Namaste or Should I Go?

"The healthiest competition occurs when average people win by putting in above-average effort."

2012-02-08T19:19:00.000-08:00

So January 28th has come and gone, and you're probably wondering how the yoga competition went...but with a team of badass yogis like these, how could it go wrong?

COMPETITION WEEK! started off with me finally, finally grabbing my hands regularly in guillotine, thanks in part to advice from Zeb, from former competitor and erstwhile Bikram Yoga Cleveland student Becky, and also just me doing it over and over and over and over again. So I was feeling pretty good about competition, except for, as you know, my inability to consistently land Standing Head to Knee.

Then Friday morning, just before my usual 10am class, Zeb told me good news and bad news. Good news: Mary Jarvis was going to stop by and check out our postures! Bad news: His car was in the shop and he wondered if he could borrow mine to pick Mary Jarvis up from the airport.

Why is this bad news? Well, before I became a car owner, I used to scoff at the filthy losers who would dirty up their car, throwing empty Starbucks cups and granola bar wrappers and so forth into the backseat without a second thought. And in San Francisco I had a car place where, for a mere $20, they would clean (and vacuum!) my car inside and out, so it never got very bad. But here in Cleveland, I practically live in my car as I drive to and from Pittsburgh, and I rarely have backseat passengers, and I haven't found a car cleaning place, and, well...

It was bad folks. Zeb said he didn't mind...he could toss the BAG OF TRASH in my backseat. But as I was signing people into that 10am class I was remembering all the crap in my car. Oh no, like the mason jars that I make my green smoothies in and then I have so many that sometimes I just toss the empty dirty jars in the backseat and leave them there...

In any case, I decided to just accept the fact that two of my yoga idols were hanging out in my dirty dirty car. And besides, it was worth it to have Mary Jarvis back at Bikram Yoga Pittsburgh, where she provided help, insight, and inspiration to all of us. She's a special lady! (My mom after my last post: "you talked a LOT about that Mary lady." also, "she was in your car? Does it still have that weird smell?" So I'll wrap up the Tale of the Dirty Dirty Car here and move on to...)

COMPETITION DAY! Saturday morning we took the 8am class at Bikram Yoga Pittsburgh. It was PACKED, the whole back row peppered with competitors, and the lovely Maggie had us do our routines simultaneously for the rest of class at the very end. The echo effect as we announced postures was fun, and I got some of my first-time jitters out. I thought.

The Pennsylvania regionals took place at the Union Project, a renovated church in the East End. Rebecca and Lisa of Bikram Yoga Squirrel Hill did a fantastic job of arranging the Yoga Expo, with a variety of free yoga demonstrations in addition to the competition itself (although the chanting during the first few competitors' routines was a little humorously distracting!)

The judges' GPS took them to the wrong side of the city, so we got started 45 minutes late. My mom, meanwhile, asked when I thought I would go on, since she wanted to do some errands. I said probably not until 1:30pm at the earliest. But as soon as the judges were there, we were moving FAST. There was very little time in between routines, contrary to my Northern California regional experience, which moved at a snails pace and took quite literally, all day. HURRY UP AND GET HERE I texted my mom, but when I walked onstage at 1:25pm, I quickly scanned the audience and didn't see her. Oh, well.

You've seen this, right?

So once I was onstage, my heart started POUNDING. I've been onstage before - piano competitions, theatrical productions, that sort of thing - so I vaguely remembered this feeling. But I've never had that feeling while doing an activity that actually required BALANCE and STILLNESS. Um, what? As I reached for my foot in Standing Head to Knee I was baffled...I'm still shaking, and I'm supposed to balance now?

The good news - I nailed the posture! The bad news - I fell out as I exited it! That's okay. Moving on.

Not too shabby. I like to think that the lovely Suzan from Bikram Yoga Pittsburgh (and there were so many BY Pittsburgh students there to cheer us on, it really is such a wonderful community there!) snapped this photo before I was in the full expression, but I suspect that I didn't succeed in getting those two heels in one line. Or my head up. Or my arm down enough. Will work on it. Bow was good, Rabbit was good...and in the middle of Rabbit, in the middle of the silence that accompanied everyone's routines once they shut the door between the demo room and the workshop room, I heard the door to the hall loudly blow open. That is totally my mom, I thought. I was right.

Guillotine! I need to get those shoulders behind my legs more, and LOCK MY KNEES, but I'll get there.

So overall, a positive experience. But the BEST part was watching my fellow yogis. I was just so impressed to see how far they've come. It reminded me of taking classes from my fellow Spring 2011 teacher trainees...you're just SO excited and proud you can't contain it! Look at this awesomeness!

Yes, I am not in the video. The videographer/friend of competitor shut off the camera when Ohio walked onstage...oops :)

They've since published the top scores by state and I scored a 62, which seems to be about average for 2nd place finishers nationwide, so I'm potentially not going to be the WORST yogi at Nationals (bottom 10? I can hope for bottom 10). Because that's right...I'm going to Nationals! In NYC March 3rd! Crazy, right?

Now I'm training like crazy, trying to learn Full Camel or Full Cobra to replace the little-too-beginner pose that is Pigeon. My back hurts, my shoulders hurt, but I'm getting there. Jeannine, my studio owner in Cleveland, has been really supportive, letting me do third sets of postures in class, and giving me full use of the yoga room during off hours. I'll try to post more often between now and then, but in the meantime...wish me luck!

A few bits and pieces to share before I sign off, teach a couple classes, do a couple backbends...

President Obama spoke at a small high school in Cleveland and I WAS THERE! Why? Well, because of yoga, of course! A visiting student from Chicago got a little ill during class and left the room, hung out in the lobby for a while getting chummy with front desk girl Sarah, and next thing I know, it turns out she's an event coordinator for Obama and I've got a ticket! Yoga is the best.

I taught my biggest class ever! We only have two classes on Saturdays and Sundays, so the Sunday classes have been geting bigger and bigger. One 3pm class in mid January started filling up rather quickly. The regulars were just slipping into the studio as we took care of the long line of newbies, figuring they would check in with us later - but as a result, we lost track of how many students were in there. We've estimated capacity at 60 but figured we'd never fit more than 55 in there. How many students did I count during that first savasana? FIFTY-NINE! Astonishing.

Even more astonishing...that the energy in the room was so amazing. It could easily have turned into a grouch fest, given the mat-to-mat proximity, the extra heat and humidity (and sweat!) from so many bodies...but it was a really solid class. THREE different students told me afterwards that they had accomplished something they'd never done before - wrapping their legs in Eagle, or holding Standing Bow for the full minute, for example. It was exciting, exhilarating...and exhausting. Good times!

My mom got a mild concussion from yoga! Okay, that's not exciting news. It is bad news. She was taking her 3rd bikram yoga class ever with me, felt like vomiting, ran out of the room, passed out, and smacked her face on the bathroom tile. She's still feeling not so great, and I doubt I'll ever get her back in the hot room regularly, which is a shame because I was so delighted that she was getting into it - but I tell you this story because it really underscored for me why we encourage people, over and over, to stay in the room.

I'm a little more direct now when my students start to leave the room, or at least have them sit in the lobby where I can see them for a few minutes, to adjust to the temperature change. We don't tell students to stay in the room because we're control freaks...they can hurt themselves! I've since told the story of my mom's concussion in the middle of class twice, to better express to students why we encourage them to stay. So...thanks Mom :)

Last but not least...the best response to the New York Times article I've yet seen (because yes, I HAVE read that New York Times article. Everyone and their mom has forwarded it or mentioned it to me):

http://www.theawl.com/2012/01/six-reasons-to-ignore-the-new-york-times-yoga-article

Oh, even better, I'll leave you with this: Zeb's champion routine! 72.5!

What I've Been Up To For Seven Weeks...And There's Something About Mary

2012-01-03T13:43:00.000-08:00

Whoa...has it really been seven whole weeks since my last post? Do I really have 35 followers now and get a dozen or so hits a day even though I haven't posted in seven whole weeks!? You folks are loyal.

I think it's time to come clean - I may set grandiose goals of blogging weekly and adding posture-specific blog posts, etc, but at the end of the day, I will only ever be a once-a-month blogger who spends her valuable blogging time just rambling on about her life. Unless, of course, I can find a way to monetize this sucker, given that one of my new year's resolutions is to find a few additional income sources. Speaking of which, anyone need some grantwriting? I'm available!

Oh yeah, Happy New Year! Have you made your New Years Resolutions? I get really into the resolution thing...I create a long, detailed lists with subcategories and action steps and so forth. They're fun to read after the fact...for example, in 2010, under subcategory "Get Good at the Things I Want To Be Good At," "practice yoga 2 - 3 times/week" seems laughably easy, whereas "practice jazz piano at least five hours a week" kinda sorta didn't happen...

Sad to say, "Blog Every Week" is not on the 2012 list, although "Don't Be a Hobo or a Hermit" is, including the subheaders "accessorize teaching outfits" and "throw out the really old clothes." You've been good to me, Adidas stretchy capris that I bought at Ross Dress for Less five years ago, but I think your time is up.

So much has happened in seven weeks, where do I begin!? Let's do this chronologically...

November 27th: Chris and Fiona Arrive!

Remember this goofball, who was so much a part of my training life that my mom said upon meeting him "I feel like I know you!"? I never would have guessed, when he moved to Ireland after training, to teach yoga with his lovely Irish girlfriend Fiona, that I would see him again six months later! But in one of those wonderful quirky yoga community coincidences, turns out one of the two other Bikram Yoga Cleveland teachers, Erica, had a best friend in training named...Fiona! So when Chris and Fiona were planning their trip to the states, they managed to fit Cleveland and Pittsburgh into their agenda.

Both of them taught a class in Cleveland, and Fiona ever ran an advanced class for us teachers! That was such a fantastic treat. We sampled Cleveland's vegetarian offerings (Tommy's has the most amazing vegetarian French Onion Soup, but their Brown Rice & Veggies...not so much) and then they joined me on my weekly trip to Pittsburgh.

Let me tell you, it is SO much fun to hang out full time with hardcore yoga people. Where we eat carrot sticks and hummus all day and drive fast so we can make it to Pittsburgh in time to take our second class of the day. In addition to just generally being an awesome person, as it turns out, Fiona is a yoga goddess (see above) so I learned a lot from her and felt like I gained some clarity around the role of yoga in my new life.

We took a trip up the incline to see the Pittsburgh skyline, and wandered around a few of Pittsburgh's better neighborhoods - my home of Squirrel Hill, and the Strip District, where a talkative Turkish fellow convinced us to follow him into the back of the store where he had canaries for sale, and made some apparently hilarious, but kind of unintelligible, jokes.

We took Zeb's class, I taught a class, Fiona taught a class, we had a delicious meal and yoga people time at Kaya, and the next morning, off they went to Richmond, Virginia where they were spending the week with Mary Jarvis. Fiona told me after their week had ended "you will love Mary, everything will make sense." Who is this Mary character, you ask?

December 16th: Mary Jarvis arrives in Pittsburgh and Danielle becomes A TOTAL GROUPIE. OH MY GOD YOU GUYS MARY IS SO AMAZING. So December 18-19 Mary Jarvis, one of Bikram's most senior teachers, the coach for a number of championship yogis, and a legend in the Bikram community, provided a two-day seminar at Bikram Yoga Pittsburgh (she's good friends with, and former coach to, Zeb). I'd heard her speak at the Northern CA regional competition last year (whoa, that feels like a decade ago) but had never met or trained with her. Needless to say, I was excited.

So Friday morning as usual, I taught the 6am. I then decided to buy a biscotti and a coffee. The La Prima coffee lady tried to SHAME me when I asked for skim milk with my coffee. "That'll go great with that cookie you're eating," she said. I tried to explain that I like the taste of skim better than cream...but now I better understand the restaurant customers I used to inwardly mock when they ordered diet cokes with their Breakfast Smiles. Anyhoo...

Please don't eat the sausage at Eat 'n Park...in it's raw form, it's kind of green.

At the last minute Mary decided to teach the 10am - the students were a little surprised when I snuck into the back row with the other teachers and Mary walked in. Two hours later, I felt stretched, inspired and delighted, and after drinking a big jar of green juice, I spent the next few hours with the other yogis training for competition as Mary taught us new lunges and exercises and told stories. At 3:30 it was time to open the door for the 4pm class, which I taught, since I'd missed the 10am.

After the class, I helped sign people in for Laena's 6pm, and got into my car. Geez, I thought. I just spend twelve hours here doing and teaching yoga on four hours of sleep and all I ate was a biscotti. I should be EXHAUSTED. And I'm so jazzed I could keep going for hours!

This child really captures my sense of enthusiasm, I think...look at that grin!

And that's how how Saturday went too...yoga yoga yoga yoga all day. A three hour beginner class (there a girl who inadvertently showed up for her first class on Mary day, and stayed...can you imagine!? And to answer your question, she did come back!), a four hour-or-so seminar, and then exercises and conversation with Mary until the wee hours of the night.

When I got out of bed Sunday morning for my drive to Cleveland I could barely move. When I arrived at the studio after a couple of hours of driving my legs were so stiff I practically fell out of the car. And that evening after teaching, I did the training exercises on my own...and I've done them nearly every day since.

It's hard to explain unless you're there...and it makes me sound a little like this girl...but with Mary, everything does make sense. You're reminded why you fell in love with yoga in the first place. She's funny, quirky, intelligent, brilliant, every superfluous adjective applies. I know, I know, no one is perfect - for example, like Bikram, she can tell the same story more than once - but a month later I'm still riding on that Mary train.

Sample insights (that you might hear me say in class):

- Don't form emotional opinions about your postures. If you fall out, say "that's interesting" and get back in.

- We stay in the present moment in yoga so when great moments happen, we're there for it.

- You paid good money to be in a room with a furnace...so why spend your time trying to cool yourself down?

Okay, okay, I know you're getting tired of the Mary gushing, so let's move on...

December 26th: Danielle visits Bikram Yoga Annapolis and her family wreaks havoc. It took me a while to recover from the no-yoga-endless-eating that was my Thanksgiving holiday, so I was determined to visit a Bikram studio during my two days in Kensington, MD for Christmas with my Dad and his family. There's a studio a few miles away in Bethesda, but when I went to check their schedule the week before they were CLOSED! (for renovations)

So I decided (and my affable little brother agreed to tag along, since I was giving him a ride to Philadelphia) to drive to Annapolis, a quaint little historic town where Zeb said the studio was fantastic...and it was! The heat was perfect, the instruction was wonderful, and my body was SO grateful for the stretch after the feast the night before (AND the feast that morning...when Dad offers homemade french toast an hour before class, you can't say no!).

Ben's on the far right. We like interesting family pictures.

When class started, my little (well, eighteen year old, so not so little anymore) brother Ben was hanging out in the lobby waiting for my dad and little little brother Caleb to pick him up. There are big picture windows from the lobby into the studio, so after Dad arrived I watched in the mirror as he wandered around the lobby, looking at pictures, then peered into the picture window, looked around for me, found me (in Standing Head to Knee), waved urgently to get my attention, and then gave me a thumbs up.

High school Danielle would have been mortified - because I wasn't the only one watching these strangers wandering around the lobby and eagerly gesticulating - but grownup Danielle thought it was hilarious.

Of course, then Ben OPENS THE DOOR, props it open with his foot so the cold air can rush in, and interrupts the teacher mid-sentence to say "excuse me...I'm leaving now. Do you want me to lock the door?" Oh, family. They mean well :)

This post is getting lengthy (clearly seven weeks is too long a time) so let's wrap it up...

Can you find Danielle in this training photo? Hint: I'm not actually doing the posture

January 2nd: Danielle grabs her hands in Guillotine! Not exactly earth shattering news, but I'm determined to make this one of my postures for competition. So picture me in the middle of class, in the posture above, staring at my own butt and grinning like a fool. Good times.

Coming up on Namaste or Should I Go...

January 8th at 12pm: Free yoga! The lovely Barbara H., who went to the last training, will be teaching a mock class on Sunday. If you've been practicing a while (can be self-sufficient and patient in class) and I haven't already talked to you about this, check in with me or just show up - the more, the merrier.

Let's give Barbara a nice big group of supportive students for her second mock class (the first time was just two teachers...fellow recent grads, can you IMAGINE what that was like?!)

At my pre-training sendoff...Esther, Laura, Stephanie, and Sarah, miss you ladies!

January 15th: Bikram Yoga in Chicago, and my reunion with some of my favorite SF ladies, Stephanie and Laura!

January 28th...I will NOT fall out of Standing Head to Knee on stage. I will NOT.

Till next time, beloved readers...

Love Danielle

Local Food and Lots of News

2011-11-21T10:48:00.000-08:00

Hello my friends! So much for that "blogging every Monday" business, right? Well I have a new idea...every other week I'll blog about a particular posture in the Bikram series rather than write a whole long newsy post. I find that my readership is including more and more students and teachers who don't want to hear about my mom's first class (oh yeah, that's coming up later!) but DO want to hear more about the yoga itself, and as I learn more and more about the series, I might as well share it with you! What do you think?

Lots of bibs and bobs to report today, but first and foremost...we've got a guest post from the lovely Lyn of Lyn Life Style.

Recently, thanks to favorite Cleveland resident Amanda's suggestion, I joined the Ohio Blogging Association. Today is November Blog Swap! - bloggers from around Northeast Ohio are guest posting on one another’s blogs as a way to get to know others in the blogging community. For a full listing of blog swap participants, check out Poise in Parma.

I tried to convince Lyn to take my class and blog about it, but I think she still needs a little convincing...in the meantime, she's got lots of tips and tricks on eating locally here in Cleveland to share, which is always useful for the health-conscious yogi. I, for one, am delighted to learn that winter CSAs are available in Cleveland. Enjoy!

Local Eats in Cleveland, Ohio

Hi! I’m Lyn from Life Lyn Style and I’m guest posting today. I write about food, family, exercise, eating local and other life happenings.

Over the last 3 years, I’ve been developing an interest about eating locally-grown foods and I have been surprised how many products and items come from within 75 miles of Cleveland.

I thought I’d share my 3 favorite ways to find local foods.

