Hey all,
I am closing this site on Sunday. If you have been following and are still interested in updates from me just email me or leave a comment by the end of the weekend with your email address, and I will keep you posted on whats going on.
Thanks,
Talk to you all soon.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Spaghetti and meatballs
Last night we had lecture with Bikram until 12:30am. He talked about the different types of yoga and how yoga came about. I got to ride in the elevator with Bikram for a couple floors. All he said was, “these people that are here are special people” and I said “yah and it takes something special to bring us all here.” He said, “I can feel it, this group is special”, in which I responded with, “you probably say that to every group, lol”, and got off the elevator.
Last night the power went out, but I woke up at about 6am to go the bathroom and noticed the clock was flashing. I had to reset it using another little battery operated clock Eleni had brought. We have been using the electric clock but Eleni has been getting up about 10 minutes before it goes off every morning anyways. Her internal clock is telling her not to miss a class. If we miss a class we have to do two make up classes, and if we are late and miss sign in, it is one class. The make up classes are offered Saturday and Sunday mornings at 11am.
So this week I have been focusing on my ‘true’ yoga. What I mean is, last week I think I got caught up in the hype of training starting. Emotions were high with everyone cramping up and dehydrating. I forgot to reflect and remember how great my body really is, and how good it has been to me through my life, especially in the hot room. I was drinking water and adding electrolytes and trace minerals to it, something that my body wasn’t used to. I was so caught up with not wanting to cramp or dehydrate that I forgot to trust myself. Last week my stomach was constantly hurting before and during class. I felt winded after some classes with no energy, feeling like I couldn't catch my breath and I was craving ice cold water after every posture,. Yes I know that water saved my life one class last week, but I got hooked on that, mentally. So this week I came back to my true self. I stopped putting those minerals and electrolytes into my body before and during class. After class I have been taking the trace minerals but in lesser amounts, just to help get back what I lost during class through my sweat. I did a no water class earlier this week, just to refocus myself.
I was told that when we go to training we bring a little part of each teacher from our home studio with us. Sometimes we even hear them or something they said to us at one time during class. A teacher at my home studio tells the students that if you need water to pick three or four spots in the practice where you can have a quick sip, but not to rely on it. So I reconnected with what he said and I have picked three times in class where I reward my body with a sip of cold water, and it has been working.
If I do start to drag my body, don’t get me wrong I will use the electrolytes, but right now I don’t need them. I am eating what my body needs and that is working for me. My body has responded immensely and has thanked me for it by soaking up this yoga, class after class. We have been kept up until about 1am or 2am every night. I know the worst is yet to come but yet my body isn’t shutting down. I wake up in the mornings feeling tired but not groggy and I can’t wait for class to start, I can’t wait to start sweating and waking up. My body is absorbing and craving these classes like a big plate of Dad’s homemade spaghetti and meatballs, mmmmm. I think that is the best description I could give to make you understand how good I am feeling right now and this week. Take it for what it’s worth but it is only week two so I am going to enjoy the smile that won’t leave my face right now.
Last night the power went out, but I woke up at about 6am to go the bathroom and noticed the clock was flashing. I had to reset it using another little battery operated clock Eleni had brought. We have been using the electric clock but Eleni has been getting up about 10 minutes before it goes off every morning anyways. Her internal clock is telling her not to miss a class. If we miss a class we have to do two make up classes, and if we are late and miss sign in, it is one class. The make up classes are offered Saturday and Sunday mornings at 11am.
So this week I have been focusing on my ‘true’ yoga. What I mean is, last week I think I got caught up in the hype of training starting. Emotions were high with everyone cramping up and dehydrating. I forgot to reflect and remember how great my body really is, and how good it has been to me through my life, especially in the hot room. I was drinking water and adding electrolytes and trace minerals to it, something that my body wasn’t used to. I was so caught up with not wanting to cramp or dehydrate that I forgot to trust myself. Last week my stomach was constantly hurting before and during class. I felt winded after some classes with no energy, feeling like I couldn't catch my breath and I was craving ice cold water after every posture,. Yes I know that water saved my life one class last week, but I got hooked on that, mentally. So this week I came back to my true self. I stopped putting those minerals and electrolytes into my body before and during class. After class I have been taking the trace minerals but in lesser amounts, just to help get back what I lost during class through my sweat. I did a no water class earlier this week, just to refocus myself.
I was told that when we go to training we bring a little part of each teacher from our home studio with us. Sometimes we even hear them or something they said to us at one time during class. A teacher at my home studio tells the students that if you need water to pick three or four spots in the practice where you can have a quick sip, but not to rely on it. So I reconnected with what he said and I have picked three times in class where I reward my body with a sip of cold water, and it has been working.
If I do start to drag my body, don’t get me wrong I will use the electrolytes, but right now I don’t need them. I am eating what my body needs and that is working for me. My body has responded immensely and has thanked me for it by soaking up this yoga, class after class. We have been kept up until about 1am or 2am every night. I know the worst is yet to come but yet my body isn’t shutting down. I wake up in the mornings feeling tired but not groggy and I can’t wait for class to start, I can’t wait to start sweating and waking up. My body is absorbing and craving these classes like a big plate of Dad’s homemade spaghetti and meatballs, mmmmm. I think that is the best description I could give to make you understand how good I am feeling right now and this week. Take it for what it’s worth but it is only week two so I am going to enjoy the smile that won’t leave my face right now.
