Week 8

As predicted week 8 was stressful. Bikram was here for the first half of it and believe it not he still found it necessary to keep us up for two night in a row. Till 3am to we watched Indian movies. We still had to do 4 postures, study them and present them by the end of the week.
Bikram wants us to see these movies because it’s part of the Indian culture I understand that but why doesn’t he play them during the day? No point in wasting energy there, it is what it is. We are wiped out again.

Posture clinic picked up big time and on Tuesday there were people in my group who ended up presenting three postures in one day!
I totally screwed up my last posture on Thursday afternoon. For Spine Twisting posture and the set up is very precise with lefts and rights and how to put one leg over the other and your hand and heel at the same spot. I was so tired it just didn’t flow out of my mouth at all. For those of you who don’t know me very well, lefts and rights are a problem for me even on my best days.
So because of my bad performance I was not as relieved as I wanted to be when Posture Clinic was officially done. My teacher told me to get over it, stop wanting to be perfect. You want to be a good teacher not a perfect teacher.

When I got back to the room that afternoon to change for the 5pm class Shannon was there and had exactly the same thing happen to her. We decided to go to the lobby bar after class to have a bite to eat there and celebrate the fact that we were done for now and that we could actually relax in the our and a half break we get between end of yoga class and evening lecture that starts at 9pm.

The vibe has instantly changed around the group. There is a huge sense of relieve that we don’t have to deliver for the next week and most of us are in a very happy mood.

Of course insecurity about teaching our first class kicks in immediately. It reminds me al lot of driving lessons. After I passed my driving test (in Eurpe, the one in the US was only 5 minutes) I didn’t think I could possibly drive the car by myself without the instructor right there next to me in the passengers seat. And then I also know I really started learning how to drive from the moment I did get behind the wheel and drove a lot.
So that’s what all of us have to do now, we have to get behind the wheel as fast as possible and teach as many classes as we can. Get as much feedback as we can and really start learning how to teach a good Bikram Yoga class.

Most of us have studios to get back to and classes lined up already. It sounds so exciting! I get home on a Wednesday and will go to Italy for our family vacation on the following Sunday. Not sure if I can get a class in but will try to get at least a practice round in before I leave. There have been many studio owners visiting over the past 8 weeks and a lot of them have asked for teachers and offered their mentorship to anyone who wants to come. If I were single I would definitely go for it, that’s such a great way to learn and experience what teaching will be like.

Lyn has done a great lecture this week about being a teacher. It was by far the best lecture we’ve had while we were here. She really painted a good picture of what to expect and also how to behave as a Bikram Yoga teacher.
You are not a student in your studio anymore and people will look at you now as a teacher. That means you have to meet all the expectations of a Certified Bikram Yoga Teacher even if you are not in the yoga room.
It was very powerful. Lyn was at one point the owner of 4 studios in the San Francisco area, she knows what she is talking about.
I wrote six pages full of notes and hope that most scenarios never happen, but if they do I know what to do.

More and more I understand the mental and physical healing power of the Bikram yoga series. Some peoples’ stories are incredible. There are a lot of recovering addicts here. Many people with depression and eating disorders.
Also a lot of people with titanium pins and plates in their bodies. This yoga has given them their life back and they have a very deep understanding of its healing power. It inspiring to listen to their journeys.

We’ve had some fun with our core staff members here too. They took the stage one by one on Friday night and shared their first teaching experiences with us. It was not all that reassuring but it was very funny. We’ve gotten all very attached to them and it’s so nice to here some of their stories.

Since the pressure is off here we are all way more relaxed. We are splitting up into three groups:

* There are the ones who are so sad it’s ending and don’t want to leave at all.
* There are the ones who are happy we are almost done but will have mixed feelings about returning home.
* And then there are the ones that can’t wait to go home. Are glad it’s over and would skip this last week if they could to get on the plane even sooner.

The last one sums it all up for me. Don’t get me wrong this was by all means a great experience and training. And I wouldn’t change anything about my decision to come here.
But my life in ‘the real world’ is great and will be even better now so I can’t wait to get back to it. My family, my friends, my own cooking. And of course start teaching.

H-O-M-E is where my guys are and where my heart is, where I strongly feel I belong and haven’t been in way too long.

Week 9 will be a fun week. We will still have a very full schedule but it won’t be stressful. There will be the double classes thought by senior teachers from all over the world and the 5pm by Bikram of course. Then there will be some amazing yoga presentations on stage for us to watch.

On Friday we have a talent show at night. That evening our talented fellow trainees will show us what they’ve got. Some are singing, there is a belly dancer I’ll tell you all about it in next weeks report.

Saturday is graduation day. It will start at 3pm and will go on for a long time I assume. Bikram will officially certify most of us that day. He has announced that there are some among us that he needs to work with for a little longer. Not sure how and when that all would work out but I am sure there is a plan for those people. Right after our graduation there will be a 1 week advance training here in Palm Springs. It’s already fully booked and even some of the people of my training even signed up for an extra week.

As of tonight I will officially start counting the ‘sleeps’ till Saturday. Not only will I become a Certified Bikram Yoga teacher, my husband will fly in from Germany to actually be there with me.
It’s big, this training was big, the fact that I did it is big, my feelings and emotions have been big. Becoming a Bikram Yoga teacher is big. Teaching this beautiful practice will be big.
When I said goodbye to the boys 8 weeks ago in the parking lot of the Santa Monica beach club I knew it was big.
Having Chris fly over here to be with me while I complete the cycle is huge.
There is nobody I’d rather share this with than Chris who always supports me in the right way and is always there for me. He is my perfect example and the one who I want to be nothing but perfect for. He is the rock-star who made it possible for met to be here and not have to worry about home for a moment. Who also took care of 'us' for the past 8 weeks while I was just taking care of ‘me’. It is a very humbling feeling and I am ever so grateful for all of it.

I am the luckiest girl I know! (I hope this MacBook is waterproof)

One day during our training Rajashree ended her class with a piece about 'love' she wanted to share. It really resonated with me and the more I read it the deeper I understand it and absolutely love it. I'd like to share it with you in the chapter below.