Well the weekend is over already. I can't help but feel a bit of a sense of dread at the week ahead. I'm battling a cold, still feel exhausted amd feeling a little homesick too so the thought of the intense week ahead is a little overwhelming. Lets just hope the Mondayitist doesn't settle in too badly.
I did have a fantastic weekend though. Some friends I know from NZ live near Laguna beach which is about an hour away so I hired a car and went down to spend the weekend with them. Unfort the cost of hiring a car doesn't make it something I can do every weekend but it was SO nice to get out of this hotel and away from here.
The weather was fabulous so we went to a restaurant on the hilltop overlooking the beach and spent the afternoon up there. My friend left NZ over 5 years ago and it was before I'd discovered Bikram yoga so it was interesting to hear him say the change he could see in me. Certainly I feel very different and handle things in my day to day life with so much more clarity and confidence than I ever did before so it was nice to have that recognised. It will be interesting too to see how my personal strength and perspective on life changes over the next month and a half.
So we start posture clinic tomorrow. That is where we break into smaller groups and work on each posture including delivering the dialogue. I am SO grateful I put in the time to learn the dialogue before I came here. It means what little free time we have is mine to do as I wish which is a god-send!
Anyway, I'm looking forward to an early night so will sign off here. I have pics to upload from the weekend but the internet is really really slow so am unable to at the moment. I believe its a long weekend for all the peops in Oz so you guys have Monday off. Oh what bliss! :-)
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
The Art of Being a Teacher
We had a lecture today with Lynn a teacher from San Fransisco on how to think as a teacher and the importance of having compassion for your students. It was really really interesting and changed some of my thinking about my approach to discipline in the class etc.
Part of the rationale behind making TT so tough is that they hope it will teach us to be compassionate with our students. When we're having a tough class and / or struggling with a posture she said to think about how you're feeling, how you're breathing, what is going on in your head and how you get through that - and to remember those feelings when you see students struggling in your class.
Granted we want everyone to "kill themselves" and work hard but there is also a need to recognise when someone has maybe hit the wall and is having a hard time in class and to respect that. And that means, that if they need to sit down, if they need to drink lots of water, whatever it may be that we should NEVER make assumptions about what someone is capable of. We don't know what is going on in there lives and what kind of day they might have had etc, so we should respect that as adults we are all capable of making the right decision about how to look after ourselves. We need to empower our students to make the right choices about what is right for them.
She spoke a lot about the fact that in her opinion, someone doing some yoga is better than them doing none at all. Therefore if they are late to class (she will allow yogis to come in at any stage through Pranayama breathing) or need to leave early then that is ok. She said we are yoga teachers not prison guards and we should make the yoga room a safe place for your students not a prison cell. A lot of things are non-issues and so don't worry about them.
On the flip side she said we need to learn how to get the best out of our students and recognise when people are responding positively to corrections or being pushed. And that as a teacher when we are practicing we should lead by example and be the kind of student we want to teach. E.g. We can do this by teaching our students when to drink water. Don't tell them NOT to drink, but tell them when it is time for a water break and they will then learn when its appropriate to drink.
So all in all a much more relaxed approach to whats going on during class and I hope I remember to take that with me into the hot room. Much as I like having the discipline and work really hard to not fidget, drink water, and get distracted etc, I realise that is how I like my practice but may not necessarily work for everyone, and yeah sometimes you just have a crappy practice for seemingly no reason at all, and to just let that happen :-)
Part of the rationale behind making TT so tough is that they hope it will teach us to be compassionate with our students. When we're having a tough class and / or struggling with a posture she said to think about how you're feeling, how you're breathing, what is going on in your head and how you get through that - and to remember those feelings when you see students struggling in your class.
Granted we want everyone to "kill themselves" and work hard but there is also a need to recognise when someone has maybe hit the wall and is having a hard time in class and to respect that. And that means, that if they need to sit down, if they need to drink lots of water, whatever it may be that we should NEVER make assumptions about what someone is capable of. We don't know what is going on in there lives and what kind of day they might have had etc, so we should respect that as adults we are all capable of making the right decision about how to look after ourselves. We need to empower our students to make the right choices about what is right for them.
