Yoga Class Espanol

Today's class (Sat morning) was taught by Ulysses from Mexico who taught the first set of each posture in English and then the second set in Spanish. It was awesome!

I only wish I had been feeling better as I had plenty of "sparkly" moments through all the Standing Postures, as in that feeling when you stand up too fast. Ugh..... so needless to say I was very pleased to get to the floor series.

Anyway, regardless I still enjoyed the class as Ulysses was so passionate and enthusiastic and even when he was speaking in Spanish you could tell by his energy when to push in the postures etc.

He spoke about how we need to get to a place in our practice where we learn to trust that our breath is all we need. Not water, not having the exact mix of this and that in our water, having the mat in a specific spot etc etc. That so long as you can breath properly during your practice that you will get to a place where you can let all those other things drop away.

He also spoke about how its easier to do the postures than to sit them out. Hmmm, probably debatable at times eh? But I have to say I do agree with him. Like he said, if you're sitting on the floor you have WAY too much time to think about how uncomfortable you feel, about how hot the room is, how about many more posture to go etc etc. Whereas if you're doing the postures no matter how much you're struggling it at least gives you something else to focus on.

Those days when you're in "the zone" this is easy to do, but its finding a way to get to that place when you're having a tough class that takes mental strength. On those days when you just want to run from the room screaming, when camel posture makes you want to burst in tears and / or throw up, when the yoga bus comes into the room and runs over you and then beeps and f*n backs up to run over you again. UGH UGH UGH and somehow you have to find a way to "just breath". THOSE are the days I feel that amongst all the angst I gain SO much.

Whew..... excuse me while I go outside for some fresh air.... :-)

So, notes from our Posture Clinics this week:

There are 3 things you need to build your practice:
1. To come often
2. To practice hard
3. To acknowledge your mistakes and make the necessary corrections

Don't say, "I can't". Instead say, "how much of this posture CAN I do?". (I like that one, as there are certain postures I am convinced I will never be able to do.)

Lean to switch between commanding and being kind so that you can show compassion for your beginners and yogis with injuries, but still keep pushing those who are your regulars and working hard etc.

You will build a level of trust with your students through the class, and so they will do everything you ask them to (particularly beginners) so you have to give them permission NOT to do something if it hurts etc.

Instead of asking someone why they didn't do a part of the posture, instead say I noticed you can't do X, Y, Z and then let them reply. They will open up better this way and not feel you are accusing them of not doing posture.

Stick to the dialogue so that it becomes a tool that is ingrained in you. Then if something happens in the room, like someone fainting, then the dialogue will automatically come from you (yikes hopefully!)

Watch your regular students and notice week to week if they miss the same posture, sit out the same posture, always grab their water at the same time etc and equally to see when they make improvements, when their injuries heal or happen. This helps you learn something about your students and become aware of how the yoga is changing their bodies.

So in terms of how my progress with the dialogue is coming, I feel I have finally got to a place where I'm a bit more relaxed about not being perfect. Note: A "bit" more. I still have miles to go but have stopped "fighting it" and it has all come so much easier to me and I'm actually enjoying it (this could be said about everything I'm doing at the moment too - God forbid eh! LOL).

I would say that Wednesday was a break through point for me. I had to deliver Full Locust which is the posture where you get to "fly" and I was so pissed off and frustrated with everything, disappointed in the two previous days posture deliveries and so I decided I had to channel that somehow and just friggen get over it! So that is what I did, and I nailed it! By far my best delivery to date, cos I TOLD those yogis to GET INTO the posture and FLY home! What a buzz and a relief to feel like I was finally "getting it" in terms of starting to feel like I was teaching, and also a sense of peace by being able to let go and just be.... :-) Sigh

Then we had Caroline from NY take our clinic Thursday evening. She was in Oz earlier this year and did a class at our studio so it was cool to see her again. And she was just SOOOOO nice to me. She said that she loved my personality and felt people would really warm to me and trust me as a teacher (awwhhhh xx) but that they might not behave in class because I might not be commanding enough. I told her I had finally found my commanding voice last night (lol) and so would try and bring that too so that I had both styles - so look out you naughty yogis!

