The one thing that always increases when you give is knowledge - Dr. Bhaumik

This has been an interesting week to say the least!  The hot room has been shut down essentially all week, for some it's been a blessing, for others a curse!  To make a long story short, the fire department didn't like the double application of duct tape that was used to seal the doors (and all emergency exits) to keep the heat in.  I went from praying for something slightly shy of a natural disaster in order to miss yoga class to praying for a miracle so that I could do my yoga class!  As of tonight, we're back in the yoga business though (yay!) but our weekend has been called off and make-ups have been required on both Saturday and Sunday!!  Geez!  The Bikram yoga motto of "trust the process" now has personal meaning.  I'm slated to do 3 classes tomorrow---Lord help me!  Some new friends that I've made from my small group "GROUP 17" have volunteered to do the 3rd class with me for support!!  How nice and awesome is that?!?
We had an interesting lecture last night by a Physicist named Dr. Bhaumik, a graduate from IIT (Institute of India) who spoke about the relationship of yoga and spirituality, starting with the meaning of yoga (the union between mind, body and spirit).  He's the author of a book called Code Name God which I plan to read.  We also had a fantastic lecture today by Dr. Dilip Sankar (Eastern Virginia Medical School, Chairman of the Board Life In Yoga Institute) on yoga therapy.  He shed light on the amount of quality yoga research that has been done and much of it proves the benefits of and increased acceptance of yoga [therapy].  www.pubmed.org 
Can't wait until after teacher training to do more research and reading (other than dialogue)
Namaste~ 
Shelby

"Your mind has an ass, you have to kick it!" - Bikram

Monday night Week 6: 
Bikram kicked our asses, plain and simple last Friday night!  120 degrees, 2.25 hours! hello?!?  It was an all-time low for me!  I ran out of water (never to make that mistake again) could barely stand and do the yoga, and it took EVERYTHING in me not to leave the room and jump in the pool!  I've developed a new appreciation here for things like emergency exit signs and weekends...and other ordinary things like a washing machine, junk food, health food and not to forget, Savasana! 
It was nice to get in some beach time on Sunday and catch the solar eclipse at Manhattan Beach.  Sloopy's was a yummy cafe that we had dinner at and had we told our waitress to *"lock the knee" we would have received 10% off the bill...but we forgot!  *inside yogi joke
The pressure is high to learn quickly and nail the delivery, but we're trucking right along on the dialogue. The support and cheers at posture clinics from "group 17" is amazing - this is not something our students will do for us when we get back and "get it verbatim"!  Ha!  But I'll be cheering inside :)
Namaste      
~Shelby
  

"Give me hips, I give you spine" - Rajashree Choudhury

We are into week 5 and tomorrow at noon will be the 1/2 way point of training! Time is actually going by pretty fast and Bikram is back after being gone for 2 weeks while we studied anatomy.  I had an amazing day that started with Rajashree's morning class and a great posture clinic w/ Mark from San Antonio.  I didn't really feel like it at first, but Texas is well represented here, and it's nice.
Rajashree (Bikram's wife) is so beautiful in person and has such a sweet demeanor (although she taught no easier of a class).  She did ask "Can you handle 2 Bikram's in one day?"  I thought...you mean 4 Bikram's?... 2 Bikram classes + 2 Choudhury's = 4 Bikram's!!!
We found out that the youngest trainee is 19 yrs. old and the oldest is "in their golden years".  That means I can't use my "I'm old" card!  And yes, I do have one and I'm not afraid to use it!
We got off "easy" tonight by ending lecture before midnight --- Woo hoo!  it doesn't sound like much but I'm sure I'll be mentioning more about the late night Bollywood movies that are sure to come  Caffeine, caffeine, caffeine.
We'll see what the rest of the week has in store...
Namaste~

I had a quick trip home to celebrate Saylor's birthday this weekend.  It was so hard to leave (again) but so nice to hug & kiss my hubby and kids for a day!  Saylor had a "salon party", organized before I left, that went off without a hitch!  The stylists were so great and the salon was so beautiful.  Saylor and her friends got up-dos, make-up, nails then lunch of course!  It was a time that we'll all remember for years to come!  There was a nice, long rain storm in Austin on Saturday night too, which I enjoyed. 
It was clear that Charles is keeping our home afloat, and for that I'm grateful beyond words!!!  He's been amazing and generous and so self-less.  6 more weeks to go and hopefully we can all hang in there.
The training is still going great.  I remain injury-free and have seen improvement in my yoga practice.  I'm doing the full extension of Spine Twist pose with my hand around my back "grabbing onto my thigh" and I've learned to be much more still during class which helps me conserve energy.
Things are going well into week 4!
Namaste 