1. Join a CSA. “CSA” stands for Community Supported Agriculture. In most cases, you buy a farm share where you pay up front at the beginning of a growing season. Then, each week all season long, you receive a box of in-season local products. Some CSAs are all produce, while others include dairy, meat and dry goods. We are members of the Fresh Fork Market and Geauga Family Farms CSAs. We have received items ranging from chickens and veal to tomatoes and plums. I never knew that items like apricots, yogurt, whole wheat flour and oats are available from local producers.

2. Search out your local farmers’ market. I enjoy the market at Howe Meadows in the Peninsula area. It’s a bit of a drive for us, but we enjoy it a couple of times a summer. I also like the Shaker Square market. I make myself buy something I’ve never tried whenever I go to a market. Usually, it’s an unusual melon or squash that catches my eye. It’s also fun to talk to the farmers and learn about their business.

3. Going to U-Pick farms is another great way to find local produce. We’ve really enjoyed learning about the seasonality of fruits and some veggies for picking. This year, my kids and I picked strawberries, grapes, plums, apples, peaches, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, currants, tomatoes, peppers, and peas. We could have picked even more varieties, but there are only so many days in a week.

A good reference website is www.growhio.org. This site has CSA, farmers’ markets, pick-your-own information, and much more.

Try including some local products in your diet. It’s good for you, the environment and the economy, and my husband keeps telling me how much better the local products taste!

...and we now return to regularly scheduled yoga programming!

Yoga...Competition?

Remember when I first blogged about the phenomenon that is the USA Yoga Federation? Well, guess who's going to the Pennsylvania Regional Yoga Asana Cup in January?

Don't get TOO excited...I'm certainly not doing it to become a serious competitor. You have to train long & hard to get as good as current world champ Joseph up there. But it's a really great opportunity to bring my own practice to the next level. Besides, what else am I going to do this winter here in Cleveland besides hibernate and spend as much time in the hot room as possible? (seriously folks. I'm already wearing a bathrobe over a sweater indoors and it's not even cold yet. I am getting closer.)

Plus, now I've got access to the aforementioned Pittsburgh studio owner and yoga champ Zeb, who despite my limitations has been teaching me training exercises and getting me excited for the possibilities. This will be fun! But I'm realistic...much like my triathlon goal of "Don't Drown," my yoga competition goal is "Don't Embarrass Yourself and Fall Down." Fingers crossed...

MJ Visits the 'Burgh

Speaking of Pittsburgh, guess who's coming for a two-day seminar extravaganza December 17th and 18th? The legendary Mary Jarvis, that's who! I saw Mary speak at the Northern California regionals and she is so inspiring and hilarious. I tried to take her class a few times in San Francisco, but she was always out of town doing seminars like these. Now is my chance!

She'll teach a 10AM class and then run seminars and posture clinics until evening-time. It's pretty exciting and if any Cleveland folks want to spring the $85 to take the Saturday class/seminar, I've got four seats in my little Yaris with your names on it! Just let me know.

My mom and sister in a happy/yoga-free moment

Breaking News: Mom Does Bikram Yoga

So I don't think I told my blog readers this story, but right before our road trip my little sister Allison took a class that I taught at Bikram Yoga Walnut Creek and she HATED IT. She hated every single sweaty second of it. Any time I met her eyes she would give me this horrible, baleful look of anger and despair. Not on purpose, because she tried...she really tried...

Admittedly it was a hot class, and I wasn't at the top of my game, but still...she got on the phone with my mom immediately afterwards, who had recently purchased a Groupon to Bikram Yoga Squirrel Hill, and told her in no uncertain terms that she should never, ever try Bikram Yoga. Ever. Don't listen to Danielle. EVER.

Image stolen from Oprah

Well, some time went by and Mom isn't really one to waste money, and after I tried a few classes at Bikram Yoga Squirrel Hill I was confident that they would take good care of her (and the class wasn't TOO hot). So last Friday, off we went together to Bikram Yoga Pittsburgh, finally cashing in that Groupon.

Thanks to chronic knee and neck issues, my Mom was terrified ("I wrote down all my problems on that piece of paper," she whispered. "They're going to read it, right?") but game. She assured me that she planned to sit out the whole class if she felt like it; but she was willing to give Bikram a chance, Allison's ominous warnings or no. I fully expected her to take a hot nap and maybe be impressed by my floor bow.

But guess what? She loved it! She did so well, trying each and every posture to the best of her ability. She liked the heat, enjoyed the teaching and felt taken care of by teacher Lisa...and really loved how she felt afterwards. She went back a few days later on her own! So for those family and friends still too afraid to try Bikram....talk to my mom. It's not so scary after all!

Along those lines...I'm always enthralled by the stories of Bikram yogis whose lives are utterly transformed by the yoga. But how often do you actually get to be a part of that transformation? Well, the other day one of my dear students, who started Bikram when we opened the studio in Cleveland, mentioned that she's suffered from chronic pain most of her life. "But the other day I was standing in the kitchen and I said to my husband..."I don't feel any pain right now!""

Sometimes leaving the nonprofit fundraising world to teach yoga seems a little selfish or self-indulgent to me. But when I hear stories like these, I know that I'm still having a positive (albeit different) impact on the people and world around me...and that's pretty awesome.

That's it for now friends...have a beautiful week and see you next Monday!

Six Weeks in Cleveland: I Have Become Mr. Rogers

2011-10-25T14:19:00.000-07:00

Who's ready for an update on learning to be a good Bikram Yoga instructor? It's been a fascinating, busy few weeks, and I wanted to share a bit on what I've learned and experienced.

But first...I'm finally living by myself! I have a cute little carriage house in Cleveland Heights. The previous tenants were: a fellow who was commuting back and forth to Detroit for a year...and before him, a woman who lived there for SIXTEEN YEARS. Well, first she lived in the house (according to oldest of the three young daughters who live in the main house, she "came with the house") and then she moved to the carriage house, where she gradually went a little bit crazy.

Yes, I have taken over a crazy cat lady's home. It's already furnished, which is SO fantastic, but every once and while I'll notice that the mug I'm drinking from has a cat painted on it or says "Retired, Not Expired!" and wonder if the spirit of the crazy cat lady is the reason that I'm suddenly obsessed with getting a kitten...so thanks a LOT, Stephanie, for introducing me to this blog.

My other obsession over the past week has been finally becoming the proud owner of my very own Vitamix. As you probably know because I couldn't stop talking about it last week, I successfully traded a batch of peanut butter cookies, proofreading a few papers, and almost HALF the price the dude on craiglist was asking for his six-month-old barely used Vitamix. I have since made wonderful breakfast and lunch smoothies, the best gluten-free pumpkin spice muffins ever...

To sum up, I now spend many of my non-yoga-ing hours looking at photos of adoptable kittens, drinking tea from a "Retired Not Expired" mug as my baked goods are a-baking. I AM turning into a crazy cat lady!

You can actually buy this costume online. Lame. Although I think I just figured out a possible Halloween costume...SEXY crazy cat lady? Along the same lines as the classic sexy Abraham Lincoln?

Speaking of yoga-ing, that's been going GREAT. While I miss my SF friends so much sometimes it hurts (and I'm so proud of them all...Kelly is rocking 14 classes a week, Renata ran a freakin' HALF IRONMAN, Stephanie moved to Chicago for a bigwig nonprofit job, just to name a few - yeah, I only make friends with awesome people), I've been enjoying my new lifestyle here in Cleveland.

Its been fantastic to see how our students are already growing and blossoming (like a flower petal blooming!). I'm also grateful for the three lovely ladies I'm working with every day - I never, ever leave my house thinking "I really don't feel like working today." I'm learning so much about teaching and doing yoga, I love it! Here are just a few recent revelations:

I feel obliged to point out that I stole this adorable image from a stranger's family blog via Google image search. Creepy. But she's so happy with her image in the mirror!

Bikram Yoga is great for overcoming self- consciousness. Bikram studios have mirrors - big, floor to ceiling mirrors, like a dance studio, covering one whole wall and at least one side wall. These can take a little getting used to, and I often see new students looking here, there, everywhere - at the students in front of them, watching me on the podium - rather than following the instruction to look in their own eyes, even smile at themselves, at the mirror.

They are baffled by the skimpy clothes that we have available for sale, because they'd never be caught dead in them - they're too fat, skinny, veiny, etc. You're just not pretty in Bikram yoga...no one is! (except for THESE people. As my mom used to say, Jeez Louise!).

But what's wonderful to see is when beginners start to overcome that initial self consciousness - when they're confident enough to move closer to the mirror, when they stop watching other people all the time and start seeing themselves more clearly, when they buy a pair of tight short shorts because let's face it, it's hot in there and if other students see my muffin top, so be it. Bikram ultimately forces you into a self-acceptance that I think is a really beautiful thing...but it takes time.

Thus I found the cheesiest phrase leaving my mouth last week - "You're all beautiful in your own unique way." And I was COMPLETELY sincere. Because I could see people getting frustrated, sighing in exasperation, shooting me a look when I tell them "eventually, two knees in one line," because they think that will never happen for them. And I felt at that moment that maybe they didn't fully appreciate just how beautiful, strong, and flexible they really were! But the Mr. Rogers (or god forbid, BARNEY) moment was maybe a little much, earnest as it may have been...

I've had my own lessons in overcoming self consciousness recently. I finally bought a pair of the Tonic booty shorts (kind of like these) that we sell at the studio, and Erica was exactly right - they're not cute, but damn if they don't stay in place the whole class.

I also stopped saying "I'm not very good at this posture" before demonstrating a posture for my class - because I'm as good as I need to be, they're getting the information they need regardless of how high up I can kick in Standing Bow, and ultimately that sort of self-deprecation is exactly what I'm reminding them to avoid!

After all...Yoga is fun. Yoga is a practice! One of my new regular students in Cleveland (who deserves some sort of fashionista profile in a happenin' Cleveland magazine or something (is there such a thing?) given that she has the best outfits) told me that she carries a lot of tension in her shoulders and hunches them in class (the same problem I used to have). She felt like the yoga was working but wondered if there was anything she could do, other than just relax them when she saw it happening. And...that's exactly what she needed to do!

Yoga is not a magic potion that will suddenly, immediately cure what ails you...it takes time, and practice, like any other physical discipline or sport. Patience and compassion for where you are right now is all you need in Bikram Yoga - the rest will come in time (as long as you're still using your English bulldog determination and Bengal tiger strength, of course!)

Speaking of patience, slowly but surely I've been improving my teaching in Pittsburgh, where I now teach 3 times/week on Thursdays and Fridays (and thus get to hang out with my mom and drink wine while I raid her refrigerator...good times!). It's different from what I'm used to, not just in practicalities like teaching from the back/sides of the room instead of on a podium at the front, but the students themselves!

Allison can translate this for me but it's got something to do with the tree calling tree pose "Boring!!"

I've become more comfortable with the genuine stillness and silence in the Pittsburgh studio that the owners have cultivated and the students have achieved over the past 3 years, and thus am better able to share that stillness with the students in Cleveland.

From taking classes with Zeb and Shannon, the yoga rockstars of Pittsburgh, I'm starting to better understand the intricacies of postures and can then share them with my advanced/advancing students in Cleveland...but what I'm learning from Jeannine and Erica and with the students in Cleveland helps me be compassionate and effective towards new students in Pittsburgh.

Basically, the contrast between these two studios - and the sheer amount I get to teach now - means that I think I'm becoming a better teacher!

You may be surprised to learn this but...there's a fair bit of yoga going on in this fair city! And I've had some fun exploring it when I can. I always like trying out other yoga disciplines, to remind myself what it's like to be a beginner, to push myself a little harder with the unfamiliar, and to see where my students are coming up with some of their own wacky modifications on the Bikram series.

For example, bubbly front desk lady Sarah invited me to my first Cleveland Yoga class, where I very much enjoyed the teacher's informal vibe, the six hour long partial pigeon pose, and seeing Sarah rock out the power flow. I was not such a fan of phrases like "nobody co-signs your shit" (um...what?) but to each his own...

I also drove out to the middle of nowhere to check out Chagrin Yoga, where I discovered that my arm/ab muscles are stronger than the last time I tried to hold plank in vinyasa yoga, and that I'm still thrown when yoga teachers grab my sweaty back without warning to push me deeper into a posture - there's far less (if any) touching in Bikram than in other forms of yoga. I could have done without the Dave Matthews band too...but it was fun!

I went to a second class in Chagrin last night with an admittedly less open mind, given that it was their "Bikram Style Yoga," and a student had responded to our claim "we're the first official Bikram studio in Ohio" with "no, you're not." There are a lot of requirements in order to use the Bikram name, particularly using only certified teachers and teaching only Bikram in the Bikram studio, neither of which are true at Chagrin (if you're curious, you can see the whole list here, but keep in mind that very few studios have the wherewithall to follow EVERY SINGLE RULE. Did you know in Canada it's a health code violation to install carpet in a Bikram yoga studio?). It's hard not to get a little uppity about "fake," unaffiliated pseudo-Bikram classes.

Yeah, I don't know. Apparently I find pictures of kittens funny now. SAVE ME!

So. Anyway. What is this Bikram Style Yoga so clearly masquerading as REAL Bikram yoga? Well, let's see...it was a small class of three people, nice and hot and humid - although bizarrely, the (wood) floor was cold. I was wondering if I was having some sort of weird illness or blood pressure issue every time I picked up my cold foot with my sweaty hand, but once I lay down in savansana I realized "wait a minute...it's the FLOOR."

The teacher used a mix of dialogue and not-dialogue, and a mix of Bikram-style jokes with deep thoughts like "You're not really here. This studio doesn't exist." I spent much of the class in an obstinate and offended state, coming out of postures early when he held them too long, frowning when he made a suggestion or correction that I thought was "wrong."

But then...I talked to him afterwards and he was a perfectly nice fellow. He was honest about the fact that he hadn't been able to attend training and had learned from other teachers. He shared some of the details of his newfound Kriya Yoga path with me and suggested I check out an upcoming public lecture in Cleveland (which I plan to!). He was in fact the one who had introduced Erica to Jeannine earlier this year, and made that connection critical to getting Bikram Yoga Cleveland off the ground. He'd introduced a fair number of people to the idea of Bikram yoga, and since BY Cleveland has opened, his classes have shrunk significantly - which he didn't resent, since he was glad we were here. Well, after that, obviously the holier-than-thou attitude I had built up through the class dissipated.

Also I left a SEA of sweat on that wooden floor thanks to a less-than-effective rented towel and the condensation caused by cold floor/warm Danielle, so I owe him!

More next week...on possible yoga asana competition news, and the stuff I cut out of this blog post because it was just too damn long! Love you all and see you in the hot room!

P.S. My Mr. Rogers nostalgic googling led me here...hope this brightens your day as much as it brightened mine!

Just call me "Bikram Blogger Extraordinaire"

2011-10-09T10:55:00.000-07:00

My Cleveland friend Amanda, who has been mentioned in many posts, generously gave me some blog space to introduce her readers to Bikram Yoga. You can read the original post on her site here, but I've pasted it below too - just so I don't have to write TWO blog posts this week...I'm a busy girl! But looking forward to telling you all about my adventures in Cleveland's non-Bikram yoga offerings, my snazzy new apartment, and my inability to drive in reverse. Enjoy the last gasp of beautiful weather here on the East Coast!

AMANDA SEZ...While I’m enjoying a weekend with my incredible in-laws in New Jersey, a friend from my Philly theatre days shares how Bikram Yoga’s recent arrival in Ohio led her to “flee to the Cleve.” I’ll be back Monday with an (overdue) recap of my first attempt at a Cleveland Clam Bake!

Danielle shares her love for Bikram Yoga at Bikram Yoga Cleveland -- Ohio's first studio of its kind.

Hello Clue into Cleveland readers! In another lifetime, Amanda and I were theatre nerds together in Philadelphia through the Walnut Street Theatre’s apprenticeship program. She was having nightmares over A Christmas Carol‘s group sales, while I was getting shoes thrown at me from irate CATS audience members.

Fast forward six years and Amanda is loving life in Cleveland as a skilled and successful editor lady, while I’ve been fundraising for nonprofits myself – and getting hooked on Bikram Yoga – in San Francisco.

My Bikram Yoga addiction led me to an intensive nine-week yoga teacher training program in Los Angeles with Bikram Choudhury himself this past summer, but when I returned to SF I knew I couldn’t teach full time in San Francisco for long before I’d go broke and be living in a box, offering yoga lessons for spare change.

That’s when I discovered Bikram Yoga Cleveland - a brand new studio opening in September 2011, the very first official Bikram studio in all of Ohio! I had some wonderful phone conversations with the owner, Jeannine LoConti, and it sounded like a great fit – and I really liked the idea of being a part of a new yoga studio right from the beginning. So I stuffed my car to the brim, drove across the country…and here I am!

Now Amanda has generously given me a bit of time and space to introduce you, her loyal readers, to Bikram Yoga Cleveland! Hopefully I’ll convince you to come check out our clean and beautiful, welcoming studio!

The newly opened Bikram Yoga Cleveland in Shaker Heights

We start, of course, with…What is Bikram Yoga?

Bikram Yoga is a sequence of 26 Hatha Yoga postures (and two breathing exercises) selected and developed by Bikram Choudhury. These postures, performed in the same order each 90 minute class, systematically work every part of the body, to give all the internal organs, ligaments, and muscles everything they need to maintain optimum health and maximum function.

And yes, it’s hot in there; we heat the room to 105 degrees with 40% humidity.

The heat in Bikram Yoga helps students safely get into poses like these

Wait, what? 105 degrees?!

Bikram likes to use the metaphor of forging a sword to explain the need for heat (I’m quoting from his “Bikram’s Beginning Yoga Class” book): “Suppose you are going to make a sword. You start with a piece of fine steel and the first thing you do is put the steel in the fire and heat it up. When the steel is hot, it becomes soft. Then you can hammer it and slowly you make it change shape to the sword you want…now, if you don’t heat it up and start hammering the cold steel, nothing is going to happen to the steel, but you break your hand, the hammer, your arm. The same thing happens when you do any exercise, even Hatha Yoga, in a cold environment.”

The heat makes you less likely to strain, to pull a muscle, to hurt yourself. You’re more flexible and malleable, just like that fine piece of steel.