The room here seems to be extra humid as well. I am chalking that up to the amount of rain we have been recieving though. We were told last week that it is all natural humidity in the room so I am sure the percentage of humidity is a little higher than the spring, though I have nothing to compare to. I do feel like I am sweating more than at home, it is like a tap turned a little bit on, dripping constantly, not just a little drip here and there.
I had a little extra time today so I wanted to through that little thought of the day in there for you all.
Back to today: Class this morning was with Emmy again. The last two classes she taught us I have not found her classes very motivating for me. I noticed a lot of other people felt the same way. She is very frustrated with the way we execute some of the postures, and she lets us know. Today I decided to block that out and I focused on her corrections and I learnt three or four corrections that I did for myself and will be able to help students with. She is so knowledgeable when it comes to this yoga, and so much to teach us. After class people were talking about some things she said that were negative and I couldn’t even go back and remember them. I don’t know why but my mind did not allow me to absorb that today.
After class we had an hour of anatomy with Dr T, still no books and our exam is on Monday. Apparently the books are being held in customs, heres hoping we get them by the weekend so we can study. After posture clinic Bikram brought in a close friend of his to talk to us about our speech and voice in class. We were let go at 4:30 to rush back to our rooms and prepare for 5 o’clock class. Jim is back and he taught a solid motivating 90 minute class. I am loving those 90 minute classes, as we get stronger we should expect them more.
Before Bikram came into lecture, we got introduced to a senior teacher from Boston, Diane. She graduated in the second every Bikram yoga college, in 1993 when they didn’t even have a written dialogue yet. There was 30 of them in the school and Bikram would verbally dictate to them during posture clinic in order for them to learn it, now they have it down to a science.
Bikram came in a very good mood tonight, not that he is usually in a bad one. He told us that he received two compliments today about what good learners and listeners we are. Of course he accepted all the credit upon himself for teaching us so well. Jim had told Bikram that we looked like an entirely different group of trainees from when he taught us last week before he left. The speech therapist also told Bikram that we were such good listeners and totally shocked her, in a good way. Bikram went on to tell us that we are the best group so far, but I am sure every group before us has been told the same thing. Bikram lectured about another aspect of yoga and told us some personal stories before letting us go to bed at 12:30am.
I had a little extra time today so I wanted to through that little thought of the day in there for you all.
Back to today: Class this morning was with Emmy again. The last two classes she taught us I have not found her classes very motivating for me. I noticed a lot of other people felt the same way. She is very frustrated with the way we execute some of the postures, and she lets us know. Today I decided to block that out and I focused on her corrections and I learnt three or four corrections that I did for myself and will be able to help students with. She is so knowledgeable when it comes to this yoga, and so much to teach us. After class people were talking about some things she said that were negative and I couldn’t even go back and remember them. I don’t know why but my mind did not allow me to absorb that today.
After class we had an hour of anatomy with Dr T, still no books and our exam is on Monday. Apparently the books are being held in customs, heres hoping we get them by the weekend so we can study. After posture clinic Bikram brought in a close friend of his to talk to us about our speech and voice in class. We were let go at 4:30 to rush back to our rooms and prepare for 5 o’clock class. Jim is back and he taught a solid motivating 90 minute class. I am loving those 90 minute classes, as we get stronger we should expect them more.
Before Bikram came into lecture, we got introduced to a senior teacher from Boston, Diane. She graduated in the second every Bikram yoga college, in 1993 when they didn’t even have a written dialogue yet. There was 30 of them in the school and Bikram would verbally dictate to them during posture clinic in order for them to learn it, now they have it down to a science.
Bikram came in a very good mood tonight, not that he is usually in a bad one. He told us that he received two compliments today about what good learners and listeners we are. Of course he accepted all the credit upon himself for teaching us so well. Jim had told Bikram that we looked like an entirely different group of trainees from when he taught us last week before he left. The speech therapist also told Bikram that we were such good listeners and totally shocked her, in a good way. Bikram went on to tell us that we are the best group so far, but I am sure every group before us has been told the same thing. Bikram lectured about another aspect of yoga and told us some personal stories before letting us go to bed at 12:30am.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Cage match #1
We had class with Emmy again this morning and emotions were flying high. After first set of rabbit today in class (third last posture in class) there was a voice that shouted out, “you have one minute to finish class.” That was followed by people telling that one voice to shut up. I looked at the clock and it was one minute to 10 o’clock, not that it matters here, they can keep you in that room for three hours if they wanted to. After we finished the second set of the posture, the guy that had shouted out, grabbed his mat and tried to leave. The staff at the back of the room (he calls himself crowd control for anyone that tries to leave) tried to stop him, since we were five minutes away from finishing. The yogi did not like that one bit, and tried his best to get past the staff. I think the staff realized the condition he was in and let him leave after a bit of commotion as class continued. I saw the man at lunch and he was joking and laughing like he has the past week with the other students, as if nothing had happened. Sometimes people just need that release.
