Wednesday, April 9, 2008

What was that?

Just got hit by the Bikram bus! Just completed 4 classes in a period of 48 hours. 94 more classes to go! 1st class I felt confident. 2nd class I felt confused, but completed the entire class. 3rd class I felt like some slipped a ruffie in my water! I feel like I fell off a moving train. Only thing to do is jump back up, dust myself off and start running to hop back on it. I’ve been told it get better after about the 2nd week. Let’s hope so. A good night’s sleep should help, we’ll see. This is without a doubt going to be one of the greatest physical, as well as emotional and spiritual challenges I’ve ever decided to undertake.

It dawns on me as I type these words that I had temporarily forfeited the rights to my digestive system, immune system and my heart & cardiovascular systems. In fact, every system in my body had been given over to “other masters”. I now begin the process of reclaiming my birthright. I want to regain control over the only domain that is truly mine. Exciting, terrifying, thrilling, taxing, exhilarating, exhausting and nerve racking all at the same time. It’s an emotional roller coaster the likes of which I’ve never ridden before. I feel as if I have a giant emotional obstruction stuck inside of me that at any moment might come bursting out sort of like the creature in the movie “Alien”. I’m sure I’ll have to come face to face with whatever demons lie inside at some point during this “healing process”. Hopefully it will be sooner rather than later…

Come to find out that was not an emotional obstruction I felt, but an intense series of cramps about to strike my lower body and abs! I undoubtedly still have that “other” obstruction to deal with, but for now, an evening of body cramping is what was in store for me. I don’t know when the last time you had multiple areas of your body cramping (calves, shins, toes, hamstrings and abs), but it’s sort of like having a seizure. Remember in the movie “Forrest Gump” when Gump says, “something bit me” as he carried Bubba out if the jungle? Well, something bit me! It bit me over and over and over for about an hour and a half after class. It lasted into the evening with sudden bursts of cramping in single areas of my body, but after they poured electrolytes into me for about an hour, things started to settle down quite a bit.

This occurred after my 5th class and I sort of just laid there after class for about a half an hour wondering how I was going to get up. When I attempted to move, that’s when it hit me. I have yet to run into the one gal who was attending to me as I lay on the floor. She is a very sweet and compassionate female assistant of Bikram and I’m just wondering whether the grip I had on her thigh while in the throws of this “breakdown” left any bruises. To me it felt like they would need the “jaws of life” to remove her leg from my grasp. At that moment, I can honestly say that I could have cared less, but she calmly talked to me, asking me question about my food choices as I repeatedly cramped up. I can also honestly say that she helped quite a bit. So did the other female assistant who was pouring electrolytes down my throat. There was one other person present and I’ve given her a couple of hugs since. Carla helped to eventually get me back up on my feet and outside of the room. We have been looking out for each other in different ways since our arrival and I’m glad she noticed I had not made it out of the room. For the next several days I was sort of out of it and felt bad that Carla, Mary and I did not interact like we had been. I told them once I regained my senses that I had needed to recover and they were cool with everything, realizing apparently from the far away look in my eyes, that recovery was exactly what the doctor ordered as well as just a little distance! Nicely done ladies! I truly hope they realize I am also here for them should the need arise.