A great weekend in the learning pool of knowledge

Perth was very blessed this past weekend and extremely happy to host Bikram senior instructor Craig Villani. Craig first visited us last March for an epic one day seminar and class. It was a long, long day and class was not in the heated room, making things a little less authentic. This year each of the four studios were hosting their own 2 hour comprehensive master class. Open to all levels of students of course.


Luckily I managed not to get myself in the same state of sickness as last year, ie. migraine brought on by sheer over excitement & bad hydration. I was a lot more centred but very eager for the event in hand.

This year I was so honored to be part of the teacher's workshop & question/answer session that was held the day before the workshop. This man has so much experience & knowledge of Bikram yoga I was ready to tap into it. I'd pulled a crazy again, teaching the 7:30pm Thursday and then the 5:45am Friday. Slight fatigue might have helped calm me down but lead to a not so good practice. 


We were killed. In a happy, smiling way of course & I actually am hugely thankful for the ass kicking, I needed it. Half Moon lasted about 5 minutes each side or so it felt like. I think I went through every emotion in that two plus something hours. I was quite grateful for my dysfunctional tear ducts at one point, as I quite possibly could have shed a few, especially after my abysmal Awkward Part 2 for which I was called out for, had corrections directed at but then failed completely. I felt I was letting down all my students and I was no way in possession of a strong enough practice to be calling myself a teacher.


I got over it, kind of, once we were in the change rooms slugging Powerade & all looking wrecked. Relief it wasn't just me holding my heart in my sweaty hand. Especially as I know deep down & I tell the students this, it is a PRACTICE not a PERFECT. I managed to redeem myself in the Q & A by asking some posture questions that I needed clarifying. Kicking myself now for not actually preparing for this session by writing them down before hand. I have so many questions & of course when put on the spot one's mind goes blank.

The student workshop on Saturday morning at BYJ was great also. I hid in the back row in a great spot near the air vent (well not really hiding, Craig could still see us all). Nice packed room of 50 something teachers & students. It was steamy, humid and highly energised. Loved it! Every muscle was burning from the previous day's class. I tried my best but still failed at Awkward, I now have a blockage on that posture I need to let go of. I could blame the calcified sesamoid bone in my right foot but it's an old injury that doesn't flair up that often, even though it can cause me pain in this posture.

It was brilliant to be a teacher at this workshop. To be fair I wasn't 100% focused on my practice as I was paying close at to the corrections the students were receiving. I was thinking 'great that's really helping Jane, I needed to know how to help her get to the next stage in that posture, will look out for this next time I teach her.' The way Craig dealt with small issues like hands on hips or racing ahead of the instructions was great, something I will try & adopt. I know I'll be reviewing my notes from this weekend most often!

The students had a ball. No one was disappointed. We sold a lot of Coconut water after class. I learned so, so much. The students learned so, so much. I feel so blessed to be part of an amazing local community of yogis as well as an International one. Excellent weekend all round!

Here's some photos....

Lee-Ann star student completing her 60 Day Challenge that class...

with a broken right toe no less!

747's taking off, BYJ's best posture!

How to execute a correct Triangle

Instructor love!

 

Oh I had to get a fan photo...

Photos!

Here's what Yogi's get up to on public holidays. A brief photo shoot! One of BYJ's very dedicated students Eva is an Editor for a very high end fashion magazine in her home country of Lithuania. There is no Bikram Yoga there (yet!) so she wanted to write a piece to send the message home of all the healing benefits of the practice. A group of instructors chipped in to have our photos taken after class. Was slightly chilly trying to bust some moves outside the room but we aired some caution so not to bust any muscles!!

One word

The lovely Mandi at Cherish productions has been hard at work again making another video clip at BYJ. To commemorate the end of the end of the February 30 Day Challenge students were asked to describe Bikram Yoga in one word. Here is the video, it's rather awesome & so good to see some of the students I teach speaking so passionately about this yoga. (sorry it's not a You Tube so hit the link)

http://vimeo.com/38750033

He's coming back!

It's been so hard for me to keep this under wraps the past few weeks. Just in case it didn't happen but now it is!!! The posters have been finalized & printed, I'm gonna announce it in my class tonight at BYSB so it's a goer. I am so happy to announce here that Craig Villani will be returning to the sunny West Coast to conduct FOUR master classes.

Craig will be running an in depth two hour master class at each of the four Perth Studios. Dates are as follows:

• Bikram Yoga Joondalup - Saturday 14th April - 9am
• Bikram Yoga Scarborough Beach - Saturday 14th April - 3:30pm
• Bikram Yoga North Perth - Sunday 15th April - Time TBA
• Bikram Yoga North South Perth - Sunday 15th April - Time TBA

Sign up QUICK at your studio reception as places are very strictly limited this year as they will be taking place in the actual heated yoga rooms this time. Only a full payment of $40 will secure your spot, no money = no place. First come, best dressed. 

It's such a huge deal for us to get Bikram royalty here in WA as we are so far away from the States where all the senior/top teachers are based. We are very privileged that Craig has decided to come back a second time. I learned HEAPS from him last year so I'm very excited to be taking his class again which will be a lot more personal than last years sprawling event. Not to be missed!

Thank you!

Season's greetings everyone. Hope you are all enjoying a relaxing time with your loved one's & taking a little time for yourselves. (and of course fitting in some yoga!)

The Christmas Day charity yoga class at BYJ was a HUGE success. 29 students and 6 instructors made the morning fun & memorable, raising $550 for Youth Focus. Team Reindeer; Myself, Jo, Jules, Kana & Karen lead the class in round robin style teaching every fifth posture whilst mellow music played in the background. We kept our antlers on the whole class!

I somehow managed to get the 'killer' postures to teach, Awkward, Triangle, Locust and Camel. Everyone certainly burnt off enough calories for the day during Triangle. It was so much fun and certainly challenging. Leaping up to teach a posture whilst being a little out of breath from practicing the one before, no mic and music adding an extra distraction. The room was steamy, the energy was high and all for a great cause.

Most people hung around after for snacks and a chat. It was great to see students from the other studios drop by to support us too. Thank you to everyone who came and showed their support. Then it was home to the air conditioning for ham, prawns and salad!

Team Reindeer

Me teaching Triangle

Fantastic Camels!