Today this journey starts in earnest. We are scheduled to meet the “guru” (Bikram Choudhury) at 10:00 for a lecture as well as to begin dialogue training and review. We were introduced to the entire teaching staff yesterday as well as the first single gathering of all of the trainees in a lecture hall that would match any college facility in it’s beauty and capacity. For any previous attendees, you will be “glad” to know that we apparently will no longer be sitting on a floor wet with the sweat of an entire class saturating our shorts, but on chairs so graciously provided by the hotel in our new setting! We were also informed that the dialogue training would be held in a number of additional meeting rooms where we still may be sitting on the floor, but that the yoga room will be used exclusively for practice! The facility is “state of the art”!
Bikram spoke for about 2 hours upon his introduction and was, as advertised, “quite colorful”. While I’m positive I would never wear some of the outfits he struts around in, there’s no doubt that this yoga has the ability to change your life regardless of what your malady is. He likes to drop names and tell stories about those that he has helped with his methods. Your initial reaction is to dismiss them as stories from a flamboyant entrepreneur or Hollywood movie type or snake oil salesman, but when one of those individuals that he has helped stands in front of you and confirms what is being said, it’s difficult to ignore. Of course, you don’t need much of a testimonial when you stop and think about the progress each and every one of us has made on a personal level while practicing and while there are many variations of the “success story”, everyone who has practiced this yoga over a period of time has one of their own!
One of those “success stories” was here today. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar spoke in front of the class for about 15-20 minutes talking about how Bikram Yoga extended his career for what Kareem believes to be about 7 years. He said he started practicing Bikram Yoga after he was ready to retire, but then suddenly faced some difficulties in life (his house burned down and he also had a financial manager who evidently made some unwise decisions with his portfolio) and felt he needed to continue to play professional basketball. It was kind of cool to have him practice yoga with us on Tuesday! His son apparently has been practicing since he was about 5 years old. The word is he has a beautiful practice and wanted to come down as well but has some sort of testing going on back in the states where he is attending college to be a doctor.
They wasted little time getting people up in front of the room to start reciting their first posture in front of Bikram. Everyone who is “performing” stands on a stage in front of the entire group of 300 people with 5 demonstrators assisting and they actually go through the posture as you recite the dialogue. Bikram is sitting in a giant chair on the floor directly off the stage, front and center critiquing each person’s attempt. The first people were great! Very smooth and obviously well polished. I’m sure that’s going to change, as we only were able to get through about 20 people. They say it takes a week or so to get through everyone and Bikram insists on listening to everyone’s first posture. I think I’ll “volunteer” after a few more people go in front of me.
We also took our first class yesterday. The room was not as hot as I had expected it to be. Bikram said about 95 degrees, but I don’t know if I buy that. The humidity is extremely high down here and the sweat just pours out of my body. Even with the temperature that low, a number of people faded rather quickly! Bikram teaches a powerful class and of course it’s different than what you are used to in cadence, as well as the length of time different postures are held. I felt pretty good both during as well as after class and slept like a rock. I was actually surprised how good I felt the following morning! We’ll see just how long that lasts. We start 2 a days today and I’m sure it will start to have an affect!
As I just stated, the humidity is very high here and nothing dries very well. I imagine it’s going to be similar to when I was in high school and we had to redress for the second football practice of 2 a days with damp clothing. Now there’s something to look forward to!
Monday, April 7, 2008
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Ready, Set...
I was, as always, concerned about seating on the flight. The airlines charge extra now for where you sit on the plane and although I had requested an isle seat, the plane appeared to be full when I went online to preprint my boarding pass. I have always attempted to sit on the isle or bulkhead for the extra room they provide. I believe that an isle seat is now considered a “premium” seat and an additional charge is levied. Incidentally, for those who do not know (I just found out last week), you are now allowed only 1 carry on and 1 checked piece of luggage these days. Bummer! More additional charges! They charge $80 each way international, $25 for domestic. Because I booked my flight well ahead of time I was allowed to check 2 bags and that was enough for me.
I kept thinking I was at the wrong gate because there was no one waiting for the plane. I was practically alone there. This giant waiting area empty at 5:45 am, surely I must be at the wrong gate, on the wrong day, at the wrong time. I kept wondering around the stewardess trying to reassure myself that I was at the right place. It must have creeped her out because even after she told me that I was in the right spot, I was still pacing around her little area staring at my boarding pass and then repeatedly shifting my gaze between her eyes and the display behind her. I’m surprised she didn’t call security and have me dragged into some TSA interrogation cellar in the bowels of the airport to get to the bottom of my odd behavior. When you shave your head, you can get that sort of reaction from people!