Also, when you exercise in a hot, humid room, you sweat. You sweat a lot. And that has such a wonderful, detoxifying effect on your whole body. When you walk out of that room, and you’ve worked every muscle and joint in your body and sweated out every toxin, you will feel AMAZING. There’s no high like a Bikram Yoga high, I promise you that!

: Bikram Yoga Cleveland’s studio space

So what do I actually get out of it besides this “yoga high” business?

Weight loss, reduced stress, better endurance, more energy, improved immunity, a stronger heart, expanded lung capacity, relief of chronic pain, toned muscles, prevention and rehabilitation of injuries, detoxification, increased balance, strength and flexibility, increased willpower and mental strength…to name a few!

That all sounds marvelous, but I’m a beginner and I’m frightened.

Don’t be! The great thing about Bikram Yoga Cleveland is that because we’ve only just opened, we have a wonderful mix of beginners and advanced students alike. And because every class is structured the same, you’ll feel more familiar with the poses and start seeing improvements in balance, strength and flexibility within only a week or two!

Besides, in Bikram Yoga it doesn’t matter how flexible you are, how close you can get to the full expression of the posture – as long as you’re doing it 100% the right way, you’re getting 100% of the benefit, regardless of how deep you can go, how long you can balance. Bikram Yoga is for everyone! After all, as Bikram says, “you’re never too old, never too bad, never too late and never too sick to do the yoga and start from the scratch once again.”

Before or after a Bikram class, there's a lounge and shop to peruse

Okay, I admit it, I’m intrigued. How do I learn more?

There’s lots of useful information on our website, http://bikramcle.com/. And stop by any time, we’re happy to answer any questions! We’re located on Fairmount Circle by John Carroll University. There’s plenty of free parking in the adjacent lot.

See you in the hot room!

"I'm So Happy I Get to Do This Because This is What I Love."

2011-09-28T13:59:00.000-07:00

The quote above is from one of my new students, Sheila. She's maybe a little older than middle aged, and probably part of the reason I can't pin down her age is that she swims EVERY MORNING AT 5AM (the photo above is of the gear I would need if I swam every morning at 5am. You think I'm joking...).

At a time when I'm either still in snoozeville or dragging my sleepy ass out of bed to teach the 6am class (because when I teach 6am, I wake up 15 minutes before I need to leave the house...but tomorrow I move into my sweet, peaceful, non-basement, non-loud-roommates-above-me-all-night-stomping-around one-bedroom apartment, so I am entertaining dreams of waking up well in advance of class and sipping coffee in my brightly lit all-to-myself kitchen, perhaps reading the paper or a yoga book, so that I am refreshed and awake in time for 6am class. But let's be honest, I'll probably still roll out of bed & into the studio. Anyway...)

So, Sheila. Many people look at their exercise routines as a necessary evil to stay healthy and in shape. But Sheila (who has a lovely dry sense of humor, don't get me wrong) told us in all sincerity that she says to herself, every morning at 5 AM when she's stepping her toes into that cold swimming pool, "I am so happy I get to do this because this is what I love."

It reminds me of this wonderful podcast that my friend Susannah shared with me a while ago, that I've listened to several times, and that I'm now sharing with all of you. In it yoga master Sean Corn says:

"I trust that if I do my yoga practice, I'm going to get stronger and more flexible. If I stay in alignment, if I don't push, if I don't force, then my body will organically open in time. I know that if I breathe deeply, I'll oxygenate my body. It has an influence on my nervous system. These things are fixed and I know to be true.

But I also recognize that it's a mystical practice, and you can use your body as an expression of your devotion. So the way that you place your hands, the ways that you step a foot forward or back, everything is done as an offering. I offer the movements to someone I love or to the healing of the planet. And so if I'm moving from a state of love and my heart is open to that connection between myself and another person or myself and the universe, it becomes an active form of prayer, of meditation, of grace."

Forget the Sean Corn pose...I want the Sean Corn hair!

In Bikram Yoga sometimes we can get so caught up in pushing and struggling and getting things just right, that we forget to be patient and loving with ourselves. Bikram can also attract a certain type of personality, one that scoffs at the idea of "body prayer" and chanting words we don't understand and sniffing essential oils instead of just DOING THE YOGA, ALREADY. No doubt I am of that mindset. But if we think of every class as a gift we're giving ourselves...if we start each class thinking "I am so happy to be here, that I get to do this..." think of what we could accomplish!

Speaking of what we can do, I was taking lovely co-teacher Erica's class this week and she was talking during savasanas about the importance of staying focused, staying in the present moment, staying together with the class. I was listening, but I was also thinking about how my practice has been getting a little junky lately, maybe it's time for me to do a vegan month again, and when I move into my new apartment I should practice my wall bends every morning to work on my upper back flexibility and "DANIELLE. Don't go on autopilot. Move with the class and stay with my words."

Erica had TOTALLY CAUGHT ME. And once I realized I was on autopilot...I realized I had been on autopilot pretty much since I moved to Cleveland. You know what would make your practice less junky, Danielle? ACTUALLY FOCUSING ON YOUR PRACTICE.

Later that week I went to Bikram Yoga Pittsburgh in the Strip District. The first time I went to this studio (forgive me if you've heard this story already, but let's face it, it's a good one) was a 6am class the weekend before I arrived in Cleveland. Class was moving right along and at party time (our "first official water break" about 20 minutes into class) I reach down for my water and realize that no one else is doing the same...then I look around and realize that NO ONE ELSE HAS WATER. Not a single person in a class of 25 or more. NO PARTY TIME.

The inside of my mouth the first time I tried Bikram with no water.

The teacher Shannon was fabulous and didn't call me out on my water drinkin' ways until Fixed Firm. It was definitely one of the most focused, disciplined group of students I've ever encountered. Anyway, when I took class there again last week, I was still a little on auto pilot, and it was painfully, flagrantly obvious when everyone else was so in sync...

But since then, not only have I successfully worked on my water discipline (I've taken a couple of classes with no water, and even taught a few times without water - in fact, twice I've given my Cleveland students my water bottle rather than have them leave the room, which I never would have done before, given my selfish attachment to water in class)...but I'm also going to start teaching at Bikram Yoga Pittsburgh a few times a week, on Thursday nights/Friday mornings!

I'm excited about this not only because I'll get a wider range of feedback on both my practice and my teaching (not that Jeannine and Erica are not fabulous - they most definitely are - but I was spoiled in San Francisco with the WEALTH of fabulous teachers at my disposal), get to spend regular time with my family, but eventually, I'll take advanced classes and become the super duper bendy person I was meant to be (like BY Pittsbugh owner Zeb who is, let's face it, AMAZING. Check it out:

Moving on! Everyone keeps asking me what I think of Cleveland. I don't know much about Cleveland yet...but I'm getting there! Tomorrow I move into my sweet, bright, many-windowed new home (which is NOT a damp moldy gross basement where I shiver on my twin size air mattress and silently curse the noisy roommates stomping above me at 1AM I CAN'T WAIT TO LEAVE THIS PLACE.) I really do think that once I'm settled in a place where I know I'll be living at least a year, I can fully unpack, start making plans & friends and making Cleveland my own.

But speaking of friends - on Wednesday theatre buddy & blogger Amanda took me to the opening night of Life of Galileo at the brand new Cleveland Playhouse. There IS culture to be had in Cleveland! The production was top-notch, the lead actor was phenomenal, and the space was simply gorgeous.

The story I want to tell though is when we get back to my car and it is COVERED IN LITTLE GREEN CRAWLY BUGS. Like, out of a strange, weird horror movie. Amanda, after she has put several hours into singing the praises of Cleveland, says, totally blase, "oh yeah...I forgot to mention the bugs." Apparently the bugs lay eggs in the river and then they hatch and cover the buildings and the cars and any stationary surface in certain seasons. Little green crawly bug-free wintertime is starting to look a lot more appealing...

I think that's about all I've got for the week...thanks for listening, and see you in class!

P.S. Check out our first Yelp review...it's a doozy: http://www.yelp.com/biz/bikram-yoga-cleveland-cleveland

Bikram Yoga Cleveland is Incredible (and I Don't Know Much About Cleveland...Yet!)

2011-09-19T19:20:00.000-07:00

Well hello my friends! After five days of driving, and three days of recovery in Pittsburgh eating my way through my Mom's kitchen (and getting a new tattoo with my brother...maybe not the best idea right before starting at a new hot yoga studio?), and five days of throwing myself into the joy that is teaching and taking yoga at Ohio's first official Bikram studio, I am FINALLY ready to catch you all up to date! But first and foremost...

Fall 2011 Bikram Yoga Teacher Training starts today!

I am so excited for: my fellow Danielle back in San Francisco, who has great dialogue, an amazing practice and is just an all around lovely person...Barbara from Budapest, a sweetheart from Hungary who has practiced at Bikram Yoga Cleveland every day since we opened (and when she forget the question she meant to ask me and I jokingly suggested she write it down during class, she actually took me seriously and paused during class Saturday afternoon ten times or so to scribble down a question, most of which started with "which is more important?" (usually the answer is...both!)...and my blog readers, like Jill, Spring, Kat, and Gamebred - I may not know your last names (or even your first names!), but your comments and feedback have been a joy! Enjoy your time at the Radisson LAX...

Road Trip!

Let us begin with the cautionary tale of my trip across the country. As you know, I became a licensed driver at the ripe old age of 27, so I don't really like to drive...a fact I conveniently forgot when I decided to drive across the country by myself.

Cross country trips are not really something to wing, nor is it a good idea to throw your goodbye party the night before the first leg of your journey...but with a bellyful of eggs, bread, and my last Ritual coffee soaking up the night before's beers and whiskey (always with Kelly, the whiskey! I will miss her and her whiskey ways) I got on the road...four hours late...and ran right into two hours of traffic. So of course I floored it after the traffic finally cleared and got my very first speeding ticket for driving 92 in a 70 mph zone...

I was physically and emotionally exhausted. I had said goodbye the night before to so many people I loved so much, and I was so tired, and I was on my way to an unfamiliar city where I knew no one and OH MY GOD I HATE DRIVING AND MY HEAD HURTS WHAT HAVE I DONE.

So yeah, I pulled a Dawson. Luckily I had supportive friends & family to listen to me vent and help me plan, and Patrizia (and her boyfriend Karl), who welcomed me into her home at 2:30am on Saturday night, didn't give me grief for arriving so late that we had to skip our early morning rock climbing plans, made me TWO delicious vegan feasts to fuel my drive, and just generally was her calming beautiful self.

The rest of the trip was just fine, although I stopped so frequently for bathroom, snack and stretching breaks that if I had had a driving partner, they would've rented a car and driven off without me in a huff.

I was awed and amazed by the canyons of Southern Utah and the mountains of Colorado.

I ate lots of grapes and peanut butter crackers and chocolate and drank enough coffee to drown a small child.

I watched three episodes in a row of "The Millionaire Matchmaker" in a hotel in the middle of nowhere eating takeout from Applebees on the bed.

I listened to a lot of Alan Watts recordings, nerdy podcasts (while I was enthusiastically describing one of my favorites to Stephanie on one of our daily calls (my Dawson moment was effective enough that several people called me daily to ensure my continued survival - I am lucky indeed to be so loved!), she said evenly "wow, you've really been wanting to talk to someone about this, haven't you?"), Moth stories (including an incredibly funny tale which involved a trip to Cleveland!), and music old and new (while my old roommates' new album was energetically fantastic, especially while driving through Colorado mountains, Massive Attack albums just made me sleepy)

I learned that I still know all the words to the first Weezer album, the Phantom of the Opera soundtrack, and every album Tori Amos released before 1999 (my nerdiness began in childhood, clearly).

I was stopped by a policeman my next-to-last day of driving, only twenty minutes from Kate's house in Chicago, for going ten miles over the speed limit. I couldn't find my license in the disaster area that my car & purse had become. When I finally dumped out the contents of my massive purse onto the driver's seat to dig through gas receipts and phone cords and crumpled dollar bills to find it, he said "you have got be kidding me," gave up, handed me my registration, and told me to drive slower. Phew!

I took out my camera to record my dear old high school friend Kate's astonishing ability to recreate Starbucks mochas at home (and her adorable kids too, of course)...and then left my camera behind, hence the lack of personal photos peppering this post. Oops!

But you're not here to hear about my almost-fail of a road trip...you're here to hear all about Cleveland! Two things you should know: 1) Bikram Yoga Cleveland is Incredible, and 2) I Don't Really Know Much about Cleveland...Yet!

Bikram Yoga Cleveland is Incredible

I walked into this studio Monday morning for a test class and my jaw dropped. Those years spent in the small, sweaty, smelly studios of San Francisco did not prepare me for the lavish environment in which Clevelanders can now do yoga (is it Clevelanders? Like Pittsburghers?).

The studio is big, beautiful, wonderfully laid out, clean & sparkly. Any amenity you can think of it is there. Multiple showers, each with a little privacy stall of its own? Check. Travertine tile (I think that's what it's called...and I only know that word through a brief addiction to this dumb show) on the bathroom floors? Check. The finest, most sophisticated heating system and carpeting you can find? Check. The carpet is actually a brushed linoleum called Flotex, cleaned nightly by a professional cleaning crew, so I think that that distinctive Bikram aroma may never find its way to Cleveland.

Jeannine's Pada Hastansana - the only photo on today's blog post I didn't get via Google image search. I need to get that camera back!

Okay, fine, you say. So the studio is all sunshine and rainbows. But what about the people? Well, that's where I'm so lucky - all the ladies of Bikram Yoga Cleveland are a delight. My fellow teacher Erica, so genuine and sweet, moved here from Naples, Florida to help her husband's family with a now-thriving goat cheese business (why yes, goat cheese IS one of my favorite things!). Sarah's cute & bubbly personality livens up the front desk (she recommended I pick up a winter sport to better survive the brutal winter season - and took only her second Bikram class from me!). And of course Jeannine the owner, who is smart, capable, warm, and all the adjectives you'd hope for in an owner. I know I sound like a big ol' kiss ass...but it's TRUE!

Teaching at Bikram Yoga Cleveland has been a fascinating, eye-opening experience. Our first week we offered all classes free-of-charge, so the hot room was packed - with mostly beginners. My first class was almost 40 people, well over half of whom had never done Bikram yoga - many of whom had never done any yoga! I did my little opening spiel, started the breathing, and just looked around like whoa. Where...what do I...how do I even begin with this...so I rallied, took a deep breath, jumped right in - and never looked back!

Good breathing form, random dude I found via Google image search!

When you're teaching mostly beginners you have to stay completely engaged, focused, and high-energy the ENTIRE time. Whenever my energy started to flag or my attention would wander the least little bit, I would actually see the results of my inattention right in front of me. Forget to say "keep your arms over your head?" Half the class has their arms down. Haven't looked over to the right side of the room in five minutes? That guy is about to fall over and he needs a correction NOW. It's such a wonderful way to reinvigorate my teaching.

Plus, the students so far have been fantastic. Of course, we have our share of wacky characters (and I've taught very few hot shirtless guys thus far - clearly I was spoiled in San Francisco. C'mon boys, no modesty here, Bikram yoga is good for you and I need some eye candy!) But in general, the enthusiasm and that distinctive midwestern kindness displayed by Cleveland yogis thus far has been really heartwarming. I had regular students coming in every day that first week - one of them even gave us each a little bar of homemade soap to thank us for the free week of yoga...only in Cleveland, folks.

Okay, so you've got the point. Bikram Yoga Cleveland is a wonderful place, and I definitely made the right choice. But what about Cleveland itself? Well...I Don't Really Know Much About Cleveland...Yet! I've only been here a week, and I both live & work in the suburbs (Shaker Heights).

The apartment I moved into sight unseen turned out to be a damp, moldy, depressing basement (though the roommates are nice enough - one of them even came to try Bikram!), so I spent a lot of time in that first week at various coffee shops (no internet in the damp moldy basement either), and visiting other apartments while the dehumidifier chugged along back at home, doing its best to keep the pages of my books from curling.

By Friday, pretty much all I knew about Cleveland was that the avocados suck and unlike San Francisco, there's no little jar of soy milk alongside the skim and half 'n half at Starbucks (but I also found a wonderful little one-bedroom place, with lots of light and a great kitchen, for $150 less than I paid in SF with three roommates. Oh, Cleveland.)

The Walnut took years out of my life. YEARS. Cats alone took at least two.

This weekend, however, I finally got to see more of the city. An old friend from my year as an apprentice at the Walnut Street Theatre (when we were both much younger and quite a bit less wise) is now a devoted Cleveland resident. Amanda's popular blog is, in fact, so popular that on Wednesday I get to see a show with her for free!

Amanda, her husband Scott and I checked out the Ingenuity Fest and then wandered around the quirky, Northern Liberties-esque neighborhood Ohio City, where we visited a glass blowing factory, checked to see if a particular bar was still illegally selling Philadelphia's yuengling lager (it wasn't), and then went to Light Bistro and partook of the most delicious bacon wrapped, cheese stuffed date deliciousness that's ever been in my mouth.

Amanda is a wealth of Cleveland history, factoids, trivia, and knowledge. I left our lovely evening together feeling far more positive about the city and all it has to offer in terms of food, social life, theatre, the arts, etc, etc!

Once again, I write too much - I wanted to tell you about Bikram Yoga Pittsburgh, and the restaurant where they serve primarily enormous grilled cheeses, and my plans to spy on a studio offering fake Bikram classes in an area of town called, appropriately enough, Chagrin Falls - but it's time to wrap it up.

I'm going to start making a concerted effort to post on a weekly basis, to keep you all up to date on my Cleveland shenanigans and the joys, trials and tribulations of being a part of a brand new studio...So I'll see you next Monday!

Much Love,

Danielle

Updates Galore: Road Trips, Yoga Postures in Odd Places & Fleeing to the Cleve

2011-08-23T21:26:00.000-07:00

Hello my friends! I know, it's been a long time (long time, shouldn'tve left you) and there's lots of news to share. We'll start with my sister's and my road trip all the way up to Victoria, BC and back down to San Francisco for our stepbrother Rod's wedding.

