Yikes, that was tough!

Well, its been a while, but yes, I taught my first class in the studio, yesterday afternoon, 4pm! 47 students in total, the room was packed and space was scarce! I was soooo nervous, got through the warming up ok, but then the balancing series just went crashing down. Didnt know my right from my left, almost did a third set of standing head to knee, yikes!!! I felt like leaving the room, but I marched on with as much gusto as I could manage (thats saying alot)! Who would of thought that talking for 90 minutes could be so hard! I did it, I hated it, I felt like I never wanted to teach again, but today after letting it go as much as I can, I feel alot better and just hope with more practice and experience I will get better but most importantly, that I will actually LIKE it!! So many other people from training had said how much they enjoyed it and I just wonder how many actually just felt like I did? To be honest, it was one of the worst experiences I have had in a long time! But just like when you fall off the horse, you must get back on and the show must move forward! So there it is, my first class......... Let us pray the next one will be better (Please????)

Looks Like We Made It............

We did it!!! We finished and are now starting the journey of being Bikram yoga teachers! What a trip it has been, and for many of us, very bittersweet. The last week seemed to be the toughest and didnt seem to want to end, it was HARD!! We had Rajashree for a last morning class on Friday, and then Bikram taught the last evening. We all got up and hugged eachother at the end, it would be the last time we would all practice with eachother in the same room. The graduation ceremony was yesterday and everyone looked just beautiful. What a surreal moment to receive my certifificate from Bikram himself. I gave him a big hug and said thankyou (plus my lipstick stuck to his hair, yuck!). It was magical (not the lipstick thing)! Barb had to leave before the graduation, and I really missed not having her there for that moment, she would have loved it! I just want to send my love and appreciation to all those special friends I have made here, some of them lifted me when I felt like I couldnt get up. I will never forget this experience, and hopefully the wisdom given to me will grow and bloom as I begin my path as a yoga teacher. Thank you so much to all my family and friends who have supported me through this! I love ya lots! Namaste!

I'm in Hell and I can't get out.....

We had our 1st 3 yoga class day yesterday, the 2nd and 3rd back to back. I survived but it was TOUGH! My towels were so soaked with sweat, everytime I went into savasana, it sounded like I jumped into a swamp! Gross! We were unprepaired for this suprise 3rd class, so many of us had emptied our rations of water. Luckily, we were allowed to get water from the sink in the toilet.....nice. Then, to add to our misery, we had lecture until 2:30am. I cant say I heard too much of what was said, but I was thankful for my large caffienated Diet Pepsi. We all lived to tell the tale, a few became emotional and either cried or cursed the ground Bikram walks on, all in all it was a test of how we would cope emotionally and physically. I rolled with the punches, and was proud that I completed the tasks with a big smile on my face. So there, Boss!!! No stealing my peace!
Another problem thats been occuring since the 3rd week we have been here, people in the training are getting their rooms broken into and lots of electronics have been stolen. First they told us to keep all our valuables in our room safes, which of course we do anyway, but during our double last night, the power went out for a second. When we arrived for lecture, we found out a few people had their safes broken into, as they are electronic and when the power went out, so did the safe's power. Everyone was pissed off, and now they have security on all the floors, finally! I feel so bad for those who have been violated. I cant stand thieves.
Gotta go, smiles all around!

Bikram is Back!

Well, Friday night we ended up having a lecture, figures!! It was a great Halloween though. Everyone in yoga class sang Happy Birthday to me and I had a great yoga class! So many people came up to me all day long, wishing me a happy day, it was truly special! Then for the evening yoga class, Barb and I wore witches hats into class. I will post photos when I get home. There were so many people who came up with some really cool costumes, hand-made. One guy rolled toilet paper around his whole body, so he looked like a mummy! Lots of people wore black and orange and they took a group photo of everyone. It was fun stuff!
Saturday night a bunch of us went for dinner at a beautiful restaurant overlooking the Acapulco bay. The food was fab and I had chocolate covered strawberries for dessert, yummmmmmmmmy!! Then we watched the cliff divers that are famous in Acapulco. 3 of them attend the yoga classes so we were able to cheer them on as they climbed, then jumped off this jagged, super high cliff! It was beautiful and amazing!! The hotel had a beautiful alter set up for Dias dos Muertos, with lots of treats for the dead coming to visit their loved ones. It was full of drink (of course) and Mexican sweet bread, grapes, lots of marigolds and candles. What a beautiful tradition they have! They served hot chocolate and sweet bread to all of us guests, which was delicious!
All in all, my birthday experience here in Mexico was truly memorable! I couldnt have asked for more! Thank you to everyone that remembered me on my day!
Bikram is here and we get to go back to the torture of his super-tough class and long, late night lectures/Indie films! I'm ready, I have my diet Pepsi on hand full of caffeine to ignite my energy, so I can at least keep my head off my lap! Cant wait...................Namaste!

