Finished

I did it!!!! More later in the week...

wk8

I'm still yoga-ing, only one week left! Reciting the dialogue officially ended on Thursday. Yippee! I still have two breathing exercises to learn and need to brush up on everything else before Monday the 17th, my first class - so the pressure is still on.

Stop 'n Go wk 7

Monday I had a chronic fatigue flare-up. I missed the afternoon session and the evening yoga class, but pulled it together for the evening session. The staff was pretty nice about the whole thing. Wednesday I had another flare-up, which was worse. This time some of the staff were not supportive. The whole teacher training experience is about pushing through things and continuing to go on no matter what. In my experience when my body stops, and I try to push through that, I only get worse. So I decided to leave the training, and was supposed to meet with Bikram on Thursday. Leaving felt so good. I felt lighter and my smile instantly came back. Then some friends talked with me Wednesday evening, and talked me into continuing on. It is true, only two weeks left. I might as well push through the two weeks and get the certificate, epsecially since I've already made it through seven weeks of this! My friends will definitely be a welcome and needed support system! (Those few hours of not being in the training felt really good though...)

Speaking of being a certified yoga teacher, I am officially on the Kailua Bikram Yoga Studio schedule. A teacher is going to be off Island and asked if I would take over her classes. So my first official class will be on the 19th of November (I graduate on the 17th) Gulp!...and yet very exciting.

Yoga Yoyo - wk 6

This past week was very challenging. During most of my breaks I needed to take naps, thus I was not studying as much as I would have liked. A couple of the dialogue deliveries were interesting, but over all successful. Fortunately the week ended with me feeling good.

Riding the Waves at Yoga Camp wk 5

Another up and down week for me. As before the uplifting moments happened at the right times. Fortunately the week ended very positively. Friday day, I was in complete apathy mode, even closing my eyes in parts of the standing postures. Good thing I didn't fall over! By Friday evening I was back to my usual, well usual for Yoga Camp, self. I am continuing to do well with the dialogue and my muscles are still pretty flexible. The ham strings have started to tighten, but not badly. Some people can't get into some of the postures they once easily accomplished because they've tightened up so much. My quads and calves have definitely gotten bigger. One posture, eagle pose, I now have to make more of an effort to get my legs wrapped around each other.

'Free time' during these weeks has definitely not been my own. There is always something to do or prepare for. The coming week should prove interesting as I will be learning the dialogue to postures completely from square one. Up until now, I had worked on the dialogue previous to starting training, so it was just a matter of fine tuning.

I have lots of ideas for blogs, but they're not going to happen right now. Sleep, memorizing and eating are much more important!

I've Been Doing This for a Month!! - wk 4

Only time for a very quick post - this past week was a hard one. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I seemed to be getting weaker and weaker. Then Thursday came. Brent, the studio owner where I regularly practice, was there first thing in the morning (he's usually there on Thursdays) with a card for me from the studio, plus Brent was teaching that morning, plus I was in the back of the room where it's not quite so hot and there's breathable air. I was over the hump! Mentally and physically I felt much, much better.

Dialogue regurgitation, well actually it's getting much, much more than just reciting, has been going very well.

This week's comment: after class sometime this past week a woman asked me if I was a dancer. I said no. She replied, "What a body!" LOL Those comments can keep coming!

I am doing well and am quite impressed with my mind, body and spirit. It's time to get back to the hotel and study some more, and more, and more!!!

Cards - wk 3

Julie has been sending me cards, over seven so far. They are so fun to get. In one she drew several yoga stick figures with "still smiling" next to each. One was "Dead, but still smiling." LOL! I've been doing a good job of smiling and try to smile at as many people as possible.

Week 3 is Done

Week 3 is done, and overall I feel pretty good. Although I am definitely looking forward to a full night's sleep tonight and tomorrow!

I recited two more postures: Eagle Pose was OK, Standing Head to Knee Pose went pretty well.

It's amazing how the week flys by. During the week, everything is so scheduled and every moment occupied that I really don't notice the minutes ticking by. I guess being in a daze helps - some days I am not quite sure what day it is.

