New post at Seren

Todays new post by Seren, all about electrolytes - might be of interest to Bikram yogis.


http://serenholisticlifestyles.wordpress.com/2013/02/20/natural-electrolyte-drink/

Travelling Yogini...

Happy New Year Sweaty Adventurers! Hope life is treating you well and you have your smiling happy faces on? Thought I'd drop by & say hi. The above is from my festive trip to SE Asia, us yogini's are such losers busting out yoga poses left, right & centre. Even more so as I finally have got my head on my knee after nearly 3 years. Slowly, slowly does it. 

A year into my teaching adventure and I'm finally 'getting it.' I heard the other day you don't ever fully get it but I'm happy with what I've got now. It was wonderful the day the dialogue was spilling out my mouth whilst my mind was totally focused on something else. (A student's alignment of course!! ;-)) "Oh this is what they mean when you get out of your own head." Love ah ha moments, there are so many. I have forged my own style which is forever evolving by bringing a little 'me' in - same song different voice type of thing. I've definitely mellowed out since I first started teaching. It's not about do or die. Nurture & respect yourself & your body, mind & soul will reward you ten fold.

In more exciting news I am very honoured to be part of a shiny new adventure or venture more like. It's staying wrapped up for now but it's not far off launching. So if you enjoyed reading my ramblings on here you might like to join me in the new place. It's more aligned with what I've been working on over the past eight months. I'm bursting to share but you'll just have to wait a little while longer. 

Until then, stay safe, happy & shine your light - you are brighter than you may think x 

Bon Voyage dear friend

May saw me waving goodbye to my dear friend and fellow Fall 11 TT buddy Jasmine. Her husbands job in the Singapore Air Force required them to leave Australia and move to France. 

I was so shocked, gutted and sad when Jas told me she was leaving. I knew it would happen at some point, it's a huge part of being a forces wife but not so soon. We shared so much together and supported each other pre & post TT. A true, solid friendship has been formed. I loved taking Jas's class, watching her grow & flourish into the most amazing, caring and devoted teacher. Her classes had me smiling, even in Full Locust! She always had sweet but constructive feedback for my classes. "Stay true to yourself," being my favorite. It is so easy to be 'molded' or 'influenced' into being something your not.

We got to share a private goodbye together after one of my Saturday morning classes over full English breakfast in Joondalup. I know our paths will cross at some point in the future. After all France is a mere short hop on Easy Jet from the UK. We might even be able to coordinate a Lux Yoga retreat in as well ;-)

Friends :-)

 

Gritty truths

Cards on the table I'm wacked today (Sunday). A post by Lisa at Just Here, Just Now inspired me to write an upfront piece. I do feel I paint a sunshine & rainbows account of my yogi life here. I skip the downsides or skirt over them too often.

I woke up at 11am, yes how late is that for someone who usually is up hours before sunrise. I pulled a crazy, teaching late night Thurs & 5:45am Friday. Being a little wired after Thursday's class I laid on the coach watching tv for a while to come down. That must have been 10:30pm, I woke up at 12:15am, crawled into bed for the total of four hours before my alarm went off. Or didn't coz I actually woke up naturally before the alarm at 4am. Hmm maybe not that natural as I always get alarm anxiety before teaching an early, petrified it won't go off & the students won't get their morning yoga fix. 

Saturday I woke refreshed without an alarm & headed to BYSB for class. Randomly I ended up helping with sign in. This is happening a lot recently, I turn up to practice & end up working. It's not a problem, I am happy to help when help is needed. I can't just stand there watching someone struggle just because 'it's not my shift'. I had an awesome class with my dear TT bud Jas. I smiled my way through a steamy, juicy, 90 minutes of yoga joy. 

After class I hit the Sheridan 80% off sale. Snagged $600 worth of fine bedding for $80!! Happy days. Except my detour left me with less time to get the food shopping/last minute Bali bits n pieces in. I ended up with 45 minutes to unload shopping, make lunch, unpack practice bag, repack teaching bag, dress for teaching & get on the road again. 