I was lucky enough to both teach and take class at a number of studios on the way. My sister and I also planned to take photos of all 26 Bikram beginning postures on our way up and back for this very blog, but we got bored...so a few of the good ones, pre-boredom, will be illustrating this post as we go!

Me and Aimee in Tree Pose

Our journey began in Ashland, Oregon, right over the California border. One of the amazing side effects of having gone to Bikram Yoga Teacher Training is that you're part of a worldwide network of likeminded people who went through the same wacky experience as you.

So, even though Aimee and I didn't know each other well at training - I think we may have met briefly once or twice - she graciously hosted my sister and me in her sweet little rustic cabin above Bikram Yoga Ashland. Aimee and I spent several glorious hours gleefully sharing training stories and gossip the night we arrived (my poor sister was SO bored. But I was SO happy!)

The next day, Aimee and I shared a silent Bikram class together in the early afternoon. The Ashland studio is gorgeous: wood floors, muted lighting, heated by a natural gas stove. It was a really relaxing, delightful experience and a great way to start off the trip (we also decided to do three sets of camel and two sets of advanced camel...just for fun!).

Balancing Stick in Portland, Oregon

Next stop, Portland, Oregon - where we stayed with couchsurfers for the first time and where, despite the fact that there was a Bikram studio TWO BLOCKS away, I was gently reminded by my sister that our trip was NOT going to revolve around yoga. In Portland we ate fantastic street food and explored some of the bohemian neighborhoods. Of all the cities on our trip, I could see myself living here someday.

Wheel in Seattle, Washington (true, not a beginner pose, but how can you NOT do wheel next to a wheel sculpture?)

In Seattle, Washington we stayed with Allison's friend from her year in Spain, the charming and very hospitable Kalin, who is living the dream - she met a sexy Spanish guitarist while an au pair in Barcelona, and she's now living there with him and teaching English full time.

We agreed that I would be dropped off at Bikram Yoga West Seattle, Allison and Kalin would have breakfast, and I would be picked back up for a full day of Seattle tourism. Unfortunately when I arrived, I learned that the studio was under renovations and there were NO. SHOWERS. Well, I was already there, so what the heck.

I blame Seattle's Fremont Troll for my lack of backbend. Hips FORWARD, Danielle!

The class was great, nice and hot and fast paced. Since there was no carpet, when we moved to Standing Separate Leg Stretching we turned to the side to stand on our mat; the teacher saw me slipping and recommended that I stand on the rubber flooring. Psh, I scoffed inwardly. Does she not see how I have sweat more than any of the men in this room? I don't think my feet will have better traction in a puddle of sweat. But they DID!

Standing Bow by Seattle's Gum Wall

Afterwards, I had the opportunity to chat with the owner, Kevin Cooke, who was a very warm and talkative fellow and who explained how that magical non-slip flooring worked. Their very special, very expensive flooring is antifungal, antimicrobial, smooth-surface, 100% recyclable, made up of several layers, used in the Olympics...too cool.

Of course, attempting to "shower" by rubbing myself down with a damp towel was a bit of a struggle, but I managed, and Allison and Kalin assured me that I didn't stink. And if I did...sorry, Seattle!

Rod and Jill - now that's what I call a handsome couple!

Onwards to Victoria, British Columbia, for Rod and Jill's wedding! It was a marvelous affair that included breakfast food for dinner, a 60's cover band, and a photobooth. We also enjoyed catching up with all the various family members, step- and half-siblings scattered across the US and Canada.

My fellow Spring 2011 trainee, John Ellis, and his lovely wife Jacqueline generously welcomed me into their studio, Bikram Yoga Westshore. First I took a class the morning of the wedding, to learn a little more about the in's and out's of their complicated (but effective!) heating, cooling, and air system.

On the ferry from Seattle to Victoria

The next morning, I taught a small class of around fifteen folks. Everyone was friendly and listened closely, even the woman who spent the whole class frowning at me and slowly shaking her head in disapproval (I kept thinking, "What? What am I doing wrong!?" but after class she was friendly as can be. John and Jacqueline's daughter told me she does that all the time...it's funny how people aren't really aware of their facial expressions in class!)

All dolled up wedding-style!

When it was time for Standing Separate Leg Stretching, just like in Seattle, everyone moved sideways to stand on their mat rather than on the rubber floor. And WHOA...it threw me like nobody's business. With everyone turned sideways rather than facing me, my lefts and rights went out the window and I scrambled to regroup. You wouldn't think it would be so disorienting...but it was!

In the end, I had a great time, and Jacqueline gave me some really helpful, unique feedback. John said that the students liked having a new voice teaching the class. It was fun!

Standing Separate Head to Knee on Granville Island, Vancouver BC

On to Vancouver, Canada, where once again, yoga took a backseat to food (and fireworks!) We stayed with a truly wonderful couchsurfing couple who had a personalized map and everything. We were unimpressed by our first real Nanaimo bar (a cookie that's been a staple of every Hoffman Christmas), but Allison was properly impressed by her first taste of poutine.

From Vancouver, we traveled back down to Corvallis, Oregon. Kelly, the lady whose dreadlocks have often graced the pages of this blog, spent a couple years living in Corvallis, and when she heard about our road trip north she insisted we make the stop.

Unfortunately we arrived too late & too tired to partake in Corvallis', shall we say, limited nightlife (how could I have missed this!?), but I did get to share a beer with one of Kelly's dearest friends, Scotty! who was just as genuine and gregarious as the exclamation point that seemed to follow every time Kelly said his name, and who gave us a place to crash.

Allison is not terribly impressed by downtown Corvallis

The next morning I drove to Bikram Yoga Corvallis, where Kelly had practiced many times and left behind many good impressions (several students said "Oh, I miss her...tell her I said hi!") Unfortunately owner Carol was out of town, but her second-in-command Jeannie was just the sweetest little lady; her husband even brought fresh watermelon in for the class to celebrate Jeannie's yoga challenge milestone (I can't remember what it was now, but it was impressive. 250 classes in a row? 300?).

The students were FOCUSED - if you're going to come to a tiny little, hard-to-find studio, you're committed. They followed my every word. The studio was good and hot, and when I asked about doors or fans or anything like that Jeannie said "oh no, we don't open the doors here" - these students were way too hardcore for that stuff. It was great to teach them!

Oh god oh god it's far and it's cold and I just learned how to swim...

I returned to Scotty!'s, met back up with my ever-patient sister, and we filled our bellies at the Broken Yolk before driving off to Crater Lake, Oregon. As you might expect, there are no yoga studios in this national park...but we did manage to set up a tent AND start a fire on our own! And after a brief childlike moment of abject fear, I jumped off Crater Lake's infamous cliff into the icy waters below. Bracing!

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Back in San Francisco, Allison flew home to Pittsburgh (she'll be on an adventure of her own in Chile this September, volunteering for a full year - I miss her already!) while I taught two early morning Walnut Creek classes on two hours of sleep...for the first time, I sat down during most of the floor series, but I discovered I actually liked that viewpoint of my students. Live and learn...

I picked back up with teaching, but still only a few days a week, applying for jobs all over the globe but with no real bites. I was starting to worry that I would remain in limbo forever, doing lots of yoga but slowly eating through my savings, until I was living in a box or crashing on a couch like the yogi hobo I am.

What to do, what to do...(in Portland)

But the day after our amazing senior teacher Julia told me "If you're ready to go...just go!" I had a few phone conversations with Jeannine LoConti, who is opening the first official Bikram studio in all of Ohio. We both felt an immediate rapport and had very similar teaching philosophies. Cleveland is two hours from my mom and little brother back home in Pittsburgh, PA, I'll be working full time...all the puzzle pieces and priorities seemed to fit. And for the first time, it just felt RIGHT - the right decision to be making, at the right time.

So...I'm off to Bikram Yoga Cleveland on September 3rd!

I'm throwing a goodbye party on the 2nd to which you're all invited. I'll be doing more driving, stopping (tentatively) in Yosemite, Bryce Canyon, Denver, Des Moines, and Chicago. I'll arrive just in time for the grand opening. I can't wait! It's amazing how everything came together.

I know this post has become, once again, obscenely long. But I just wanted to say how truly lucky, and how grateful, I am. The friends that I've made here in San Francisco I know I'll treasure forever. I'm so lucky to have the opportunities I've had - not everyone can just drop everything and go to training, then drop everything again and move across the country, and still have the unconditional love and enthusiastic support of their family, friends, and everyone around them. So...THANK YOU, to all of you...you mean so much to me.

Now come visit Cleveland! You can club up at the flats and have lunch with Little Richard!

Love always,

Danielle

Why yes, the sweatshirt I wore every day in training is still in active use...AND WHAT OF IT?

One Month In: Helpful Hints & Was It Worth It?

2011-07-18T17:52:00.000-07:00

First, a quick update on teaching. As of Friday, I'm lucky enough to now be working at TWO studios - Mission Yoga is my first love, of course, but I'm also teaching a few times a week at Bikram Yoga Walnut Creek, the home studio of friend and fellow trainee Tiffany, pictured below with the boss's watch.

So if you're looking to take my class...check out the Mission Yoga schedule HERE or the Walnut Creek schedule HERE and look for my name!

Moving on...

Just before I left, Andrew gave me a bunch of great photos he'd taken, so I'm just going to pepper the rest of this post with them, regardless of relevance.

gamebred said...danielle! thanks so much for sharing your journey! i cant believe it's already been 9 weeks and im in the real world. i'm so excited for my turn in the fall.   wishing you well wishes for your first couple classes. also, a blog post for future trainee helpful hints would be so super awesome! i love to get everyone's hints as a guide for my prep.   thanks so much for your positive outlook on training.

It's impossible to be fully prepared for the madness that is training, but here are some ideas:

Talk to people. Talk to your studio owners, your teachers, anyone you know who has been to training. Especially, talk to people who operate in the world similarly to you (for example, if you're really shy, you're probably not going to have a similar experience to someone who is really loud and outgoing).

Trust the process. You'll hear this so much it'll be alternately ridiculous and infuriating. But it's true not just in the sense that there is a method to Bikram's madness (there is most of the time...not ALL the time, let's be honest) but true in the sense that if you just let go of expectations, frustrations, intentions, so forth and take training exactly as it is, you'll have a far, far better experience. It's kind of another way of saying "This is it. Fuck it. It is what it is."

Study the dialogue beforehand. The more you've started to get a grip on the dialogue and your studying techniques beforehand, the more time you'll have to adjust into life in the yoga bubble when you get there.

Think about how you'll feed yourself. One of the most useful things I brought was a high speed tea kettle, to make soups, lentil mix, tea, you name it. Some people brought toaster ovens or hot plates. What will keep you fed on the cheap?

Bring a drying rack if you have one. Very useful.

Plan to use two yoga mats. Either bring them, or buy them there. My first mat (that I bought from the Bikram store for $30) had to be tossed after only 3 weeks; the two $10 mats I subsequently bought at Target lasted through the rest of training. Having two mats gives them time to dry in between classes.

Pack sweatshirts and warm clothing. I figured I was going to LA and would need sundresses and tank tops. But I was living in a heavily air conditioned hotel that, sometimes, I wouldn't leave for days. Keep that in mind when you're deciding what to pack in your suitcase. Basically, imagine that you're a cat lady and take it from there - stretchy, comfy, warm clothing.

Be okay with getting fat. Or any weird physical side effects. You're putting your body through a lot of stress and it's going to react in strange ways, so listen to what it wants and don't stress yourself out even more because you're breaking out or getting fat or whatever.

Maybe you're going to retain fluids and feel sluggish...maybe you're going to eat burgers every weekend whereas red meat used to be an every-two-months treat...maybe your lips are going to get so chapped that moisturizing them every five minutes is not enough...maybe you'll lose your flexibility from sitting in hotel chairs for hours and forget how it feels to be even CLOSE to locking your knees in Pada Hastasana (and yes, all these things happened to me). Just be okay with it and you'll have a far better experience than if you're running around whining about being fat (I swear I got better at being non-judgmental! Really I did!)

Keep a journal. Everyone told us to do this but I never felt like I had time. I couldn't even keep up with weekly blog posts! But the few emails I sent to my friend Stephanie are the only moment-in-time records I have of training (yes, I didn't include EVERYTHING in this blog, believe it or not), and I really value those now. So even if it's just five minutes before you crash at 2AM, it's definitely of value; see if you can develop the habit right away.

I DID, of course, keep a notebook full of lecture notes and doodles, and found the following list of mantras/affirmations Kelly had collected at the start of training - all of these are also good to keep in mind:

Stay Focused

Willingness

Openness

Trust the Process

Smile

Breathe

Patience

Gratitude

No Expectations

Grow

Be a Sponge

Love and Be Kind

Stay Positive

No Judgement

Jill said...Hey Danielle, your TT experience sounds a ton more delightful and encouraging than another blog I read. I am planning on going to TT in the fall. Do you think that the money spent on TT is worth it? I feel after reading the other blog that it isn't worth the time, effort, and money. I have a full-time job and am very passionate about Bikram yoga and feel a calling to go to training. I am just a little discouraged, nervous, and anxious especially the $$$ part. What are your thoughts and what do you suggest? Thanks for your blog and insight.

First I wanted to speak to the whole money part, because Bikram Teacher Training costs a LOT. There's the mandatory housing (and sure, you'll probably hear about people who get away with living off campus, which I also tried to do - but in the end, I was really grateful that at 4:30am, I only had to walk upstairs to get to bed, not to the parking lot and drive all the way home), the tuition, the food (anywhere from $800 - $2K for training, depending on how much you eat out and whether you shop at Whole Foods or Trader Joes), then all the incidentals like laundry, car expenses (gas, parking), yoga clothes, etc.

So if you're thinking about going to training have a plan for how to pay for it. Keep in mind that you're going to come out of training and be making $35 - $40/class - and that's before any taxes. Some studios don't even pay new teachers. Your best bet is to teach part time, but if, like me, you really want to teach full time for a little while upon your return, make sure that you've saved up enough buffer money to get you through the first few months.

I can't recommend mint.com highly enough for this sort of thing. I started saving for teacher training two years ago using this site - totally free, it helps you keep track of your money and where it goes, set budgets, track progress, and best of all, set a goal (like "Yoga Teacher Training"), tie a specific savings account to that goal, and let you know how much needs to be set aside each month to get there (sure, it's a little disquieting that all my financial information is all tied into that site, but all that info is out on the interwebs in one form or another anyway, so I'm okay with it).

There are definitely people who just put the whole shebang on their credit cards and hope for the best. And I've talked to current teachers who did this successfully, and are glad they did it, but they're still paying it off. If you're like me, and throw caution to the wind ONLY TO A POINT, make sure you have a budget, a plan (and if the plan changes, fine, but have a plan), a savings account. This is a huge investment that shouldn't be made lightly.

Now to the Ultimate Question...was it all worth it? If you interviewed a hundred folks at our training and asked them what the experience was like, they would probably give you a hundred different answers. But ask whether it was worth it, and the vast majority would give you the same answer: FORTY-TWO. I mean, YES!

As an illustrative example...Kelly will be the first to tell you how much she doesn't miss training. Long, repetitive lectures till the wee hours of the morning; classes that left her physically and emotionally drained; she was not a fan. But if you asked her if it was worth it, her answer would be an unqualified YES. She is a teacher now, and a really fantastic, stand-out teacher, and she loves the yoga again, and if training was what she needed to suffer through, well then, it was worth it to achieve this particular dream.

Second example: another friend went to training without EVER intending to teach - she just wanted to take some time out from a stressful job and learn more about the yoga. She was frustrated that we didn't get structured classes on yoga theory, history, etc and instead there was so much emphasis on the practicalities of delivering dialogue. But now? She's taught several classes and loves it! Was it what she expected? Not at all. Was it worth it? Yes.

I read blogs that made me think twice about going too. People get angry, frustrated, pissed off. A lot of the time it feels like there's no structure, that no one really knows what's going on. Not only does Bikram repeat himself endlessly, but he can act like a jerk (he said it himself: "I'm more American than you! But underneath I'm very conservative, old fashioned, a little bit prejudiced"). I thought this blog did a great job of expressing the darker side of the experience, the push and pull...training is definitely not all sunshine and rainbows.

But of course it was worth it for me. It was worth it because I'm now part of this worldwide community of people who all went through the same intense experience of training at one point in their life, and share that bond with me. It was worth it for all the time I had in class to really think about myself and how I live my life, and what I value, and what I want to change. It was worth it for the close friendships I made that I know will always be there, even if years and years go by before we see each other again. It was worth it for the laughter, the tears, the joy, the challenges, the new way I look at challenges in my non-yoga life. It was more than worth it...it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

Jim encouraged us to make a list titled "Why am I here?" and refer back to it whenever training was breaking us down. I thought I might end this post with my list, since it's also relevant to the whole "is it worth it" question. Also, if my fellow new teachers want to pipe in with their own tips, tricks, and musings on this blog, I'm sure it would be much appreciated - and I'm curious!

Why Am I Here? (as of 4/25/2011)

Because I love doing bikram yoga.

Because I want yoga to be an important part of my life, for the rest of my life.

Because it is a challenge I can meet.

Because I know it will help me break bad habits and become a better person inside and out.

To realize what power I have (per Bikram)

To cultivate compassion (per Jim)

Because I paid $11,000 to be here!

Week Nine and After: Tales from Inside and Outside the Yoga Bubble

2011-07-02T14:50:00.000-07:00

Many of my loyal readers (well, my Mom) have been asking for a wrap up post. What happened in Week Nine? How was your first class? What happened in Vegas? Did it STAY in Vegas? There's so much to tell about the past three(!) weeks, and going back through my pictures trying to decide what to write about has made me all nostalgic, so I'll try to keep this relatively short and sweet, but still satisfying...

Our "artsy" LAX photo

I had planned also to respond to two questions from commenters that are not members of my family or friends (whoa...I'm like a real blogger!) but I've run out of time - a good reason to return to this blog within the week!

And don't worry, I do plan to keep blogging, since things will keep changing over here - I'll hopefully be teaching a few classes in Corvallis, Portland, and Seattle on my way up to Canada for my stepbrother's wedding in Victoria, BC, and in a few months I'll probably be moving out of SF so I can teach full time without going broke...surely that will all be interesting to read, no?