Well, no need to worry. There were 23 people total on the flight! I had the entire row to myself. Could have stretched out across 3 seats and fallen asleep sideways for several hours. Patrice did exactly that! It was a very smooth flight, left on time and landed 30 minutes early. Patrice and I parted ways at the airport as she was staying at a different hotel for the night, so I await the arrival of Mary and Carla who are taking a later flight.
First thing I did prior to going to the room was wander over to the Bikram’s hospitality desk and ask about viewing the room we will be practicing in. They gave me directions and I walked around the corner about 50 yards and talked to someone positioned to greet people, and apparently at the same time, work on her tan. She was doing a good job on both fronts. As I walked inside I asked about the number of attendees and was told about the same as in previous years. 280 people were signed up as of last week and surely there would be more to bring the total to around 325. The entry way is a balcony of sorts that’s positioned 1 floor above and at the rear of the room.
The first thing that strikes you is an enormous banner of Bikram in his classic spine-twisting pose. It has to be 150 feet long and 60 feet high running above the entire length of the back or entry wall of the room. That wall is glass of course, for full viewing of the room and the activities going on inside and the room is massive. I mean huge! Maybe there will be a bit of elbow room unless they force everyone together. There certainly appears to be enough space in there! Sort of overwhelming when viewed empty. There are still workers wandering around performing tasks to complete whatever else needs to be done and I was asked not to go down the stairs to the lower level just yet. I’ve already considered offering U.S. dollars for someone to sabotage the heating system at regular intervals throughout the training!
Well, up to the room to unpack and settle in. I’ll be working on some pictures tonight and tomorrow while I have some free time. I’m not quite sure how to post them, but will work on making them available to everyone.
I kept thinking I was at the wrong gate because there was no one waiting for the plane. I was practically alone there. This giant waiting area empty at 5:45 am, surely I must be at the wrong gate, on the wrong day, at the wrong time. I kept wondering around the stewardess trying to reassure myself that I was at the right place. It must have creeped her out because even after she told me that I was in the right spot, I was still pacing around her little area staring at my boarding pass and then repeatedly shifting my gaze between her eyes and the display behind her. I’m surprised she didn’t call security and have me dragged into some TSA interrogation cellar in the bowels of the airport to get to the bottom of my odd behavior. When you shave your head, you can get that sort of reaction from people!
Well, no need to worry. There were 23 people total on the flight! I had the entire row to myself. Could have stretched out across 3 seats and fallen asleep sideways for several hours. Patrice did exactly that! It was a very smooth flight, left on time and landed 30 minutes early. Patrice and I parted ways at the airport as she was staying at a different hotel for the night, so I await the arrival of Mary and Carla who are taking a later flight.
First thing I did prior to going to the room was wander over to the Bikram’s hospitality desk and ask about viewing the room we will be practicing in. They gave me directions and I walked around the corner about 50 yards and talked to someone positioned to greet people, and apparently at the same time, work on her tan. She was doing a good job on both fronts. As I walked inside I asked about the number of attendees and was told about the same as in previous years. 280 people were signed up as of last week and surely there would be more to bring the total to around 325. The entry way is a balcony of sorts that’s positioned 1 floor above and at the rear of the room.
The first thing that strikes you is an enormous banner of Bikram in his classic spine-twisting pose. It has to be 150 feet long and 60 feet high running above the entire length of the back or entry wall of the room. That wall is glass of course, for full viewing of the room and the activities going on inside and the room is massive. I mean huge! Maybe there will be a bit of elbow room unless they force everyone together. There certainly appears to be enough space in there! Sort of overwhelming when viewed empty. There are still workers wandering around performing tasks to complete whatever else needs to be done and I was asked not to go down the stairs to the lower level just yet. I’ve already considered offering U.S. dollars for someone to sabotage the heating system at regular intervals throughout the training!
Well, up to the room to unpack and settle in. I’ll be working on some pictures tonight and tomorrow while I have some free time. I’m not quite sure how to post them, but will work on making them available to everyone.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Pre-game Butterflies
As I sit here in the comfortable surroundings of my apartment, I can’t help but wonder what changes are in store for us at the upcoming session of teacher training. The time is drawing near!
Throughout my life I have participated in a variety of athletic competitions and have found that I have always gotten anxious prior to the event. Most competitors will tell you that they feel this is evidence that they are “running on all cylinders” and are ready for whatever is about to face them in their chosen area of expertise. All one can do is honestly prepare the best they can, then visualize the expected results and at some point let go and believe that their preparation will carry them to their desired result.
Now, this is not a competition and I want to share something emailed to me today from one of Bikram’s assistants.
“Congratulations on your acceptance into the Bikram Yoga College of India’s Intensive Teacher Training Program, Class of Spring, 2008 in Acapulco, Mexico. I’m writing this from the property, and it is truly beautiful”.