Nice Butt - wk 3

Friday morning in yoga class, I sat next to a woman I had not formally met yet. We were chatting before class started and she verified that I had been in pretty much the same location of the room during the first two weeks of the training. I said yes. She proceeded to tell me that many time she was behind me and that I had a nice back. She paused ever so slightly and added, "and a nice butt." I laughed and said, "thank you." After class I leaned over to her and said, "Thank you for the compliment, you made my day!"

Evolution - wk 3

Every once and a while, Craig, the Director of Education, refers to, "the next evolution," meaning the next class or lecture, or whatever. I think it's both sort of cool and funny. When we are getting ready to head into the yoga room, many times I will ask if we are ready to evolve...

Laughing - wk 3

Last Sunday while studying Simone started laughing and laughing. Later on in the day I did the same thing. It was really enjoyable, funny and not really appropriate all at the same time. Later on in the week at the end of class one of the morning teachers had us all, approx 300, do a bit of laugh therapy. It was quite fun!

Supperstar - wk 3

We are divided into 12 groups. During posture clinic, when we have to recite, preform, sections of the dialogue, we are encourage to say something to encourage fellow group members - a little cheer if you will. When we have posture clinic, there are always two groups together. A woman from our group suggested saying "Superstar" each time someone from our group got up. If you are familiar with Molly Shannon from Saturday Night Live, you will get the idea. I didn't really care for her movie, but totally love saying Superstar when fellow group members get up. It's pretty cool. Other groups think it's pretty cool too!

Lost Mental Energy - wk 3

Monday evening I lost all mental energy and thus all physical energy. I completely pooped out in class. Pretty much just laid in my puddle of sweat for half of the class. Twice I putting into action my thoughts of leaving the room. Each time I just laid back down. The 'powers that be' would have told me to go back to my yoga mat...wasn't sick enough. Fortunately by the next day, I started recouping and regained my "Smiling happy face" and also being able to complete class without laying down.

Having dealt with chronic fatigue, I feel I have an advantage. I indeed know what it feels like to be dead tired and still have to function, which is what I was doing for a good part of this past week.

Staying at the Ilikai has indeed been a great help. Thank you Uncle Al!!!!

Studio by the Ocean

I've always dreamed of a hot yoga studio by the ocean. It took me about a week and a half to take advantage of the Ilikai location. Not sure why it took so long. Now after the morning yoga class I walk 5 minutes, probably less, into the ocean. It feels so wonderful after class! I could float and hang out for hours, but reality is not far away, so I quickly get out of the ocean, shower, eat, and study before the next session begins. Last week there was a guy in the parking lot, which is located between the Ilikai and the ocean, who had a huge watermelon all sliced up, specifically for us yoga-ites. It was so wonderful of him. And so incredibly delicious!

Week Two - Check

There were many times when a moment seemed forever, yet the week went by so, so quickly! I would like to create several in-depth posts, but my friends Time and Energy say to lump things together:

Muscles: They got a little tighter this past week, but are over all nice and relaxed. Many people are tightening up and tightening up. I'm drinking an exercise recovery drink after each class, perhaps that is helping.

You in the blue: Each class I make sure I know what color I'm wearing as Bikram yells out corrections to the person in the blue, red stripes, etc. Most times, you don't really want to be corrected by Bikram. Bikram: "You in the blue, what posture are you doing?" It took a while for yoga brain to remember what posture he indeed was doing, me: "Cobra." Bikram: "What the hell do you think your doing?" I didn't know what to say. A moment later - huge sigh of relief. He was talking to the guy in front of me who was also wearing blue.

Energy in the room: With 300 people doing yoga together, I thought I'd feel all sorts of energy bouncing around. Somehow I feel it within me, going into a posture a bit more, sometimes feeling a bit stronger. Feels great. Met someone this week who experiences the same thing.

Smell: Sense of smell is definitely heightened, even with a cold.

Emmy: Bikram's senior teacher, Emmy, taught most of the morning classes this week. She's amazing! She's 81 and has been teaching Bikram Yoga for over 30 years. I have heard that when she's teaching the advanced class, she does the postures along with the class for the heck of it.

Quitting: We got out very, very late most nights this week (read 1 am - I'm back at the Ilikai by 7:30 am) After I got home and started prepping for the next day, or maybe I should say the same day, the thought of saying aloha to Bikram certainly crossed my mind. But I'm still with the program!