The 4pm class was awesome. Great turn out. I did make some scatty tongue twisted oppsies which I managed to laugh off. My three newbies survived & did great. It was brilliant to see a few familiar faces I'd not seen for a while too.  (*waves* Coral & Kellie)

6:15pm back on the road home again. Quick turn around, a can of diet coke (Emergency caffeine needed!) and back on the road to take The Man to a gig. For a stoner rock band I had no clue of. We met up with some of his old friends which was great. About an hour in I was done. I stuck it out as I had to. Home at 2am after a detour to Alfred's for a steak burger I didn't end up eating!

No wonder I slept in till late! I seriously felt I'd be run over by a truck this morning. I'm skipping yoga today despite I really wanting to take Kana's first class at BYSB. There will be other times. I have so much to do. I need to pack for Bali! I've ended up writing instead. 

So here is the truth. Don't get me wrong I love my life right now, I am more than grateful for the cards I have been dealt. This is what has suffered whilst I've been out & about yoga-ering/working full time. My house isn't as shiny as it should be. The Man has been busy outdoors winter proofing the chicken yards and fixing up his bike. (This is his yoga so I will not deny him his hobbies) Neither of us has had time to tend to the house work. Ready, wait for it... the gritty truth.... photos of my disgusting, filthy kitchen. No washing up has been done since, let's see possibly Tuesday.

Pure filth, we officially have no clean forks.

Anyone in the Perth area feeling like doing some cleaning - knock yourself out!

It's next on the list. I reordered the linen cupboard already to fit in the new bedding. Mean feat as it's Super King Size, that's a lot of linen. Small piles of packing are scattered around the spare room. Five days in Bali is a no brainer: shorts, singlets, bikini's, a couple of sundresses - check! I will get everything in order this fine Sunday so I can leave for my holiday happy everything is clean, shiny, tidy and DONE!

Difficult to stay awake...

Spring Teacher Training is under way. Week 1 done. The trainees will be waking up for their first full day off today. I've heard from my friend who is loving the experience so far despite the excruciating heat. There is a record 500+ trainees this session. I can not imagine how intimate the yoga room is!

I had my TT lecture note book out last weekend. I've decided this book will not only be my TT notebook but my teacher's notebook. Any further education I take from now on will go in there. Whilst we were waiting for the Q& A with Craig to get under way I flicked through my pages. I came across this page which I remember well. I actually fell asleep in a lecture whilst writing a note. 

Falling asleep whilst writing

 I am so ashamed, I won't say who was speaking but they are great. There I was eagerly taking notes until the sleep deprivation kicked in. I fell asleep mid word!!! As you can see the notes I'd written don't make sense, my hand writing is awful. Oh the joys of teacher training...the memories, how I do not miss the gawd awful lecture room chairs and the freezing air con. 

 

She's gone bonkers!

This is what the students in my 7pm Tuesday class were probably thinking. I was wired. My brain was chock full with inspiring ideas from the past weekends workshop that I was desperate to put into practice. The shear look of terror that swept through the studio when I asked "who attended Craig's workshop on Saturday, oh only two of you, hahahaha, Awkward pose." Those who did not attend were probably thinking - 'what went down in Awkward pose?' 

I shouldn't have joked about this posture as I struggled so, so badly with it. It seems unfair to torture the students in a pose I find challenging with myself. You should never ask people to do anything your not willing to do yourself. In fairness I am willing, I always get straight into it, I might fall out but I try. I'll let you in on something. Craig gave me some advice on teaching this posture (he's notorious for holding it a very long time) which I did put into my class on Tuesday. You know what, everyone was FANTASTIC. Probably as they didn't think I was doing or saying anything different, I still said it verbatim but I did do as I was advised & it worked. Beautiful postures!

My energy was super high and so was the class group energy. The five newbies did great. I connected with them, helped them a little (indirectly without making a big deal or calling their names) and smiled at them a lot (without being creepy) when they stared at me for reassurance. I have no idea where this burst of energy came from, passion & enthusiasm perhaps?

Everyone tried so hard. Small adjustments I talked about in savasana made such a difference, they were listening to me (!!!) & it showed it their postures. The room could have flown off into  the sunset in Full Locust after I explained about stretching their arms to the side walls first, tighter means lighter! I do believe I said "we love this yoga" a few too many times. (people stopped laughing after the 2nd time)

I really enjoyed the nutty roller coaster I was on, maybe I'll keep riding it for a while longer. It sure did make a job I love even easier. Might need to find some new jokes, can't keep saying "third set of Camel!" every class.