Friday's clinics both went well too. In the aft class I delivered Fixed Firm and as there were heaps of Ozzies in the other group we were working with, I said to "lift your chest and stomach up to create a perfect Sydney harbour bridge" hee hee (instead of perfect human bridge). A bit naughty because we are NOT supposed to divert from the dialogue at all, but I couldn't resist and it got a laugh from the Ozzie peops.

End of Week 6!

Well its now the end of week 6. I think I can bring myself to start counting down the days now without it making my stomach go in knots. Only 21 to go. By this time in 3 weeks we will be at our Graduation Ceremony!

I wonder how I'm going to feel then? Certainly there are so many beautiful amazing people here that it has been great to meet and so I hope we all stay in touch and that our paths cross again.

This week has been full on. Boss (Bikram) as he is affectionately called, has been away so we've had posture clinics after lunch and in the evenings which means I have been studying like mad to stay ahead of the game.

Certainly once you've been studying for a while and have worked out which learning style works for you I have found that the memorizing gets faster and faster. That and the fact that the Floor Postures are generally shorter (Yay - to learn and Yay when you're in class :-) and a lot of the sequencing are lines of dialogue from previous postures. i.e. Generally when you put your arms over your head, you're going to then put your hands-palms together. Hee hee, theres that new body part :-)

Anyway, Bikram popped in briefly on Thursday night while we were at Posture clinic and told us how good we were doing and that we were on schedule (finally!). And it mean't that next week we would have the evenings free for lectures and movies......... Oh expletive. Can't we learn the dialogue for all 86 postures? Can we go back and do the left side and second set? Anything but friggen movies..... Oh well.

So because we are back on schedule, there were rumours rife about how tonight, (Friday) we would have no posture clinic and they were going to arrange pizzas for everyone for dinner. Where this idea came from I don't know, but everyone was talking about it all during the day and while waiting for the P.M. yoga class to start the room was abuzz with talk about it.

Obviously it didn't happen! Not the night off, and not the pizza :-( Probably someone mentioned they felt like pizza for dinner, and someone walked past them and heard them and then said, yeah I feel like pizza and it went from there. You put 430 peops together. Lock them up in a hotel with little contact with the outside world and we will grasp at any hint of something that looks like it might give us a relief from the regimented yoga bubble we live in.

For tonight's class, they put on music before it started and got all the teachers to come in and dance around the room and on stage etc, so that did provide some light relief. And then Jude (Johnny's sister) taught. Those from the Goldie may have taken her class when she was back there. And true to form it was a toughie, as Jude's classes always are, but she has such great energy it makes you want to work for her. (In the top pic she is in the middle on stage along with 2 other teachers).

Other pics are of fellow yoginis from my group in the hot room - you can start to get an appreciation of the size of the room. It will no doubt seem strange going back to practice in a regular sized studio with only 30 - 40 yogis after having practiced in a ballroom with 430 others.

Last pic is of moi and Danni who I am SO lucky to have as a roommate. Living with a stranger in one room for 9 weeks is a difficult task under any circumstances so the fact we have managed to do it and stay friends is a credit to us both I'd say. So thank you Danni for being so understanding, for giving me a shoulder to cry on when I needed it, for being so patient with me when I was struggling to stay sane in this place, and for being a great friend. I hope you make it Down Under some time so that we can meet up again! xx

A Day in the Life of a TT Yogi

This is where it all happens folks! This pic is of the lecture room where we spend ccountless hours when not in the Hot Room. Emmy is teaching here and giving yogis corrections for Triangle Posture.

Now that you have a visual, I thought I'd give you a run down of our daily schedule.