She spoke a lot about the fact that in her opinion, someone doing some yoga is better than them doing none at all. Therefore if they are late to class (she will allow yogis to come in at any stage through Pranayama breathing) or need to leave early then that is ok. She said we are yoga teachers not prison guards and we should make the yoga room a safe place for your students not a prison cell. A lot of things are non-issues and so don't worry about them.
On the flip side she said we need to learn how to get the best out of our students and recognise when people are responding positively to corrections or being pushed. And that as a teacher when we are practicing we should lead by example and be the kind of student we want to teach. E.g. We can do this by teaching our students when to drink water. Don't tell them NOT to drink, but tell them when it is time for a water break and they will then learn when its appropriate to drink.
So all in all a much more relaxed approach to whats going on during class and I hope I remember to take that with me into the hot room. Much as I like having the discipline and work really hard to not fidget, drink water, and get distracted etc, I realise that is how I like my practice but may not necessarily work for everyone, and yeah sometimes you just have a crappy practice for seemingly no reason at all, and to just let that happen :-)
Thursday, April 28, 2011
First Milestone Completed!
This afternoon we finally finished listening to everyone deliver their dialogue for Ardha Chandrasana, Half Moon Pose which is the first posture in the Bikram series. That means we have heard it a total of 430 times! Oh my lord. I could die happily without ever hearing that bloody part of the dialogue again........... Words cannot describe the mind numbing boredom that came with that exercise. As I've said before, I understand the reason behind it, and I think its brilliant that Bikram puts the time in to meet every single one of us individually, and its a lesson in patience etc etc but ......oh my expletive expletive expletive!
I couldn't post yesterday as there has been problems with the wifi internet in our rooms and so it mean't we couldn't get access online. Which is probably just as well as yesterday was probably my worst day to date and so it would have just been a post of bitching and ranting. Hmmm, only took 10 days for me to get the shits with all of this. Oy!
It didn't help that the night before we were up till 4 a.m. watching a Bollywood movie. I actually really enjoyed the movie but I struggled to get by the next day on only 3.5 hours sleep and so my temperment and frame of mind was not good.
I am starting to understand why some teachers said to me that though its an amazing life changing experience they would not choose to come back here. There are a lot of what I call "following like sheep" exercises which is just a necessity when trying to manage a large number of people like this, and you have to have the mentality of just "playing the game" and being where you need to be when you need to be etc etc.
Its a mind set and a great lesson in being present and just learning to deal with things as they are because thats what "is". E.g. We have to prepare our own meals and there is only one (repeat ONE) working microwave for 430 peops to share. Now you don't have to be a mathematician to realise that getting your food cooked at mealtimes is going to be a mission, so you just learn to prepare your meals in other ways. NO amount of complaining is going to magically make another microwave appear, though some people want to give it a good go!
Anyway, today is a different day and after a full night's sleep I'm feeling human again. I knew that for me the sleep deprivation was probably going to be the most difficult thing for me to cope with. My practice is coming along well and I have had a number of really strong classes which always feels good :-)
Emmy taught this mornings class and apparently will teach reguarly on Tuesday and Thursday mornings so that is something to look forward to. She is the only teacher who doesn't teach on the podium - its so high she says she feels like she is going to get a nose bleed up there. lol And she doesn't say the dialogue in the way we are to learn it, which keeps you really present as you can't predict when to go in and out of postures.
She said that when teaching a class she feels like a conductor leading an orchestra and the energy from all of us in the room dictates how to lead us. A nice thought, except we were all SO tired from the late night before I would imagine the energy we were giving off would not have made for very nice music at all..........yawn.......sigh..........
Some notes from this afternoon's class, that is class # 18 (Thursday) which Jim taught and I really enjoyed:
Eagle - to keep you hands / palms together and pull the elbows down BEFORE you interlock the fingers if you need to. This makes you use your shoulders to pull the elbows down rather than your hands. Also, which ever leg is on top after you've "twisted like ropes" that, that is the direction to twist your legs towards to get everything in one line. e.g. If your left leg is on top then you would twist your knees to the left.
Standing head to knee: That you have to bend forward even a few inches rather than just standing straight up and holding the knee (if you can't bend all the way forward). Its a forward bending posture and you have to get your body to start doing it to gain any improvement.
The same for camel, you have to keep your knees together at the start of the posture and go into it that way so that you don't create a habit of spreading the knees always thinking you are unable to do it.