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...

No hiding now

This morning was quite exciting I picked up my birthday present from my dear Man. Here's what I received....

No hiding now, here I come!

My first ever personalised number plates for my car. I've always thought PP's were a bit cheesy and I didn't like the idea of people knowing that's me driving (badly!). But what the heck, I got some anyway. We are lucky here in WA you can pretty much pick whatever you like, as long as it's not offensive. Unlike the UK where the format is different & you can't just make one up like this. I selected black instead of the array of bright, shiny colours, as these are for life and black will go with any colour car pretty much. My insurance company rep asked if I was a yoga teacher when I called to update my file. I joked with her that now the students will know I'm teaching & keep driving!!


I did my Karma Yoga for the day too. I donated my car park ticket to another driver as I was leaving. I only had a $2 coin on me so that paid for 2 and a half hours when I only used 45 minutes (yes I was at the licensing centre 15 mins before it opened but so were 30 other people = long lines). The bloke was stoked and thanked me greatly, he too said he passes on tickets that still have time on. Good citizens at work!

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!!

Spring trainees Bon Voyage!

Time is flying by, this time next week 400+ (Maybe more, maybe less) eager Bikram Yoga teacher trainees will be excitingly sitting on their mats ready to start their first class of teacher training. It's been over six months now since I took that first class at TT. Half a year already?! I look back with fond memories of my experience. I loved it :-) I know I had some anger, hurt and resentment when I came home but that was totally personal, not professional. I was lucky to have not hated on the actual yoga. Those wounds have healed, I have let go & moved on. All in all I relished the experience to do yoga for nine whole weeks and be close (sort of, well in the same room at least) to Bikram himself.

This time round no one is attending from my home studio BYJ. Happy though we have Bahar going from BYSB. I worked a little with her early on with dialogue. I wish my schedule had allowed me more time but it was not to be. Another student arranged a lovely surprise send off last weekend for Bah so we all got chance to say goodbye and dish out our words of advice. 

I'd put together a small gift for her, something useful to take along to LA. A couple of notebooks with matching pens. It's nice to have cute stationery and the notes you take are for life. A reference point. Even if you don't understand what you are writing at the time, someday down the line they will make sense. I also gave her a book of inspirational quotes.There will be times all trainees feel homesick and down, when I saw the book I knew it would be perfect. Open it up and see what the universe presents in it pages. Some wise words of wisdom to get you through. 

Bon Voyage to my lovely friend, come back a flower petal in full bloom! Good luck to the North Perth students Helen, Jason & Maja who are also attending. I've heard they are so, so ready for it. (Mock classes completed already!) Even though we have not met I wish you well on your journeys and look forward to taking your classes on return.

See you all on the other side.....

Gotta have nice stationery!

Inspiration in one handy book!

To sit out

I've only just discovered this amazing blog from a Yogini in Virgina, USA, "Just here, Just now," so I thought I would share. 

The latest post is all about sitting out of postures. Beautifully written and true to the point. Many people feel ashamed to sit out of a posture. It is okay to take a knee. Be honest with yourself, if you need a few moments to rest, get your breath back that is fine. It is recommended not to sit out of both set's of postures and at least have a go at one of them. Most of the time getting back in makes the crazy feelings pass. 

I especially love the last paragraph in this piece. If you are going to sit out, do so nicely. Flapping & thrashing about, drinking water & generally exerting more energy than you would doing the posture is counter productive. (& cause you neighbors to start grumbling!) If you have enough left in you to do the above, why not give the posture a crack or sit quietly and allow your body to recover and gain some energy for the next set.

Down South

With four Bikram studios in Perth all within an hour or less drive away from my house I don't really have an excuse not to have visited them all. It's taken a while but I finally fulfilled this task. Yesterday I took a trip down to the Bikram Yoga South Perth studio based in Myaree. It's a modern, light & airy studio, with a massive reception and inspirational quotes on the yoga room ceiling. 

