The pose begins when you want to leave it

There are so many lessons one can take away each and everyday.  If we reflect upon our experiences without judgment, there is so much we can learn.  I learned a great lesson this week...  

On Friday, I woke up with a really bad head cold along with some flu like symptoms.  Saturday was worse.  Of course, I'm sure it was due to the intensity of this training coupled with the fact that 1. my immune system was down to begin with when I first got here (so much for thinking that I got the sick part out of the way before coming to TT), and 2. the lack of sleep.  Not really the healthiest of combinations. It actually made me realize that strength and determination isn't always doing every posture.  I came into this training with the mentality that I could and would do each and every posture during each and every class.  At the end of nine weeks, I wouldn’t have missed a single one. Hardcore, yes, that's what I would be.  Well, it took more strength for me to allow myself to sit down, to rest, to "take it easy honey," than to continue struggling to complete each pose.  I did it.  I sat down.  I laid down.  I took care of me.  I realized that deciding to sit out a posture or two or ten, is absolutely and entirely fine.  Ironically, I was actually proud of myself for sitting out.  It’s as if this was a lesson I hadn’t been allowing myself to learn… until now.  There is a difference between being hardcore and being stupid, being lazy and being aware, being stubborn and being smart.  For me, taking it easy is what I needed to do for my health, my body, and for my wellbeing.  I pushed the boundary but didn’t cross it. 

I'm so glad that the week is over though.  Yesterday was Hilary’s birthday.  She went to the beach, did a little shopping, and then went out for dinner.  I just stayed in and rested. I felt bad for missing out on celebrating with her, but I need to kick this in the ass or it's going to kick mine!  I'll make it up to her and we'll do something fun another weekend.  So for now, it's back to the resting and hydrating… oh, and let’s not forget the soup!

Namaste!

"You Suffer for Your Soup"

As crazy as it sounds, it’s almost as if I’m watching myself from outside myself.  I don’t know what’s come over me but I went from a die hard, front row practitioner to not having seen myself in the mirror in two weeks.  Instead of “focusing on one point in the mirror,” I focus on one point in space.  I’ve never been a huge water drinker during class and now I can’t get enough liquid… regular water, electrolyte enhanced water, tea, kombucha, and soup.  Oh the soup!  Every night I crave the delicious broth of whatever soup I can get my hands on.  Tonight it was lentil, and boy did it hit the spot!  Additionally, I’m like a ravage with the food.  I don’t stop.  I feel like all I do is eat, drink, and breathe yoga.  I’d include sleep in that list, except I don’t get much of that here!

"You are the only one who understands me."

"You suffer for your soup."

              - The Soup Nazi and Kramer, Seinfeld 

Namaste!

Señor, we made a mistake... we want to go back to America!

Friday, we got some really exciting news… No Saturday class!  That meant we had the WHOLE weekend off!  Score.  While some decided to take extra classes at headquarters, others slept, and some spent it laying on the beach, Hilary and I thought we had an even better idea… since we wouldn’t have an entire weekend off again, why not make the most of it?  Why not rent a bright green Ford Fiesta and drive south of the border to Mexico?!  Sounded like a worthwhile way to spend our first free day, so that’s just what we did. 

Our Plan: Rent a car. Drive to the border.  Park the car in CA.  Walk across to Mexico.  Get a burrito for lunch.  Walk back to the US.  Do NOT drive into Mexico.  Do NOT get into a taxi and go to downtown Tijuana. Do not spend much more than an hour in Mexico because the rest of the day should be spent exploring sunny San Diego.

What Actually Happened: Rented a car.  Tried a new method to study dialogue on our drive.  Drove to the border.  Saw a sign that said “Mexico, no USA return.”  Couldn’t turn around.  Drove the fluorescent green roller-skate into foreign lands. Told the border control guy we made a mistake and wanted to go back to America… IN Spanish no less! He felt bad for us and told us to follow him.  We did.  He stopped an entire highway of traffic entering Mexico as we crossed 4 lanes of traffic, went through the gate he opened, and proceeded to cut in front of hours worth of cars waiting to get back into the USA.  ¡Gracias señor! Patrolman at the US side was a bit more skeptical.  He called me “Miss Hollywood” and told me to take off my sunglasses.  I rather liked that nickname! He asked us how long we were in Mexico.  We replied, “30 seconds.”  He rebutted, “No one is in Mexico for 30 seconds.” Hilary says, “We were!”  He asked us whose car we were driving, and in unison Hilary and I both say, “it’s a rental car!” He looked at us funny.  After playing 20 Questions, he finally believed that we really were stupid Americans who mistakenly drove into Mexico and not drug trafficking girls hoping not to get caught. Phew, we made it out.  Now, lets go back!  We parked the car and walked across the border as if it were a line to ride an amusement park ride with no line.  Easy peasy.  We stick to the plan and check out the local cuisine in Tijuana.  A cab driver approaches us asking if we want to go downtown, “better food, cheaper food.”  “No sir, we just want a quick burrito and then we’re going back.” He looked at us and chuckled, “Quick? No, you wait 4 hours to cross border.”  “No sir, we just want to eat and leave.”  He proceeds to explain that we should take his taxi downtown and get food, then catch the bus which will take us across the border in 2 hours instead of 4 hours and will only cost $5.  We stuck to our guns and walked away.  We got our burritos. Met a girl, an interesting girl, an American girl who gave us the low-down on the line back to the US... that cab driver wasn’t lying to us, the line really WAS 4 hours long.  Well, this girl we met told us to follow her because she knew how to work the system and this line was the longest she’d seen, at least a 5-hour wait.  We took her advice.  We cut the line.  After the fact, she said, “it’s a good thing we didn’t get caught, you can go to jail for cutting the line in Mexico.”  We about died!  After only 40 minutes we were finally back on American soil and couldn’t have been happier to be Americans!  Boy oh boy was that an adventure for the books!