He stressed that it is very important that we don't modify the postures to suit the body and any injuries / inflexibilities we might have. That we have to change our body to be able to do the posture. Therefore even if you can't do the posture fully you have to go as far as you can even if thats just going a few inches in the right direction.
Apparently if you took a dead body you would be able to put it into any yoga posture regardless of how inflexbile that person might have thought they were. This just shows how much of it is mind over matter and how our mind holds us back. Interesting eh? Not that I want to be doing yoga with dead bodies to prove it!
Well I think thats it for today. I'm having to come down to the lobby for wi-fi access so need to get back up to my room and organised for tonight's lecture. Lets hope its not a late one. Hmmm I think that may be my new mantra as I say it at at the end of every post!
I couldn't post yesterday as there has been problems with the wifi internet in our rooms and so it mean't we couldn't get access online. Which is probably just as well as yesterday was probably my worst day to date and so it would have just been a post of bitching and ranting. Hmmm, only took 10 days for me to get the shits with all of this. Oy!
It didn't help that the night before we were up till 4 a.m. watching a Bollywood movie. I actually really enjoyed the movie but I struggled to get by the next day on only 3.5 hours sleep and so my temperment and frame of mind was not good.
I am starting to understand why some teachers said to me that though its an amazing life changing experience they would not choose to come back here. There are a lot of what I call "following like sheep" exercises which is just a necessity when trying to manage a large number of people like this, and you have to have the mentality of just "playing the game" and being where you need to be when you need to be etc etc.
Its a mind set and a great lesson in being present and just learning to deal with things as they are because thats what "is". E.g. We have to prepare our own meals and there is only one (repeat ONE) working microwave for 430 peops to share. Now you don't have to be a mathematician to realise that getting your food cooked at mealtimes is going to be a mission, so you just learn to prepare your meals in other ways. NO amount of complaining is going to magically make another microwave appear, though some people want to give it a good go!
Anyway, today is a different day and after a full night's sleep I'm feeling human again. I knew that for me the sleep deprivation was probably going to be the most difficult thing for me to cope with. My practice is coming along well and I have had a number of really strong classes which always feels good :-)
Emmy taught this mornings class and apparently will teach reguarly on Tuesday and Thursday mornings so that is something to look forward to. She is the only teacher who doesn't teach on the podium - its so high she says she feels like she is going to get a nose bleed up there. lol And she doesn't say the dialogue in the way we are to learn it, which keeps you really present as you can't predict when to go in and out of postures.
She said that when teaching a class she feels like a conductor leading an orchestra and the energy from all of us in the room dictates how to lead us. A nice thought, except we were all SO tired from the late night before I would imagine the energy we were giving off would not have made for very nice music at all..........yawn.......sigh..........
Some notes from this afternoon's class, that is class # 18 (Thursday) which Jim taught and I really enjoyed:
Eagle - to keep you hands / palms together and pull the elbows down BEFORE you interlock the fingers if you need to. This makes you use your shoulders to pull the elbows down rather than your hands. Also, which ever leg is on top after you've "twisted like ropes" that, that is the direction to twist your legs towards to get everything in one line. e.g. If your left leg is on top then you would twist your knees to the left.
Standing head to knee: That you have to bend forward even a few inches rather than just standing straight up and holding the knee (if you can't bend all the way forward). Its a forward bending posture and you have to get your body to start doing it to gain any improvement.
The same for camel, you have to keep your knees together at the start of the posture and go into it that way so that you don't create a habit of spreading the knees always thinking you are unable to do it.
He stressed that it is very important that we don't modify the postures to suit the body and any injuries / inflexibilities we might have. That we have to change our body to be able to do the posture. Therefore even if you can't do the posture fully you have to go as far as you can even if thats just going a few inches in the right direction.
Apparently if you took a dead body you would be able to put it into any yoga posture regardless of how inflexbile that person might have thought they were. This just shows how much of it is mind over matter and how our mind holds us back. Interesting eh? Not that I want to be doing yoga with dead bodies to prove it!
Well I think thats it for today. I'm having to come down to the lobby for wi-fi access so need to get back up to my room and organised for tonight's lecture. Lets hope its not a late one. Hmmm I think that may be my new mantra as I say it at at the end of every post!