My TT buddy Kana was teaching, good excuse for a coffee & catch up after class. After all the studio is an hour drive for me so I scheduled my spa treatment before class and socialising after to get the most out of my journey South. I obviously didn't know a single student there so was nice to just hang out & be anonymous. Just be, just practice, student again. 

I had a lovely class despite being slathered in moisturizing lotion from my spa treatment at Bodhi J Spa. I had a divine Sodashi Purifying Body boost with dry brushing. Major detox session for me! I know it seems a bit backwards going to the spa then yoga, should be the other way round but I figured after this treatment a session in the hot room would be a compliment. It was an added challenge with a very slippy grip and slimy sweat for sure! I had to make sure I drank a lot of water afterwards. The double detox would only work if I flushed it out with plenty of the wet stuff. 

A great way to spend day two of the long weekend. 

Large, airy reception space at BY Perth South.

   

New adventures

To grow personally & professionally sometimes you need to get out of your comfort zone & experience something/somewhere new. One of our much loved local instructors is doing just that. The lovely Kira waved goodbye to all four Bikram studios this week to start a new adventure. A yoga based one of course!! Kira will be staff at the up coming BYTT Spring training. Where this takes her next is an open book. What we do know is she is not planning on coming back to Perth full time (hopefully for visits tho!) & returning to her home shore of Tasmania. 

42 students & staff arrived for the Monday 6pm class to cheer Kira on in what would be her last class at BYJ. What a great class. The energy was a little crazy, it was HOT, it was HUMID, we all had to squeeze in close, the sweat was flying and by the end so were the tears. Apart from me, so wanted to cry but still my tear ducts have forgotten how to work. How can I not cry when Kira sealed her class with this beautiful poem;

“You have no idea how hard I've looked for a gift to bring you. Nothing seemed right.
What's the point of bringing gold to the gold mine, or water to the ocean.
Everything I came up with was like taking spices to the Orient.
It's no good giving you my heart and my soul, because you already have these.
So I've brought you a mirror.
Look at yourself and remember me” (~Rumi)

We all wish Kira the best of luck on her new journey. I am so sure her light will be shining brighter than ever. I'll miss you but I know our paths will cross again. 

Namaste x

How can we keep this to ourselves, share the love!

 

Happy Easter

To celebrate the lovely long weekend ahead Bikram Yoga Leicester have enforced some new rules....

Might seem a bit harsh to some but actually it's not that difficult to avoid all the above if you let go of the thought it will be too hard. Mind over matter! All proceeds to charity of course. 

I'm not a drinker so I know it's easy not to drink once you get in the mind set. However I always talk my bottle in, just in case. Apart from a few weeks back I actually forgot my water & challenged myself to not take any in at all. I was freaked out a little with 'what happens if I do need a sip' thoughts. I did it, was just like any class but I think it's easier not to stress about water & not drink when you do have some on standby. Must try it again soon, practice detachment.

So watch out my students tonight I think I will follow suit on this one...especially those naughty cows who refuse to STOP TALKING IN CLASS!! Respect your fellow students and SHUT UP!! 99% of people come to yoga for a 90 minute silent escape, they don't want to hear you snickering or chatting. Plus it's me that bares the wrath with many complaints afterward. Hmmm might have to go all school teacher and say "if you talk, you will be asked to leave." Sometimes rules just have to be enforced a little firmer than usual to get the point through. Or perhaps $10 in the Youth Focus charity tin for talking which does NOT buy you the right to keep talking however ;-)

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

A breakthrough

Yoga is a life time practice. Sometimes you can't help it if you feel like you are in a rut and not progressing. I've mentioned before I've been a bit erratic with my personal practice this year. Juggling all my commitments and finding a balance. I was on a real roll the past few weeks, consistency had returned, I was practicing every other day and getting a minimum of three classes in a week. Great.

Then a slight set back last weekend made sure I could not get back to my mat for five whole days. Realistically I should have not worried about it but I did. What happened to no expectations, no disappointments hey! I fretted that my practice would be crappy, back like it was at the start of the year, no balance, no strength, no focus, nauseous. It was really hard getting up Wednesday morning but I did it. I nearly fell asleep before class laying on my mat. But I was there, I got through the door so let the show begin.

