Optional Movie night

It's midnight and we just started a movie. Right before starting Bikram said that "because he is so nice, IF we want to leave, it's ok. BUT he also said for those who do leave we can "eat shit and die". So, I guess I'm in the "eat shit and die" group. Happy to in the room. Can't sleep quite yet. Today we had two yoga classes. Both were good. Heat not too flesh melting high and I felt strong. I believe we are on class number 80 since arriving at Teacher Training. I would like to continue doing doubles when I get back home. It feels really good. First class at 8:30am is like the "warm up" and second at 5pm seems like the "real class". Tonight we had a lecture by Bikram's brother, who is a OB-GYN. Is a professor at UCLA. It was interesting but I'm not sure what the reproduction system has to do with yoga. People (all women) were asking questions about their bodies. I fell asleep once. Heard a question about Human Papilloma Virus and woke up again. More questions on HPV... and more... Hmmmmm? Well, better get some sleep. All is well in Yogaland. My Mom came to visit last night. It was soooo nice to see her and catch up. Love Moms! Your the BEST!

Mondays

Monday morning.... 8AM.... more than half naked..... and off to work!

Lenny the Dog

Sunday and one yoga class down. One to go. Then off to celebrate a birthday. French guy (who I have made it clear to that I'm going to be staying at his flat in France very soon), so you know it will be a interesting night. Looking forward to it. Especially since it feels like we havent really had much of a weekend here. I did get out for breakfast recently. Went to a place on Abbott Kinney that I love. I think it's called Three Squares? Anyway, they have fantastic food. Being served food is now a luxury. Simple pleasures as having someone deliever a cup of coffee to you while you sit down at a table has become so rewarding. Then when the food comes, you just feel like a million dollars. So simple, but so beautiful. I think I wanted to give our server a big hug and kiss after the meal. Being in the yoga room so much just makes you want to connect with people. So, I did have a break-through moment during this same meal. I had finished eating, just kind of hanging out looking at people. Families passing by, couples holding hands, random homeless person, hippies with surfboards, skateboarders listening to music... I started to look at the table next to me and noticed that the small dog on the womens lap was really well behaved and really didn't move the entire meal. THEN... the dog did something amazing. There was a piece of bacon on the table by the womans coffee cup, on the saucer underneath to be exact. I watched the dog slowly, very very slowly inch forward toward the bacon. He was then touching the bacon with his nose, I guess taking a big sniff, then the dog puts the bacon in it's mouth. AND THEN... he put it back and went back to his curled up position on the womans lap. I watched all this over about a 2 minute timeframe, but I think my life changed. I said that I think I have just witnessed the most powerful display of willpower by any animal or human. After sharing what I had just seen, someone said, "that dog could be your Guru"!!! And you know what, no disrespect to Bikram but seriously the dog blew my mind. His name is Lenny and he is a rescue dog. Was treated very poorly in the past. You could tell that he has a wonderful life now. I watched him trott off with his owners and it really looked like he was so happy that his paws barely touched the ground. Lenny the Dog. My new Guru.

Eyes Closed, Breathing Normal

OK this is hilarious. I just woke up, it's 6AM. So, firstly, I'm happy that the clock didn't read 3:30 AM and I slept through the night. Secondly, Sharon my Aussie roommate just informed me that last night, while I was dead asleep I was snoring and saying the dialoge!! REALLY! Are you serious. I DONT SNORE and I DONT KNOW THIS FUCKING DIALOGE! But she swears that I was and tried to get me to shut up and then I started to just mimick whatever she said!! Wow, this is proof that I have lost my mind. Finally some tangable, indisputable truth. Sharon also said that I was rehearsing "Tree Pose" and said it perfectly word by word. I guess my brain is playing tricks on me because during posture clinics I struggle to get the words out. So freaking wierd. So, we both had a good laugh about it. Today we have two make up classes. Starting at 7:30 AM I hope you all think about me while your having a relaxing fun weekend. I'll be drenched in sweat once again. But it's cool, it really is. I'm good with it. It's why I'm here and I don't quite have a six pack yet so bring it!! Last night, I re-read all the cards that my beautiful female friends back home gave me before I left. They are filled with words of encouragement, hope and joy. I felt so loved, so very loved. Thank you again for being there for me. You all know who you are... I love you!!!