Dignity, Honesty, Integrity, Peace

Yes, this yoga is hard and as Teachers we want to motivate students to have great classes, and achieve their potential but one Teacher this week said to "Always leave your students with their dignity".  I loved this because to me it meant that it's not about "killing" students and leaving them humiliated or broken, it's about building students up and recognizing their hard work.  To me that is dignified...and more my style anyway! Honesty got mentioned in the hot room this week, during triangle pose specifically.  How honest am I about my triangle posture? Is my "right-thigh bicep parallel to the floor"?  Is it?  Is it really?  Maybe you have to be a yogi to get this, but I love how the virtue of honesty was associated with triangle pose.  I "got it"!  Integrity - as a Teacher I know I'll have to lead by example, to walk the walk, to have a strong yoga practice, but this really stood out to me today.  When it hurts, when it's hard, when I'm tired, when I want to sit out a posture or leave the room or lay down on my towel, now more than ever, I must have integrity.  If I can't do the yoga, breathe, and be still, how can I teach w/ integrity?  Lesson taught by Aiko (Studio owner NY & San Fran)
Another message I received this week was peace.  "Don't let anyone or anything steal your peace."  Simple, beautiful, understood.
Today is my lovely Saylor's 10th birthday.  I can't believe that I gave birth to her 10 years ago!  Being a mom has been the most important and rewarding aspect of my life for the last 10 years and it was hard being away from her today, but I know she'll be stronger and more grown up when I return...I hope also very proud.
Namaste.

A nice surprise

We're well into week 3 and yesterday I received a nice surprise from home.  Kathy, the GM from my home studio and another amazing and favorite teacher Afton, came here to Los Angeles to assist w/ the Training.  I got a little misty eyed, I must admit, when I found out they were here and today BOTH of them taught our morning and evening yoga classes.  It was truly a treat! 
We had the second of many posture clinics to come, where we delivered dialogue to a small panel of current Bikram Teachers from around the country (or world).  Jake (last name?) a New Yorker, was one of the Teachers giving feedback to our group today whom particularly stood out.  He's a "tell ya how it is" person, very intuitive and had a lot of great feedback and advice to offer.  I think he'd be a great mentor to have. 
We had another anatomy lecture tonight that lasted over 2 hrs. until 11:45 pm (snooze)
...but I continue to be inspired and grateful to be here and look forward to tomorrow...
Namaste    

The longer it takes you, the luckier you are because it lasts forever. - Bikram Choudhury to Jim Kallett (San Diego)

As you can tell, we don't get much free time during the week!  Week 2 was full of interesting interactions with Bikram in the yoga room (colorful language and 2+ min. posture holds); late night class discussions and not to forget, more "up til' 3:30 am Bollywood movies"!  It's borderline hazing and somewhat torturous, but I'm trying to embrace it.  I did break down and buy some junk food this week -- a 12 pack of diet cokes, some chips, microwave popcorn, a chocolate bar and a bag of Reeses -- for upcoming moments of weakness.
2ppl from the studio in Vegas (with wheels), 1 really cool girl from Ann Arbor, MI and I explored Santa Monica and walked the boardwalk of Muscle Beach last Sunday.  We had some amazing vegetarian food for lunch and also did some window-shopping.  I got my hair cut too at a cute barber shop in Venice called Rudy's.  Their slogan was "We Cut People".  Reminded me of home...mmmmm Rudy's...BBQ!  I've never seen so many vegetarian's and healthy people in general, in my life!  I thought Austin had a lot of healthy people, there are some healthy eatin' mo fo beanpoles at this Bikram Teacher Training!
Today I tackled the city bus line and walked around Beverly Hills & Rodeo Dr.  Mikimoto, Maserati, Tiffany's,  BVLGRVU? whatever that store is :)  I had some yummy thin-crust vegetarian pizza for lunch at a sidewalk cafe and a got a wonderful massage from a Therapist named Hercules! Yes, that was his name and he was strong :)  Then I came back to the hotel and squeezed in some studying.  Emilyann, from our studio in Austin, is a great study partner.  She helps me dissect the postures and we have a good time.
So many good yoga classes this week.  Jim Kallett, specifically, who's been teaching for Bikram for 14 years, is an amazing Teacher and human being.  He spoke to us for about 3 hrs. about many topics including Bikram's lineage and how yoga first came to the United States in the 70's at the World Health Organization...and shortly thereafter how interest grew because of the show "That's Incredible".   Funny huh?  I used to love that show and remember the weird yogi contortionist from when I used to watch it as a kid. Interesting story but all in all, Jim seemed so knowledgeable, and  to be a genuine and generous person.  He was very inspiring and actually completely validated my reasons for coming here!  What a great feeling!! 
On to week 3...
Namaste.

