Happy Halloween!

I’M DONE WITH DIALOGUE!!!!!

Ok, so I’ll really never be done with dialogue – I’ll be studying it the rest of my life- but as far as saying it in posture clinic goes- I’m done! I did Head to Knee & Spine Twisting today, both I did in front of Jonie from Houston so that was kind of cool. We’re not actually done with posture clinic, there are still lots of people that have to do Spine Twisting & even after that they may have us go back & deliver 3 or so postures at a time to have a little practice with what it will really be like teaching. Even then that can’t fully prepare us to teach an entire 90n minute class. It will be so nerve racking to take what we have done here- which was to deliver 1 posture at a time & only one side of each posture (for those who don’t know In Bikram Yoga you do every posture 2 times & most postures have a right & left side) & suddenly turn it in to a real 90 minute class with 2 sets of each posture. It will be exciting though!

Yesterday we had lecture both afternoon & evening from a man named Jon Burras, AKA “The Fascia Guy”. It was a very interesting talk about fascia, which is connective tissue that runs all through your body & is what transports nutrients to your bones; thus in order to have healthy bones you have to have healthy fascia. Fascia is a liquid like substance that hardens when cooled & basically melts when heated and is able to be stretched & re-shaped. So it was a really good lecture- some people didn’t agree with a lot of things he said but I found it to make a lot of sense.

This mornings class was taught by Jonie, then we had posture clinic, then the evening class was taught by Ren who is from Headquarters in LA- I enjoyed his class, he added a lot of humor to it. Not to mention that pretty much all 309 people were wearing black & orange and some had costumes on-  everyone was in a really good mood tonight.

We have lecture tonight but no one will tell us who is lecturing so we’re all interested to find out since we usually know ahead of time who the speaker will be.  

 

Pics from today:

Lindsay & I before class. Yeah her eye makeup is a little scary. 

Me, Lindsay & Amanda- our nice faces

& our scary faces

Allison & I

Haha...after class. 

Wednesday. Week 7 already half over!

Well my parents left today, it sure was nice having them here! We had a lot of fun. I already told you about Saturday, so here’s Sunday: We got up early and went to eat at 100% Natural, skipped the usual meal at Chula Vista, boy was it good! Then we hit the Galleria for a quick minute but sure did good in a small amount of time! After that we took 1 2 hour boat ride around the bay- it was awesome! We first got on a big, crowded “glass bottom” boat which we immediately got off of. Well we actually would have been stuck on it but luckily right after it took off from the dock it stopped at another one to let even more people on so we made a run for it, lol. In addition to being crowded and noisy the “glass bottom” was a small rectangle in the center of the boat- far from what I had in mind! It worked out perfectly though because close to where we got off a man approached us for a private boat ride, which we happily took. It may have been more expensive but SO worth it. It was really nice & relaxing, it was a beautiful day.  We got to see some famous people’s houses, which were absolutely amazing. We went out to eat for dinner at the Pierre Marquesa which is a Fairmont Hotel just like the one I’m staying in but it’s 5 minutes away. The food was good & the dessert was ridiculously good- 5 flavors of Crème Brule- Peanut Butter, Coffee, Chocolate, Vanilla & Mango. Oooooh man! I think I may have to go there again before I leave to get that dessert one more time J

Monday evening my mom took class. My dad took class Tuesday morning then my mom took in the evening. I got to practice right in front of both of them on Tuesday, so that was cool. They had a really god time here & they both did great in the yoga classes. We had so much fun together, I’m sad they had to leave but I only have 2 & ½ weeks left! I’m so excited! But of course, I’m cherishing every moment I have left here, whether it be good or bad.

This morning’s class was taught by Mike Winter, owner of the 2 Houston studios. His wife, Jonie, taught the evening class. They are both awesome teachers.

In posture clinic we are on Head to Knee with Stretching. Only one posture left after this one! We have had posture clinic all week, afternoon & night, but we finally get a break tonight, we have lecture instead.

Here are some pictures from the past few days:

Yummy drinks @ 100% natural

The boat we took

 

Cliff diver we saw on the boat ride.

Here he is mid-air. It's kind of hard to see. 

Sunday dinner

Sunday dinner

Before some class- it's hard to keep track of my days, let alone classes.

Before another class

Fixed Firm. There's my dad in the yellow shorts!

I'm in the red shorts & brown top.

These in class pics my mom took during Tuesday morning class.

