The first hurdle

I recited dialogue for Bikram on Monday afternoon. I got up on stage in front of the rest of the crew (300 trainees) and I introduced myself as Frank and said that I practiced at the Bloomington studio in Minnesota. Bikram immediately asked if that’s where the Mall of America was. He got so excited talking about when he was there and what he bought and what a grand time he had! He’ll do that to people and then when he’s done he’ll immediately request that you “start please”! He stopped me about half way through the dialogue and said he was going to buy me a leather jacket the next time he came to the MOA for reciting the dialogue so well. I actually changed places with a girl who was supposed to go in front of me. She said she thought she was going to pee her pants and would feel much better if she could go after me. I just tapped her on the leg and took her place in line. I really wasn’t nervous at all and had been reminding myself that all of the words were in my head and would come out perfect if I just relaxed. And so it was!

Bikram’s 1st lecture was Monday night. Indian stories about gods and “what is yoga”? Deep subject that knocked a number of people out by the time he wound things up. He found out that the auditorium was actually a movie theater and got quite excited. He made us watch his 60-minute interview. I had never viewed it and so it was entertaining. Stayed up until about 1:00 am watching an Indian movie with about 20 others + Bikram. Apparently he sleeps very little and likes to do stuff after midnight. He keeps the staff up until all hours of the night. I’m not sure I’ll attempt that again unless it’s a Friday night though. 6:30 comes awfully quick after 2 yoga classes and 6 hours of lecturing!

Here’s my current schedule. 6:30 wake up. Class starts at 8:30 sharp. I swim in a salt-water swimming pool after class to cool down, usually at about 10:30, then dry off and eat breakfast at the buffet. Lectures start at 12:15 so a quick shower cleans me up and these will go until about 4:00. The second class starts at 5:00 sharp. Dinner break is next and lasts from about 7:15 until 9:00, then lectures again until 12:00 or whenever Bikram wants to calls it quits.

Emmy’s class on Monday morning was great (class #11). It was, for me anyway, very relaxed and calm. I performed every posture to my fullest possible expression. She teaches a very common sense type of class. The words she uses just seem to make sense and I thought that if I were attempting to explain to some one in plain English exactly how to do a posture, I would explain it the way she was. We were told that we would be having her for morning classes and lectures until Friday when she was scheduled to leave. I have not heard word as to when she would be returning, if at all. I certainly hope so! We have also been fortunate enough to have Bikram teach every evening class since we started here. Apparently this is a bit of a departure from what he normally does and we are thrilled that he is still here and leading class! I think he may be leaving this weekend and I’m not sure when he’s scheduled to return. Now starts the parade of “guest instructors” and as I stated earlier I’m really looking forward to that.

Classes #12 - #16 were my best classes yet! I made a lot of improvement in several postures. My knees ache a bit but I do not feel like I’m hurting myself. Actually I feel like I’m improving myself! Just wanted to add that so everyone didn’t think I walked off into the ocean after the rough start I had. I know you’re a couple of days behind the actual events, so I just wanted to state that things are great and my body, as well as my mind and spirit are adapting and beginning to relax into the whole deal.

My strategy to offer a friendly smile and a kind word is a smashing success! I’ve noticed people actually gravitating towards me for a taste of positive energy. One gal told me tonight she likes practicing beside me because she always seems to have a good class when she does. It seems that when you’re a bit down all you need is a little bump to get you back on track, or at least that’s all that I needed. I think people’s true colors are beginning to show. What I mean by that is that negative people are beginning to see only the bad in everything that happens. I’ve decided that there really isn’t anything that is going to throw me off course and so it really doesn’t matter what happens next. Bring it! I’m overflowing right now with positive energy so people can have whatever they can handle! I’m sure I’ll be drawing upon their energy at another time here in the not to distant future. I’m also sure there will be several more ups & downs, they just have not materialized yet...