After lunch we went through more anatomy with Dr.T, and more talk about meat and poultry, la-dee-dah, it doesn’t matter to me, I am a farm girl and I love my meat. After Dr.T finished Emmy did a lecture. She talked about pain but I was in and out of dozing off. You know you are tired when you can sleep sitting up in a hard ass chair.
Emmy finished at 4:20 so we had little time to our rooms and get ready for class. That doesn’t give us much time when you are trying to get about 150 students into only four elevators, none the less we all made it in time of course.
Bikram walked into evening class and he said he was upset that he missed the cage fight in this morning’s class. He said people come from all over the world and pay money to see shows like that. Anyone who knows Bikram knows he is a story teller so it was a bit of an exaggeration, but still funny. Bikram said he talked with the man today during our lecture with Emmy, one on one in his room about what had happened this morning and why he left class. The guy has a lot of past demons to deal with, as do we all, and he just dealt with them in a different way. He voiced his opinions to Bikram and Bikram told him he had no right to ruin the class for everyone, because we all paid the same amount as money as him to be here. Bikram clarified that the man didn’t leave class because of Emmy personally but something he had to deal with within himself in terms of dealing with women. In the end the man decided to leave training all together. Bikram said he was upset because he felt he has failed, so he taught an easy class, 2 hours, hmmm. Apparently we are not ready for a 90 minute Bikram taught class yet, I wonder how many weeks that will take, lol. So now we are -4 people from what we started with on September 14th.
After lunch we went through more anatomy with Dr.T, and more talk about meat and poultry, la-dee-dah, it doesn’t matter to me, I am a farm girl and I love my meat. After Dr.T finished Emmy did a lecture. She talked about pain but I was in and out of dozing off. You know you are tired when you can sleep sitting up in a hard ass chair.
Emmy finished at 4:20 so we had little time to our rooms and get ready for class. That doesn’t give us much time when you are trying to get about 150 students into only four elevators, none the less we all made it in time of course.
Bikram walked into evening class and he said he was upset that he missed the cage fight in this morning’s class. He said people come from all over the world and pay money to see shows like that. Anyone who knows Bikram knows he is a story teller so it was a bit of an exaggeration, but still funny. Bikram said he talked with the man today during our lecture with Emmy, one on one in his room about what had happened this morning and why he left class. The guy has a lot of past demons to deal with, as do we all, and he just dealt with them in a different way. He voiced his opinions to Bikram and Bikram told him he had no right to ruin the class for everyone, because we all paid the same amount as money as him to be here. Bikram clarified that the man didn’t leave class because of Emmy personally but something he had to deal with within himself in terms of dealing with women. In the end the man decided to leave training all together. Bikram said he was upset because he felt he has failed, so he taught an easy class, 2 hours, hmmm. Apparently we are not ready for a 90 minute Bikram taught class yet, I wonder how many weeks that will take, lol. So now we are -4 people from what we started with on September 14th.
Picture is of our anatomy lecture with Dr.T
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Keep on keeping on
This morning we had class with Emmy again. This time she was walking around at the beginning giving corrections. By the end of the standing series she had made her way to the back of the room, where apparently is her favorite teaching position. She sat on a chair and stayed there for the rest of the class. After class we had lunch which was supposed to have better food then previously, with some Asian cuisine. Bikram had bitched at the general manager so we could eat better. There was only three dishes with Asain food, but the rice was delicious. I can’t really complain about the food so far, I have been stuffing my face and loving the fact that I can have ten different flavors at one time on my plate. Today at lunch, Eleni and I sat with two other guys. Robert, one of the guys was laughing at me because my plate was piled with one type of food onto the other. I had some beef ribs with sauce surrounded by ham, rice, mini quesadillas, bacon, oatmeal, and watermelon on top, mmm, doesn’t that sound good, LOL. Doesn’t matter to me, it tasted good to me.
After lunch we had more anatomy without our books, taking notes. Dr. T went on, and on, and on, and on, and on, about hormones and food for about 2.5 hours. We actually did get some skeletal review in all that. After Anatomy was more half moon posture clinic, and yours truly went first. I was shaking out of my pants, and had to shift my legs a couple times or I probably would have shaken right off stage but I did it, BOO-YAH. There was one point when I had to take a deep breath because I felt my nervousiness coming out in the microphone and usually when that happens I talk really fast, so I took a deep breath and finished it. Bikram told me I was good, with good dialogue. He suggested that I talk to Dr. Lilian Glass when she comes here. He said I need to learn how to use my diaphragm more when speaking to project better. I don’t need many lessons just one or two practice sessions, so I should volunteer to go on stage when she needs someone. So that is done.
5:00 class was with Bikram. He sat and drank a coke and teased in between sets with it. He said we are the luckiest training group ever because this is the first time ever he is scheduled to teach every night class for the training. He was also impressed with us because he said we have improved 150% since last Monday. That is his favorite number I think, so he probably tells that to every group of trainees. I could feel it though, less and less people are going down, and even less people are cramping or leaving. It seems people have figured out a routine that works for them, so awesome to see. We had another earth quake today, this time I felt it, it was kind of hard to miss it. It happened while we were right in the middle of triangle posture, it was the weirdest feeling. It felt like hundreds of men were walking on the roof at the same time. We must have got energy from that cause everyone powered through right to the end of the class.