Posture Clinic: We have moved to smaller groups for the posture clinic now, about 50 to 60 people per group. They have a really good way of rotating us, so that we are always with some of the same people, and some different people too. So far I have completed three postures (reciting the dialogue) and have done quite well. We are critiqued by Bikram staff and/or visiting senior teachers who, thus far, have had absolutely excellent and helpful comments.

Zombie: Some day this past week (Wednesday?) I felt like a total zombie. It didn't stop at feeling like one. At lunch, someone asked me what was wrong with my eye. My eye lid was swollen and started to turn a lovely shade of blue. It wasn't that way when I got up in the morning. Bug bite? Burst blood vessel? Who knows? It didn't hurt or itch, just looked colorful.

Posting: As mentioned above time and energy are at an ultimate premium, so posting will happen on Sundays.

At one with Jack Lord: Uncle Al, a friend through Wesley, has a condominium at the Ilikai. He needs to be in the hospital right now, but insists that I use and stay in his condo. Hmmm extra sleep - I think I'll take him up on his offer!

Psychologist: I wish I knew more about psychology. This whole experience would be so fascinating to watch. At this point people are more on edge, some a bit angry or aggressive. Nothing overly bad at this point, but certainly noticeable. What will the next phase be? Week three is supposed to be a rough one. Will I break, or continue with the flow?? May the force and flow of energy be with me. LOL! (maybe I shouldn't laugh...)

Tour guide: I had access to a car this weekend and so played tour guide to a couple of the people I study with, a woman from Hamburg Germany and a woman from South Florida. We had lunch at a funky Japanese restaurant, went to a couple of look-outs, hit a bakery or two (Leonard's for malasadas and Liliha Bakery for cocoa puffs - not the cereal!), and of course went to Costco and the health food store.

Week One in review

It has been a good week. When I got home after those 1:00 am days, I seriously considered dropping out of the training, but kept plugging along. I'm meeting many, many wonderful people. The yoga classes are good, and very hard with a variety of teacher. My quadriceps are definitely building - they better be anyway. One teacher loves to kill us with a pose, Awkward Pose, that really utilizes them. In the photo of the pose, I need to sit down more, arms down a bit, hips a bit forward, and spine back more. It's definitely an interesting experience!

Posture Clinic

What took up most of the time this week was posture clinic. For the first pose, Bikram wants to see each person deliver the dialogue and critique the performance. It takes a bit of time to get through 285 people. Next week we will split up into smaller groups for the next posture.

Friday afternoon we had a really good lecture by Dr. Lillian Glass, a voice specialist and psychologist. She's very vibrant and can, in a very few seconds, connect with a person and get them to change how they speak, present themselves and project their voice. According to Dr. Glass, you should not look people in the eye, instead look at the entire face for 2 seconds, the nose for 2 seconds, the mouth for 2 seconds, and then keep repeating.

International

This should be a pretty accurate list of the countries represented for Teacher Training: Hungary, Brazil, Romania, Thailand, Norway, India, Germany, France, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Poland, Spain, Philippines, Austria, Belgium, Chile, Australia, England, Ireland, Hong Kong, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Peru, Russia, Taiwan, and of course the U S of A. Very interesting group!

Late Night

I'm at the Ilikai each morning around 7:30 to setup for the morning yoga class, which starts promptly at 8:00. (By the time everyone is in the room and setup, there's only a few inches between each yoga mat.) After Monday's relatively 'easy' day, Tuesday it was time for reality! I left the Ilikai a little after 1:00 in the morning. Wednesday at 11:15 pm, Thursday at 1:15 am, and Friday, thank goodness at 7:45 pm. Once I get home, I wish I could flop into bed, but there's recovery drinks to concoct, smoothies to blend, food to head, fruit to peel, stinky shorts to soak, and whatever else I can remember to do. I'm proud of my body and my mind! I was smiling and functioning during the entire week. That's not true for all. I've already seen people cry, be carried out of the yoga class, get sick and also fall asleep during posture clinic. On the flip side, for me, the yoga helps immensely to combat the sleep deprivation.

Excellent Day

Today was a remarkably short day, from 10 am till 7 pm, with an hour and a half worth of breaks. But the best part is I did my first section of dialogue in front of Bikram.

