Week Six – Fatigue, frayed nerves & f*ck-tards

 The elastic band has finally snapped & ouch it hurt. The yoga bubble has been a mass of emotional breakdowns this week, worse than last week, nerves are frayed and it will take a whole lot of welding to get them fixed. It was a different energy all together. I am fine, I am fatigued beyond belief but still happy to be here. I just need not let my peace be stolen. However I have been absorbing the negative energy of others. This has left me a little rough round the edges and thinking a tad irrationally toward the end of the week. Lucky for me ‘sleeping on it’ worked a treat.

Sometimes people don’t realise how their bad moods affects others around them. It is hard to find some peace and quiet here, there is no-where to hide. Someone is always in your face. We need badges to pin on that say “please don’t talk to me, no offence.” That has been my problem, I’ve walked in on some people who just need silence and no crap ‘making conversation’ small talk. When you get a nasty attitude back it does hurt, ‘snap, ouch,’ especially when you mean well & are just trying to lighten the mood. What can you expect in a situation like this? Any tensions were definitely left on the mat in Saturday morning’s class & we breezed into the weekend a bunch of smiling happy yogis.

The third phrase in this week’s title may be a little bitchy. Some people just need to learn to shut up & put up. Be a sheep, eat the f*cking grass, you won’t win so don’t bother boring us with endless excuses, it’s wasting valuable time. We are so close to the end, so close. Nuff said.

Posture clinic is nearly done. I finished on a high on Friday night with Fixed Firm. We may well be done by next Friday. Last weekends homework to learn Pranayama breathing went well too, better than I expected after leaning it on the short. I am no longer scrambling to be the first one up there to deliver. Sometimes I feel it gets a little nasty everyone fighting to get up, wanting to get it out the way. I am quite happy to sit back and wait now. Patience is a virtue.

Posture clinic was a hoot this week. We were told be ‘real’ students and give the ‘teacher’ distractions. Hilarious the stuff people were doing. At one point I pretended to burst into tears and sat howling whilst my friend Liz did a sterling effort to ‘ignore the train wreck’ and carry on. Other people busted out the wrong posture, sat drinking, talking and generally being naughty cows.

Physically everything is getting harder. I’m starting to slow down. It’s not just me there is a collective groan as we all bend forward for the first Hands to feet. In saying that somehow out of the blue my Awkward pose has had a breakthrough. It’s no-where near perfect but the best it’s ever been. Five weeks ago I wasn’t sitting on the bar stool, I was sitting on the bar. Now, on a good day, usually in the afternoon class I’m nearly, nearly on the chair.

My practice in general hasn’t turned to as much mush as I was expecting.  Probably as I’m not going hell for leather like I did during the 60-day challenge. I’m trying but often when I fall out I don’t get straight back in, preserving some energy as there is always a class later or the day after or the day after that.

Hydration is becoming hard for me. Water just does not interest me anymore. I try spicing it up with ice and lime but it’s a chore to get the 4 litres in. Hence now I am slugging water, not a tiny sip, in class, usually towards the end of the floor series. I’m not cramping which is good but being actually thirsty is not a good sign. My caffeine intake has increased, counteractive I know. Not major, only 1 or 2 drinks a day. This is to pep me up out of the perpetual zombie state I seem to be in.  I can see my training buddies laughing now as I’m probably known as the sleeping girl in lectures. Yes, do not ask me what happened in this week’s movies or fascia lecture. I have no idea. I am always attentive in posture clinic though and haven’t mastered the 20 second savasana naps in class.... yet.

To finish off I got the exciting news I am on the teaching schedule for when I get back home. Wooow weeee! It makes everything so real. I have a mock class scheduled first before I’m let loose on the general public. Then some real life classes all by myself. I’m not saying when, the studio does not to advertise who’s teaching so I will respect that. You’ll all just have to keep coming to yoga and see if you get lucky (??!!!).  

Sleeping is a running joke round here!

Yumo fish tacos

Group 7 'G' girls!

Halloween festivities at the hotel

Wooow we're half way there!

 We have passed the half way point! Down hill from here to the home straight. Week five is notorious for being ‘hell week.’ I have witnessed more break-downs, tears, tantrums, swearing, laughing and break throughs this week for sure. I started the week a little dark. I don’t know why. I just didn’t feel like talking to anyone or mixing. I needed some alone time. I soon snapped out of it.

I had the pleasure of meeting The Dancing J who’s blog inspired me to start this one. J is a lovely, kind and enthusiastic teacher. I was lucky enough to have her sit in on two of my posture clinics this week and take her class on Friday morning. The dialogue queen lives up to her reputation!

Posture clinics are flying by. We are done with the standing series and I presented cobra on Friday. I had a funny challenge this week. I had to dance around whilst presenting wind removing. The reason. I was told I was too stiff whilst presenting Tree/Toe. As instructed after Triangle I pulled my energy back and was less aggressive. I obviously went too far. It was cool, it was nice to do something a little wacky. Made me really have to think and breath. Good job it was a short posture!! Next challenge I need to learn the first 5 pranayama breathings for Monday. This will be the first time I have learned a posture from scratch to present pretty much straight away. Least I have the weekend. Some people have had to learn a posture in barely a few hours.

Our posture group 7 is bonding and coming together. We are 20 such individual personalities and all have so much to offer our future students in so many ways. It makes sitting on the floor for hours and hours a week slightly easier.

Awesome visiting teachers this week. John Salvatore swung by from Las Vegas, he rocked. Jenna from NYC was great also. Nicole from Arizona is sensational, she got us to sing Bon Jovi’s Living on Prayer after Wednesday mornings half way point class. Balwan got us through Saturday morning class with his great accent and ‘blonde’ moments. Bikram returned and was on fine form with colourful language and firing out corrections like a sniper. The room was steamier this week. The best conspiracy theory we heard was they turned the heat up to make us buy more water. I love the rumor mill, it brings a smile to my face. Just don’t believe a word of it unless it comes directly from the staff… actually even then it’s always ‘subject to change!’

Physically I am breaking down. I thought I was stiff last week but that was nothing compared to this week. My hips feel like they have been set in concrete. My arms are sore, thighs burning and knees crunching. I’m secretly hoping this is the stiffness before the break through type of thing. I girl can hope. It’s usual, I’m rolling with it and liberally dousing myself in arnica cream & soaking in Epsom salts. My body shape is changing. Things have tightened up and toned. I’m enjoying it whilst I can because I’m sure I won’t keep it up back in the real world i.e. two yoga classes a day gets results but it’s a routine that is not going to fit into my lifestyle at home (plus I won’t want it too!).

The late nights have kicked in. We started watching the Indian epic Mahabharata. Its part of the curriculum so we have to be attentive and watch it, no lying down, no pillows or blankets ;-) Sleep deprivation is part the ‘process.’ It’s not been too bad, 3:30am finish is better than 7:30am which was mentioned a few times. (note: sign in for yoga class is 8am!)

Thank you for everyone who is following and reading. Please feel free to ask any questions, I might not get back to you straight away but I will try! 

 

Anyway, I have my homework to do, study, study, study, inhale and exhale….