Bikram Yoga Teacher Training Spring 2012 - Day 3, 4 & 5

Brazil, Dominican Republic, Hong Kong, South Africa, Switzerland, Malaysia, Canada, United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Holland, Pakistan, Amsterdam, Venezuela, Chile, Germany, India, Mexico etc. etc. oh yeah and the U.S. ha! The U.S. it seems, is the most under-represented country here -- which is fine and kinda neat, none-the-less everyone, students from all of the world with a love for Bikram yoga and a passion for teaching, deliver Bikram's dialogue (in English) with some of the most lovely intentions and accents! It's truly amazing how the same words can be said with so much variation & style. We've laughed AT some, and cried WITH others but seeing and hearing hundreds of teacher trainees has made me realize that every one of us (all with the same desire) have something special to offer! Bikram's feedback has been funny at times, complimentary to many, very harsh and out right brutal to a few. All honest and welcome however...he is the guru!
We've done 10 classes our first week and got to experience the notorious Bollywood that is tradition here at training -- a 4 hr. movie/musical, Indian love-story. I'll have to post the title next time because I recommend watching it (over 2 nights though). It was very endearing, PG, and made me miss my hunny quite a bit :) It's like the movie Grease of our time. I think Saylor will also enjoy it a lot --- "the High School Musical" of her time.
More soon...
Namaste~

Bikram Yoga Teacher Training Spring 2012 - Day 2

Last night was our 1st Bikram yoga class from the man himself! Bikram told us to "take it easy hunny" (one of his common sayings) and to "have to a vacation week, because on week 5 we won't know who we are, where we are or where we came from"....Yikes - that scared me! Day 2 - Bikram yoga class #2: Getting my ass kicked doesn't even BEGIN to describe it! I knew exactly where I was, but I wanted out so badly! The class was 2 hours long and it must have been 120 degrees in there! Students were literally dropping like flies and being assisted out of the room. To boot, I ran out of water early on, which I will NEVER make the mistake of doing again!! And when I get home, just ask me about the 8 min. song!!! I did however, manage to stay in the room and not resort to the fetal position which I really wanted to do!!!
Tomorrow will be another tough class from one of Bikram's most senior Teachers, Emmy Cleaves. She Latvian and we've heard she's super tough.
I delivered Half-Moon Pose for Bikram tonight which is a very nerve-racking part of training that all trainees must do for his approval. I was nervous and my hand was shaking the microphone bigtime, but I think Bikram felt I nailed it! He said I did a great job, gave me several compliments and said some other cool things about me teaching and students taking yoga from me etc. It was somewhat of a blur--- I was #97 out of 100 for the day and it was 12:30am.

Bikram Yoga Teacher Training Spring 2012 - Day 1

It was hard saying goodbye to Charles and the kids yesterday!!  Saylor especially had a tough time :(  They mean THE WORLD to me and I will miss them more than words can say!!!  We will do ichat on our macs, facetime on our iphones and frequent texting which will help. 

I passed up a free beer from a gentleman w/extra drink coupons sitting next to me on the plane last night --- I'd say I'm off on the right foot, wouldn't you!?!  Had a great night of 9 hours of sleep now it's almost 10 am on day 1 and no room mate?  Could I be so lucky?

Day 1 Nutrition Log:  Breakfast - Steele cut oatmeal, 1 sugar pack, decaf green tea, 2 handfuls of walnuts
Lunch:  Veggie wrap on whole wheat tortilla, beet/carrot/ginger/celery juice

A whopping 420 Students registered!!!
Let's do this!!!

Bikram Yoga Teacher Training Spring 2012

Hooray!  My suit case has slowing been filling up since January, but after several weeks of studying the dialogue and practicing postures, It has sunk completely in!  "I'm going to Teacher Training!"  Jeff gave me the Letter of Recommendation on Friday after taking his class at Cedar Park AND being pulled up on the podium DURING class to deliver half moon pose!  I should have expected it, and although  I choked somewhat slightly, without too much embarrassment on both of our ends, he signed off!  Whoo hooo!!!  I will send my registration packet and $payment$ on Tuesday --- my 39th birthday!  Thank you Husband, for the greatest gift yet!