It was great. Complete opposite to what I thought it would be. Five days rest actually revived me. Awkward part 2 was probably the best I've ever done, balance was good, big toe planted and strong. SH2K felt effortless, no tight hamstrings, elbows well below calves, tight grip. Still I fell out before my forehead reached my knee. 

Then the biggest breakthrough happened in head to knee with stretching. I have no problems with getting my forehead on my knee or even my calf with a locked leg and heel off the floor. It's my super tight shoulders that hold me back from getting my elbows to touch the floor next to my calves. I have no idea what I did but I felt elbow to floor contact!!!!! It was like a weight had been lifted from  my shoulders and they had finally released! Shocked.

Okay this got me thinking. What had I done different to get further into this posture or do breakthroughs just happen unexpectedly? I should know the answer to this, which I'd say is that one day it will happen when your body is ready. I'm probably ready then. Also I've been taking good care of myself, I've had two amazing massages this month, nothing like a bit of pampering to get tired muscles awake again.

This small pep me up reignited a flame. I'm always telling my students yoga gives you energy and it's true. That is why despite teaching the 7pm last night (got home at 10pm) I was back up at 4:40am and practiced the 5:45am. Usually I am wacked by Friday and like nothing more than a lie in but not today. I craved my mat so bad I had to go. Another lovely class. I've never lost faith in this yoga at all, ever. This experience reminded me sometimes you have to spend a little time in the dark before you see the light again. The hard way is the right way, keep at it and reap the rewards.

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!

Read the Orange book

It's come up in various conversations over the last month amongst fellow teachers to read the 'orange' Bikram book. I have read it, I pretty much bought it straight away when I started practicing. Like most books or even movies & in yoga practice you always seems to miss something the first time round. I can re read a novel a few times, even though I know the ending and the gist of the story, there are some scenes, chapters or events that feel like I'm reading it for the first time. 

Like in your personal yoga practice you might not hear certain instructions until your ready. I feel this is true with the Bikram books. You might not absorb the information until your ready. Now is the time to hit the books again. I've been told I'm at the point in my teaching path that I need to start going a bit more above & beyond. It's easy to just spill out the dialogue each class but I need to be understanding more about what is going on in the postures. What is happening inside. There are plenty of lines in the additional dialogue that touches on what is happening. "This is a compression posture, compression of the pancreas." But why do we need to be compressing the pancreas, what is happening in the pancreas as it is being compressed, why is this beneficial? That kind of thing.

Sadly at training this connection between anatomy, the postures & the medical benefits wasn't really touched on in great detail. Don't get me wrong Emmy, Rajashree & Bikram all gave informative lectures involving anatomy, pain & psychology. A favourite line from Dr P. the anatomy lecturer was 'that's a yoga question, Bikram will answer that,' whenever any question came up about a posture & it's related anatomy. Which is fair enough I suppose, he's the doctor not the yoga guru. 

I need to go fourth and find answers. They are out there. The Orange book is my first stop. Time to re read it. In one posture clinic we were told 'how can you tell your students to read the Bikram books if you've never read them yourself.' Another amazing wealth of information is Diane Ducharme's forum Bikram Yoga for You. Then I will be able to talk more between postures about why and what is happening in an informed, educated way. 

Extra special book now, signed by the boss

Happy Sunday!

A day off. Luxury. I'm planning on practicing this arvo but for now I'm taking it easy. Paper work has been done, a banana bread baked, time for some writing. 

Day job wasn't so frantic last week but it was still busy with no down time to get small bits & pieces done. The past two Thursday's I've pulled 17 hour days to get everything in. I originally said I wouldn't practice the 5:45am if I was teaching in the evening but I have been left with no choice but to do this in order to get my own mat time in. It wasn't so bad, the adrenalin kicks in the moment I step up onto the podium & last Thursday was probably one of the best classes I've taught. I do wake up Friday morning feeling wrecked with a yoga hangover but hey it's Friday I can drag myself through 8 hours of day job before it's wine & the weekend. 