Why yes, Emmy CAN still get both legs over her head!

Week Nine

At the beginning of Week Nine we had a special treat - an advanced class demonstration by a crew of yoga badasses, led by Emmy herself. Advanced class is the next step, two hours of both beginning and advanced postures. I took my first advanced class yesterday and it was like my first Bikram Yoga class all over again - will I EVER be able to do some of that craziness? Time will tell. Bikram and Emmy were like two bickering siblings the whole two hours - it was a delight!

Who's that in the middle? Erstwhile Mission Yoga teacher, former yoga champ and awesome dude Amir, of course!

Week Nine was also full of "lasts" - the last time we do laundry and study dialogue at the same time...The last time we go food shopping for the week...Our last Emmy class...Our last Rajashree class...our last Bikram lecture...our last late night Bollywood movie...

All you need to stay up through the last late night movie is pillows and popcorn - and without a doubt, this was one of the best.

Our last class of training, which happened Thursday at 5pm, was utterly overwhelming. First off, there were lots and lots of extra people in the room (visitors for Graduation the next day, competitors for the International Championships that weekend, etc) which, as you know, brings the heat and humidity way up. Also Bikram was teaching, drawing it out as long as possible.

Mission Yoga representin' before the last class!

Before class we were running around taking photos and buzzing like little almost-graduated bees. When pranayama breathing finally began, my heart was pounding fast and I thought "oh man...this class is going to be TOUGH." And it was. People cried, passed out, left the room, were carried out of the room, ran out of the room. I was determined to push through the whole time, so that by the middle of class I think I may have actually been semi-conscious, in a weird sort of out-of-body state of mind. Yeah, I know, crazy.

Last time Bikram sits up on his podium!

At the next to last posture (Spine Twist) people began to whoop and holler. Almost the minute class ended we all leapt up for sweaty hugs, laughing and crying and cheering all at the same time. We were so worn out from such a difficult class but it didn't even matter.

Sweaty post-class hug with the beautiful Patrizia

It was one of the most memorable moments of training. A bunch of us ran downstairs and plunged into the outside pool (despite the Week Two warning from hotel staff that we really should shower off the sweat before going into the pool). I couldn't believe it was over. It was OVER.

Of course, Bikram kept us all up till 3:30am with another rambling lecture - reminding me that there were parts of training that I wouldn't miss QUITE so much...

Graduation Day

We had the morning off before 2pm graduation on Friday, so we slept in, then joined Julia, Steve23, Juicy, and newest arrival, three-week-old little California Poppy from Mission Yoga for lunch at Tin Roof, using up the last of the lunch coupons so generously gifted to us by the owner back in Week One.

Graduation was a little microcosm of the whole of training. It took place in the hot yoga room (they hadn't even ripped up the carpet, so the minute we walked in the smell was just...gross). Bikram gave a long lecture. Rajashree made us all feel warm and loved. The demonstration team of fellow trainees absolutely killed it with a demo of each and every posture in the beginning series. There was a long line for the buffet, which was not very good food. My buddy Andrew trusted me to take a photo of him receiving his diploma with his fancy camera and I FAILED miserably (despite the amazing photo he took of me that opens this blog post!). Awards were distributed to just the right people. We all laughed and cried and took pictures and were amazed at how different, yet the same, we looked with makeup and real clothes on.

Group 8 all dolled up!

After graduation we piled into Andrew and Chris' room for a college-style gathering with wine and champagne in plastic cups and glasses borrowed from the hotel restaurant. Then several of us ventured down the street to the Melody Bar (stopping to take a photo at the LAX sign, of course). I have danced to cheesy music in a divey bar with a gin and tonic in my hand many times before, but now, with my yoga friends and ten weeks without, I had a newfound appreciation for just how awesome it was.

Yogi pile post-graduation

Graduation Day was a whirlwind, but I'll never forget it!

International Competition

Saturday and Sunday were the International Championships. Yogis from all over the world arrived to show us how it's done - and yes, the championships took place in that same smelly giant yoga room. Man, was I done with that room.

Yup, I apparently only took photos of the male competitors...AND WHAT OF IT?

The Week That Followed: Arizona and Vegas

After way too may goodbyes and a departure straight out of a Lifetime movie (Danielle driving away from the LAX hotel that had been her home for nine weeks crying like a baby? Yeah, I'm not ashamed) I got to spend a day and a half with the lovely Angie Sun. We cooked my first real meal together (salmon and potatoes, with beets and goat cheese on ciabatta toasts to start! how Trader Joes gourmet are we?), saw a movie, decompressed a little.

Look ma, we're cooking!

I spent Monday afternoon getting some R&R with the three small dogs belonging to Angie and her roommates, all of whom fought for position on my lap while I recorded all 26 postures worth of dialogue to study during the long driving trips I knew I had coming up (hence why, when I was driving the next day, I couldn't figure out what was jingling in my car, stuffed to the brim with suitcases and bags and boxes, until I realized it was the dog tags that made it onto my recording). We also saw Jeff Goldblum's jazz band, thanks to a tip from Kelly's lovely cousin Kristin - thus finally having, at least marginally, the LA celeb encounter I'd hoped for.

Kristin watches Jeff Goldblum tinkle the ivories...

...while Danielle, Victoria and Angie take photos on the stairs

Then off I drove to Arizona to spend some time with the marvelous Rippey family - Aunt Margot, Uncle Paul, and Cousins Jake and Cole. Aunt Margot was my favorite aunt growing up (the youngest, and a cool NYC city girl who would play board games with me) and she definitely lived up to the title of "favorite aunt" when she took her very first Bikram class from me - as I taught my very first Bikram class!

Aunt Margot makes the BEST post-hiking, pre-teaching breakfast sandwich ever...

...and I eat the best post-hiking, pre-teaching breakfast sandwich ever!

The wonderful Kelly Green was also there, and I took her class right after mine. Having taken four other trainees' classes since, I can tell you that it's very hard not to jump up off your mat and clap and cheer "you did that SO GOOD! I'm SO PROUD OF YOU!!" You have to wait till the end.

Guess who just taught her first class?

Bikram Yoga Avondale was a perfect studio in which to teach my first class - it was a small class, the studio was peaceful and serene, and the owner Shelby not only gave me a time slot but also took the time to sit down with me, Kelly, and another teacher afterwards to review feedback and suggestions.

The Grand Canyon! Clearly I did not pick up anything resembling a tan while in LA.

After two days in Arizona, I picked up fellow Group 8-er Emma in Flagstaff and we drove together to Vegas, where we met up with Patrizia and did some canyon sightseeing and indoor rock climbing.

Emma is very good at driving on the "wrong" side of the road!

Emma taught a class at Bikram Yoga Green Valley, a large and wonderful place run by Stacey, who had been one of our favorite Posture Clinic leaders back at training. Unfortunately Emma was late because Patrizia and I didn't realize just how lazy the Lazy River at the MGM Grand was (I am incapable of being on time...that much hasn't changed!).

I don't know if we had got her there five minutes earlier, she would have been told about the big double doors that needed to be opened halfway through class to let in fresh air...regardless, it was SO. FREAKING. HOT. Poor Emma kept trying to turn on fans and open outside doors to solve it, to no avail. Patrizia and I tried to conserve our water sip by sip, and have at least one of us standing and doing the posture at any given time, but we were most definitely humbled by the experience. Most of the time half the class was on the floor. Poor Emma! But she perseverved, and her dialogue was spot on, and her Australian accent was melodious and comforting, and overall it was awesome.

Vegas baby, yeah!

The less said about the rest of Vegas with my crazy-wonderful girls Carolyn, Nikki, Shanna, Laura, and Stephanie, the better. I'll just let the following photo sum it up:

Yeah, I'm the fake bride-to-be at our fake bachelorette. AND WHAT OF IT?

The Week That Just Ended: Teaching in San Francisco, There is Life Outside the Bubble

So as you can imagine, the near-11 hour drive back to San Francisco was a bit of a wash. Listening to dialogue, once again, made me fall asleep, so I relied on M&Ms, coffee, a stop at In 'n Out, and Delilah's soft rock (or whatever else I could find on the radio to sing along to). As I pulled into San Francisco, for the first time, the city felt like home (of course, when I opened the car door, the cold was a bit of a shocker).

Why is there a fake Liberty Bell at the Bellagio?

I was so surprised and delighted at the folks who showed up to my very first Mission Yoga class Tuesday morning - including teachers like Tracy, and Big Brothers Big Sisters coworker friends like Stephanie and Laura. Laura taught a kickboxing class in Pleasanton that morning and STILL managed to make it for the second half of my class! I wasn't thrilled with how the class went - I was a little too much in my own head, trying to put into action everything Shelby had given me, and I got confused about timing, thinking at 9AM that I had only half an hour left when I had a full 45 minutes to go - but it was fun and comforting to finally be back in my own studio.

Patrizia's epic Standing Bow at Red Rock Canyon

Since then my teaching has improved every class I teach. And I LOVE it. I had a moment on Tuesday when I was in the midst of taking my first of two classes that day, after teaching that morning, and I thought: at least for a little while, this is my LIFE! I get to teach yoga, and take yoga, and immerse myself in yoga, and while in the long term this is not sustainable, and I'll have to leave SF if I don't want to go broke - how lucky am I!?

Well this afternoon has run away from me and I want to get out and enjoy the rare warm SF weather. In my next post I'll try to do more of a wrap-up rather than an update, and address the questions from Gamebred and Jill - namely, helpful hints...and was it all worth it? (spoiler alert - in my mind, the answer is yes!)

Love & Hugs to you all!

Weeks Seven and Eight: Three Days Left!?

2011-06-15T10:50:00.000-07:00

Wow. At the start of training they told us that time would fly by, but with 95 classes staring us in the face that just seemed absurd...but now here I am already deep into Week Nine, with a mere four classes to go!

So in one of those weird sort of karmic coincidences, turns out my buddy Kelly from my group (GROUP 8 IS GREAT!), happens to be from the same tiny Arizona town, Waddell, that my aunt and uncle live in...

Kelly and me at Group 8 Dinner!

So on my way to Vegas to meet up with Carolyn and the girls for my very first Vegas trip (stay tuned for stories of how Danielle drinks one cocktail after nine weeks of yoga & no drinking and passes out at 10pm at a penny slot) I'll stop in Waddell, visit the fam, and teach my first class at Kelly's studio in Avondale! SO SOON! At 12pm on Wednesday, June 22...so pretty please send as many positive thoughts towards Arizona as you POSSIBLY can.

The Habit...Giving In 'n Out a Run for Its Money

So Week Seven (well, Week Seven and a few hours on Monday Week Eight) we made it through all 26 postures in Posture Clinics! Towards the end it felt like the last week of high school, where everyone was getting rowdy and a little silly and having trouble keeping quiet even when exasperatingly shushed. Also our studying was not necessarily as effective as it had once been, so we ended up saying stuff like:

"Grab your big feet" - Yukari

"Suck your thumb" - Becky

(for Head to Knee with Stretching, a seated posture): "This is Head to Knee with Standing" - Michelle

"Ready or not, here I come, you can't hide. Gonna find you...and make you do rabbit." - Mike

Studying outside the laundromat for the last time!

But Martine showed us ALL how it's done with an epic display of dialogue mastery. Michon (our Posture Clinic leader Friday night and a star staffer) started throwing postures at her one after the other, and she kept up with word perfect dialogue like I have NEVER seen. Incredible!

Another funny coincidence... remember Byron from Bikram Yoga Chelsea? With whom I had the following interaction upon arrival in NYC back in September?:

Byron the Yoga Teacher: Bikram Yoga Chelsea, can you hold please? He tells someone where the locker rooms and towels are. The studio clearly exists. How can I help you?
Me Dragging Suitcase: The sign says you’re on the 3rd floor, but I can’t find it?
BYT: No, we’re on the 4th floor.
BYT (five minutes later): Bikram Yoga Chelsea, how can I help you?
MDS: I can’t find you on the 4th floor? You’re at 150, right?
BYT: No, we’re at 250. On the 4th floor.
BYT (five minutes later): YES?
MDS: Um, this is an apartment building. And the guy living on the fourth floor is very nice, but not running a yoga studio out of his apartment.
BYT: We’re at 250 West 30th, not 250 West 26th, sweetheart.

Guess who ran my very last Posture Clinic? You got it!

A friendly face - Oscar from Mission Yoga, here for recertification!

On Friday of Week Seven, we were joined by no less than 120 visiting teachers, the vast majority of whom who were completing their re-certification. Every three years, Bikram teachers must "come back to the source" - go through the same huge classes, long lectures, and late night movies, but only over two days instead of nine weeks. That Friday class was BRUTAL. Like, very first class brutal. Like, lying on the floor in a sea of my own sweat unable to breathe brutal. When you add 120 bodies to the hot yoga room and put a bad mood Bikram up on the podium for a 2 1/2 hour class? That shit is TOUGH.

But it was followed not by another four hour lecture but instead by...A pizza dance party! 280 pizzas were ordered and eaten by ravenous yogis, many bottles of sugary sodas were drunk, and Michon put on the tunes for everyone to dance the night away - even Bikram himself, who, as you can see, is sporting quite the sportcoat! It's amazing what some pizza and dancing can do to pick you right back up!

Saturday morning class was tough too - those 120 people were still there, sucking up all our oxygen and heating up our room and generally making life miserable -and it didn't help that Jim too decided to teach for almost 2 1/2 hours.

Urth Cafe in Beverly Hills...just as good as rumored.

Luckily I powered through, and then got to spend the weekend relaxing, catching up with friends in SF, seeing the super freakin' awesome new X-men movie, taking photos underwater at the Sheraton pool (why did we sneak into the Sheraton you ask? There's a hot tub!), and joining a group trip to the Yogananda Center.

Paramahansa Yogananda

A bit more on that - Paramahansa Yogananda is one of the most well known yogis in the Western world, author of Autobiography of a Yogi and founder of the Self Realization Fellowship, headquartered up in the hills of Pasadena where our carful of yogis accidentally went first (oops!).

There's also a Lake Shrine Temple up in the Pacific Palisades, an idyllic manmade lake, where a few dozen of our training group had the opportunity to participate in a service (which we missed...see above), and hear from one of the monks about Yogananda's teachings, which are mostly around the oneness of all religions - I liked the metaphor the monk shared of a lamp with many flames, where each flame is a different concept or incarnation of the idea of god, but they're all fed by the same oil. We also walked around the lake in the sun. Gorgeous!

Kelly might look a little more badass with Bikram's watch on...

Bikram decided not to travel for the rest of the training so we've had a LOT of late nights, long lectures, and showings of Bollywood movies and the televised Mahabarata (with the best special effects ever created for the small screen). And without posture clinics we also had a number of guest speakers, from the relevant to the random, from Karen the new nurse (we get a new nurse every week, and this week there's no nurse - what are we DOING to them?), to Dr. Tracy's talk on Yoga, Aging and Neuromuscular Function, to Dr. Choudhury (no relation to Bikram), a renowned gynocologist(? I know, right?), to Rajashree's lecture on yoga therapy.

The Mission Yoga crew!

My favorite quote of Week Seven, courtesy of Rajashree: "I know you are tired, and my voice is very lullaby, and my subject is very boring, and you will fall asleep right away." Her gentleness is a fascinating contrast to Bikram's brashness, but she can still kick our butts in yoga class...Lisa, one of the senior staff, also sat onstage to tell us every detail about graduation and, I kid you not, read everyone's name out loud to ask them how to pronounce it. All 430. That was painful. And yes, in three days...I'll be a teacher training graduate!

Papaya King in Hollywood!

Sunset over Manhattan Beach

As things start to wrap up, my body is thrilled to by its impending break from twice daily classes and long hours with my butt in a hotel chair, and I'm looking forward to getting my first few classes underway (Wednesday June 22 in Avondale, AZ at 12pm, as I mentioned, and Tuesday, June 28th at 8:15am at Mission Yoga! Mark your calendars!)...but I'm also not quite ready to leave the yoga bubble and go back to the real world. Can we give it another week, maybe?

Underwater camera fun!

Looking forward to sharing stories about my last week with you, hopefully it'll be a little more exciting - and I'll be sure to continue updating this blog even after training, and let you know how life as a teacher transpires. Thanks for reading!

Week Six: Portraits, Pointing and Pizza (or lack thereof)

2011-06-01T02:17:00.000-07:00

Here we are, already two days into Week Seven and I'm already behind! Even though its late and I am fried from post-Posture Clinic study group, I will spend the next 52 minutes providing you, my loyal readers, with a few quick updates.

Week Six is generally known as the week when hormones rage, tempers boil over, meltdown frequency increases, and everyone's emotions are at a fever pitch. But believe it or not I have stayed shockingly stable, beyond the giggle fits and the fact that my sense of humor is now that of a 13-year-old boy.

Yogi Beach Party at Venice Beach!

In class one day the teacher asked "how many people here haven't had their meltdown yet?" There was one Posture Clinic in Week Six where I had a bit of a cry after I didn't deliver my dialogue like I wanted to, but when I got back to the room Kelly said "if it makes you feel any better, I cried for half an hour watching So You Think You Can Dance this afternoon. I was just so happy for them following their dreams...!" Clearly that bit of cry does not count as meltdown material. So I feel some trepidation...but in general, still happy.

And after six weeks all the strange habits and bizarre aspects of training start to feel very normal. Waking up early so I can chug water and eat a Trader Joes fig bar, then go back to sleep? Normal. Getting sprayed with sweat from the dude taking class next to you? Or worse, the girl walking over you AFTER class? Normal. Peeling someone else's hair off your sweaty leg in class? Normal. Peeing on your yoga mat during class? NOT NORMAL (but supposedly, it occured).

Portrait of Kelly's Cousin Kristin as We Wait for Burgers, #1 by Kelly Sheridan

Posture Clinics were twice a day more often than not in Week Six, meaning that we met and learned from guest teachers from all over the world. Some of my favorite Posture Clinic leads were: Nicole from Phoenix, Arizona, who really spoke to what a lot of us were going through when she said "at the end of training, I thought - I'm less flexible, I've gained weight, and NOW I'm going to teach yoga?!";

and Jena from NYC, who you may recall from a long-ago post, and who not only led two of my posture clinics (where I learned the value of POINTING DOWN as I talk so my sentences? don't go up? at the end?), but also taught a fantastic yoga class. What I love about her teaching style (and hope someday to emulate) is that even though she uses mostly dialogue, the words we've been hearing and learning and delivering for six weeks now, she is just so focused and right there with you - you never feel like she's reciting words on a page. Another good Bikram quote courtesy of Jena: "You can be perfect, or you can be great - your choice."