Now onto more familiar, English speaking territory… San Diego.  What a beautiful place!  Nothing nearly as exciting as our Mexican escapade but we were thankful for that.  We spend the latter part of the afternoon driving along the coast.  We stopped at a beach and witnessed a wedding.  Then proceeded to La Jolla where we walked around, drank some kombucha, and got a delicious dinner overlooking the water.  Then we drove the 2-hour drive back “home” to the Radisson at LAX. 

Since we still had the rental car for another day, we checked out a couple local farmer’s markets (my fav!).  There was this awesome one in Santa Monica that Hilary’s friend told us about.  Unfortunately, it ended at 1:00 and we got there at 12:50.  Fortunately, they have it every Sunday so we will definitely be back.  At the hotel, we did some studying by the pool.  Tough life, I know.  Then it was game time.  Sunday night football, Patriots vs. Ravens, and despite being on the west coast, I was cheering loud for my home team.  I guess it wasn’t quite loud enough though. 

All in all, we had an exciting, adventurous, and still somewhat productive weekend here in California… AND MEXICO!  Now, it’s back to the grind for week 2. 

Namaste!

Bollywood BITES!

Yesterday, in lecture listening to the 150^th person recite half moon, I decided to eat a plum.  Next thing I knew, my tooth felt funny.  Turns out, a piece of my tooth fell off!  So, I had to see a dentist right then and there because having an exposed root is certainly no fun!  Take a look at the very unflattering picture below if you’d like to see what a sight I was upon my return! 

After the dentist, we had what was the first of what I foresee to be many late nights in the lecture room.  We had a lecture, an hour or so of more people doing their half moon dialogue, and then VERY long Bollywood film.  I cannot believe how long and drawn out those movies are!  It was so hard to keep my eyes open after such a long few days.  The subtitles made it even harder to pay attention.  Finally, at 3am when the movie finished, I nearly passed out in my bed.  Seven o’clock came bright and early when I was up for another round of Teacher Training fun!

On another note, Hilary’s lovely mom sent us a package today with some homemade Nutella cookies.  Now that the Novocain has worn off, I think I’ll indulge!  Thanks Mrs. Glassman!  On another side note, I ran into my other boyfriend at lunch today (Don't go telling Jacoby, he might get jealous!)  J

Namaste!

I Pledge Allegiance to the Flag…

Day 3 of teacher training was a big day of firsts.  It was our first day of two yoga classes a day. It was our first class with Rajashree Choudhury (Bikram’s wife).  It was also the first day of posture clinic and the first day of delivering half moon pose.  Yikes!  Our morning yoga class was taught by Rajashree.  She was so sweet but don’t let that fool you, her class was tough.  Honestly, if she held standing head-to-knee pose any longer I might have fallen over! (For those yogis out there reading this, I’m talking what seemed like an eternity in all three parts of the posture.) After class, I took another dip in the pool, grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed to posture clinic.  At the first posture clinics of training, we are in a big function room with Bikram sitting in his big, comfy chair in front of a stage.  On that stage each one of us has to stand up and deliver half moon in front of Bikram and all 443 yogis.  Talk about anxiety!