Your Life is Subject to Change...

Heat, no heat.... Heat, no heat..... So we think we have a 7:30 PM class tonight, after no classes since Tuesday. I did go to a awesome BHY class at the brand new Marina Del Ray Bikram studio at 5:30 AM today. The studio is beautiful. I met the owner and hope to teach there sometime in the future. I come back to Los Angeles about twice or three times a year. 5:30 AM is the earliest I've EVER taken class. I think I got in a full day of activities before noon. This afternoon we had a lecture from Dr. Dilip Sarkar. It was about East meeting West medical science intervention lecture. Very good, I think the best I have heard to date here at TT. Dr. Sarkar said that it's only a matter of time now before yoga therapy will be integrated into how the West treats chronic diseases and disease management. I know it's coming. This is in my wheelhouse and I can't tell you how many physicians have told me over the years if only their patients would go for a walk OR do some yoga, they would be so much better off than just visiting their doc when something comes up. If people got intune with their own bodies, I think the USA's GDP would jump off the charts. So many things would change because the people would change. The Cleveland Clinic offers 10 yoga classes per day for their employees and has a new position called Chief Wellness Officer at the clinic. On thing that Dr. Sarkar said brillantly is that a genetic predispostion is something that you can't get around, as a person. Or other words, if your mother gets heart disease you have a genetic predispostion to also develop heart disease. This is a fact. However, if you change your behaviour than that of your mother, in particular start doing a regular yoga practice, then you achieve genetic suppression of this high risk genetic predispostion. That kind of sums up what the physicians were telling me all along. Do something different for your body, mind and spirit and you will take a different path.

It's a Yoga Yoga World

Week Seven. Dialoge done. Completed posture 26 in class today. Whewwww Check that off the list. Now, lots of lectures and some hot yoga sessions. But wait, we can't do yoga because our big yoga ballroom was shut down by the Los Angeles Fire Department. Yes, it is true. I guess it wasn't to code on some electical issues and we have not had yoga for two days now. Most people would think that a reprive from two sessions of 90 minutes of torchure would be nice. No not this crowd. If they don't get the problem fixed quickly they are heading for a massive yoga meltdown of a epic level. I said to my roommate tonight they if they don't get the damn room heated up, I might just need to take up Vinyasa Flow. So, people are freaking out a bit about that. Scrambling to Manhattan Beach studio or Headquarters to get their "Yoga Fix". When you're used to a certain routine, it's a bit difficult to change. Remember Jake from Shawshank Redeption? He never made it on the outside. Similair situation here. We might have some yogis etching their name on the ceiling at our beautiful Radisson hotel rooms and then getting the noose out, kick the chair over and your done. Namaste...

Fascia

Yesterday we had a lecture by Jon Burras about Facia. I hope I never hear the word Facia ever again. It was kind of interesting, this Fascia stuff but there is something about that word that bugs me. Not sure what. In any event, fascia is in our body. It is the connective tissue surrounding all our muscles, nerves, organs... just about everthing in the body. What he was trying to say is that Fascia is the glue that holds our bodies together and keeps us upright. (not the bones) Also that the Fascia acts as a superhighway for our energy lines. If the Fascia is dead or damaged you get a blockage in your energy in that area. Jon's lecture was interesting but he made some medical claims that I thought were pretty unsubstantiated. I don't think that's very cool. Not with a group like this, who trust people are telling them the truth. Today he is speaking on Chakras. I think this is more in his wheelhouse and experience. I have a feeling the lecture will be very enlightening. Get back to ya on that. So, Training is plugging along. It's FRIDAY. Everyone is happy. Three weeks left. That makes me sad to think about. I love the yoga bubble we are all in. Imagine going somewhere, surrounded by likeminded people who you can live with, eat with, learn with, grow with.... As a adult, I know that this is very unique and special. I was given a couple quotes from someone here at TT who's life has changed quite substantially before coming and is continuing to change. It's a beautiful process to watch. Here they are. "Somewhere out there beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field - I will meet you there" and also "Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every door" and of course this last quote I love so much. (see below)