Portrait of Kelly's Cousin Kristin as We Wait for Burgers, #2 by Chris Hingel

Did I talk about makeup classes yet? If you miss a class or lecture (or go, but are late/forget to sign in) you have to take an 11am class right after the 8am class on Saturday. But makeup classes are like mini yoga vacations - the temperature is balmy, the class size is tiny, and you're in and out in no time, so while precious Saturday time is whittled down, I'm okay with the occasional makeup. But the tragic part is, this week I decided to sleep through a morning class and it turned out that was the class taught by Julia from Mission Yoga! Tragedy, and lesson learned.

Kelly's cousin Kristin sitting for her portrait at Umami Burger

We had two lectures by a massage therapist/bodyworker/natural health aficionado named Jon Burras, who was quite the character. He believes that the health of your fascia, the connective tissue of the body, is the key to physical/emotional health. I'm not saying this man loves fascia, but he DID say the word "fascia" 213 times in three hours (someone counted).

One thing that Jon said really stuck with me though: "if you stay committed to your limitations, you get to keep them."

But I used to be so GOOD at taking jumping pictures!

Did I mention that sometimes training is like being in high school? So late Thursday into Friday, rumors started going around. Rumors that Bikram was going to give us Friday night off, because we were doing so well in dialogue...no wait, he's giving us the night off AND he's giving us a pizza party! These rumors were so widespread that they simply HAD to be based in truth. We didn't want to get our hopes up, but just in case, plans were made and joy was felt...

...and subsequently dashed when, after a class that started with a staff member dance party (I mean, c'mon...the staff is in a good mood for a REASON, right? A pizza-related reason?) Michon got on the mike to announce "Posture Clinic...be in your rooms by 8:55" and the whole room groaned and booed in unison. Michon must've been flabbergasted. What I want to know is...who started that dirty, dirty rumor?

Patrizia enjoying the sun

But the weekend more than made up for it. A yogi beach party with live music and 40 - 50 people crowded onto Venice Beach...studying dialogue in a hot tub...delicious burgers and sweet potato fries in Santa Monica...how did I get so lucky? You mean I have to go back to the real world in three weeks?

I miss and love you all...and can't wait to start teaching! (hopefully that's not when my meltdown finally occurs...)

P.S. I leave you with Kelly's brave dip into the ocean (while the rest of us sat on the beach in coverups and hoodies) and her triumphant return, Bo Derek style.

Weeks Four and Five: Dreadlocks, Decisions, and Steak Dinner

2011-05-23T11:36:00.000-07:00

How could you not love Kelly's face in this photo?

So here I am, kicking off Week Six, and I genuinely have not had a spare two hours to put together a coherent blog post. The speed of posture clinics has picked up, meaning that we need to memorize and deliver a new posture an average of once a day, and as a result weekends are the only times available to catch up on studying, do laundry, food shopping, and okay, watch the 11pm episode of the ridiculous over-the-top HBO show Game of Thrones to which Kelly and I are totally addicted.

But I'm sure you're ALL waiting with bated breath for an update, so I'll just share a few snapshots and thoughts and see how far I can get in the next 37 minutes. If I suck at delivering Wind Removing Pose, I blame you all!

Another great photo face courtesy of Julian, who didn't know we were still taking photos.

Week Four was a settling in sort of week. I formed a great little study group, my classes were generally strong, I figured out a hydration method that works, and I started to feel like I could do this forever. There's something very freeing about giving up control of your day to day life towards a larger goal - I decide when and what to eat, when and how to study, what to wear, and everything else is pretty much going with the flow, doing what I'm told, not knowing until late in the day whether I'll spend the night delivering dialogue or listening to a lecture or watching a move till 2AM.

And eventually you stop getting frustrated or antsy or judgmental or whatever and genuinely TRUST THE PROCESS, a phrase that's frequently invoked whenever we start to wonder whether anyone knows what the heck is going on. I feel great!

Tiny aquarium at the end of the Pier in Manhattan Beach.

You can go there while doing your laundry!

Week Five was when my composure started to flake. I found myself in fits of giggles, or acting like a five-year-old ("but I don't WANNA study!"). I got really, really excited about little stuff like drinking chocolate milk or when we got almost everyone in our posture clinic group to say "Present" instead of "Here" during roll call. We had a fantastic class from a guest teacher in San Antonio, TX named Lisa, who not only had us do a "yee-haw" sit-up, which was so much fun, but put on "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley during final savasana, and as a room full of 430+ people began to sing "Don't worry about a thing, cause every little thing, is gonna be alright" I finally had a good yoga class cry.

Sunset from the Manhattan Beach Pier. Laundry's almost dry!

John Salvatore from Las Vegas taught a hilarious and fantastic class. When he had us all in Standing Bow, the room was utterly silent but for the gentle rain sound of everyone sweating. He's the star of Jersey Boys, so he's a performer and entertainer who kept us laughing and delighted the whole class, but he was also just a warm and instructive personality. I'll be in Vegas the weekend after training ends, believe it or not, so I really hope I'll get another chance to take his class.

During John's class I was right beside his podium when a girl behind me started sobbing - these terrible, heart-wrenching sobs. I wanted to reach back and hug her but I've learned that a lot of the time, the people crying in class or crying in the halls or crying in posture clinic (and there is a lot of cryin' going on here) just want to be left the hell alone. So I held back. Then John ended his class, climbed down off the podium, and without hesitation wrapped this girl in a big hug and started to reassure her and it was beautiful. And I thought "I don't know what people want, what would help, unless I ask."

We closed out Week Four with a steak dinner at 555 East in Long Beach...SO worth it.

One of my favorite Posture Clinic leaders thus far was Juan, who called my dialogue delivery "relatively satisfying" (my study buddy Chris was "overall, very promising!" No fair!) and taught another fantastic, fast-paced class in which he told the following joke:

Q: Why are short people aggressive?
A: Their balls are closer to their brains.

Hahahaha! Oh my god, I really am regressing in age.

This place was in Inception! We went to the Annenberg Center for Photography yesterday.

I had my best class of training ever in Week Five. I've mentioned my new idol Emmy Cleaves before. Usually she walks around the room for the first half of the class, correcting as she goes. You have no idea where she is in the room until suddenly she's right behind you, saying "shoulders back. Shoulders BACK. You need to get out of la-la land!" Then she sits in the back of the room for the floor series.

Point being, she hates the podium and never uses it. So morning class Thursday, I set up right in front of the podium so I could see myself in the mirror. And Emmy decided that day to stay on the podium the whole class. And it was the BEST CLASS EVER. I have NEVER been so focused or worked so hard, because I knew the minute I let up, didn't give it my all, Emmy would know and call me out on it (and she did, several times). It was amazing.

Of course, night class Thursday was brutal, as I was basically broken and have never been so tired and sore, but it was worth it to remind myself how much further I can go when I really try.

Kelly's dreads BEFORE I drove her to South Los Angeles for three hours of tightening...

And AFTER. What a difference!

Oh, one last but important thing! Week Five was the week Bikram finally noticed both me and Kelly. For me, it was in class, where I was set up just to his right, so I was paying close attention. I was regaining some of my lost flexibility that day, which was a delightful surprise, but when I got to Locust Pose the flexibility was DEFINITELY not there. And of course, that's when I heard it: "You! Miss Tattoo! ... Clock Tattoo! Your legs are coming up not at all!" Uh oh.

Then he climbs down from the podium during second set, grabs up my foot, says "see? your foot is HERE at my knee" - yanks it up - "it needs to be HERE - at my waist! Got it?" It was awesome. And scary. And scary awesome.

For Kelly, it was in lecture. He notices her in the front row, walks over to her with a mischievous smile, picks up a dread, and says "What is this?" He then told us a story about how the yogis who meditate in caves would grow long dreadlocks, but the fake yogis would grow dreadlocks out of their bum - or something like that. I don't know. It was awesome. And bizarre. And awesomely bizarre.

That's it for now folks, I need to go remove some wind! (also known as Wind Removing Pose).

Thanks again for your love, support, and comments. See you in Week Seven!

Need the most sugary sugar high of all time?

Do a week of 11 yoga classes and then eat one of these suckers.

Week Three: in which I am SO THIRSTY (but life is good!)

2011-05-10T00:50:00.000-07:00

Week 2 may have crawled by at a snail's pace, but Week 3 went by FAST! I think this was mostly due to all the changes - we broke into smaller groups of about 20 each (yeah Group 8!!) and spent a few hours each day with one of the other groups and several visiting teachers, who listened to us deliver dialogue and gave feedback.

Posture Clinics alternated with Anatomy lectures by the incomparable Dr. Jim Preddy (Dr. P). Bikram was out of town so most nights we were in bed by midnight (shocking!), and his wife Rajashree taught almost every day. Lots of changes - lots of strong classes - lots of studying - it's been a good week! Here's a few highlights/lowlights/points of interest:

Anatomy is Cool

All you really need to know about Anatomy lectures is that Dr. Preddy is sheer brilliance. He is funny, clever, endearing, and makes anatomy not only understandable, but FASCINATING! He paces around like a stand up comedian, interspersing his lectures with anecdotes and jokes still relevant to the material. For example: "Passing out is God's way of making you lie down." The reason dogs seem to possess so many more human-like emotions? They have eyebrows, so their nonverbal communication is ten times that of cats (cats are still better...just sayin'. You don't see a cat having to be taken outside to poop three times a day.)

At one point mid-week, a lot of people started asking him very specific questions about the effect of eleven classes a week on their body (i.e. "is it bad that my knee is swollen?" "why can't I turn my neck?" "what should I do about my back?") to which he would often respond, pointing to himself, "Anatomy. That is a yoga question. (pointing to himself) ANATOMY."

But finally, after one too many "why does it hurt because -", he told us something about teacher training that I think we can all relate to: "Look, this is hard stuff. You have to force your body to do this against it's will. It's unnatural, it's not normal...but it works. "

I want Dr. P. to be my uncle or something so I can be around him all the time.

Water is My Favorite Thing

Week 3 is when hydration, always important in Bikram Yoga, started to occupy a higher percentage of my waking moments. As you know if you've been reading my blog, I'm not a dainty, dewy yogi in class - I'm more like this guy. So it makes sense that if I'm doing way more sweaty yoga than usual, in a hotter than usual room, I'd need to bump up the water & electrolytes.

But last week I was thirsty ALL THE FREAKIN' TIME. I've figured out that I drink around 6 - 8 liters of water a day, which seems like plenty, but I still spend the first ten minutes after every class standing in front of the bathroom sink just outside the yoga room, filling my water bottle and chugging it down and filling it again and chugging it down again and - I mean, I can't even wait ten minutes to get back to my room & my water filter? Oof.

I also started giving in with startling frequency to the delirious joy that is an ice-cold Gatorade post-class. Joy joy joy joy for a thirsty lady. Then I started bringing Gatorade INTO class and whoa...suddenly I was able to power through the end of class and still put some strength into the last two poses instead of hanging out giving a little tug on my feet like a lazy bum.

The cons to bringing Gatorade AND a liter of water into class? I have a sloshy bellyful of water by the end of class, which can kind of get in the way...and (as I learned from Dr. P, of course) all that sugar can switch on my digestive system and make me suddenly, ravenously hungry.

Also on Thursday my tummy got confused and upset (water! Gatorade! hungry! what's going on!? screw this!) and I had to run out of the room. My ego was all tied into the fact that I'd never left the room, so I was disappointed in myself for caving less than a third of the way through...but (say it with me!) it is what it is. So I definitely don't recommend a liter of water and Gatorade every class for most Bikramites, but for me and my training, right now it's what I need (although next week I'll experiment with watering it down...because Danielle NEVER leaves the room).

Posture Clinics!

It's been a lot of fun to get to know new people in the smaller groups and get feedback from a variety of Bikram teachers and studio owners. Of course, the leaders of my third posture clinic were...Steve23 and Juicy! It was such a delight to see them, and they made everyone in my group smile, laugh, and learn something - I felt the sense of affection and pride that I guess sports fans have for their home team members (I can't think of the right analogy...you know, that sort of aren't they awesome? You love them, don't you? They're my studio owners! feeling). In any case, it was great.

They told me to stop rocking back and forth on my heels - my "homework" (every posture clinic you get homework) was to plant my feet. It seems that planting my feet moved the nervous energy up - the next time, I was told to loosen up my shoulders since they were too stiff, and to use my hands (by this lovely woman who has two kids! Can you believe it!? And this is her husband. Those kids must be bendy.) I'm just glad that my feedback so far is about my posture and delivery rather than my words - overall I'm doing well.

Rah Rah Rajashree!

I wanted to talk a bit about Rajashree - the perfect good cop to Bikram's bad cop, yet still tough as nails, prowling around like a cat on the podium, bending down to give corrections to people around her in her graceful, ageless way - but I seem to have wasted all my blogging time and space going on and on about Gatorade.

So I will leave you with a Last but not Least...at the start of a lecture on pain Emmy, the incredible 86 year old teacher I mentioned last week, was wondering aloud about the setup of her podium and the fact that everyone couldn't see her demonstrations, but quickly threw up her hands and moved on, saying "It is what it is, I guess." A Paul Crik reference? I think yes.

P.S. Do I really laugh like this guy?

Week Two: Highs and Lows and Epic Jumping Shots

2011-05-03T01:24:00.000-07:00

Steve and Juicy (and Pepper!) arrived last night and we all went out to dinner. Good times!

Not quite as much interesting stuff happened last week, hence I'm late in my weekly updating! I'm really grateful for my readership and your lovely comments online and off. I hope I can continue to keep y'all entertained!

But first, a quick note: so I was telling my Mom on the phone this afternoon as the car wash guys finally scrubbed the bug mortuary off the front of my car from my drive down from SF (seriously, was it a high pollen time or something? because that was GROSS) that I'm starting to feel very self-involved. I spend a little too much time thinking about ME - how I'm feeling, how I'm doing, what I'm eating, how much water I'm drinking, what does what I'm thinking or how I'm reacting at any given time say about ME!? It's a weird state of mind to be in, for sure. I'm lucky to have this introspective time, and it'll make me a better, more empathetic teacher, but still!

So are you ready to hear all about ME and MY week!?...Week two started off with a bang when the SF ladies lined up to deliver our Half Moon. We were preceded by four girls who knew their dialogue, but lacked variety and enthusiasm. Bikram said (and I quote, of course): "What happened? Did you have shit weekend? Why is everyone boring today?" Then Kelly took the stage ... who I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, was anything but boring! ....

And she NAILED it. The crowd started whooping and hollering before she was even halfway through. The whole lethargic post-weekend energy of the room was transformed. When she finished ("and push and PUSH and PUSH and PUSH!"), everyone erupted into raucous applause and Bikram leapt up, grabbed his hat, threw it in the air, and yelled "WOO! THAT is how you teach Bikram yoga!"

Especially after the physical struggles Kelly had overcome the week before, it was such a triumph. Then I got to deliver my dialogue in the afterglow of Kelly's success (and I'm not boring either, if I do say so myself), so Bikram said "what are they feeding you in San Francisco? Are they giving away free food?" And then he said "Very good," so I know whatever that means, it's good. We're well fed?

Angie and Victoria atop Runyon canyon. I'm interspersing these photos to spice up this blog post.

Speaking of fed, after the first few days of week two the koolaid left my system and I was getting a little fed up. I was really tired of listening to half moon. Yes, it was cool to see the wide variety of people who were here, and their styles of dialogue delivery (at one point the three demonstrators lined up were a friendly older fellow named Tom from Alaska who had been a commercial fisherman for 20 years; a hipster dude with a jewfro from Williamsburg NYC; and a girl from China - and the woman delivering dialogue was from London). But by the 350th delivery of the same 2 minutes (and the closer we got to the end, the less people were up to snuff) I was SO BORED.

Thursday morning I finally had a bad class. It was an Emmy class, a senior teacher whom I absolutely adore. She's 86 years old - EIGHTY SIX YEARS OLD! She doesn't stand on the podium but walks around the class, so you never know when she's going to start directing her corrections towards you and you stay very focused and present. And she is one tough eighty six year old cookie (who, incidentally, looks maybe in her mid-60s, and legend has it she can still put both legs behind her head).

But alas, I ran completely out of steam halfway through class and had to sit out half the floor series, lying on my damp towel feeling dehydrated, overheated, hungry, exhausted, and pissed off. Luckily I only spent about five minutes wallowing in self-pity before I instead spent my I-can't-move time engaging in furious long-term planning - figuring out how I can better fuel my morning classes, for example.

Then Thursday night, one of the main guys running the training, Jim Kallett from San Diego, gave a truly inspiring lecture. He reminded me why I was (and gave me new reasons to be) excited to become a TEACHER. He helped contextualize what we were all going through in our own ways these first two weeks. By struggling in that hot room, we are reminded what it is like to be a new student - so that we can have compassion for our future students.

Me and Victoria, also on Runyon Canyon. Hah, you were getting bored but you're not anymore, am I right?

 There was so much in the six pages of notes I took on this lecture that if I shared it all you'd get SO bored. I think the important part was that it happened at just the right time. For example, Jim told us that "every yoga class is an accumulation of every class you've ever done...the only bad class is the one you don't do. So just listen carefully, don't give up, and do the best you can." Bad class Thursday morning? Psh!

Then Lynn Whitlow, the former owner of the Funky Door franchise in San Francisco who is now running a studio in Petaluma, spoke on Friday and I was officially swimming in the koolaid once again. Her lecture was full of practical, humorous, no nonsense advice (for example: "as a teacher, you practice how you want your students to practice."). I went straight from "why am I am here" right back to "I'm so glad I'm here!" in the space of two days. Wacky.

