun. I am sitting in the Victoria airport, bright and early on my way to San Diego. I had another dream about yoga last night so I know where my head is at. I feel a bit weird though – excited yet nervous. I’m not overly emotional about the situation but still really looking forward to it. I’m ready to go and do this. I feel like I’ve overpacked but whatever, and I even omitted some stuff last night after I weighed my bag. I don’t even have enough yoga outfits to get me through 11 classes a week but I’ll sort it out. I do have a stuffy from Sam, a magic bullet, tea pot, dishes, a bunch of other kitchen stuff and even a couple of my Henckle knives. My soup was confiscated at security so that lightens my load a bit!

I guess the adventure started to sink in at the beginning of August when I began practicing at the Sidney studio. It was at that time that I got serious about learning dialogue and started spending many hours a day hanging out at the yoga studio. The intention was to study, which we always managed to do but there was a lot of general yoga talk that always extended the sessions. It was awesome. Who knew that I would find a yoga home in Sidney! It’s just another circumstance that reminds me to ‘never say never’. I’ve been known to make a few definite statements that I’ve had to later retract. You just never know where the journey is going to take you and how your mindset can shift as you go along. I can catch myself now as I’m about to say something along the line of “I’ll never…..or I would only ever…..”. You know, those concrete statements that make you sound so confident and important and judgmental. Yeah, I’m trying to avoid those as much as possible these days :)

Now onto San Diego. I don’t even know where to begin. Basically, I will be practicing twice a day during the week, once on Saturdays and Sundays we rest. Between classes and in the evenings we will have lectures and posture clinics. So, for anyone that thinks that I’m going on a yoga holiday please just go ahead and change your mind. It sounds like it’s going to be a very challenging experience and when it’s all said and done I will be able to teach Bikram yoga. Wow – that is crazy and seems so far away at this point but as I’ve written a couple of times throughout this blog…time flies, whether we like it or not.

I’m not sure how much I am going to be able to write during the next 9 weeks. We won’t have much free time. I’m looking forward to being out of touch for awhile. Hopefully I can write enough so that those who care can keep up with the process but I’ll have to see how my time management goes.

Okay – until next time. I’m still kinda wrapping my brain around this one. It’s another Fall with another new adventure. Life is good.