After class was supper time, I made some good old mac and cheese, and it tasted sooooooooooo good, yummy in my tummy, just like a kid again. Then we made our way dow to the lecture hall where we were greeted with another Indian movie. It was three hours and we didn’t get to bed until 1:30am. The movie wasn’t actually that bad, it was a kinda of a gladiator film with an Indian twist.
After lunch we had more anatomy without our books, taking notes. Dr. T went on, and on, and on, and on, and on, about hormones and food for about 2.5 hours. We actually did get some skeletal review in all that. After Anatomy was more half moon posture clinic, and yours truly went first. I was shaking out of my pants, and had to shift my legs a couple times or I probably would have shaken right off stage but I did it, BOO-YAH. There was one point when I had to take a deep breath because I felt my nervousiness coming out in the microphone and usually when that happens I talk really fast, so I took a deep breath and finished it. Bikram told me I was good, with good dialogue. He suggested that I talk to Dr. Lilian Glass when she comes here. He said I need to learn how to use my diaphragm more when speaking to project better. I don’t need many lessons just one or two practice sessions, so I should volunteer to go on stage when she needs someone. So that is done.
5:00 class was with Bikram. He sat and drank a coke and teased in between sets with it. He said we are the luckiest training group ever because this is the first time ever he is scheduled to teach every night class for the training. He was also impressed with us because he said we have improved 150% since last Monday. That is his favorite number I think, so he probably tells that to every group of trainees. I could feel it though, less and less people are going down, and even less people are cramping or leaving. It seems people have figured out a routine that works for them, so awesome to see. We had another earth quake today, this time I felt it, it was kind of hard to miss it. It happened while we were right in the middle of triangle posture, it was the weirdest feeling. It felt like hundreds of men were walking on the roof at the same time. We must have got energy from that cause everyone powered through right to the end of the class.
After class was supper time, I made some good old mac and cheese, and it tasted sooooooooooo good, yummy in my tummy, just like a kid again. Then we made our way dow to the lecture hall where we were greeted with another Indian movie. It was three hours and we didn’t get to bed until 1:30am. The movie wasn’t actually that bad, it was a kinda of a gladiator film with an Indian twist.
Picture from starting week 2
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
An earthquake....WHAT!?
So last night we didn’t go for Italian food, we walked to a little Vietnamese restaurant for some sushi for Michelle’s birthday. I don’t eat seafood so I had veggies with chicken, and some avacado rolls with cream cheese, after we stopped for some ice cream. Andres who is from Mexico City came with us, he was able to give us the run down of Mexico as much as he could.
That food did not sit well in my stomach. Eleni, Michelle, and I were all waking up off and on all night, I felt like I was having hot flashes, what the heck. Than at 1am there was an earth quake apparently but I didn’t feel it. When we were waiting for class someone asked Eleni and I if we had felt it and I said no. Eleni had this funny look on her face and said “is that what it was?” I asked her why, and she said it woke her up and she could feel her bed moving and she thought that I had crawled into the bed with her, LOL. I told her no, I was never in your bed trying to cuddle. She was relieved to know it was an earthquake, I was none the wiser. Emmy taught class today and told it was a 4.6 on the ricter scale. I have never experienced an earth quake before, I am sure there will be more.
Emmy said she teaches like Bikram use to teach 35 years ago when she first met him. She was up on the podium and she told us she was frustrated. She said could see so many mistakes we were making and all she wanted to do was correct us. I think next time she will be walking around the room making those corrections. That will be interesting because no one has done that yet, they have all stayed on the podium.
I had a good class considering how tired and hungry I was when I woke up. After class was the ocean, then lunch then some anatomy. We met Dr.T, and his wife, oh gosh the two of them together are so cute and funny. He gets going on his rants then out of no where his wife shouts, “get on with it, you got off topic”. Every once in awhile he tells jokes to make sure we are still awake, well they actually aren’t that funny but he tries. So after a couple jokes where we didn’t laugh to hard, his wife told a funny story about the two of them. She is basically making fun of her husband, its so funny, cause its all in good fun. They have been married for 56 years. Once his wife tells a joke of course Bikram has to get on the mike and tell a joke, something about a man with dog balls. All in all it kept us awake. Oh speaking of anatomy, we started that today without any books so we had to write down notes as Dr.T put slides up on the projector. "High light in Yellow, Mark is red", is his favorite saying. We are supposed to recieve our books on Friday and our test is on Monday. Bikram is not impressed about that and said Dr.T is wasting his time without the books, I guess we will see.
Oh all you peeps planning to come to training in the spring won’t have to worry about it being here again I don’t think. Bikram told us that he got into a 2.5 hour fight with the general manager about the shit food at the hotel. So needless to say, he said he won’t be back to eat it again. We also had a vote at the evening posture clinic whether we wanted to stay having the lunch buffet or if we wanted the supper one. Majority ruled and we are sticking with the lunch buffet. Bikram told the manager that he wants good Asian cuisine, not shit cat food we have been eating, or crap breakfast pancakes. I will keep you on the up and up on the menu for tomorrow and if it is any better.