So by the time we were heading into the weekend, I was happy. And what a great weekend it was! I'm eternally grateful to Steve23 and Juicy for spending so much time with us on dialogue, so that I can spend some of my weekend time enjoying LA - walking along Venice Beach, eating delicious Mexican food, climbing Runyon canyon - instead of struggling to figure out memorization techniques and learn my dialogue. Good times!

I close with a photo of the Hollywood sign...because it's 1AM and I don't have a better way to end this post. Week Three we shake things up - Bikram's out of town, his wife Rajashree is in town, we break into smaller groups for Posture Clinic...exciting stuff, I promise!

Till then, big hugs and love to you all.

Oh, and P.S...the Today Show filmed this the very first day of training!:

Week One: Bikram, Bibs and Bobs, and the Bottomless Pit that is My Stomach

2011-04-25T00:27:00.000-07:00

Wow. Just...wow. Where do I begin? The few times I've caught up with people outside BYTT land they say "so how is it!?" and it's impossible to adequately describe this incredible experience in a way that doesn't result in bafflement, shocked dismay, or eyes glazed over (or all three).

So I'll try not to go on and on but if you feel like I've left something critical out (for example, "but Danielle...you love food so much! how do you feed yourself living in a hotel room?!" Answer: Sandwiches, miso soup, and eating like a fat kid at a buffet. In the first week I went through an entire giant box of Shredded Oats, an entire mason jar full of trail mix, an ENTIRE BUCKET OF TRADER JOES GINGER SNAPS, and that's just breakfast and snacks) just let me know. Okay, here goes, feel like I should start by giving context via...

A Typical Day

We have two 1 1/2 hour classes (sometimes longer) a day - one at 8:30AM and one at 5PM. The hotel/Bikram staff have transformed an enormous ballroom into a hot yoga studio that can fit 430 - that's right, FOUR HUNDRED AND FREAKIN' THIRTY - teacher trainees at once, plus visitors and staff and a makeshift sound booth and a big podium. It has mirrors lining 3 walls, huge chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, and giant pipes that look more like (dork alert!) sandworms than anything else, pumping heated, humid air into the room.

In between, we have breaks for showering and eating, and then about 3-4 hours of posture clinic in the afternoon. Right now, everyone has to deliver their dialogue for Half Moon (the first posture after breathing) in front of Bikram, one by one, so of course with 430 people it's gonna take a while (all 3 San Francisco ladies are signed up for tomorrow!). After that, we'll break into smaller groups to go through the rest of the 26 postures.

After evening class, we have "lecture" - which can take the form of Bikram talking for a good 3 hours straight, watching a Bollywood movie (followed by Bikram talking for another two hours - our first is pictured at the top of this post), more posture clinic, we never know. It can last until 11:30pm, it can last until almost 4am. WE NEVER KNOW. Which is one example of how...

This is Bizarre.

Bikram doesn't teach every class - right now he's teaching about a class a day (it'll be less once we get through half moon) and the rest are staff teachers, visiting teachers, etc (see "This is Awesome," below). One of my favorite guest teachers this week was Juan, a handsome fellow with a strangely unplaceable accent (Spanish? Spanish having lived in France? French having lived in Morocco?) and a killer Spine Twist pose. He said "This yoga is not a "normal" activity. If a normal person walked in here right now, they'd think you were a freak." (the point being, I should point out, that the yoga enhances normal life in a way normal activities do not). I had a number of moments this week where I thought of Juan's words as I sort of mentally stepped back and looked objectively at what I was experiencing and thought "this is BIZARRE."

Such as the very first class of training, which I think was meant to humble us because it was HOT AS HELL. We ran in all bright eyed and bushy tailed and sloshed out all red faced and limp with our tails tucked between our shaking legs. I doubt anyone actually did every posture all the way through. Peering through the haze up at Bikram as he admonished us for our laziness I couldn't believe what I'd gotten myself into.

Or when I'm trying to take notes on the ramblings of a sixty-something Indian man lounging on a giant inflatable podium in a big hotel meeting room at 1am and, much like eight years ago in college, my notes go from "conscious mind, unconscious mind, subconscious mind all work simultaneously, usually in conflict" to "as an active human, you cannot tet another bad hurking am other..." slurring off into a nonsense scribble as I fall asleep. That is a transcription from my notebook. No joke. Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit coffee.

Or when I come "home" (to my hotel room) and make myself a full bottle of ice, water, lemon, and sea salt (also known as homemade gatorade) and this glorified saltwater makes me so happy I find myself grinning ear to ear as I sing "it's lemon salty water time" to myself, to this tune, as I walked down the hall from the ice machine. I'm not kidding.

Actually, newfound joy in the little things is one of the many aspects of training that makes me feel like...

This is Awesome.

Seriously.

The yoga is incredible. I get to learn from some of the best teachers in the world, including BIKRAM HIMSELF, who is tough, and a little crazy, and a lot brilliant. I thought the actual yoga would be the toughest part for me because I'm not that good (not false modesty, trust me! someday I will be that good). But it doesn't matter how high you can get your leg up in Standing Bow - it's about discipline, stamina, letting all the negativity or judgement go and just DOING YOGA.

And there are people here from ALL OVER THE WORLD - Poland, Prague, Mexico City, Bulgaria. I'm discovering all these little geographic pockets of Bikram enthusiasm - there so many trainees from Vancouver, and parts of Austrailia, and New Zealand.

Because everyone gets up in front of Bikram to do Half Moon, we're hearing familiar words in new ways through these amazing accents: like the ladies from Brooklyn, who pronounce "ears" like two very separate words, or the Austrian who pronounced biceps "bee-ceps," or the music that the dialogue becomes when spoken in a Portuguese accent. The Japanese trainees are particularly impressive - two of them don't speak English, so they learned this dialogue PHONETICALLY. And I thought it was hard for ME to memorize.

It's not all sunshine and rainbows, of course. It can be draining, and I know now I need to let go of the sardonic, judgemental attitude that can take hold of my mind sometimes, never so clearly than when I'm surrounded by hundreds of individual personalities with their own quirks and complaints - but as Bikram says, "if you let someone else steal your peace, you are the loser."

But at the end of the day, I just feel so grateful to be here, to take joy in little things like cold saltwater after class, or a good laugh with friends new and old, or a nap on the beach in the sun.

Bibs and Bobs
So the term "bibs and bobs" comes from Judes, a lovely Australian who is Bikram's assistant and who said last week during announcements "Now, I understand, we've all got bibs and bobs. But I was in the back row and there were some fellows in front of me and when they were in Standing Bow, I saw more than I wanted to see." I'm using it to mean "bits and pieces." Just to be clear.

This is Kelly in our hotel room delivering a magnificent dramatic oration of Half Moon. I just love this photo.

Bikram gave us Friday night off because we were doing so well (cue raucous cheering) so Kelly and I went to Manhattan Beach for Italian food at Mama D's. We were on yoga highs, sitting at the kid's table outside drawing and giggling like six year olds, and spending the entire dinner talking about yoga. The service was perfect, the food was carb-o-licious, and we tapped out halfway through course three which meant we had enough leftovers for Saturday snacks. Did I mention I'm eating a lot?

Angie, Victoria, and Victoria's sister Priya, friends I knew in San Francisco who now live in LA, and with whom I met up with this morning. We had a delicious brunch and I learned the value of getting out of my yoga bubble and NOT talking about yoga all day. Also, I've really missed these beautiful ladies!

When Kelly was in a low place, I shared with her the joy of satirical self help guru Paul Crik's Killin' It. It has become the slogan of our training (hence it's hallowed place on our message board). She said it really helped her remember not to get overwhelmed - after all, it is what it is! It takes on more significance with each passing day. We're sharing it with fellow yogis. This is it!

In and Out. Less than a mile away. 'Nuff said.

Oh man, there's more I wanted to say, but it's past my bedtime...some of us have yoga in the morning! See you next week!

CAR TRIPS AND GRATITUDE: Training is About to Start!

2011-04-17T22:25:00.000-07:00

These three lovely ladies have ARRIVED! We're settled into the hotel, unpacked, set up our tea kettles, had our first bite of Sunday In and Out burger (can Kelly and I eat cheeseburgers every Sunday? Time will tell), ate our first hotel room dinner sandwiches, and sat through a brief orientation (favorite quote from Jim, who attended the first very teacher training (this is the 39th!) and now runs a studio in San Diego: "Teacher training is a combination of finishing military boot camp and completing a masters thesis"). Tomorrow we meet the man himself...and have our very first yoga class!

TALES FROM A CAR TRIP

The weekend has gone by so quickly, I can barely believe I'm here. As many of you know, I'm a new driver (got my license for the first time in early 2009, at the ripe ol' age of 27) so the thought of a long car trip on my own was a little daunting. But I learned a lot over those eight hours. For example:

THINGS THAT MAKE ME FALL ASLEEP IN THE CAR: NPR for more than 10 minutes; listening to dialogue (my own voice reciting the bikram language I'm still memorizing); driving through monotonous farmland along I-5 through a cloud of bugs that are now COATING the front of my freshly cleaned car.

THINGS THAT MAKE ME STAY AWAKE IN THE CAR: Philz Coffee, loud cheesy music, Peanut Butter M&Ms, Ice cream, Coca Cola, LA drivers.

Also since I've never been the driver during a long car trip, I find that I indulge every long buried nine-year-old desire. Every 2 hours it was time for another rest stop. I needed those M&Ms to keep me awake! Ooh, In and Out burger! Let's stop THERE!

Lastly, I got a fantastic birthday gift from my marvelous dad this year...my first GPS! Driving with the GPS for the first time is magical. It tells me where to go! It reminds me when a turn is coming up! It can tell me how to get back when I go the wrong way! I started anthropomorphizing this little piece of machinery FAST. By the end of the trip, we were having whole conversations.

GPS: Turn right, on ramp, to I-405.

ME: Wait, GPS, I didn't realize that's what you meant by "then turn right!" ooooo - I missed it.

GPS: Continue on I-405 for 9.8 miles.

ME: I know you don't realize this yet, but I missed it. You have to recalculate. Recalculate!

GPS: irritated silence

ME: I'm sorry, GPS.

GPS (begrudgingly): Recalculating...

GRATITUDE

In a sudden tonal shift brought on my sleepiness, too many Trader Joes triple ginger cookies, and the television on in the background (dude, having television is SO MUCH FUN), I wanted to take a quick moment to say how grateful I am for everyone's support on this exciting journey of mine. Steve23 and Juicy took us out to dinner and gave us goody bags of goodies like colorful yoga shorts, coconut water, and mats signed by many of our teachers! What a great little yoga community I'm becoming a part of...what wonderful people I've met there...what fantastic family and friends I have who are rooting for me and this wacky life choice...and how just plain lucky am I to have the life I lead? I'm actually here!!

I think I better go to bed...oh, and logistics! Committed to posting at least once a week. So keep your eyes peeled and I'll let you know how it goes!

Happy Birthday to ME!

2011-04-06T15:11:00.000-07:00

A quick post to share the hilarious song my family wrote for me today (my 30th birthday!).

I would share the accompanying video, in which my sister and mom sing while my 17-year-old brother gamely performs yogi dance moves in a long purple wig, but apparently he doesn't want that particular video to go public...can't imagine why!

Feeling incredibly lucky today for such wonderful friends and family - on the East Coast, on the West Coast, and everywhere in between!

(sung to the tune of "Roxie" from Chicago)

The word on everybody's lips is gonna be... Yogi.

The lady memorizing scripts is gonna be... Yogi.

She's gonna be a Bikram groupie

That means somebody holding her pose.

She's gonna sweat all o'er her eyes

Her hair, her teeth, her boobs, her nose.

From just some lazy smoker HA! she's gonna be... Yogi.

Who says that yoga's not an art?

And who in case she doesn't fail,

can say she started very frail.

Yogi heart!

*Mmmmhhmm*

Boys...

They're gonna wait outside in line to get to see

Yogi.

Think of those dialogues she'll recite. "Good luck to ya!"

Yogi.

And she'll appear in her Mika wear that won't cover not even her waist,

Here Shakti, there a shanti: every where a Sushumna nadi

And always in the best of taste.

Mmmm, she's a star...

And the yogis loves her,

And she loves them.

And they love her for lovin' them

And she loves them for lovin' her

And they love each other

And that's 'cause she got plenty of love in her childhood

And that's just fabulous...Kid!

She's givin' up her humdrum life

She's gonna be, sing it!

Yogi!

She made a change and a new start.

And Bikram Choudhury, shit I know

He'll see her style and never know ...

She's THIRTY!!

Yogi...

P.S. They also sent a generous gift certificate to Mika Yoga Wear...hence the reference

P.P.S. Original song below:

Hoarders and Hotels and Hogs: Two Weeks to Teacher Training!

2011-04-04T11:48:00.000-07:00

Hoarder Me vs. Practical Me

So once again I find myself going through everything I own and selling what I can, giving away what I can’t, and (most frequently) tossing whatever is junk. Somehow my roommates managed to find a replacement me(!), so I need to whittle all my junk down to what I’m bringing to training + what I can fit in two big boxes that will sit in my friend’s basement for the next two months.

Getting rid of stuff is simultaneously freeing and really, really hard. I seem to attach emotional significance to things – so that ugly little stuffed mouse from the dollar store that sits in a box in my closet isn’t just an ugly little stuffed mouse from the dollar store, it was in a play! That I wrote! That won a competition! NINE YEARS AGO. Oof.

I’m glad I’ve started this process two weeks in advance and not the night before the drive to LA. There’s the hoarder side of me and the practical side, and they have to argue over everything and it takes forever. Sample conversation:

Hoarder Me: I love this shirt! It says "I <3 Nerds" in sparkly letters! It stays.

Practical Me: It says "I <3 Nerds" in sparkly letters…you will be 30 years old in three days. You are a grown ass woman. It goes.

Hoarder Me: But remember? How my friend had the matching shirt that says “Talk Nerdy to Me” in sparkly letters and we wore them together that one time and –

Practical Me: She probably got rid of her matching shirt years ago. Before she GOT MARRIED and BOUGHT A HOUSE because she is a GROWN ASS WOMAN. It goes.

Hoarder Me: …but it won’t take up that much room…

So yesterday I was determined to at least finish sorting clothing, and I ended up with three boxes – two Goodwill boxes, and one “maybe Buffalo Exchange will buy it” box.

I know the Buffalo Exchange buyers aren’t really judging you as they sort through all the clothes you’ve thought maybe, just maybe, are cool enough for Buffalo Exchange, but it sure feels like it. I always feel the urge to break the stone-faced buyer silence as they decline to purchase everything you thought might be worth something by singing the praises of various items of clothing (i.e. Me: “That’s from Spain!” Stone-faced buyer: “I know.”) It doesn't work. I learned a valuable lesson yesterday; I’m now only $32 in store credit worth of cool. Four years ago I was almost $50 worth of cool. I need to stop buying clothes at Forever 21.

“Getting yourself fed is one of the challenges of BYTT!”

Another reason I need to get rid of everything is that I won’t be living in a sublet, or an apartment, or anything normal like that for the nine weeks of training – I’ll be living in a tiny hotel room with very limited space.

The quote above was said by a teacher on the Teacher Training Facebook page recently - sure, the hotel is going to provide a “vegan buffet” of goodness and other ready-to-eat options, but I can only imagine how much they’ll charge, and most of us have already spent all our hard earned pennies on the actual training. So I’ve splurged on a nice tea kettle and started taste testing all the instant lentil and bean soups Rainbow Grocery has to offer (verdict?: BORING, but a good source of protein). It’s definitely going to be a challenge, especially with the elevated level of calorie-burning I can expect! If anyone has any ideas, let me know...

Presumably for that reason, I have been eating like a PIG these past few weeks. One of my new favorite fellow teacher trainee bloggers wrote about this too (oh, and if you click that link the f-word in big pink letters will be on your screen, in case your boss is hanging around or whatever), and Kelly and I have commiserated on our newly piggish tendencies, so at least I know I’m not alone. It would be nice to think that, like a pregnant lady, my body is craving the nutrients it knows it’ll need for nine weeks of yoga, but I don’t think there’s much nutritional value in white bread with butter or Cheetos cheese puffs. I think I’m more like a bear on the brink of hibernation trying to build a nice layer of fat for the long winter...

I haven’t talked much about yoga in this post…I promise to post again soon with something more relevant than my hoarder tendencies. Suffice to say that I finally found a way to practice dialogue that works (yay!), and in Ryan’s class the other day I got closer than ever before to getting my forehead to my toes in Paschimotthanasana (yay!!) (okay, so not that close comparatively, but still…it was exciting!).

Giving Up to Live It Up: 22 Days to Training!

2011-03-27T19:45:00.000-07:00

First and foremost, I have a confession to make...I'm not going to finish the 30-Day Challenge. I finally came to that realization when I was building a calendar on Monday of the seven doubles I would need to do over the next nine days, which isn't the worst thing in the world, as long as I can avoid back-to-back classes....but then my Board Meeting at Brava Theater (speaking of which, check out Oldest Profession if you haven't already, Paula Vogel & 3 aging "ladies of the night"? Song & dance? 80s era politics? Sign me up!) went WAY long, I missed another class, and it became eight doubles in nine days...and that same day one of my new FFBYTT facebook friends, Noemi, and I had been emailing back and forth about her brief potential stay in SF following training and she wrote "Don't worry about the challenge, it's maybe too much on your plate at the moment.....you'll have plenty of opportunities after TT to complete challenges..." And you know what...she is exactly right. It's not giving up...it's postponing! Right!?

Long story short, I shall follow the advice of a Mission yogi who shall remain nameless..."why are you doing a challenge? you'll have plenty of time to do yoga! You should be LIVING it UP, man!"

Speaking of post-training plans, my lovely roommates began their search this week for a replacement me (don't they know I'm irreplaceable?). With one of their interviewees, as often happens here in San Francisco, the conversation turned to yoga. Roommate Jack has been taking the occasional "hippie dippie" yoga class at his climbing gym, where they lie in savansana and listen to poetry. The interviewee said his yoga of choice was a little more active, but not "hate myself yoga..." (Jack: amused silence). Interviewee: "...like Bikram."

Me (that evening): psh. It's not hate yourself yoga. He's probably never even taken a Bikram class.

Jack: I don't know, I wouldn't want to get yelled at in yoga.

