Classes 3 & 4

It felt so good to teach again! It felt like a long time between my 2nd and 3rd class. I taught a double yesterday (Friday) morning. I was a little nervous that I would forget the dialogue since it had been a while since I taught,  but surprisingly it came right out! The third class was a little better than my second & the fourth was a little better than the third....it's cool to see the little changes/improvements you make every class.  So, of course, I can't wait to teach again : ) I have 8 classes next week so I will have my fill of teaching for that week! Most of the classes I have are doubles...either 8:30 am & 10:30 am, or 4:30 & 6:30 pm. I was a little weary of teaching 2 classes in a row but it wasn't so bad. I did start to get a little worn about the middle of the second class, my voice was getting tired, but I pulled through. I have no doubt that I will gradually get accustomed to teaching doubles. I wasn't able to practice as mush as I wanted to this week, I was out of town for a few days, so I'm kind of sad about that : ( But next week I hope to get in there as often as possible. I feel like I haven't been home much since I got back from Acapulco! I'm ready to just chill for a while & try to get into a somewhat normal routine. 

I visited Allison, a friend from training, who lives in Dallas this past week. It was so good to see her! Jesse & I drove in Monday night and came home Thursday morning. I got to take her class! It was awesome. Wish we could have stayed longer, but hopefully we can meet up again soon.  I also got to see Isaac & Nellie from training while I was there.  It was so weird sitting at a table with all of them! It was like a flash back to training...ahh! 

Class #2

I taught my second class yesterday morning at 9:30. There were 23 people in it including my mom & Emily (a girl from my training who was in town for a few days before heading off to Canada). I feel really good about the class & I feel like I was able to relax a little more this time. My first class I was nervous of course so all I could really focus on was getting the dialogue out; I wasn't able to play around with the dialogue at all so I pretty much said the same thing for every set.  But this time I found I was able to pick and choose what I wanted to say for that set based on what the people were doing. That made it a lot more fun & relaxed....at least for me. So yeah, I think I'm getting the hang of this teaching thing :) The second class was just as fun if not more fun than the first which is super exciting. I've never had a job that I have enjoyed as much as this! I mean it's more than just a job, it's a passion. I won't be teaching any more classes until December because I go out of town for a week for Thanksgiving. I'll have to use my family to practice on in the mean time... : )

My first class!

Boy does it feel good to have my first class behind me! I was a little nervous, ok a lot nervous, before hand and continued to be slightly nervous through class, but it did get a little better as the class progressed. All I know is that I finished right on time and I didn't forget any postures or even to do the second set of anything! I feel pretty good about that. My dad & mom were there & so was my boyfriend, Jesse. That was Jesse's first class & from what I actually saw of him he did pretty good! I was actually trying not to look at him too much since he was a beginner he had no clue what he was doing so when I did glance at him it threw me off. I tried to focus on Miranda, another teacher, my mom, and a few other regulars. As a new teacher it's a bad idea to look too much at the new people, it will definitely make you forget what the heck you're saying. So overall I feel really good about my first class & I can't wait to teach another one. It was really fun!

Thanks to everyone who was there for my first class, by choice or accident :) It was so good to have supportive, familiar faces there. 

Just a few comments about the end of training...

The last few of days flew by. We had a couple of classes with Craig Villani, which were tough to say the least but it was pretty cool to see how far all of us have come since the beginning of training because pretty much everyone was up doing the postures.  Our last class with Rajashree Friday morning was awesome, she has a way of..."killing you softly". My mom got in Friday afternoon and took our last class with Bikram that evening. That last class was packed with visiting teachers & family members, it was pretty cool.  It was an awesome class, kind of sad at the end but no tears from me...I still had another "last" class Saturday morning. Friday night we had a talent show which was awesome. Some of the skits are supposed to be posted to YouTube so I will post a link to them when they show up. You've got to watch them, they're hilarious. 

So then my real last class Saturday morning was really a good class. It was cooler than usual which made it feel more like a "normal" class that I would have at home. Diane Ducharme taught & I really enjoy her classes so that was a good way to end my training. My mom & I then spent the afternoon laying out before getting ready for graduation which started at 4. Graduation lasted 5 hours! Man was it long! Afterwards there was a really nice dinner set up for us outside on an open green space the hotel had. That's when I started to get sad :( It was hard to say goodbye to people, but quite a few of us have good intentions of visiting in the near future. 

So now, 5 days after training I can say that that was the best thing I have ever done in my life. Yes, it was the HARDEST thing I've ever done but it was, so far, the most rewarding. I learned so much about life, myself, other people... oh & yoga :) I will never forget my experiences during those 9 weeks & I will never forget the people. I  now have connections all over the world & a new family of 309 people. That's pretty cool :)

Home at last!!

Well I'm home! I thought I'd never get here, lol! It's so good to be here! It does feel weird though not having anything I HAVE to do. Ahh, I'm going to have fun tomorrow doing whatever I want, even if that's absolutely nothing but hanging around the house. I have more to write about my last couple days of training,  I'm too tired to write right now. Besides if I do I will start crying. Every time I look at the picture of Lindsay & I at the airport this morning it makes me teary eyed :( So here's some pictures for now...

Our lovely calendar...it seems like just yesterday we had only one week crossed off!

Let us out...haha!

L-R: Linda, Rachel, Colleen, me, Lindsay

Our last class together :( (friday evening)

Graduation day

Love this girl! She's coming to visit in January!

Lindsay & I with Straud & Chris

Pamela & I

Carolyn & I

Sunday morning sunrise

I miss her already :(

Aww....our last picture together @ the airport. 

L-R: Lindsay, Colleen, Linda's husband, Linda, me

Boss (Bikram) & I @ the airport

Graduation Day!!!

There are lots of pictures I want to post but don't have time right now. Graduation starts at 4!

So I had 2 last classes, lol. I forgot to sign in again so I had an extra class this morning. It was a really good class though, not as hot as usual! And now I can say I did 100 classes instead of 98 :)

 I am soooo done!! I can hardly believe it. 

More to come soon....

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Lol. The end is so close! To be quite honest, it doesn't seem real though.  I can't quite comprehend it because I have been doing this for so long it just doesn't seem like it would ever come to an end. And what will I do with myself when I get home? It will be so strange to not have a set schedule from 8 am to 11 pm. I will have so much free time! And I will get to make so many more decisions, ahh I can't wait! What food I want to eat & when, when & how long to sleep, etc., etc. It will be awesome. After this intense training real life will seem like a breeze. Or at least that's how I feel as of now. 

Yesterday was pretty much the same as ever. Bikram lectured until about midnight last night. 

This afternoon we had posture clinic in the yoga room from 1 to 4 so it pretty much felt like we never left the yoga room all day. People got to get up and teach all 309 of us, it was pretty cool. I didn't do it, there was only 3 hours and so many people were in line to do it, not even half of us got to go.  We have lecture with Bikram tonight. Tomorrow afternoon I think we will be watching the advanced series class. That will be interesting. 

Don't know much else right now. I can't wait to get home and see everyone!