After anatomy we had more posture clinic, than it was class with Bikram at 5.
All the boys who were at the other hotel got to move over here today, so class actually started at 5:30 (though we were in the room since before 5) waiting for everyone to get there. My stomach hurt throughout the entire class again but I still pounded it out. I think I have to start having a little snack before class. People are still going down but alot of the people who aren't feeling well place their mats on the last couple lines in the back of the room. I haven't had to go back there yet but I have heard the energy is not to strong because everyone back there is sick and has no extra energy. Today after standing bow I had to take a couple extra seconds to catch my breath. There are moments throughout the class where I feel like I just can't catch my breath. It feels like when I breathe that I am just not getting enough air in my lungs. It's not the feeling like I am out of shape just not enough fresh air to breathe properly, maybe its the extreme humidity I am not used to.
That food did not sit well in my stomach. Eleni, Michelle, and I were all waking up off and on all night, I felt like I was having hot flashes, what the heck. Than at 1am there was an earth quake apparently but I didn’t feel it. When we were waiting for class someone asked Eleni and I if we had felt it and I said no. Eleni had this funny look on her face and said “is that what it was?” I asked her why, and she said it woke her up and she could feel her bed moving and she thought that I had crawled into the bed with her, LOL. I told her no, I was never in your bed trying to cuddle. She was relieved to know it was an earthquake, I was none the wiser. Emmy taught class today and told it was a 4.6 on the ricter scale. I have never experienced an earth quake before, I am sure there will be more.
Emmy said she teaches like Bikram use to teach 35 years ago when she first met him. She was up on the podium and she told us she was frustrated. She said could see so many mistakes we were making and all she wanted to do was correct us. I think next time she will be walking around the room making those corrections. That will be interesting because no one has done that yet, they have all stayed on the podium.
I had a good class considering how tired and hungry I was when I woke up. After class was the ocean, then lunch then some anatomy. We met Dr.T, and his wife, oh gosh the two of them together are so cute and funny. He gets going on his rants then out of no where his wife shouts, “get on with it, you got off topic”. Every once in awhile he tells jokes to make sure we are still awake, well they actually aren’t that funny but he tries. So after a couple jokes where we didn’t laugh to hard, his wife told a funny story about the two of them. She is basically making fun of her husband, its so funny, cause its all in good fun. They have been married for 56 years. Once his wife tells a joke of course Bikram has to get on the mike and tell a joke, something about a man with dog balls. All in all it kept us awake. Oh speaking of anatomy, we started that today without any books so we had to write down notes as Dr.T put slides up on the projector. "High light in Yellow, Mark is red", is his favorite saying. We are supposed to recieve our books on Friday and our test is on Monday. Bikram is not impressed about that and said Dr.T is wasting his time without the books, I guess we will see.
Oh all you peeps planning to come to training in the spring won’t have to worry about it being here again I don’t think. Bikram told us that he got into a 2.5 hour fight with the general manager about the shit food at the hotel. So needless to say, he said he won’t be back to eat it again. We also had a vote at the evening posture clinic whether we wanted to stay having the lunch buffet or if we wanted the supper one. Majority ruled and we are sticking with the lunch buffet. Bikram told the manager that he wants good Asian cuisine, not shit cat food we have been eating, or crap breakfast pancakes. I will keep you on the up and up on the menu for tomorrow and if it is any better.
After anatomy we had more posture clinic, than it was class with Bikram at 5.
All the boys who were at the other hotel got to move over here today, so class actually started at 5:30 (though we were in the room since before 5) waiting for everyone to get there. My stomach hurt throughout the entire class again but I still pounded it out. I think I have to start having a little snack before class. People are still going down but alot of the people who aren't feeling well place their mats on the last couple lines in the back of the room. I haven't had to go back there yet but I have heard the energy is not to strong because everyone back there is sick and has no extra energy. Today after standing bow I had to take a couple extra seconds to catch my breath. There are moments throughout the class where I feel like I just can't catch my breath. It feels like when I breathe that I am just not getting enough air in my lungs. It's not the feeling like I am out of shape just not enough fresh air to breathe properly, maybe its the extreme humidity I am not used to.
I had class, ocean, supper, than more posture clinic. I was lined up and read to go on stage to present half moon but Bikram let us go at 11pm. We had the option of coming back in ten minutes to watch a movie with him if we wanted to. We chose not to and were in bed by midnight.
