Amsterdam

A quick visit to Amsterdam this week made feel very strongly about my home again. My whole family lives there and it’s always nice to be there and spend time with them. They all have been very supportive of my yoga journey and it has been fun for me to share my excitement about it with all of them. Since I have decided to go to Teacher Training one of my brothers and one sister said they’d give it a go when I’m in Amsterdam. It was touched they clearly care about me and want to experience Bikram yoga for themselves.

Not having the luxury of a studio close by Bikram Yoga Amsterdam in the Pijp is a real treat for me. My mom lives 5 min away from the studio. Armed with my mat I walk over there on the first day of my four day visit. Rick is at the front desk, he is the studio owner together with his wife Theresa. He’ll be teaching the class today.
My sister and I sign in are ready to go. Somehow this studio really excited me it always does. It’s clean, doesn’t smell at all and it’s always very hot. Perfect. I decide to tell Rick I am going to training this spring and will be practicing here for the next four days in a row. Any correction, help, suggestion are valuable to me. He is genuinely excited for me.

So here we go into the beautiful hot room that is rapidly filling up to full capacity. My goodness I had no idea you could fit so many bodies in this room. If you didn’t know this room when it’s empty you would think it was carpeted with mats. We are literally all connected. Rick walked in and made sure he had all the new students close to him in the back and calls out their names to make sure he knows exactly where they are. My sister is one of them today. I took a save spot in the front so I can see myself in the mirror and enjoy the amazing sight of a lot of people behind me.
It's very different then standing by myself in my heated bathroom. It’s very empowering. Class is well thought and I feel privileged to be part of it. I’m trying to make notes in my head and practice at the same time.Rick is very positive and gives me a lot of little tools throughout the class. He must have eyes in the back of his head because he sees everything!
My sister passed with flying colors she did very well. I’m not sure if she’ll be back but she did it.

When I show up the next day I am in for a surprise I am told to stand in the back! When you are at training with 300 students you won’t be able to see yourself either. He is right. And when I practice at home I just me the whole time. So here I am again in a jam-packed studio standing in the back. There is a wall of people in front of me. I have no idea what I look like or if my alignment is right. Rick tells me this is how you learn to feel your alignment and your practice. Amazingly the discomfort of it all disappears in half moon already. My practice goes well. There were some other teachers in the back of the class showing amazing practices. They are so beautiful to watch and so encouraging. One of the things I love about Bikram Yoga, there is always room for improvement, your own improvement.

Sunday night my brother joins me for class. It’s the 5pm class and this one is fuller than full. My brother walked in with a sleeveless top on and by the time I walked in two minutes later he his topless already. “It’s hot in here” he says. Oh yes it is…… Both of us are in the back of the class today. My brother who is a Bikram Yoga Virgin at this point is clearly intrigued by the scene. He did great and I am impressed. He will be back.

Big Thanks to:

• Bikram Yoga Amsterdam de Pijp for the extra attention I really appreciate it. It was wonderful to visit and practice with you guys.

• My mom for letting me sweat and shower through all the big towels she owns.

• My brother and sister who joined me for class. Your enthusiasm and support mean the world to me. I’ll be doing this twice a day for 9 weeks, now you can relate to what it’s like in ‘the torture chamber’.

Falling hard for Bikram Yoga

Blogging is new to me but I have decided to give it a shot. I’m planning the big journey of Bikram Yoga Teacher Training and I would like it if my friends and family can follow me from a distance. This seems such a great way to do it. I’ve been following a few girls who were in TT Fall ’08 and really enjoyed their stories. So here we go, this is my story of how it all started:

My first Bikram Yoga Class was about a year ago. We had moved from Portland Oregon to a very small village in Germany. Like many adidas families we live here for the job and travel around Europe as much as we can.
At a lunch with my buddy from Portland I met an Australian girl, we instantly connected. She was very pregnant and telling me she couldn’t wait to give birth so she’d be able to teach and practice Bikram Yoga again.
We became friends that day and when she was ready to teach again she created a little studio in her house. So there I was entering a bedroom with mirrors on the walls, foam on the windows and a really surprising temperature. My spinning classes, mountain biking and long hikes did not prepare me for any of this. It was a workout I’ve never experienced before and I absolutely loved it.
From that day on I became a regular at her classes, twice a week I’d be there with 5 other people sweating it out and challenging myself on a whole new level both mentally and physically.
Bikram's book was next, I read it to get a better understanding of the series. Then it was time to purchase his CD and put it on my Ipod. When we were in Italy that summer I practiced the series on the balcony of our hotel room under and umbrella at the hottest time of the day. Slowly I went up from 2 times a week with Justine to adding three more days in my bathroom at home. When you have floor-heating and you ad an industrial space heater you can get the room to a good 35C.

Last summer I visited Amsterdam, my hometown and went to the Bikram studio in the Pijp. It was wonderful. The heat was amazing, nothing like my bathroom. Most empowering was doing the series with 75 people at the same time. The energy in the room was overwhelming. That week I went there three times and was taught by three different teachers. All of them with their own style and each and every one of them thought me something new. The real benefit of having a studio nearby I realized.

I’ve done the 30 day challenge here in Germany, between my two days a week at Justine’s and my bathroom. Believe me I know every crack in every tile by now. But at the end of the day it doesn’t matter where you go, the series will be the series. And I’ve put as much integrity into my practices by myself as in the once in our group.
My practice improved but most of all I felt better than I had in a long time.

Last November Bikram was scheduled to teach a class in Munich a two hour drive from here. I managed to get a spot and somehow I felt very strongly I was meant to meat him. His class was amazing, unbelievable, incredible. That evening it was all clear to me I would love to be part of this community. Becoming a Bikram Yoga Teacher to share this brilliant series with other people all over the world is what I would like to do.

Now I am on my way to figure out how I can do the Teacher Training. Leaving my husband and two boys in Germany for 9 weeks to become one of Bikram's certified teachers. Yikes.