Yesterday was a great day, again long, I was out the house 14 straight hours with my day starting at 5:30am. I opted to cover the 7:30am class which was awesome. I practiced the 9:30am in which I was a little tired, tight, scattered but I needed it. This was followed by a teachers workshop. Very exciting getting everyone together to talk yoga. We went through Pranayama breathing & Triangle in the two hours. So much to talk about. We shared our experiences, read the dialogue, pin pointed the common mistakes & how to correct them. Very, very useful. We are going to do this once a months now which is great. 

After the workshop I hot footed it down to Scarborough to meet with a future Spring Trainee to run some dialogue. I was blessed enough to be given a lot of support before my training experience so now it is my turn to give back. It went well, I was very impressed. It reminded me of how we were when we first started doing dialogue and how far we've come since last May.

To round off the day I taught the 4pm class. I received some lovely feedback from a student who said it was the most enjoyable class he'd taken in ages. Cool. I also got some very valuable feedback from a fellow teacher. I need to start teaching now. Sounds weird I know. I had my assessment with my mentor last week who said I'm ready to start making corrections. The teacher yesterday pretty much told me the same, to use the dialogue to actually teach & correct. 

Spewing out a verbatim class every time won't progress myself or the students. Now I need to start focusing on the students more, teaching the words & not just 'saying' them. It will mean having to cut out some words to focus on the words that are important to the common mistakes. Homework!! I am aware of the mistakes student's make but have been too scared to say anything. In the workshop yesterday we touched on this. Simply by repeating a line in the dialogue until they get it, ie. "sit down more, sit down more, sit down more." I also need to slow down & give students a chance to actually digest the words that are being said. Incorporating a pause I was told will help, even though it might feel like an age to me, to the student a pause in air time will give them chance to think about what they are hearing. 

Very exciting times, this job just keeps getting better & better!!

Fresh sunflowers from our garden

Buddha with his Sunday offerings

Rough as guts

This post is about three weeks late now but I thought I'd share it anyway. When you've been practicing Bikram for a while & regularly, you forget how hard the practice once was for yourself & still is for others. Part of teacher training is to bring back those memories of feeling awful, being too hot, stressed and nauseous. Oh I did remember, very often, thank you Boss my compassion is now ingrained to my soul. 

I had another reminder of the rough side to Bikram the week after my wisdom tooth surgery. Sensibly I took nine full days off practice & teaching as I didn't want to be near the hot room with a body full of prescription drugs. I returned to my mat for the 4pm Friday class. Good yoga buddy J had joined me, we'd not practiced side by side for over six months so it was very exciting. 

First 25 minutes was great, no drama, mouth felt fine. Then I killed myself in SH2K & it was game over. Ego and fresh hamstrings were the main factors. Once my heart rate got up and my blood pumping I felt my head was going to explode...through the holes in my gums!! I sat out out of the first set of Standing Bow, I was on the floor again after Triangle. Having my mouth on the towel in Locust caused problems and by Spinal Twist I was so nauseous I laid out of that one. Funny as I was on the right side of the room everyone was turn & twisting to see me lying there, eyes screwed shut (major no no as you all know) trying not to loose my lunch. I even contemplated bolting before blowing in firm as I truly believed I was gonna spew. Rough as guts I was.

J even helped me roll up my mat and haul me from from the room the moment the instructor left. I sat in a crumpled sweaty mess in reception. A few of my regular students who knew I'd had surgery came over to offer some support. General consensus was we all agreed pain killers & antibiotics are useful & beneficial at times but they hammer your poor body. Mine just wanted to expel every last milligram out of me in that class.

It was a great reality check & opportunity for me to put my own words into practice. I'm always telling students if they feel sick to just lie still, focus on their breath & try to relax. I feel I was humble enough to know when I needed to sit down & not totally kill myself. Despite closing my eyes when I laid out toward the end, lying still did work. Water was another factor to my sickness, I was swilling it round my mouth as I thought it would help the throbbing in my gums, which is didn't. It just made me feel sicker. Stillness & breathing definitely does work, you just have to give to a chance to work.

Two more days later & I was back in the room & class went so much better. With a few more days for the drugs to get out of my system my body wasn't working so hard to detox. Three weeks later everything is healing nicely, no more horrific mouth throbbing, head exploding feelings!!