The setup of the room: in the front facing the interior of the room are five people who will actually do the posture, a few feet in front, facing them, with a microphone is the person delivering the diagloue. Bikram is on the side, and the remaining 280 plus people are watching it all (and giving wonderful support). I volunteered to do it - get it out of the way, so I can breath easily and work on future dialogue. I was about number 20 or so, the third to the last of the day. There were some good people in front of me. I was amazed, while waiting in line, I didn't get nervous. I guess it was because I was concentrating on the dialogues being delivered, and truth be known, picking them apart. Oh, today's dialogue is only about 2 or so minutes long, depending on how fast or slow the delivery is.

Well, my turn came, still wasn't nervous when I was handed the mike, but then started to shake a bit as I started. It went quite well. I botched one line a bit, but manage to salvage it. And wonderfully, Bikram's only comment was that my voice was too low! Apparently if I teach a lot of classes, I could blow my voice out -- ? There's a professional voice coach coming to speak to us on Friday, so we'll see what she has to say.

Only one yoga class today, which was tough, but went well.

All in all quite an excellent day!

Hawaii Five - O connection

Time for one more quick post. The yoga room, for holding 300 people, where the training is being held is at the Ilikai Hotel in Waikiki. If you remember the intro to Hawaii Five - O, Jack Lord is standing on a balcony at the top of a building. Yep, the Ilikai Hotel.

BT and AT

BT = Before Training
AT = After Training

Just a couple of hours and the BT period will be ending. Orientation is today and classes start tomorrow. November 17th is the graduation date. My apartment is spotless - a nice clean sanctuary to come home to and very quickly sleep. Just one or two more things to do on the way to orientation and I should be set. This past week has been quite busy doing countless things. One of which was going to Costco to buy all sorts of items for snacks - a 6 pound bag of pretzels among them!! I've memorized a little over have of the dialogue so far, and feel quite good about that.

I don't have too much set aside for AT, but I know that will change as the training progresses.

It's time to go!!

Advanced Seminar

In August Bikram held an advanced seminar for a week here in Honolulu. I signed up as I thought it would be good practice for teacher training and some of the advanced poses are fun - most are very challenging...very, very challenging. On the first day, 170 of my new friends and I were in this hot, I mean really hot, huge yoga studio. First everyone does the beginning class (what I do five or more days per week), which lasts 1-1/2 to 2 hours long. Then the advanced class, about 2 hours long. The second posture in the beginning class is called hands to feet pose (pada hastasana). You are basically doubled over, jackknifed, with your legs straight. I was pushing my head into my legs as much as possible so the steady stream of sweat would fall on my chin and not go up my nose. I have to admit thoughts of, "What am I doing here?" went through my brain, and of course, "Do I really think I'll survive teacher training?" Fortunately those thoughts have fallen by the wayside. The whole advanced seminar week was very, very good preparation for what will be coming.

Molly to the rescue

Sometime in June I was sitting outside the yoga studio waiting to go in. A woman I had not met before sat down next to me. We started talking. I eventually told her I was going to the fall teacher training. She told me she had just finished the teacher training. Then she, Molly, asked me if I would like some help learning the dialogue? YES and thank you! Since then we have met twice a week. Molly is a wonderful coach full of encouragement and many, many helpful hints about teacher training. She says the student is doing well...

Craig's Big Adventure

The decision was made this past April, only a few weeks after I restarted a regular yoga practice. Go to teacher training! Everything fell very quickly into place. This is something I have wanted to do for five years. In June I received a printed copy of the 90 minutes of dialogue that has to be memorized. Memorized?? For the first few weeks I avoided the task. If I did make an attempt, I would get extremely nervous and very tense. In the past, memorization work has not been my thing.

Now why is this a big adventure? The training is a huge endurance exercise for anyone, throw in a fatigue issue or two and... The training lasts for 9 weeks running Monday through Friday 8:30 in the morning until 11:00 or later at night. Oh and another yoga class on Saturday morning.

My day will comprise of:
2 - 1-1/2 to 2 hour long hot (105 degrees or more) yoga classes
2 - 1/1/2 hour breaks - yippee, hope I can get a nap in!
Posture clinics, which is where everyone regurgitates the dialogue for that particular posture
Lectures and more lectures about yoga history, yoga medical benefits, anatomy, and I don't know what else. There are many lecturers, but when Bikram is giving the lecture, it can last a very long time.
And don't forget that memorizing!