Week 1

Wow!   What a week.  So exciting, challenging, crazy, fun and exhausting!  It is really hard to put down in words...the range of emotions and experiences in just one week.  I am spending the weekend trying to recover and build some energy for the next week.


Ten hot yoga classes this week.  Many of which were more than 90 minutes.  (Bikram finishes the class when he's ready.)  Bikram's classes are the best classes. He just fills the room with his energy and you can soak it up.  I love them.  I'm also a little scared of them because he expects so much and demands that people work hard...110%!  He calls it his "torture chamber" and he's not far off.  There are days it does feel like torture.  But as Bikram says, we all came willingly to do this because we know it works.


HALF MOON POSE
The main focus this week was on the first posture in the series,  Half Moon Pose.  One by one, each student has to go up on stage in front of Bikram and say the dialogue to him while three students act as your students and do the posture.  Once you have said your dialogue, you become a student demonstrator.  The main purpose is for Bikram to get to know his students.  His perceptions are very deep and go much beyond the surface of saying dialogue.  He gives little corrections or words of praise, but the main purpose is for Bikram to get to know each one of us.  All 430!  Obviously, this process takes days.  I have been sitting, waiting patiently for my turn.  There is no clear system for how people get on the list...sometimes just being in the right seat at the right time.  I believe this is part of the process....to let go of trying to control things.   


For some students, nerves take over and what was once memorized, is suddenly gone as they feel the gaze of Bikram (and 400+ people watching).  Some get up and say the dialogue with ease and grace.  I have now heard Half Moon over 200 times.  It is now ingrained in my memory.  It is a fabulous opportunity to see students from around the world and to listen to Bikram's colourful anecdotes.  I've been surprised how kind Bikram is with people.  He is different than he is in the "torture chamber" where he yells and swears at people.  Here it is all "little bit more energy, sweetheart", etc.   


This training has attracted people from all over the world!  France, Mexico, Ireland, Denmark, Argentina, Chile, Japan, Taiwan, Netherlands, Lebanon, Germany, Hungary, Belgium, Czech Republic, Turkey, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Czech Republic, Russia, South Africa, Tasmania, Columbia, Bulgaria, Spain, Scotland, Austria, Chile, all over the USA and of course Canada.  There are many students from BC (mostly Vancouver), which Bikram says is his province (because of the initials and the many studios there).  

BOLLYWOOD NIGHT
We had our first Bollywood night!  This is a thing of legend at Teacher Training.  Bikram loves Bollywood movies and wants to share his culture with us.  Our Wednesday night lecture ended at 12:00 midnight and then Bikram said "time for movies!!"  In disbelief, we then settled in to watch the movie until 3:45am!!  


Needless to say,  getting up for class after only 3 hours sleep was really tough.  To top it off, we had our morning class with Emmy Cleaves.   Emmy is Bikram's most senior teacher and a legend, herself.  She is a force of nature!  I loved my first class with Emmy and look forward to more.  Emmy's focus was on precision and alignment in postures.  There is so much to learn from her.


I am excited about the week to come.  To make it through this training, I have to take it one moment at a time.  Learning to let go is the lesson.  As Bikram says..."kill yourself." To me this means kill the ego.   It appears that Bikram does this by killing us physically first.