I’ve been working on the dialogue for this posture for a while.  After reciting it over and over with my roommate, we told ourselves that we knew this.  “We know this like we know the Pledge of Allegiance,” was our mantra.  So, I decided to rip off the bandaid and get it over with.  I went 4^th out of 443 students.  Of course the first 3 get up there, and get nothing but praise.  I step up to the microphone (yes, we had to say this into a mic!) and before I even start the dialogue, Bikram tells me I need “speech therapy.” What a great confidence booster!  He proceeds to tell me that I need to recite it like I would if I were singing.  I told him that I couldn’t sing to save my life!  Lucky for me, he also teaches singing, who knew?!  So, I start the dialogue and he stops me.  Why, you ask?  Well, my rendition was “choppy.”  When I finished, the girl standing next to me said, “Oh my goodness, if I were you I would have run off the stage and cried.”  I didn’t even flinch, I just stood there, listened and didn’t let it get to me. Hilary (my roommate) said that she thought he was so mean to me because he knew I was strong and could handle it... I'll just go with that theory!  

Namaste! 

Who's the Boss?

So today was my first yoga class of training.  It was also my first yoga class taught by Bikram himself.  This experience is tough to put into words.  Just imagine, 443 trainees with their toes on the line, taking class with “Boss” (that’s what he’s called), plus the staff and visiting teachers practicing with us.  This hot room is HUGE.  It’s the ballroom of the Radisson transformed into a ginormous yoga sweatbox.  It’s like nothing you’ve ever seen but it’s pretty spectacular.  One might even call it magical.  Of course, having that many people sweating in such a hot room, sends the humidity through the roof.  Now, a regular Bikram yoga class lasts 90 minutes.  This class went for a solid 2 hours and 10 minutes!  I am happy and proud to tell you that I completed the entire class, including all 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises without sitting down or leaving the room.  That is not an easy feat!  After class, Hilary and I headed straight for the pool and jumped right in.  What a great way to cool off after such an amazing, crazy, and very hot class.  It was just what the bossman ordered! 

Namaste!

Hopped off a plane at LAX

Last night I felt like a little kid on Christmas Eve.  Giddy with the excitement of the next day, I could barely sleep.  After packing (and my version of  “packing” could not even begin to describe the over-packer that I am), I was bringing two checked bags and a carry-on.  I was rather impressed that after weighing them on the scale I was only 3 pounds over!  Go me!  If they weren’t lenient, I’d just take a few things out and add them to my carry-on.  I went to bed at 1:00am.  Planning to give myself plenty of time to make the 11:00 flight, I set my alarm for 7:30am.  Well, there was no need for that because I was wide awake at 4:00, ready and waiting to go.  The car was loaded and when 8:15 rolled around, we were off.  My father dropped my mom and me off at the terminal while he went to park the car.  First bag on the scale, 50lbs even.  Nice!  Second bag on the scale, 19lbs over?!  “What that can’t be right… I weighed it at home!”  So, an additional 50 bucks later (thanks Mom!), and I’m finally on my way! 

At LAX, once I retrieved ALL of my luggage, I made my way over to the terminal where my roommate was waiting.  Hilary and I had been talking for months, but this would be our first time meeting each other. Our first embrace lead to 3 hugs, a lot of jumping up and down and never-ending smiles. I wish someone had been recording this; it was hilarious!  If only you could envision, two rather small girls pushing huge luggage carts packed to the brim with our “yoga essentials” out of the airport and through the streets of LA… yes, we walked to our hotel (but it is NOT far, I assure you).  We get to the first intersection and this nice guy in a BMW lets us cross in front of him.  Well, as I proceeded to push my luggage cart across the road, the wheel hit the little space between the curb and the road and my suitcase and carry-on went flying – right in front of this guys car.  Now, this guy REALLY had to wait as these two mortified girls were laughing their you-know-what’s off and reloading in the middle of the street.  Once we got to the other side, Hilary couldn’t push her cart over the curb so once again there we were standing in the middle of the street trying to physically pick up the wheels.  It felt like we were already in the hot room, we were sweating so much!

After moving into our new “home” for the next 9 weeks, we decided to rent a car and go explore.  We had every intention of driving to Manhattan Beach and getting something to eat.  Well, turns out someone else is equally as navigationally impaired as I am, because we ended up at the Redondo Beach Pier which is about a half hour further than Manhattan Beach.  By the time we parked, and still on east coast time, we were starving.  We grabbed a table overlooking the Pacific and indulged in some grub.  I was as happy as a clam when I saw oysters on the menu… I’m sure I’ll be getting my share of west coast oysters while I’m here, but for now I need some sleep! 

Namaste! 

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

Tomorrow I will embark on an opportunity of a lifetime.  Some think I'm crazy, (okay, many do) but the next 9 weeks of hell is my gift to myself.  The weeks, months and years after that, well that's my gift to all of you!  I will board a plane in Boston, leaving behind my friends, family, adorable puppy, and the beautiful New England Autumn for a brand new adventure on the west coast - Bikram Yoga Teacher Training.  I'm scared, nervous, anxious, and intimidated.  Above all though, I'm excited.  I hope you'll follow me on this new path I'm going down.  So please, come back often - I'm sure I'll have lots of stories.  Los Angeles here I come!

Namaste!