Deflated

All week I had been rocking it out in class and posture clinic. Then last night [friday], I crashed! Just after the first Triangle, I started feeling dizzy and weak and so sad. I had to sit down. And I could not get enough water in me! I got up for Standing Separate Leg, then down for Tree. At one point, Bikram said "Why you not doing posture? I thought you were yogini!" He was looking in my direction, but I couldn't tell if that was directed at me or someone around me.

Then in posture clinic, we were presenting Standing Bow Pulling pose. I did not feel great, and I did not feel good about getting up to say it, but I did anyway - I didn't want the posture hanging around in my brain all weekend! It came out choppy, I blanked out in parts, forgot 1/2 of it, and actually started talking to myself. In hindsight today, it's funny, but last night it wasn't. My homework was to get out of my brain, and start looking at the bodies for guidance.

I know this is all part of the process - releasing your baggage. We hear over and over and OVER again to "Trust. The. Process.", and I believe it. I am grateful to all the teachers in the Edmonton studio's who have prepared us so well for this training, and who are with us in spirit cheering us on.

Funny [or not so funny] story...
In posture clinic, sometimes the teachers will make you do things to get you out of your shell. Last night, one girl [a hairstylist in her other life] from the other group presented, and the teacher thought it needed a bit of pizzazz so she told this girl to try doing the dialogue as if she was a gay hairdresser! Little did she know that we have a gay hairdresser in our group!! Ouch!

Punch the Bold!

That's my new homework after completing Standing Head-To-Knee pose. The dialogue came out good, I just need more emphasis on the bold words in the text. And Lynn says don't be afraid to look like a fool!

Now onto studying Standing Bow Pulling Pose for tomorrow night...yikes! Looking like a fool may come all too soon... :)

Postures

The plan was that last night we would have posture clinic AND a Bikram lecture afterwards. However, Bikram announced at yoga class we are supposed to be done up to Balancing Stick by the end of week 4, so no more lecture and no more movies for the rest of the week. Posture clinics until midnight.

So last night I did Eagle. I totally missed the line at the beginning "Look at your arms..." other than that it went okay. My homework was to continue with the homework Lynn gave me which was to practice saying it really fast so I am not thinking or hesitating.

And yes, it was midnight before everyone in our two groups finished Eagle. We likely would have been done earlier, and been able to move on to Standing Head To Knee, but our visiting teacher was a talker! Not that her feedback wasn't good, it was, but can we please move on to the next person, thank you.

Pizza Party

Bikram came back yesterday and taught the evening class. He was in a really good mood. He decided instead of lecture after class, we would have a pizza party. "Dom, order 500 pizza's, and don't forget the coke. You can't have pizza without coke." So that's what happened. And I seriously think there were actually 500 pizza's! They were stacked 10-high over 4 tables...it was crazy. The music was cranked way up and people were dancing on the stage, in the aisles, everywhere.

Near 10 pm, they stopped the music, and we settled in for a bollywood movie. Home, asleep by 1 am...not bad.

I will post pictures later when I can download other peoples, since my camera is afu'd.

Oops!

For those of you who have met Dr. T's wife, Sonja this story likely won't surprise you...Sonja comes to all the lectures with Dr. T and every now and then she pops up out of her seat, grabs the microphone, and tells a little story or joke. Very feisty 70-something lady! Today was no exception, however...

At the end of the lecture, she decides to leave early and starts walking down the centre aisle. Halfway down the aisle, her pants literally drop to the floor around her ankles!! Oh my! Good thing she was wearing panties!! Well, she dropped the books she was carrying and pulled up her pants (they were drawstring pants) covered her face with her hands and started laughing. Dr. T. was just shaking with laughter. It was sooo funny. Then Dr. T. proceeds to tell us a story where they were at some posh banquet and Sonja had her hands full with a plate of food, and her underwear dropped to the floor around her ankles so it's not the first time this has happened! What a hoot!

btw...I got 40/50 on the anatomy exam, so I was happy about that...one down, one to go.

Week 3 done!

One more week done! After Saturday morning class, Aimee, Michelle, Patty [from my group 8], and Patty's roommate Erin, and I went to a restaurant near Trader Joe's for lunch. It was so nice to eat away from the hotel for a change. Then it was Trader Joe's for groceries and then back to hotel to study.

We have an Anatomy [Part 1] exam on Monday. We have to know the Muscular, Skeletal, and Cardiovascular Systems for this exam. I must say it is really difficult for me to be interested in this. I know it is stuff we should know to be a great yoga teacher, but the terminology is so foreign to me. [Give me the Income Tax Act instead anytime!] I just can't wrap my head around the language of anatomy, but I guess I had better if I want to pass the exam! I also need to memorize ahead for the posture dialogues. We will be doing Eagle on Monday for sure, which I have down pretty good, but I need to have memorized 4-5 ahead as we really don't have any time during the week to do that. Add to that, Bikram is back on Monday which means more bollywood movies and less sleep.

The highlight of the week however was seeing my nephew Brendon in Vegas today!! It was soooooo great to be able to meet up with him if only for an hour for breakfast! And he brought homemade ginger cookies from Kelley and a homemade 'I miss you' card from my 4-yr-old niece, Neka. I miss you guys too! And thanks for the cookies and the card. Okay, I think I'm getting sad now...I better stop! :)


I have 10 hours left in the day today, so it is study time!!

Ups and downs

On Thursday my yoga classes were great, on Friday they were not. One day I rock them out and the next, I am on my mat for the entire floor series. One day, I don't drink any water in class, and the next I drink a litre. I spoke with Tu [one of the staff here] about it, and he suggested I play with the amount of electrolytes I am using. I have come to the conclusion that I am using too much sea salt. I was putting it in my water all day long, and when you drink 5-6 litres a day, this can add up! I noticed in Friday's class, my fingers felt swollen, even after sweating out a gallon of water during class. So on Saturday, I had a great [no water] class so I will leave out the sea salts for awhile. I must be getting enough right now with my food and juices.

So Emmy taught her last class on Friday, and her last lecture Friday afternoon. She had students [brave souls!] come up on stage so she could correct their triangle. I really learned a lot from that lecture. Here is a picture of Emmy...hard to believe she is 82 years old.



That was the last picture my camera decided to take. The on/off button has stopped working. So from now on, I guess it is o.p.p.'s [other people's pictures] or my phone camera.