8:00am - sign in for morning yoga class.
(that means lining up to sign in, lining up to get a towel and lining up to get a spot on your assigned line in the hot room)

8:30 - 10:30am - yoga class
(Note: classes are rarely only 90 mins. I don't even take a watch into the room though. I figure its better just to switch off and work thru the postures as you're directed. You can often "feel" when class is running over time but to see it in reality on a watch would just be torture!)

10:30 - 12:00 Midday - Free time
Now when I say "Free time" this is your time to:
- get back to your room (remember the 27th posture now!)
- shower, change
- prepare and eat a meal
- cram in some study time
- get back downstairs to sign in for the aft lecture / clinic

12:00 - 4:00pm - Posture Clinic / Lecture

5:00 - 7:00pm - yoga class

7:00 - 9:00pm "Free time"

9:00 - Midnight - if you're lucky!
Lecture / Posture Clinic / Movies

And so this is the routine day after day after day. Its funny because for the Saturday morning class we don't have to practice with our group on any assigned line in the yoga room and yet when given the choice we all find it hard to make our own decision about where to put our mat. Its like, "what? You're going to let me make a decision for myself? To think about where I might want to practice? You mean I have a choice about what I want to do?

Ah.... um..... duh......., sorry, I've lost all ability to make decisions now. I've spent all week learning scripted lines from the dialogue verbatum (that I'm not allowed to ad lib, or divert from), I eat only at specific times and follow orders all week about where to be and at what time and now you're letting me think for myself???????? No can do!

Getting back into the real world is going to be a strange transition.......

Wednesday Post

I haven't been able to write a post for the past two days. First, because the internet has been slow with all the yoga peops using it so its impossible to get on line, and secondly because I've actually needed the time to study the infamous dialogue..........

We're now up to Floor Bow, posture # 19 so we're nearly there! With 26 postures in total it means the end is in sight. Yay!

So some notes from the last few posture clinics for which we have been working through the Floor Series:

From Jenna (?) who has a studio in Manhatten and was AWESOME!

- Think how are you going to get the students to do the posture when they can't see you?
- How can you give them energy?
- Learn to use your voice, emphasize the actions, express passion.
- You have to learn how to "perform the dialogue"
- Kill them with kindness - smile. Let them know you want them to do this posture even though it hurts so much / its hot / they're tired etc etc, because its going to be SO good for them! And let them know you're not going to settle for anything less than 100% effort. Yikes!
- When you are pushing the students - SMILE :-)

And the one I have to remind myself all the time: Do you want to be perfect or a great yoga teacher?

I think that last one resonates with a lot of us here. Its SO frustrating when you know the dialogue perfectly but then get up to deliver it and screw it up. But, as they keep telling us we have to get over ourselves and just get on with it. Easier said than done as I have already said many times.

But like so many teachers remind us, we have the rest of our lives to deliver the dialgoue, so if you screw up a couple of times in posture clinic does it really matter? CHILL OUT MAN! :-)

Anyway, I was looking back over my notes and have noticed that the way I am memorizing the dialogue has changed and now instead of just coming up with acronyms and little rhymes to remember what lines come next I am actually thinking about the posture and how it fits the body, and how I would like to say it, what words to emphasize etc.

For tonight's posture - Full Locust I really thought about how to get someone to do the posture by just using my voice, changing the speed and where I put emphasis etc and it all came together really well. So I guess thats a sign of progress which I am thrilled about- because lately I have felt really "stuck" with where I am at.

I have lots of other notes from yoga classes that I would like to add but its now after 1pm so I'll finish up here and hopefully get time to write them up on the weekend. :-)

And Week 6 Begins......

Well its back to doubles for me this week. Lets hope the old bod is up for it. Actually I'm really looking forward to it. Yoga being what I came here to do and all.

In saying that, it was still with some intrepidation that I went in for this aft's class. Bikram was teaching and he was in a pretty good mood, but held us in some of the postures for a-g-e-s while he corrected some people's postures.

