Tuesday, November 4, 2008

I missed you guys


I woke up this morning with red marks all over my stomach. I think I got bit by something when I was sleeping, they are so itchy and they weren't there when I went ot bed. They are all in a cluster right around my belly button. Every week it seems we have have to deal with something in this stupid hotel. Anyways you might be able to see the lovely beauty marks in my picture. I got some sun this weekend so don't be alarmed by how dark my skin is, lol, (I am serious about the getting sun bit).
Monday morning week eights class was taught by Michael Harris. It was a good class and I actually was not stiff this morning, that was great. Michael was starting to call people out on things and making individual corrections. We have that on and off but he was really making a point of it this morning by coming off the podium and walking around amongst us.
Today I was beside a friend I have not practiced beside since the second week. The last time we practiced beside each other he had his big orange water jug filled with ice water, Gatorade, emergen C (electrolyte powder), and an extra towel to wipe. Throughout that class he mixed the emergen c into his water jug, than drank it all by half way through class. When there was only ice left he than took some ice out to chew on or lie on. Every couple postures he would pour some Gatorade into his orange jug with the ice and let it sit there and drain throughout the posture. When the posture was over he would take a drink. This happened after every floor pose and some standing ones. He was continuously wiping himself with the extra towel and shaking his legs during savasana. By the fourth last posture I finally said to him, “Stop with all the drama”. At the end of class he asked me for some water because he ran out.
I don’t think he liked my two comments and I probably should not have said anything, but enough was enough at that point. This is probably why we haven’t practiced by each other for the last month. Today the guy drank water only at party time and didn’t bring in any other things to fidget with throughout class. Today Michael Harris actually made a comment about the fact that we should only drink water in class. How fitting was it that I was beside the very person I told that to five weeks earlier. At the end of class today he smiled at me and said, “no drama, EH!?” That deserved a high five.
After lunch we had posture clinic with every group finishing the very last posture of the dialogue. Some people said it’s nice to be done. I agree with one aspect, it’s nice to be done the memorizing, but it’s just the beginning. Now it’s a matter of going back and making sure it’s still all there. I am totally going to miss my being with my awesome group every day though.
Bikram is back so he taught the evening class tonight. He has been gone for three weeks so he was fired up to see us. There was so much anticipation for his return. Would he yell at us and tell us we got worse? Would he be impressed with how we have improved!?
The first thing he said when he walked in was “Did you miss me?” I told Eleni he would ask that, he followed it up with an “I missed you”. He talked for about seven minutes before class about all the places he visited. He got to see his mother because he was in Calcutta, but only for 24 hours because he had to get back to us. He told us about all the interviews and news conferences he did. He also told us that he made an announcement that is no longer doing anymore seminars, he has his last one in February than that’s it. He wants to take more time to get back to his yoga and doing advanced classes, maybe teaching a couple. I guess we will see what happens in the next little while.
Class was just under two hours and man oh man did we get out butts kicked. He yelled at people, called people out on different postures, called people names, made fun of them, and swore at others. This is the Bikram I had heard so much about. I don’t think one person walked out of that room after with water still in their jug. It felt and looked like the first week the way people were lying down all over outside after class. A couple people puked during class and he tried to make a couple people leave by making fun of them, telling them to go home. It didn't work though, we are so strong now, working and sticking together to the end. In final savasana he told us it was our best class ever.
One of my friends here that Eleni and I sit with at lecture every night got sick from the class. We were looking for this person when we got to the lecture hall because usually we save seats for them or vice versa, depending on who gets there first. When they hadn’t showed up by 8:50 I went to check the sign in sheet to see if they had signed in, since it was not like them to be there that late. There was no signature on the sign in sheet so I tracked down their room mate. The room mate said they didn’t come back after class and figured we all just met for supper or something. I tracked down Molly, the nurse on staff, and asked her. She said had brought one person to the doctor for IV after class. When we told her who we were looking for, she confirmed that that is who she brought in. This person has been taking really good care of themselves for the entire training, especially after getting sick the first couple weeks. In class tonight they felt like puking the entire class, had a head ache, and really thought they should leave. Even though they felt like they were going to pass out at any moment, they did every single posture in that class and didn't leave. It wasn’t until after class when they got up to leave that they actually ended up passing out on the ground. This just goes to show how hard we all push ourselves when Bikram teaches. I’ve always said I will have to be blacked out on my back before I sit out a posture in any class. Hearing what happened to them tonight actually made we step back and think about how hard I do push myself sometimes.
I had a raging head ache throughout the entire class, and ended up drinking all my water by the end of class. I have not done this since the first week and the orange jug was my best friend. After class I couldn’t wait to get out and lie down outside of the room before my head exploded. I am so glad the energy was so good in there tonight and we were all supporting one another, we really needed that. After class everyone’s reaction was basically the same, ‘he kicked our butts’. He did in deed, and those moments when I thought I was going to keel over I just looked at myself in the mirror and smiled, I knew I could do it. It’s amazing how a little smile can give you a little burst of energy to keep you going long after you think you are done.
At the evening lecture, Bikram told us we are the strongest class ever in teacher training history. He told us he used every bad word he knows in English in class tonight. He said the meanest things to people and gave us the toughest class we have ever had, trying to break us, but we are too strong. He wanted to keep there us until someone left crying, shitting, puking, farting, fainting, or something coming out of one of our orifices. He said he tried everything he could but we were not going down. I have heard horror stories from past trainees about these types of classes from Bikram. He said some pretty mean things to some people but as a group we held strong, supporting each other and kept going. That’s why he loves and missed us!?
Tonight at lecture he talked about the mind, and the elements of the mind. He asked for an example from us students about how the mind influences us, like I said before I love hearing people’s stories. Monali made him some chicken rice curry for supper so he was feeling tired so he let us go just after 1am. That was pretty early considering he was threatening us in class with movies until 4am. The Americans want to watch the election coverage tomorrow night so us Canadians might have to endure a night of American politics. We’ll see what happens.
Oh and a side note for Shauna and Nikki; there are eight teachers here right now that were at training with you guys. They all planned to visit at the same time.

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