Yes, I know. I am way behind in blogging, especially considering training has begun and I have yet to check in here. My apologies; however, that is a reflection of just how busy we have been since day one. I haven't even spoken to my husband since Sunday (sorry, Ror) and I have been woefully neglectful of returning calls and texts (sorry everyone), never mind e-mails. But since at the moment I feel somewhat rested (6 hours of sleep last night) and rejuvenated from a strong morning class (they haven't all been like this) I decided to check back in and post an update on TT so far. As promised, our first week has been filled with excitement, emotion, fatigue, angst, and pain . . yes, pain already. Our first class on Monday was the hottest and hardest class I have ever taken in my 2.5 years of practicing Bikram Yoga. And I certainly wasn't the only one who thought so. People were in and out of the room like it was "Grand Central Station", according to another teacher (this comment was said to us in a scolding manner; for those who don't know, in Bikram Yoga you are encouraged not to leave the room except in cases of emergency (it interrupts your meditation, distracts your fellow yogis and interferes with the collective energy in the room)). But people were, indeed, coming in and out as though the room had a revolving door at its entrance. And rightly so, in my opinion. It was f'n HOT in there. I ran out of water in the standing series (and I bring a LOT of water in to class with me) and panicked so even I left to replenish my supply. I have only left the room on two occasions and both were to use the bathroom. I never anticipated having to leave the room in training. I even told myself I wasn't going to sit out for any postures. But the game here is about survival; whatever it takes to survive in this yoga boot camp is what you do. So rather than beat myself up about leaving (I did come right back to finish out the floor series after furiously chugging water and a Gatorade) I accepted it and moved on. . .next was the beginning of the Half Moon presentations. All 427 of us are expected to stand on the stage in one of the hotel's conference rooms and recite Half Moon (the first posture in the series), with a microphone, in front of Bikram himself and our fellow trainees. This was one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. Those who know me know that I am pretty outgoing and I have done some public speaking but I was terrified of getting up in front of everyone and Bikram to do Half Moon. I have been practicing this posture for a few weeks using my husband to demonstrate the posture and was relatively confident in my ability to recite it but the thought of all those eyes on me (874 to be exact; 426 other trainees, Bikram and approximately 10 staff and visiting teachers) was quite alarming. However, regardless of my fear, I was eager to just get it over with. My turn on stage came on day 2 of Half Moon presentations and, if I do say so myself, I nailed it. Bikram simply said, "no corrections", which is a good sign because there were some people for which he had a mouthful of complaints and corrections. For the most part, I must say that Bikram has been very fair, honest, and even generous in his Half Moon critiques. Some people recited it verbatim to how it is written in the dialogue but lacked energy, some were too loud, others were too quiet, some were monotone, and some seemed as though they had never even heard the words in class before never mind had glanced at the dialogue to prepare. And some rocked it completely . . And many were speaking in a language that wasn't their native tongue. At the end of the day, it wasn't that big of a deal but I was grateful for it to be over. We are still finishing up Half Moon and will be until next week, after which we break up into our posture clinic groups and move on to the rest of the dialogue.
As promised, we have had one really late night so far watching a Bollywood film with Bikram (who could hardly contain his excitement for the event). After the movie was over at approximately 3 a.m., Bikram spoke until 3:45. Needless to say, getting up for morning class was no picnic the following day. The next night Bikram lectured for 3 hours, until 1 a.m. but all of our hard work paid off because we were rewarded with Friday night off! So with one class left to go (we don't do a double on Saturday and have no class on Sunday), I feel pretty good about the first week. This being said after my aggravation regarding sleep deprivation and the temperature of the first class has subsided, of course. But, all in all, I am satisfied and ready for the next two months. Now, talk to me in Week 6 and you may here a different story.
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