Standing Bow

Locust

Bow

Triangle

Spine Twisting

Full Locust

Standing Head to Knee

Last brunch together this morning

A much welcomed change in pace

My time with my parents so far has been great! It has been so nice to have them here and have their support. It's so cool that they can be here to experience and witness a little of what I have gone through the past 6 weeks; because unless you see it first hand you can never really know what it's like to go through this training. And of course they can't get the full effect of it but at least they can get an idea. 

So they got here Thursday afternoon and I thought they may want to come watch our 5:00 class with Rajashree but my mom ended up taking class! That really surprised me, I don't know that I would have been up to it after flying but she did it & did awesome! We got to eat a quick dinner together at the cafe here in the hotel then they listened to about an hour of lecture with Dr. Divvy then hit the sack. The rest of us were there until about 12:30; it was a pretty good lecture about health and yoga. 

Friday we ate brunch together then we had posture clinic in the afternoon, I got through Full Locust & Fixed Firm. Oh & my p's room is right next to one of our posture clinic rooms so they get to enjoy our loudness when we get out around 11 at night. They both came to 5:00 class & did good. I don't think either one sat out at all, and quite honestly I sat out of one. I was feeling pretty hot in that class.  So then we ordered room service for dinner which was really nice, less rushed than going to the cafe. I had posture clinic again after that & now we only have 5 postures left! 

Today, Saturday,  was a lot of fun. I of course had 8 am class then my p's, Lindsay & I ate brunch  then got massages on the beach. Then the 3 of us got a cabana on the beach and laid out for about 4 hours. My mom & I went to a few little shops right on the beach and, of course, managed to talk ourselves into a couple things :)  It was a good relaxing afternoon. 

So after that we were pleased to find out they were going to be releasing baby sea turtles at 6 pm! So we got to go to that, my mom & dad got to hold one and release it, it was pretty cool. 

For dinner the hotel had a BBQ for all the Bikram people on a grassy area right by the beach. It was really nice & there was an amazing breeze so it was perfect. The food was great, especially since it wasn't our regular Chula Vista food. They had dessert & to top it all off they had a bond fire where we got to toast marshmallows- not for s'mores- but to top with coconut, chocolate sauce, chocolate chips & nuts...like we really needed 2 desserts! Boy were those marshmallows good!

And for our final event of the day, we went to see the cliff divers. Wow, that was amazing....and basically crazy. They must get paid some good money to do that. So, today was a blast. I'm so glad they are here & we plan to do some fun things tomorrow as well. I'll fill y'all in later.

I miss everyone! Only 3 more weeks!!!!!! 65 classes down, I can hardly believe I've done that many classes to be honest,  I think I've been on auto pilot for most of the time ;)

Getting some shut eye while I can!

Preparing to demo Bow

Jenn & I before class Friday evening

There were so many!

Dad 

Mom holding the baby sea turtle

At the BBQ. Don't know what the circle of light is 

next to my head because there definitely  was no light there. 

Haha....my dad got us right as our 

marshmallows caught on fire

Lounging under the stars by the bonfire

Yummo- that's all I have to say.

It's like Friday Eve! Get out the milk & cookies!

Haha...so Lindsay & I got this button you that you push & it has something funny to say for every day of the week, it's awesome. It's pretty much the only thing that will make us laugh in the mornings. :) Yesterday, Wednesday, it said "It's like a speed bump to Friday! Whoa, Slow down!" It's so cute.

Wednesday was an ok day. We had lecture with Rajashree in the afternoon & posture clinic last night. I didn't have to do anything in posture clinic, people were finishing up Full Locust. Both classes were alright; I'm so incredibly stiff though so most of my postures look like I just started doing yoga, lol. Rajashree began going over each posture this afternoon, it was really interesting, learned a lot already. We barely finished the standing series so I guess she'll finish the whole series this afternoon because she's leaving tomorrow morning. 

This mornings class was pretty good- quick 90 minutes. My parents will be here after the evening class! I'm so excited! If there's lecture tonight they will get to sit it on it. I think they will be going to class tomorrow morning, hopefully Raj will teach that class before she leaves. I would love for them to get to take a class from her. 

Pics: 1-3) from Raj's lecture- demonstrators

4)posture clinic last night- Amanda, me, Pamela

5)class this morning- me, Lindsay, Amanda

Classes 55 & 56- WoW

How you practice is how you're living your life.  