The picture is us out for dinner: Me, Eleni, Damian, Andres, Michelle, and Jonathan
Monday, September 22, 2008
Jonathan Yang from Oz
Okay I mentioned today that Jonathon is going to start posting next week but he actually wrote one for today so you get a bonus blog. Here it is:
so week 1 and 10 classes of bikram teacher's training has been done and dusted.. I feel like the guy off the movie wanted who gets the crap kicked out of him and then is rehealed each time then finally becomes that kickarse time warping machine :P hahaWell far from becoming that kickarse machine, but I did feel like I died on day 2 and was reborn on day 3... Its been incredible watching the most fittest people dropping down, look and feel nausea, sick, vomiting, diarhear, cramping, spasms and worse of all having mini fits becuase the body is so dehydrated.Bikram said in the orientation, "what is the most important thing in life"? its life of course.. so here we are, 300 or so students who normally can tuff it out in the most extreme classes back home are just overwhelmed with how hard this TT is.. It was a crap experience, but really made everyone think about how they are going to get through the 1st week let alone next 9 weeks.. The class vibe is great, its awesome practicing and meeting someone new everyday. At the end of class, instead of saying namaste, everyone claps and cheers haha I guess its for surviving the class :PHopefully week 2 wont be as hard as week1 please god!! :)
Jonathan Yang
so week 1 and 10 classes of bikram teacher's training has been done and dusted.. I feel like the guy off the movie wanted who gets the crap kicked out of him and then is rehealed each time then finally becomes that kickarse time warping machine :P hahaWell far from becoming that kickarse machine, but I did feel like I died on day 2 and was reborn on day 3... Its been incredible watching the most fittest people dropping down, look and feel nausea, sick, vomiting, diarhear, cramping, spasms and worse of all having mini fits becuase the body is so dehydrated.Bikram said in the orientation, "what is the most important thing in life"? its life of course.. so here we are, 300 or so students who normally can tuff it out in the most extreme classes back home are just overwhelmed with how hard this TT is.. It was a crap experience, but really made everyone think about how they are going to get through the 1st week let alone next 9 weeks.. The class vibe is great, its awesome practicing and meeting someone new everyday. At the end of class, instead of saying namaste, everyone claps and cheers haha I guess its for surviving the class :PHopefully week 2 wont be as hard as week1 please god!! :)
Jonathan Yang
A day of reflection, than onto week two
Since today (Sunday), is a day of rest I am going to take as a day of reflecting because I don’t have much to talk about in terms of what I did today. Slept in until Eleni’s dad called at 9am, had lunch, walked to Walmart, had a nap, talked to my parent, bro and Aunt. It is Michelle’s birthday today so maybe we can go out for a good Italian meal tonight to celebrate. People were telling us about it, and cheap, the same one Ang told me to check out.
Oh I forgot to mention who taught yesterdays class. It was Dale from Vancouver. Very disciplined and again people had to be told over and over to put their waters down or not pour it on their heads, lol.
When we first started doing dialogue clinic with Bikram it amazed me how he could just read people. For example, there was a girl that went up and she did an awesome delivery of half moon. When she was finished Bikram told her that her dialogue was good but she needed to go on a diet. She came back with, “since I’ve been doing Bikram yoga I’ve lost one hundred pounds”. She got a huge round of applause as Bikram just looked around, smiled and said, “See, I saved your life.” Then went on to talk about how one of his right hand men from head quarters, Gregg, who is in Acapulco but wasn’t in the hall at the time, lost 200 pounds doing Bikram yoga.
Another girl was up there and she got through the dialogue and you could tell she knew it but stumbled a little, which has happened. When she finished Bikram asked her, “do you know why you can’t remember the dialogue and she can?” pointing to another girl on stage. He answered his own question with, “because your hair is to short, hers is nice and long.” She answered him with, “I had to shave my head because I was in an accident and broke my neck, I’ve never had hair this short.” She went on to tell us that she was in accident under a year ago, and has metal all over her body. The doctors told her she probably wouldn’t be able to do physical activity ever again, boy did she prove them wrong. She told Bikram that his yoga saved her life and has helped her immensely. Totally amazing.
Another cute little Asian lady went up and after she said half moon, Bikram told her she is so sweet and it seems she cares for people. He asked what she does for a job at home. She told us that she is a cook and a caterer, in which Bikram than asked if she could cook some good Asian food for him. She responded with, “I can cook for 300 people, no problem.” He really liked that response, and so did we, lol.
Another lady delivered such a strong dialogue with such expression in her voice and body movement that Bikram told her she would kill anyone that didn’t listen to her. He later asked her when she was sitting if she was single. She said she has been divorced twice but is now single. He said, “no wonder you probably chopped off their balls when they did not listen to you.” He then wanted to know if they were still alive or if she had buried them alive. He finished by telling her that she would make a good wife because she is a strong woman, which you can clearly see.
On Friday afternoon my stomach was hurting so bad from laughing so hard all week. It seems he knows exactly what questions to ask, and who to ask them to. Over the course of the week he has made one guy sing for him on stage, telling him they should do a duet together because he likes his voice. He told another guy he could be an actor in Hollywood film if he wanted because he speaks clear and looks good. He made the two girls from Vietnam put the sucker he had in his mouth in their own mouths and say the dialogue. It was cool to see how it helped them with their accent. He has told two people that they would make good marriage partners (not to each other) and he wants to find them a good partner.
Starting Thursday night I have been having the most vivid dreams. I wake up and think I just watched a movie, its kinda cool. The dreams I have been having have had people in them that I haven’t seen for years. I am dreaming about kids I use to babysit or go to school with when I was just a little tot. I am remembering and seeing things that happened when I was little playing with family and neighbors, and the games we use to play. Lucille told me if I am remembering things that vivid and from that long ago that I must be getting really deep already. Well it’s either that or I am going crazy, lol, just joking I am loving it. I am remembering and seeing things that I totally forgot about years ago and now watching them in the third person. I hope they all stay happy, and I don’t wake Eleni up in the middle of the night with sudden screaming. I’ll let you know how that goes, lol.