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Ardha Chandrasana Kiwi Style
I finally got my chance to go up and deliver the dialogue for Ardha Chandrasana in front of Bikram and the class today. Apparently I sounded very natural and did well but it went by in a blur and was over before I knew it. The words just seem to come out of my mouth without me having to think about them. (A good thing I hope) Bikram said afterwards, "no comment" which is equivalent to a compliment from him. i.e. It at least meant there was nothing bad he needed to say. So I send a little prayer of thanks to my Angels of communication whom I asked to come up with me. :-)
We only have about 60 yogis to go now so this part of the dialogue will soooooooon be finally over. Yay! I understand the reason behind having to hear everyone do it etc but its getting harder to stay present through the endless hours of hearing the same words repeated over and over. And the peops are getting restless too which means there's lots of under-the-breath chatter etc which makes it harder to concentrate.
Anyway, we had another class with the lovely Emmy this morning. I just love her classes as I learn so much from her.
The points I wanted to note from her class today:
There are 4 things we must have in our practice:
1. Frequency
2. Intention
3. Precision
4. Mindfulness
Awkward posture - She spoke about the position of the feet and how if they tend to flare in it equates to weak pelvis muscles, and if they flare out then your pelvis muscles are too strong. If its natural for them to be a perfect letter "H" then your muscles are in balance.
Triangle - step out wide enough from the start so that when you bend your knee to sit down you don't have to shuffle your feet which often throws your alignment out.
Sit up - to roll like in Rabbit posture, tuck your chin in and look at your stomach on the way up. Its about rolling in and compressing rather than a stretching posture.
Some notes from other classes I had forgotten. I think it was Miranda's class on Saturday morning when she was stressing the importance of Savasanah and how you must learn to lie still. She said, when in your life is doing absolutely nothing the correct thing to do? Make the most of it! What is more important your hair / costume / water bottle or your spine?
This afternoon's class was taught by Bikram who was in a great mood and so he was bopping around on stage and dancing etc. Which is really funny so long as you're not IN a posture while he's having a little boogie. Oy!
I am really enjoying his classes and so long as you don't take anything he says too personally his sense of humour really cracks me up at times. He has great energy and gets away with saying things nobody else could. i.e. Who else is able to shout at someone, "do you understand fucken English? What the fuck are you doing?" Baaahhaaaaahhaaaaa. It totally cracks me up and only Bikram can carry that off. Mind you I haven't yet been the one he's yelling out, so it may feel completely different then!
Tonight its back for a lecture with him. No dialogue clinic. Yee friggin ha! I'm looking forward to hearing what topics will be discussed and what he has to say. Will fill you in tomorrow :-)
We only have about 60 yogis to go now so this part of the dialogue will soooooooon be finally over. Yay! I understand the reason behind having to hear everyone do it etc but its getting harder to stay present through the endless hours of hearing the same words repeated over and over. And the peops are getting restless too which means there's lots of under-the-breath chatter etc which makes it harder to concentrate.
Anyway, we had another class with the lovely Emmy this morning. I just love her classes as I learn so much from her.
The points I wanted to note from her class today:
There are 4 things we must have in our practice:
1. Frequency
2. Intention
3. Precision
4. Mindfulness
Awkward posture - She spoke about the position of the feet and how if they tend to flare in it equates to weak pelvis muscles, and if they flare out then your pelvis muscles are too strong. If its natural for them to be a perfect letter "H" then your muscles are in balance.
Triangle - step out wide enough from the start so that when you bend your knee to sit down you don't have to shuffle your feet which often throws your alignment out.
Sit up - to roll like in Rabbit posture, tuck your chin in and look at your stomach on the way up. Its about rolling in and compressing rather than a stretching posture.
Some notes from other classes I had forgotten. I think it was Miranda's class on Saturday morning when she was stressing the importance of Savasanah and how you must learn to lie still. She said, when in your life is doing absolutely nothing the correct thing to do? Make the most of it! What is more important your hair / costume / water bottle or your spine?
This afternoon's class was taught by Bikram who was in a great mood and so he was bopping around on stage and dancing etc. Which is really funny so long as you're not IN a posture while he's having a little boogie. Oy!