"Think of it" - Bikram (one of his favorite sayings)

Classes today were ok. A teacher said to us today, from now on there are no good or bad classes, they just are. So I'm going to try to stop labeling them as good or bad. I would have to say that this morning's class was a struggle; I had (and still do have) a bad headache. It's never fun doing yoga with a headache, any posture where my head is below my chest it feels like my head is going to explode! So yeah, I struggled but made it through. Evening class was still a struggle but a little better thank goodness. 

We had lecture this afternoon from Rajashree, very interesting, can't wait to hear more tomorrow. We had an hour of posture clinic this afternoon, and we're about to head to it again until 11. We'll be doing Full Locust. 

Yesterday....was Monday. That's all I can say about that. We didn't have posture clinic at all yesterday though so that was a nice surprise! We had lecture in the afternoon and evening from Rajashree & Dr. Choudry. 

Well got to run! Ttyl!

Weekend update

Well as usual, the weekends are never long enough. It was a good weekend though. Yesterday Lindsay & I laid out a while then I got a massage on the beach...

Here's the hut all the ladies hang out under, yelling at anyone who walks by "massage?" Which sounds like massage-ay? 

And here's the tent they cram as many people as possible under. It's great for $20 though.

Lindsay & I then got pedicures at the spa here in the hotel then we met up with Chris and went to dinner at a Japanese Sushi restaurant called Yoi. It had an awesome view, it was right on the bay. The food was tasty but I must say the best part was the molten lava chocolate cake with ice cream that I got for dessert :-) 

Today we got up and went to Wal-Mart around 9:30 to get it out of the way. We then came back and ate lunch then laid out a while and visited Maria's shop- she has bathing suits & lots of other goodies for real cheap. And she gives all the yoga girls a discount, so she says. 

This is where Maria's shop & lots of other little shops are, just down the beach a ways. 

And we found a dead baby sea turtle :(  I guess the other day there were a bunch on the beach (live ones), I missed it unfortunately. 

Oh, and we did manage to study some dialogue today as you can see...

No we really did study the next 6 postures, so I think we're set for the week!

I can't believe we're already in week 6. Only 4 more weeks left. Rajashree comes back tomorrow so we will get to have her lecture all week I think. She's going to go through and discuss the medical benefits of each posture.  I'm excited to hear all about that. 

So this weekend was somewhat relaxing. We also finally figured out that there are english channels on the tv in our room. We watched the end of The Grinch; it's crazy that Christmas is just around the corner. But really we haven't even gotten to Halloween yet & they're already playing Christmas movies? It's nice to watch tv though for a change. I also treated myself to a $7 magazine- whew that's expensive- but totally worth it.  

I'm really excited for this week because my parent's get here on Thursday! Yay! 

"10 percent of life is what happens, and 90 percent is how you react to it"

-unknown

Thursday

So today was good & bad. Both classes we're really strong one's for me. I didn't sit for anything and only came out of a couple postures early. I'm really pleased at how I am able to do more than I thought I could! I mean today was one of those tough days for me, no energy, emotional, etc. so I thought this evenings class would be really hard but instead it's like my brain was so tired once I got in there that I forgot how much I didn't want to be there and instead of using all my strength to sit out of a posture I just did them all without thinking about it. Ever since they fixed the room my classes have been really strong, not sitting out for anything but I really thought today would be different...so I'm happy to see that even when I think I don't have it in me I really do.

Posture clinic was stressful for me today. I think it all started because instead of being one of the first people (last night) to do the next posture like usual, I decided to wait until today, not because I wasn't ready I just didn't feel like doing it last night. So today I think I worked myself up about it since I had so long to sit and think about doing it. I ended up doing fine though, my homework was to be louder. But, surprise, surprise, I didn't have time to even practice the next posture. The leader ended up "randomly" picking me to do the next posture no more than 30 minutes after I had just done the other one. I think he could tell I was having a rough day so he picked me not to give me a hard time but to "help" me. Looking back I see that it really did help but at the time I was like was like are you kidding me? So I knew the dialogue I just wasn't mentally prepared to do it, but I got up there & yelled like he told me to & it ended up sounding great. It was hard for me because I don't typically yell and I'm somewhat shy so it took a bit to get it out of me but I felt great afterwards. So I'm excited to see how I do the next few postures after doing so well with this last one. 

I never though I would say this...but thankfully we have lecture tonight instead of posture clinic. It's time to change things up a bit. I'm not sure whose lecturing since Bikram's not here but whoever it is I don't think they will lecture as long as Bikram does. 

Tomorrow is Friday!! That's all I have to say :)

Posture clinic last night:

(L-R): Lindsay, me, Chris, Christine, Phillipe

(all group 12)