Monday starts week two so I will see how the blogging will keep up. I will do my best to do a little reflection everyday but now the pace picks up a bit. By the end of the week, we will be into the 70s with remaining classes, WHOOT WHOOT!
Oh I forgot to mention who taught yesterdays class. It was Dale from Vancouver. Very disciplined and again people had to be told over and over to put their waters down or not pour it on their heads, lol.
When we first started doing dialogue clinic with Bikram it amazed me how he could just read people. For example, there was a girl that went up and she did an awesome delivery of half moon. When she was finished Bikram told her that her dialogue was good but she needed to go on a diet. She came back with, “since I’ve been doing Bikram yoga I’ve lost one hundred pounds”. She got a huge round of applause as Bikram just looked around, smiled and said, “See, I saved your life.” Then went on to talk about how one of his right hand men from head quarters, Gregg, who is in Acapulco but wasn’t in the hall at the time, lost 200 pounds doing Bikram yoga.
Another girl was up there and she got through the dialogue and you could tell she knew it but stumbled a little, which has happened. When she finished Bikram asked her, “do you know why you can’t remember the dialogue and she can?” pointing to another girl on stage. He answered his own question with, “because your hair is to short, hers is nice and long.” She answered him with, “I had to shave my head because I was in an accident and broke my neck, I’ve never had hair this short.” She went on to tell us that she was in accident under a year ago, and has metal all over her body. The doctors told her she probably wouldn’t be able to do physical activity ever again, boy did she prove them wrong. She told Bikram that his yoga saved her life and has helped her immensely. Totally amazing.
Another cute little Asian lady went up and after she said half moon, Bikram told her she is so sweet and it seems she cares for people. He asked what she does for a job at home. She told us that she is a cook and a caterer, in which Bikram than asked if she could cook some good Asian food for him. She responded with, “I can cook for 300 people, no problem.” He really liked that response, and so did we, lol.
Another lady delivered such a strong dialogue with such expression in her voice and body movement that Bikram told her she would kill anyone that didn’t listen to her. He later asked her when she was sitting if she was single. She said she has been divorced twice but is now single. He said, “no wonder you probably chopped off their balls when they did not listen to you.” He then wanted to know if they were still alive or if she had buried them alive. He finished by telling her that she would make a good wife because she is a strong woman, which you can clearly see.
On Friday afternoon my stomach was hurting so bad from laughing so hard all week. It seems he knows exactly what questions to ask, and who to ask them to. Over the course of the week he has made one guy sing for him on stage, telling him they should do a duet together because he likes his voice. He told another guy he could be an actor in Hollywood film if he wanted because he speaks clear and looks good. He made the two girls from Vietnam put the sucker he had in his mouth in their own mouths and say the dialogue. It was cool to see how it helped them with their accent. He has told two people that they would make good marriage partners (not to each other) and he wants to find them a good partner.
Starting Thursday night I have been having the most vivid dreams. I wake up and think I just watched a movie, its kinda cool. The dreams I have been having have had people in them that I haven’t seen for years. I am dreaming about kids I use to babysit or go to school with when I was just a little tot. I am remembering and seeing things that happened when I was little playing with family and neighbors, and the games we use to play. Lucille told me if I am remembering things that vivid and from that long ago that I must be getting really deep already. Well it’s either that or I am going crazy, lol, just joking I am loving it. I am remembering and seeing things that I totally forgot about years ago and now watching them in the third person. I hope they all stay happy, and I don’t wake Eleni up in the middle of the night with sudden screaming. I’ll let you know how that goes, lol.
Monday starts week two so I will see how the blogging will keep up. I will do my best to do a little reflection everyday but now the pace picks up a bit. By the end of the week, we will be into the 70s with remaining classes, WHOOT WHOOT!
The picture is of the salt water pool I take a dip in after every class
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Rocking it out
I had a really good class this morning. Saturday class is at 8am, but I rocked it out. Everyone else around me was down for the count, nine people in a square around me. One girl right beside me barely made it out of the room at the end, and needed assistance. I checked on her a couple times but she said she was okay. Another girl to my right was struggling, she said she was tired, but she powered through a lot of the postures. I gave her some of my ice cold water when we were on the floor series. I am now convinced that orange jug saves lives. It’s amazing how good it tastes when you think you are dying. I know it’s a total mind thing but sometimes when you are at that point it doesn’t matter, believe me, I was there last night, I know first hand. I swam in the ocean after class for a good twenty minutes today, it was cold but good.
Today at the lunch buffet I found my staple from home….the chocolate milk, HELLLLLLLLLO CHOCOLATE MILK. LOL, oh the small things that make us smile. After lunch is blogging time than have a nap. We might hit up Mega (similar to Superstore) after my nap to pick up some stuff. I have been feeling like something is missing from my diet. I talked to one of the staff and she suggested drinking grapefruit juice after class. I am allergic to bananas do she said the grapefruit juice should do it. I am getting tired of the cold broccoli so I think I can manage that for awhile until I get sick of that.