I am really enjoying his classes and so long as you don't take anything he says too personally his sense of humour really cracks me up at times. He has great energy and gets away with saying things nobody else could. i.e. Who else is able to shout at someone, "do you understand fucken English? What the fuck are you doing?" Baaahhaaaaahhaaaaa. It totally cracks me up and only Bikram can carry that off. Mind you I haven't yet been the one he's yelling out, so it may feel completely different then!
Tonight its back for a lecture with him. No dialogue clinic. Yee friggin ha! I'm looking forward to hearing what topics will be discussed and what he has to say. Will fill you in tomorrow :-)
Monday, April 25, 2011
Into the 2nd Week
So Monday is here again already and we're into our 2nd week.
Class this morning was ok. I felt totally ready for a class after having had some time off but paid big time for having eaten all that junk food over the weekend. As I well know, what I eat has a direct correlation to how I'm going to feel in class, and fries, coke and processed food means I'm going to feel like I'm trying to stretch concrete. Ugh. To make matters worse the room was not very hot at all and so I didn't feel I got hot enough to stretch all those toxins out.
Anyway, its was a stunning day so after class I managed to squeeze in an hour by the pool before heading to posture clinic for more, you guessed it, Ardha Chandrasana dialogue. Oy! We have been at this for days now and I still haven't managed to even get my name on the list of people waiting to go up in front of the group and Bikram, so who knows when I will get my turn. Needless to say its hard to stay interested and motivated considering we must have heard over 300 yogis get up and say the same piece now, but I CAN say it will be imbedded in my brain 4 EVERRRRRRR!
Bikram took the class this afternoon and is definitely starting to push us a little harder and has less patience with people who aren't listening and making the necessary corrections. Which is to be expected and I don't feel he is asking us to do any more than you would expect from a teacher's practice, which is what we're all here to become!
I am suprised at some of the bad habits some people have and realise how well the teachers at our home studio have taught us basic discipline - so I thank you all as it has mean't there are things I just don't have to worry about (like wiping sweat, adjusting my towel, unnecessary moving around during and between the postures.)
Then after class it was back to the lecture room for more dialogue clinic. Bikram only kept us till midnight so it was an early night by TT standards thankfully as I'm feeling really tired. Seems I still haven't caught up on sleep from last week.
Class this morning was ok. I felt totally ready for a class after having had some time off but paid big time for having eaten all that junk food over the weekend. As I well know, what I eat has a direct correlation to how I'm going to feel in class, and fries, coke and processed food means I'm going to feel like I'm trying to stretch concrete. Ugh. To make matters worse the room was not very hot at all and so I didn't feel I got hot enough to stretch all those toxins out.
Anyway, its was a stunning day so after class I managed to squeeze in an hour by the pool before heading to posture clinic for more, you guessed it, Ardha Chandrasana dialogue. Oy! We have been at this for days now and I still haven't managed to even get my name on the list of people waiting to go up in front of the group and Bikram, so who knows when I will get my turn. Needless to say its hard to stay interested and motivated considering we must have heard over 300 yogis get up and say the same piece now, but I CAN say it will be imbedded in my brain 4 EVERRRRRRR!
Bikram took the class this afternoon and is definitely starting to push us a little harder and has less patience with people who aren't listening and making the necessary corrections. Which is to be expected and I don't feel he is asking us to do any more than you would expect from a teacher's practice, which is what we're all here to become!
I am suprised at some of the bad habits some people have and realise how well the teachers at our home studio have taught us basic discipline - so I thank you all as it has mean't there are things I just don't have to worry about (like wiping sweat, adjusting my towel, unnecessary moving around during and between the postures.)
Then after class it was back to the lecture room for more dialogue clinic. Bikram only kept us till midnight so it was an early night by TT standards thankfully as I'm feeling really tired. Seems I still haven't caught up on sleep from last week.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Venice Beach
After a lazy start to the day my roommate and I headed to Venice Beach. We parked a few streets away and then walked up around the canals to get to the beach. It was such a lovely area, nice and peaceful - until we got to the beach that is.