“All we require is your presence, and a passionate commitment to your own transformation within the next nine weeks. Please enter into our new home with open eyes, open heart and open mind. You have chosen the path of service that leads to the promise of Self-realization, and for this you have my respect. Let yours be the hand that heals and helps, and let your expectations, as unwanted burdens, fall behind as you enter through the door”.
Let your expectations, as unwanted burdens; fall behind you as you enter through the door! Sort of goes against everything I wrote above, doesn’t it? That’s because this is yoga, not football or wrestling or any other organized sport we are familiar with participating in. Our “expectations” hold us back, both in our practice as well as in our lives and create suffering because they prevent us from seeing things as they really are. We create an illusion, like a lightly colored curtain does when it makes the sunshine appear to be a different color as it shines through our window. Pull back the curtain and you reveal the true brilliance and color of the suns rays. This is what we need to do in our everyday lives, pull back the “curtain of expectation” and see things as they really are.
And so it seems as if I’ve encountered one of my first challenges and I haven’t even gotten off of the couch yet! Just like we shouldn’t expect an individual class to go a certain way, or judge it afterwards as a good class or a bad class, I really should have no particular expectations entering this “transformation”. That’s quite a bit easier to write than to actually put into practice. I think we all know this, but just like I did above, we fall back into our familiar habits, our same old routines and this takes us in a direction we really did not intend on going.
I promise not to drone on about yoga philosophy and the like, but I just had this conversation with someone the other day regarding issues sure to pop up at training. I hate that teacher; she/he doesn’t do it like I’m used to. Hey! They’re in “my” spot, that person is touching me, crowding me, staring at me or sweating on me. Why do they insist on telling me to do it this way? I sure look fat compared to so and so! My postures sure do suck compared to plastic man over there. What in God’s name is that odor? Is it coming from me?
Funny thing is, it just dawned on me that these were the same thought and feelings I had when I first started to practice Bikram Yoga. I’ve said every one of them at one time or another and some of them I allowed to throw me off course for a while. I’m hoping that I’ve learned something over the last several years and vow not to allow those same things to derail me again.
Now there’s an interesting thought, it’s going to be like starting over again…
Throughout my life I have participated in a variety of athletic competitions and have found that I have always gotten anxious prior to the event. Most competitors will tell you that they feel this is evidence that they are “running on all cylinders” and are ready for whatever is about to face them in their chosen area of expertise. All one can do is honestly prepare the best they can, then visualize the expected results and at some point let go and believe that their preparation will carry them to their desired result.
Now, this is not a competition and I want to share something emailed to me today from one of Bikram’s assistants.
“Congratulations on your acceptance into the Bikram Yoga College of India’s Intensive Teacher Training Program, Class of Spring, 2008 in Acapulco, Mexico. I’m writing this from the property, and it is truly beautiful”.
“All we require is your presence, and a passionate commitment to your own transformation within the next nine weeks. Please enter into our new home with open eyes, open heart and open mind. You have chosen the path of service that leads to the promise of Self-realization, and for this you have my respect. Let yours be the hand that heals and helps, and let your expectations, as unwanted burdens, fall behind as you enter through the door”.
Let your expectations, as unwanted burdens; fall behind you as you enter through the door! Sort of goes against everything I wrote above, doesn’t it? That’s because this is yoga, not football or wrestling or any other organized sport we are familiar with participating in. Our “expectations” hold us back, both in our practice as well as in our lives and create suffering because they prevent us from seeing things as they really are. We create an illusion, like a lightly colored curtain does when it makes the sunshine appear to be a different color as it shines through our window. Pull back the curtain and you reveal the true brilliance and color of the suns rays. This is what we need to do in our everyday lives, pull back the “curtain of expectation” and see things as they really are.
And so it seems as if I’ve encountered one of my first challenges and I haven’t even gotten off of the couch yet! Just like we shouldn’t expect an individual class to go a certain way, or judge it afterwards as a good class or a bad class, I really should have no particular expectations entering this “transformation”. That’s quite a bit easier to write than to actually put into practice. I think we all know this, but just like I did above, we fall back into our familiar habits, our same old routines and this takes us in a direction we really did not intend on going.
I promise not to drone on about yoga philosophy and the like, but I just had this conversation with someone the other day regarding issues sure to pop up at training. I hate that teacher; she/he doesn’t do it like I’m used to. Hey! They’re in “my” spot, that person is touching me, crowding me, staring at me or sweating on me. Why do they insist on telling me to do it this way? I sure look fat compared to so and so! My postures sure do suck compared to plastic man over there. What in God’s name is that odor? Is it coming from me?
Funny thing is, it just dawned on me that these were the same thought and feelings I had when I first started to practice Bikram Yoga. I’ve said every one of them at one time or another and some of them I allowed to throw me off course for a while. I’m hoping that I’ve learned something over the last several years and vow not to allow those same things to derail me again.
Now there’s an interesting thought, it’s going to be like starting over again…
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