Photos to finish with

The Hot Yoga Girl taking a 'Peep' inside my Peep Show jacket!

Demo team busting out their Standing Bow's!

Boss arrives at the Graduation dance party

Group 7 study pals!

Champagne super nova with the Brit pack

Finished!

I am your yoga instructor. Still sounds a little surreal. I received my certificate on Saturday night along side 398 fellow students, class of Fall 2011. The ceremony was, as expected, long. We sat in our posture clinic groups which made the long wait more bearable. I never want to sit in a brown/black/white bone hard chair again. Myself and the Brit pack ladies toasted our success with champagne & pizza in a dorm style celebration in Lucy T’s room afterward. We passed on standing in the long line for the Indian buffet that had been sat warming for hours as everything was running late. (as usual!!!) Dancing followed as the Ballroom was transformed into the party room complete with disco ball. Bikram dropped by to bust some moves till 4:30am word had it. I shared a few hours grooving with the man who invented Disco!! I retired at 1am, tired, a little tipsy and exceptionally grateful to have had this experience.

The final week at training was fun. The last class on Friday night was exhausting. The energy was all over the place. We decided to keep up tradition & all drink Coke at Party Time. I kept mine in my ice tower and boy did it taste good. But I regretted it 30 seconds later in SH2K. Coke & practice does not mix for me but somehow I drank the lot. It was mayhem afterward, sweaty hugs all round.

We lucked out on late nights. Our training definitely broke the norm. We had 7 out of the 9 Friday nights off as well as the Halloween pizza party. Only one night we were kept till 4:30am. I know they say it every year but they did say we were the best class ever. This maybe true as Boss went easy on us as far as late nights/movies were concerned. We were praised for leaving both the yoga room and lecture hall litter free. I know this sounds very high school but apparently the Spring mob weren’t so clean. We did lose points for the constant use of smart phones during lectures (myself excluded as I don’t have one!) & chatting like naughty cows on the left side of the room.

I carried on working on my dialogue with my gals despite posture clinic being done. We will never stop studying the dialogue. I have six days now to get it tight (solid, concrete, one piece!). It was a good excuse to get out of my room too.

Oh the room. I still have no clue what happened there. One minute I thought I had a friend for life with my roomie, the next, around week 5/6, she dropped me like a hot rock and went sour. When she was there she barely spoke unless I forced it & had ear-phones in most of the time. Even after questioning to see if I could rectify the situation I still was no wiser to what I’d done. I seriously considered getting a single but changed my mind & stuck it out. Instead I went to Vegas, money better spent!! She practically moved out the room anyway as she teamed up with someone who had a private room.

I can understand we had polar opposite experiences of training. Read her blog. This may well have built a wall. At the end of the day I probably wouldn’t have been friends with her in the outside world, apart from yoga, we had very little in common. Our energy clashed. I am a typical social butterfly & love making lots interesting new friends, I give everyone a fair go, (good old Aussie way) my Christmas card list is testament to that! I some how manage to find the good in a bad situation, whilst others muse in doom & gloom. Like attracts like after all. Just to note probably about 80% of people had roomie/hotel issues at some point. One girl went through three room mates. So mine wasn’t an isolated case by far means. 

This I feel was my challenge. I had a cruisey time at TT so I needed something to mix it up. Don’t get me wrong I worked darn hard in class & posture clinics. It did help that I knew nearly all the dialogue before I arrived. Dealing with being ignored, excluded and living in an atmosphere was my challenge. I can draw from this and I know somewhere along the line I will be able to use what I have learned from it. It’s funny because in week one someone told me that the person you room with at training you will never speak to again after. I laughed this off as I 100% thought I’d got a good one (there I go again finding the positive!). Things change so much on this crazy course.

On the upside I found my true friends. Friends which I know I will see again because the geography is right!! They even gave me the sweetest bon voyage card which really tugged a cord. I still didn’t cry. I don’t need to, I have finally accepted that. I didn’t have a major breakdown of any kind. It wasn’t necessary. I know a lot of other people didn’t either & a heck of a lot who did. 

Hanging out by myself was also a nice escape. I was nervous of being alone in LA at first. However you’re never too far away from other yogi’s especially on a Sunday at Manhattan Beach. I even turned down numerous invites on the last Saturday morning as I really wanted to have one last breakfast at Uncle Bills Pancake House before having my hair done for graduation. I’ve never felt more comfortable sitting up at the counter by myself enjoying French toast, crispy bacon and scrambled eggs. 

So that’s all folks. I did it! My goal was to stay in the room for every class. Apart from the medical emergency nose bleed where I left (but went back in once it stopped!), I stayed in. There were three classes I should have left, got some air and came back in to do something rather than lay there flapping like a fish out of water doing nothing. I think my ego kept me in there….double edge sword. I didn’t throw up, came close a few times. I signed in every time so no Team Saturday make up class. I kept my head down, went under the radar to the point of obscurity with the staff and generally stayed out of trouble/drama. 

I have 5 hours waiting in Dubai airport so I may well write some more. Thanks to everyone who has followed along, I appreciate the comments and the well wishes. Hopefully I’ll find time to keep writing & let you all know how my next new journey unfolds back in Australia.

We did it!

Hi I'm Kat & I'm your yoga instructor

Group 7 we all did it, with two special awards to boot!

Team BYJ!

There we have it, I graduated from Bikram's Yoga College of India, 20th November 2011. Who would have thunk it 12 months ago I would be standing here a certified Bikram Yoga Instructor. I was only just completing my first 30 day challenge after 4.5 months of practicing. Dreams can come true....

photos of week 9!!!

before the last class with our cokes ready!

my super bendy friends!

friends!!

team Australia dinner!!

We did it!! Sam & I after the last class!!

60 Day's done!

Wednesday 24th August 2011 saw the end of my 60 day challenge. I did it. I made it across the finish line. The only way out was through and here I am on the other side. I will put my hand up and say it was a challenge. As I've written over the past 9 weeks I struggled, I flew, I was down, I was up, I was over it and I loved it. Now I can tuck this experience into my Groove shorts pocket and smile. It takes over your life, it's all you think about. I count the glasses of water I drink daily like a religion, I am aware of the amount of dehydrating drinks I have, I watch the clock for the cut of point that I have to have a snack by, I have minor panics that I've forgotten to pack my bag properly & have to spend the day commando! Now I can chill...

I was surrounded by friends to finish at the 6pm class. They turned up to support me over the last hurdle and I really appreciated it. Monday and Tuesday nights classes were rough. I accidently sabotaged myself both days with bad food choices and guzzling down my supplements ten minutes before class with so little water one capsule stuck in my throat. Don't you just hate that! Not the best to be finishing up on but Wednesday someone must have been channeling some extra energy my way as it was awesome. 

To be honest I ideally should have started this a few weeks earlier but I couldn't because of my UK trip. However doing this so close to TT and learning dialogue under the pressures of everyday life will, I'm hoping, have set me up the the next challenge of TT. I am aware my practice will get horrible and there will be nothing I can do about it. I need to accept it and not stress about it.

I've crammed a lot of dialogue in over the past four months. It's not 100% perfect verbatim every time I say it but it's in there somewhere. I know when I slip up or at the end I remember 'oh I forgot that bit.' Or today I totally rephrased one line in Tree pose out of no where. What's the fun of it being solid and concrete I need to do some work at TT!

Just under three weeks to go till I head off. I've taken three full days off yoga, soon to be a fourth. I was getting itchy and wanting to return again tomorrow but as my mentor told me today, REST. In LA there will be no choice you have to go to yoga so for the next few weeks I have the choice & I will lay down on my back and relax completely...