The change in energy hit us like a tonne of bricks and it was just sensory overload. It doesn't look it in the picture but it was crowded, noisy and full of street vendors all looking for business. Very touristy and hard to get a true sense of what the area and local culture is like, though I'm guessing locals probably just don't go down there (much like Surfers Paradise at home which we rarely ever visit for the same reasons - too touristy and far more beautiful less crowded places to go).We lasted maybe an hour amongst the hustle and bustle and then had had enough. If one week of living in the yoga bubble makes us feel like this I can't imagine what its going to be like after nine?
So now I'm making the most of the rest of our time off and just catching up on things and getting organised for the week ahead. I am SO glad I put the effort into learning dialogue before I came as it has taken the pressure off now and means I can cruise for a few weeks yet. Insert BIG smile here! :-)
Bikram's Bentley which was parked outside our hotel today. Who said you can't make money teaching yoga?
Notes from Emmy's Class
Finally have time to copy the notes that I quickly scribbled down after taking from Emmy's class. I learn't SO much in her class. I tried to remember it all, and would have loved to have been able to just sit there and take notes :-)
First thing was that she got up and announced that she wouldn't do the class saying the regular dialogue as she didn't want us practicing on auto-pilot and so that gave us such great focus. Something we should be able to do anyway, but it was amazing just the way she was able to talk about each posture.
- Standing bow: When you put your L arm up (in first set) to look at your fingertips in the mirror (tho dialogue says knee) as this will help get your head/ chin in line when you charge forward.
- Camel: When you first drop your head back, consciously take a few breaths to release your fear / angst.
- Fixed Firm: If you have trouble sitting back with your knees together, to start the posture standing on your knees with your knees together. Then sit down keeping your kness together. This will help you get into the posture correctly much quicker rather than having to wait for your knees to open. (Will have to ask someone who can't do this posture as I'm able to do it no trouble so can't comment on the diff it makes.)
- Locust: Single leg lift - to think about kicking your leg up like you do in standing bow so that you activte from your hip.
- Triangle: When you turn your foot to the side in the set up to keep your hips in the centre rather than letting your weight shift to the back leg. Something that I wasn't conscious of doing but think I was.
- Floor Bow: Knees together to start in set up.
She made a great comment in Locust that cracked me up. In the single leg lift peops must have had their leg moving around. She said, "why do you have your leg waving around? No-one is coming to help you! Keep your leg still". Baaahaaaahaaa. Maybe its the lack of sleep, but that really appealed to my sense of humour.
She also said that when you're practicing twice a day, that if you're easily flexible then to work hard in the A.M. class to gain strength and take it easy in the P.M. class. And that if strength was your positive then to take it easy in the A.M. and work harder in the P.M. as your body is more warmed up then and would give you better chance to improve your flexibility. Good tip.
First thing was that she got up and announced that she wouldn't do the class saying the regular dialogue as she didn't want us practicing on auto-pilot and so that gave us such great focus. Something we should be able to do anyway, but it was amazing just the way she was able to talk about each posture.
- Standing bow: When you put your L arm up (in first set) to look at your fingertips in the mirror (tho dialogue says knee) as this will help get your head/ chin in line when you charge forward.
- Camel: When you first drop your head back, consciously take a few breaths to release your fear / angst.
- Fixed Firm: If you have trouble sitting back with your knees together, to start the posture standing on your knees with your knees together. Then sit down keeping your kness together. This will help you get into the posture correctly much quicker rather than having to wait for your knees to open. (Will have to ask someone who can't do this posture as I'm able to do it no trouble so can't comment on the diff it makes.)
- Locust: Single leg lift - to think about kicking your leg up like you do in standing bow so that you activte from your hip.
- Triangle: When you turn your foot to the side in the set up to keep your hips in the centre rather than letting your weight shift to the back leg. Something that I wasn't conscious of doing but think I was.
- Floor Bow: Knees together to start in set up.
She made a great comment in Locust that cracked me up. In the single leg lift peops must have had their leg moving around. She said, "why do you have your leg waving around? No-one is coming to help you! Keep your leg still". Baaahaaaahaaa. Maybe its the lack of sleep, but that really appealed to my sense of humour.
She also said that when you're practicing twice a day, that if you're easily flexible then to work hard in the A.M. class to gain strength and take it easy in the P.M. class. And that if strength was your positive then to take it easy in the A.M. and work harder in the P.M. as your body is more warmed up then and would give you better chance to improve your flexibility. Good tip.
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