It is only the end of week one and I already have yoga brain. My routine so far has been to fill the sink with water and detergent and let my clothes soak as I take my shower after class. Yesterday I filled the sink and threw my clothes in, when I got out of the shower I could hear some water running. It clicked in that it was the sink, I forgot to turn it off. I jumped out from behind the curtain so fast I’m surprised I didn’t slip on my head, oh could you imagine, ha. The sink was full, and seriously, if my shower would have been 11 seconds longer I would have flooded the bathroom. I told Eleni that I have official perma yoga brain so be warned, lol, oh dear, it begins.
It has been so humid here that my clothes nor my mat have been drying. My mat is never dry by the next class, especially the evening one. For the morning one it is still damp but not dripping wet. My clothes are taking two or three days to dry, it’s a good thing I brought enough outfits to last the week worth.
My family has been great. I taught Dad how to use msn right before I left and he is so cute when he can actually see me on the web cam. He’s moving the camera all around so I can see him, mom and my kitty. The connection goes out here sometimes and is a little wonky but we make it work. Mom and Dad also didn’t know what a blog was but they have been reading it every day. I am pretty sure my Zia (Auntie) has been following it too. She was addicted to Jenns in the spring and was the one that introduced it to me. Other than that I know people are keeping busy and I have heard the weather has been nice so I am sure everyone is soaking it in while they can before the snow comes.
I would like to give a shout out to Roxanne who I have never even met. She went to the training here in the spring, and has been writing me messages and giving me advice as I continue on. Jenn gave me tons of advice just from her blog with out knowing it so a big hug to her. Jenn booked a ticket to come here at the beginning of October so she can watch the going ons from the outside-in this time. It will be interesting to read her blog about her thoughts when it’s all done. There are a couple teachers from my studio that are making their way down here too. One will visit at the end of October and one for sure (and hopefully the other honey bee as well) for graduation. Any of you want to stop by my house and pick up my kitty on your way!?!? I connected with my parents last night via web cam and they showed me my kitty. It actually brought tears to my eyes to see him. I was calling his name and he was looking around looking for me, wondering where I was. Mom said he has been crying and sleeping on my bed, so I know he misses me too. Now I know why they tell us to forget about the outside world, so many emotions come along with it. Oh well it’s not a bad thing to have tears once in awhile.
Today at the lunch buffet I found my staple from home….the chocolate milk, HELLLLLLLLLO CHOCOLATE MILK. LOL, oh the small things that make us smile. After lunch is blogging time than have a nap. We might hit up Mega (similar to Superstore) after my nap to pick up some stuff. I have been feeling like something is missing from my diet. I talked to one of the staff and she suggested drinking grapefruit juice after class. I am allergic to bananas do she said the grapefruit juice should do it. I am getting tired of the cold broccoli so I think I can manage that for awhile until I get sick of that.
It is only the end of week one and I already have yoga brain. My routine so far has been to fill the sink with water and detergent and let my clothes soak as I take my shower after class. Yesterday I filled the sink and threw my clothes in, when I got out of the shower I could hear some water running. It clicked in that it was the sink, I forgot to turn it off. I jumped out from behind the curtain so fast I’m surprised I didn’t slip on my head, oh could you imagine, ha. The sink was full, and seriously, if my shower would have been 11 seconds longer I would have flooded the bathroom. I told Eleni that I have official perma yoga brain so be warned, lol, oh dear, it begins.
It has been so humid here that my clothes nor my mat have been drying. My mat is never dry by the next class, especially the evening one. For the morning one it is still damp but not dripping wet. My clothes are taking two or three days to dry, it’s a good thing I brought enough outfits to last the week worth.
My family has been great. I taught Dad how to use msn right before I left and he is so cute when he can actually see me on the web cam. He’s moving the camera all around so I can see him, mom and my kitty. The connection goes out here sometimes and is a little wonky but we make it work. Mom and Dad also didn’t know what a blog was but they have been reading it every day. I am pretty sure my Zia (Auntie) has been following it too. She was addicted to Jenns in the spring and was the one that introduced it to me. Other than that I know people are keeping busy and I have heard the weather has been nice so I am sure everyone is soaking it in while they can before the snow comes.
I would like to give a shout out to Roxanne who I have never even met. She went to the training here in the spring, and has been writing me messages and giving me advice as I continue on. Jenn gave me tons of advice just from her blog with out knowing it so a big hug to her. Jenn booked a ticket to come here at the beginning of October so she can watch the going ons from the outside-in this time. It will be interesting to read her blog about her thoughts when it’s all done. There are a couple teachers from my studio that are making their way down here too. One will visit at the end of October and one for sure (and hopefully the other honey bee as well) for graduation. Any of you want to stop by my house and pick up my kitty on your way!?!? I connected with my parents last night via web cam and they showed me my kitty. It actually brought tears to my eyes to see him. I was calling his name and he was looking around looking for me, wondering where I was. Mom said he has been crying and sleeping on my bed, so I know he misses me too. Now I know why they tell us to forget about the outside world, so many emotions come along with it. Oh well it’s not a bad thing to have tears once in awhile.
The picture is of my precious child.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