BOOOOOOOOO!

Happy Halloween Eve everyone! Hope you have your goulish gear ready and your sweet bags stocked! This week was considerably better than last week, and I am pleasantly suprised. My body has decided to become flexibile again and is no longer fighting with me. We had a brilliant yoga class this morning with Mark, who has been here for awhile now working with us during our posture clinics. He is my absolute favorite teacher, and he announced he is leaving today. He will be missed very much. He got everyone cawing like crows during full locust pose. I could not stop laughing! He has helped me alot with my confidence with dialogue, and his posture clinics were always so much fun!!!
We are still hoping for tomorrow night off, but who knows, no control here. It would be a bummer to have to do posture clinic on Halloween, they cant be that mean, or can they???????? Stay tuned............
Well, only one more posture to memorize, the last of 26, I truly cant believe I got through it. "I Don't Believe It"!!!!!! Everyone is just so relieved, thats when you have to worry, I'm pretty sure there is more torture to come. Of course Bikram arrives on Monday, and we have been warned to work our asses off during his classes. So it will probably be 2 weeks of Indie movies until 2am, no sleep, lectures about "stuff". I hope I have the strength til the end!
Have a brilliant Halloween weekend everyone, and I will do the same! Dont be scared!

Week 7, here we come........

Had a brilliant weekend, went shopping, had a pedicure, ate some great mexican food, shared all of it with some fantastic people. Just a bit of normality in yoga-land. I cant believe we only have 3 weeks left of this adventure. I hope it will go fast, as I have a feeling it will be tougher. Bikram has been away the last 2 weeks and isnt due back until Nov. 1st. No Indian films! Yippeeeeee!! We have been tremendously lucky with nights only going until 11pm. When Bikram gets back, who knows how much sleep we will get!! My body is quite stiff, and it is getting harder to do classes as well as I used to. Everyone says this is normal, but I wonder why our muscles feel so tight at this point, you would think they would be a bit more flexible. We had a lecture on spirituality from a GP, not such a great lecture in my opinion. I just dont think we create our own illnesses, she even said children decide what kind of life they will have prior to being born, either being brain-dead, cystic fibrosis, etc. I just do not buy it. It actually pissed me off a bit. But like everything crazy here, you take what you need and leave the rest behind. Well, better go and study , think we will finish all the postures by the end of this week. I need to study everything I now have forgotten. Its like a faint memory! Have a great week everyone, will write again soon!

Fab Friday

I cant tell you how happy I am that today is Friday! My whole survival instinct circles around Friday. Someone told me yesterday that we had done our 63rd class, I have been trying not to do the whole countdown thing with the classes, its like full on yoga anxiety. I think we will do about 100 classes all together, so you can understand my need of denial. Day by day until Friday is my technique. Ignorance is bliss and denial makes it easier!! Gotta love the whole denial philosophy!
I think we all are getting sick of the whole group thing. I have started to feel like I need some space from everyone. I guess the previous trainings had to room all together, there were only about 50 students then, but I think I would go crazy having to sleep, eat, study, stretch with people every minute of the day. My room is my only space of tranquility, and we hardly get to it with all the lectures, classes and stuff. Bummer.
I better go, need to go to yoga class and stretch my muscles out again, they are starting to feel like rocks ( bless you, Advil). Going to sleep this weekend (hopefully). Thats a new thing I forgot to mention, havent been able to sleep or eat lately, its very strange to force-feed yourself ( just one more bite, here comes the choo-choo train, yummmm), if you dont, you pay for it with a crap class. How fun is this guys??? Bikram's torture chamber in and out of class! Have an awesome weekend everyone in reality land! Namaste.