It felt like we were in Standing Head to Knee 4-EVA and I didn't have a show of getting my head down to my knee and holding for that length of time. I managed to stay in Triangle for what seemed like eternity but only because Bikram was looking our way (we were on the 3rd line today right up near the podium) and I didn't want to get yelled out. Pretty good motivation really and amazing what one can do when one feels there is no option to come out of the posture! (Insert Grimace face here)

We had two Posture Clinics today as apparently we are behind schedule and need to catch up. This pic is of some of the girls and Lady Gaga from our group. Nicholas, his real name, had the envious task of delivery Tadasana / Tree Pose to a Lady Gaga song - hence from now on he will forever be known as the Lady Gaga performer.

My dialogue is coming along ok. I am trying to stay ahead of the game but I definitely don't feel as comfortable as I did with the Standing Series which is to be expected I guess since I'm learning the Floor Series on the fly. And a lot of the Floor postures are quite short and so we get through two in a day. Oy...... So I'm trying not to be the perfectionist and just enjoy what I'm doing, but I have to admit to getting pretty frustrated with it. Like in my yoga practice sometimes I feel "stuck" and that I'm not getting anywhere with it. So lets hope I have a break through in the days ahead and feel like I'm making progress :-)

Its interesting observing and listening to others and how they are feeling at this stage. There is definitely tension amongst the ranks. The woman who taught our class this morning got a huge round of applause when in Savasanah she told us how by week 6 she wasn't enjoying herself at all. I guess there is a lot to be said for shared suffering. She said the had put on weight, she was over it, and certainly didn't feel she would be ready for teaching. Yet somehow it all magically came together for her and 2 weeks after graduation she taught her first class and has been in love with teaching ever since.

So there is light at the end of the tunnel for us, and I just have to hold on to that dream of becoming a yoga teacher and hope it sees me through :-)

The 27th Posture

Did I mention we've added a 27th posture to our practice? Well not officially but there is a daily ritual after class that we call the "27th posture".

Its walking back up all the flights of stairs to your room. Ugh as if 90 mins of yoga wasn't enough but its better than fighting 430 sweaty yogis for the elevator. The Hot Room is on the 2nd floor and so it means 4 flights of stairs for moi but there are others that live on the 9th floor so I shouldn't complain too loudly.

We have also gained some new body parts according to the dialogue - hands-palms and leg-heels. We can "cross our arms each other" (no thats not a typo on my behalf), "think very deeply about our standing leg" make it a "lamppost" and at times only have one leg. Ha ha ha ... ok I know its not that funny but I'm trying to find humour anywhere I can! I've been studying dialogue all weekend and its doing my head in. After a while none of it makes sense.

Speaking of which, Full Locust Pose awaits................time to fly.

From the Red Carpet in LA

So last night I went to the LA Film Festival in Hollywood!

Now before you get too excited I should probably admit that it was a short film festival for up and coming film makers so nobody famous was there. (Well nobody famous enough for me to know who they were.) They still had the red carpet rolled out and everyone got their photo taken against the sponsers' wall as they walked in - just like you see them do on ET etc.

The theme for the films was "This is my LA" and so it was really cool to see all the different iconic things around LA that people had put into their films.

Then it was out for dinner on Sunset Blvd. Oh it was SO nice to get out into the real world. To get out of yoga clothes and dressed up and talk to people outside of the yoga bubble! Its interesting though when people ask me what I'm doing here as they just can't get their head around what this TT involves. Mind you I can hardly get my head around it at times and I'm the one doing it!

Today, Sunday, was spent getting organised for the week ahead. Studying dialogue, getting groceries, studying more dialogue, catching up on emails and just for a change, more dialogue. Sigh..... what I wouldn't give to be having a Sunday roast dinner and then relaxing for the evening watching the Sunday night movie on TV! In time eh.......