Me: You don't get yelled in yoga.

Jack: "Ms. Teacher Training, get your hands together! Ms. Teacher Training!"

Me: That's not yelling. That's...a strongly worded correction.

Jack: ...

And then my little sister spent some time googling Bikram today and asked me "did you know he calls it "Bikram's Torture Chamber?" (A: yes, it says that above the door of my very own studio) and "he seems like kind of an asshole." (A: yes, maybe...) To sum up, I've been very aware recently that as a future Bikram yogi, I have to do a lot more defending of my chosen discipline, because it flies in the face of everything Americans believe yoga, and by association, yoga gurus should be - which is much closer to Jack's hippie dippie yoga than a class in which you're urged to "push and push and PUSH and PUSH!" And while I can offer reasons and rationale and excuses till I'm blue in the face, at the end of the day I just really like Bikram yoga. And no amount of "Did you read that article in Details magazine??" is going to change that.

Speaking of "Ms. Teacher Training," that was a choice correction from Jena Blackwood, a guest teacher from NYC who taught at my studio last week. Several folks at the studio asked with breathless enthusiasm whether I would take Jena's class - so I figured I should make a point to fit it in. I'd been feeling under the weather, but the more you do Bikram yoga, the more you feel like it can cure anything (tuberculosis? go to yoga!), so even though Jena had a reputation for being tough, I figured I would sneak in the back and keep my coughing self anonymous. No such luck: Tracy introduced me as "this is Danielle, who's going to teacher training!" as soon as I walked in the door, and Steve23 grabbed my towel and mat from me and said "I'll set you up in the front with the teachers!"

But Jena was really just that awesome! (plus she calls her yoga page "super fun," which automatically endears her to me) She was the sort of teacher who, while being strict and aggressive, is still warm and encouraging. True, she admonished me for not keeping my hands together in Standing Separate Leg Head to Knee Pose, but 22 days away from training, I really ought to keep 'em together. One of my favorite moments from her packed class (and I wish I could remember this verbatim) was when she told one student "Don't look at me, look in the mirror - you need to believe in yourself. And if you don't believe in yourself yet, I do, and I'll hold that for you until you're ready." Good stuff!

Meanwhile, dialogue practice is still plugging along. Juicy provided me a with a revelation last week - I'm too much in my own head, focused on getting the words perfect instead of thinking of the actual bodies/movement. For example, to remember this one bit of Standing Separate Leg Stretching Pose - "Chin up, Look forward, Roll Forward, Keep Pulling" I think "clerk" (CLRK). Which leads to me saying "Knees Locked" instead of "Keep Pulling" TWICE, even though it's way wrong, even after Juicy corrected me on it. I'm working now on practicing DOING the poses while I say them. This is fascinating stuff, people!

I'll end on a bit of trivia - did you know that each of the names in the Bikram dialogue - "T as in Tom, not a broken umbrella," for example, or "Perfect upside down L like Linda" - refer to actual, real life people? Tom is Tommy from the Smothers Brothers! How random is that?

Camel Pose, You've Got Me Feelin' Emotions

2011-03-16T12:51:00.000-07:00

This topic has been coming up in recent yoga-related conversations, so I thought I might blog about it! But first, a training preparation update:

Training Update

I am now FIVE classes behind in my challenge. I KNOW. Yesterday I skipped the 8:15pm class so I could work on my dialogue for Posture Clinic (Did I mention that Juicy and Steve23 meet with us every Tuesday night at 10pm to help with dialogue? Despite the fact that Juicy is two months away from poppin' out a baby? They are awesome. Note to self: write "Yogis Who Inspire Me" post). Here's what a typical Tuesday night looks like:

Me in my kitchen at 8pm: "In other words, two shoulders should be in one line. Kicking and stretching should be equal, simultaneous, 50/50. If you lose the balance, you're not kicking hard enough." (etc, finish dialogue strong and close to verbatim) (spontaneous, enthusiastic applause from roommates)

Me on the podium at 10:30pm: "In other words, two shoulders should be in one line. Um...Stretch your - no. ...Leg up...?" (string of expletives unsuitable for blog content) (etc, dialogue trails off disappointingly)

I'm thinking it might be time for me to stand on my couch when I practice? Something about getting up on that podium in front of teachers and yogis makes the dialogue shudder and hide away in some inaccessible part of my brain. But it's going to be okay! Because a) As Steve23 pointed out, I know (roughly) almost a quarter of the dialogue and we haven't even officially started training yet. I'm ahead of the game! and b) As Kelly pointed out, if I start freaking out now, I'm NEVER going to make it through training. And she is right. So I shall stay positive, and keep going to yoga, and if I don't have my dialogue note-perfect by April 17th, that's okay, and if I don't finish my 30 day challenge and miss out on my next 30-day challenge Yoga Rockstar t-shirt (*sniffle*) that's okay too.

Meanwhile, I'm selling off all my stuff (sold my yard sale piano for twice what I paid for it! awesome!), frantically meeting deadlines and investing in long-term planning at Big Brothers Big Sisters so everything is smooth sailing when I leave, adding to my Google Tasks list as often as I cross things off...oh, and giving brief thought to my 30th birthday. Butter, anyone?

Moving on (briefly) to the topic at hand...

Camel Pose is the one that gets you every time. We spend our whole lives sheltering our heart and chest: slumping over the keyboard at work, crossing our arms over our stomach, hunching over as we hurry through the cold air. So when you finally open that area up, yoga's got you feelin' emotions (you should listen to the Mariah Carey link above as you read this post. It's a damn good song. That's right, I'm not ashamed of my love for Mariah Carey ballads). Teachers will tell you that it's normal to feel not only dizzy or naeusous after that pose, but also angry, sad, even euphoric. Both Kelly and I have burst into tears after camel (again, no shame). Basically, whatever emotions I'm dealing with outside the yoga room, they come out after camel. Someone's being a jerk? Camel will make me furious. Friend going through a hard time? Camel will make me cry. Had an awesome day? I'll come out of camel beaming.

But it's great - because you get it out of your system...or even just recognize it, acknowledge it, and move on.

Interesting sidenote: One of my yoga friends mentioned that it's not camel that brings out her emotions, but the next pose, rabbit (photo below). She thinks that it's focusing inward that makes her sad/mad/happy, not pushing it outward. Fascinating stuff! Anyone else have a yoga emotions story to share?

I had to throw in another rabbit photo. How cute is he!?

That's about all I have to say about that, other than continued thanks for support and buying of cookies. I'll leave you with a quote from the Bikram Yoga Teacher Training Facebook Group that was posted today by FFBYTT Julian (the Facebook Group has become my Procrastination Tool of Choice):

One moment of patience may ward off great disaster. One moment of impatience may ruin a whole life. ~ Chinese Proverb

P.S. Did you watch the Yoga Asana Championships last week?! Epic. I spent my whole Sunday afternoon lying on my couch snacking on chocolate and watching the live stream video. Sort of like when you watch the Olympics at a bar. And FFBYTT Lisa and I most certainly did not send breathless text messages back and forth during the men's finals (she was watching live in LA, not lying on her couch eating chocolate) because we are MATURE, PROFESSIONAL YOGIS. And Joseph is a hottie (and has an INCREDIBLE story to tell).

Lessons Learned in the 30-Day Challenge: Dialogue, Dentists, and Dumb Things to Do

2011-03-04T15:10:00.000-08:00

Well hello there! I'm very excited to have a somewhat expanded readership (but my original six-person readership will always be dear to my heart!). Recent blog feedback and general positive reinforcement have been very much appreciated. Please also feel free to tell me if I'm ramblin' on too long...commence the ramblin'!

I thought I'd take a moment to write about my first four days in the 30-Day Challenge, which started March 1st. I've talked about these before; basically you pledge to do 30 classes in 30 days, and get to write your name up on a big piece of posterboard and put a shiny sticker next to your name for every class you take (like a chore chart when you're ten years old). At the end of the challenge, there are prizes! and t-shirts!

But this time around, I knew that signing up would not be wise. First of all, I have a mere 42 days before training begins (I have a countdown gadget installed on my iGoogle homepage, so every time I come into the studio Steve23 asks "How many days?" and I know exactly. I don't know if that keeps me focused and on task, or just gives me a mini panic attack every time I open Google). My priorities over those 42 days are roughly:

1) Meet all my deadlines and get the BBBSBA grants department nice and tidy for whomever my successor may be (know an awesome grant writer? email me!)

2) Memorize as much dialogue as possible.

3) Get my shit together so I'm good and ready for training - build a realistic budget and sell all my stuff and have a plan and pay my taxes and all that kind of thing.

4) Do yoga.

Bottom of the priority list, my friends. I will be doing PLENTY of yoga for nine weeks, the last thing I need to do is cram a bunch of doubles in right beforehand. But how could I NOT sign up? That's like signing up for an Ironman competition and then saying to your running buddy "sorry, friend. I would go running with you this weekend, but I'll be doing plenty of running in a few weeks, so..." I signed up. Here's how the first four days went:

DAY ONE: I didn't go to yoga. I KNOW!

In Bikram Yoga, training involves not only learning the postures and how to teach them, but also memorizing very specific, Bikram-created dialogue, with phrases like "touch your exactly forehead to your knee." Most of the teachers I talk to say that the more of this dialogue I have under my belt (inside my brain?) before I get to training, the less late night cramming and panicking I'll have to do. But it's hard, man! So I feel very lucky to have Steve23 and Juicy in my corner, who have been meeting with me and my two fellow future bikram yoga teacher trainees every week for "Posture Clinic," during which they help us practice out loud and give advice on techniques and even let us stand on the podium like REAL teachers!

So Day One of Training (March 1st) I didn't go to yoga because I wanted to spend the 3 hours between work and Posture Clinic getting Awkward Pose and Eagle Pose down. So I paced around my house clutching my dialogue and muttering to myself, and I still didn't get them down like I wanted (although as Juicy says "what do you have to lose? you had nothing to begin with!") I should've just gone to yoga...and now, of course, that's at least one double looming in the future.

Lesson Learned Day One: Don't skip yoga the first day of your 30-Day Challenge.

DAY TWO: Wednesday evening, very soon after getting a couple of fillings at the dentist (I'm not going to tell you how many...let's just say I haven't been to the dentist in 3 years and am a big fan of sugar), I found myself in a PACKED, sweaty yoga class with a mouthful of numbness that started to fade surprisingly quick once we got going. I wasn't going to skip Day Two!

I had vague memories of post-filling pain from my childhood, so I was convinced that I would, at some point, have to run sobbing from the yoga room - but turns out dentistry has come a long way (another way dentistry has come a long way: at my dentist they hand you some cool headphones and an iPod pre-loaded with pop songs, 80s power ballads, and "50 Essential Classical Music Pieces". There's nothing like a little Holst's The Planets or Verdi's Dies Irae to make someone peering into your mouth digging around with a drill seem like an EPIC OCCURRENCE OF GREAT SIGNIFICANCE).

Something else I learned Day Two is that I'd rather not read other people's yoga blogs. On the fellow future Bikram Yoga teacher trainees' (which I'm going to start abbreviating FFBYTT) facebook group, some FFBYTTs were posting links to their favorite teacher training blogs. I started reading this one, and the random post I chose was about a nutty anatomy teacher who recommends a strange use for yogurt. I had two thoughts: a) she's funny! she's insightful! she has a way with words! Is her blog better than mine!? and b) aw man, I wonder if the yogurt anatomy guy would've taught at my training! and now I won't be surprised or delighted or perplexed all on my own, and whatever funny stuff I would have written about him will, in my mind, be overshadowed by better-yoga-blogger's thoughts.

Also, generally I love to read movie reviews (bear with me, this is relevant) but when there's a movie coming out that I'm REALLY looking forward to, I avoid all previews, reviews, interviews, etc. Because I want to go in completely unspoiled. Teacher training blogs are like that - whenever I start reading them I feel this little frisson of disappointment because I don't want to know what these Bikram Lectures that go till 3 or 4 AM are about, or the frequency of Mental Breakdowns, or the Yogurt Anatomy Guy. I want to be unspoiled!

Lessons Learned Day Two: Better to skip other people's teacher training blogs. Also, exercise makes the anesthetic wear off quicker.

DAY THREE: As you know I've been baking cookies and selling them at the studio. This is fun and even turning a profit! (I figure whatever I make via cookies I'll use to buy food during training) Anyway, usually I bake cookies after yoga, but yesterday I got home from work with an hour to spare before Amir's 8:15pm class and figured, why not bake a fresh batch?

I'll tell you why not. I have very limited self-control when it comes to cookie dough/cookies fresh out of the oven, and ten minutes before class is not enough time to digest chocolate chips, coconut, bananas, sugar, etc. I saw that cookie dough hangin' out in my belly in the mirror (during first part of Awkward, I was thinking "I AM sucking my stomach in! I swear!") and I felt it hangin' out in Bow Pose. Ugh.

Lesson Learned Day Three: Don't bake cookies right before class if you have no self control around sugar. I mean, c'mon now. Common sense.

DAY FOUR: My 30th birthday is coming up right before teacher training begins (I know, right? How old do you think I should claim to be while I'm at training surrounded by 20-somethings? I can pass for 25, right?). Generally it doesn't feel like a big deal, just another year, and overshadowed by everything surrounding it (Big Brothers Big Sisters' biggest fundraising event of the year is that same week, and I leave for LA a week later). I don't feel THAT old.

UNTIL TODAY. Day Four of the 30 Day Challenge. When my Aunt Cathy back in Pennsylvania emailed me to say that my teenage cousin's English teacher is going to the same teacher training session I am. My cousin is already a teenager!? I'm old enough to be her English teacher?! I am, in fact, most likely OLDER than her TEACHER?!! Sweet Jesus.

Lesson Learned Day Four: I'm old.

Teacher Training: Spend a Lot of Money to be Yelled at by a Crazy Man in a Speedo in a Hot Sweaty Room with Hundreds of Other People

2011-02-18T22:26:00.000-08:00

Yup, so as many of you know (or have guessed) I'm headed off to Bikram Yoga Teacher Training in LA this April. Now that the venerable Steve23 has posted a link to my blog on the Mission Yoga website, it's high time I share a few details! I'll keep blogging about other studios when I can, but the focus of this blog will shift a bit from new yoga to the same yoga, every day, twice a day, in (as stated above) a sweaty hot room with a crazy man in a speedo yelling at me and a few hundred other equally crazy folks. But let's be honest, I'm excited, and looking forward to sharing my progress (or lack thereof) with you all. And what better way to kick it off than sharing my application essay?

In November 2008, I moved from Philadelphia to San Francisco – like so many young people who hit their mid- to late- twenties, I thought I needed a fresh start, a shift in career, new faces and new ideas. Little did I know that in San Francisco I would discover Bikram Yoga – and it would transform my life!

At the time, I worked long hours, smoked a pack a day, would sometimes eat Twix bars for dinner, and my social life revolved around boozing it up. I’d never found a physical activity or sport that worked for me (I was always the girl who would fall off the step in step aerobics), so my exercise mostly consisted of climbing the Stairmaster for half an hour once or twice a week and calling it a day. My body was a sluggish machine gamely chugging along despite the nonsense I put it through.

But the minute I entered Mission Yoga’s warm little studio a few weeks after my big move, I absolutely fell in love with it. I loved that the students were all sizes, shapes, races, ages, and abilities. I loved the genuine and welcoming teachers. I started coming regularly and began my first 30 day challenge only five months later. I cut way back and then finally quit smoking. I discovered that, contrary to long-held belief, my abdominal muscles did indeed exist. I drank lots of coconut juice. I started cooking healthy meals to better fuel my body. Within a year, at the ripe old age of 29, I was stronger and more flexible than ever before – in fact, I was in the best shape of my life!

Bikram has been equally transformative mentally as well. All that time spent staring into my own eyes in the mirror allowed me to become more aware of my preoccupations and self-judgment and learn to let them go, to relax and be patient, and just keep coming back to class regardless of how easy/hard, hot/cold, exhausting/energizing the yoga felt. This mental stamina, in additional to physical stamina, has bled into every corner of my life. For example, I never could have overcome my fears of deep water and learn to swim this summer (training for a triathlon, no less!) without the patience I developed in yoga. It took me a few months to start bringing my leg up in standing head to knee pose…and it’ll take a few years to get my head down to my knee…but I’ll get there. In the same sense, I may not have been able to swim a single pool length for the first few weeks of swim training, but I stayed patient and determined, and I got there. This is the fascinating part of Bikram yoga to me – that so much of what I do and learn in class positively colors the rest of my life.

[Ed note: okay, true, I may not have stayed patient and determined the WHOLE time. It's possible I had a little meltdown and swore violently in the pool locker room with poor pre-teen swim team members a few feet away. It's possible...but I did learn to swim!]

30 Day Challenges are the fast lanes on the highway to these sorts of positive change: doing yoga every day (sometimes twice a day) makes me so much more aware of how the choices I make outside of the yoga affect my physical health…and on the flip side, if I choose to make unwise choices anyway, the yoga helps flush it out! Bikram makes me feel like Superman – ready to tackle anything that comes my way.

As a result, I’ve coerced, convinced, and cajoled almost everyone I know into that sweaty room with me, and while I’ve learned that while Bikram isn’t the right fit for everyone, it’s the right fit for ALMOST everyone – and it’s DEFINITELY the right fit for me. I want to share what I’ve learned in a more direct way than just dragging folks into class, and I want to commit to making this yoga a significant, permanent part of my life…by becoming a Bikram instructor!

After all, a key aspect of Bikram is the teachers. “What does it matter,” friends ask when I talk about how great or how difficult a particular teacher is, “isn’t it the same every time?” And I explain how every teacher has their own unique gifts and qualities: whether it’s sharing their sheer joy in teaching, pushing you past your limits, or even singing a gentle song during final savasana. I’m positive that I would be a strong instructor, and I can’t wait to learn the dialogue, experience yoga taught by Bikram himself and his team of instructors, practice twice a day for nine weeks…and at last join my Mission Yoga teachers and Bikram yogis across the globe in sharing Bikram Yoga with generations to come. Thank you for considering my application!

Image taken from this website, which provides a nice little background on Bikram's style along with that nice crazy photo.