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Latest Email(s) from Melissa from Teacher Training in Acapulco, Mexico, Spring 2008!

Week 5, 6 & 7

Hello my beautiful people so far far away!

So much happens here in such little time three weeks seems like a lifetime. But I guess you can pack a lot more in when you don’t get any sleep. Maybe Bikram is right .. “Sleeping is number one crime” big time waste of life.

Week five was a strange week here in Bikramland. I’m sure you are wondering how it could possibly be more strange than what we have grown accustom to. It’s funny how life around here has become my new normal. Anyway it was an aberrant week for us.

It began on Monday with the untimely death of Bikram’s best friend Bishu Gosh. Bishu was the son of Bikram’s teacher. They grew up together from a very early age. Bishu’s passing was a great loss to Bikram and his entire family. After Monday morning’s class we were dismissed for the rest of the day in memoriam.

Not really something to get excited about. And besides the solemn occasion, we are so ingrained in our routine that no one really knew what to do with themselves. People sort of wandered around in a daze.

The next day we were back on schedule and Bikram decided to take class with us. That was a unique experience. He did about half the postures and spent the rest of the time heckling the poor people in his vicinity and the teacher. Too bad for them. A lot of fun for the rest of us.

That evening Bikram shared home movies and stories of his life and shared experiences with his good friend. After that we got our first taste of the Mahabhrat. Which is apparently a beautiful sacred text teaching all the spiritual and moral lessons one might need in a lifetime.

However, we didn’t get a copy to read, or the Clif’s notes condensed version. No, we got a taste of the 92 hour (not a type-o) 1970’s Bollywood mini series version. Complete with about 6 actors playing all the roles, in home made costumes, very poorly acted, bad English subtitles, and horrible special effects (if you could even call them that). I’ m sure you can imagine. I could go on but I’ll spare you. As I wish we were spared. That night we watched 2 hours. We were let go at 12:45am. Thursday night we watched 3 hours. We were let go @ 2:20am. Just wait Fri night we “watched” 4 hours we were let go @ 4:20am. I say “watched” because by Friday a lot of people had caught on and brought pillows to lecture to lean on during the movie.

So, all of that movie watching and not sleeping made for a very interesting class on Sat. It was like the walking dead. And if you paid close attention there was a very quiet yoga riot going on in the room. A lot of people were standing asleep; a lot were seething through their teeth. I was bent over in hands to feet crying. Do you know how difficult it is to cry when you are folded in half? Do you know how difficult it is to come back up? Oh well. I lived. We all did. And I imagine we are all stronger people for it.

I neglected to mention that before the many late nights of Mahabhrat I scheduled to give 4 massages that weekend. Oh yeah, and I missed a sign in for one of the lectures, so after the night of the living dead yoga class, I had to turn around and take another. Yeah! So at 1pm when I finished my 2nd class on Saturday after being up till 4:30am I went on down to the lunch buffet. And stuffed my pretty little face on chicken kebabs, hamburgers and Ice cream and by 2:30 I carried my happy little ass up to bed. Trying not to think about the 4 massages I had to give the next day. Or the dialogue I would not be having any time to learn.

By the way, some people intentionally miss sign in so they can take the Sat make up and eat the lunch buffet. Not only is it much better than the daily breakfast buffet offerings, but, more importantly, it is different than the daily breakfast buffet offerings.

A few other things that took place during week 5:

Bikram had a big shin-dig for the Mexican press. One evening he had a press conference to introduce Bikram Yoga to “Me-hico”, complete with a full 26 & 2 demonstration and advance posture demonstration. Some of the world champion yogis were there. And Bikram added the “color” as only he can. It was so very beautiful and inspiring. If any of you ever has the inclination to go to a yoga competition don’t hesitate it is a truly beautiful thing. Not just the contortions and feats of strength. But more so the focus, concentration, and fluidity of breath.

This week I came face to face with what it feels like to have a beginners body. Every class felt like I was throwing my body against the wall and then sliding down into a heap on the floor. I have decided that this part of the process helps us have compassion for our beginning students and what their bodies are going through. That or it is meant to send us into the loony bin. Feeling that our god given bodies have been possessed by aliens and replaced with worthless lumps of clay. Nothing bends, nothing stretches, I can hardly even stand on one leg anymore. Ahh, the humbling face of progress, growth, life. It sneaks up on you when you least expect it.

Also this week I gave a pretty darn good Tree & Toe Stand dialogue. I even got my first offer to teach at a studio! But even better than sounding good, I felt for the first time like a teacher. I really saw my students and got my first taste of what it might feel like to connect with a room full of willing souls. And it dawned on me that I was born to do this. It’s a beautiful thing to find your calling after years of searching. I’m sure my mom will be happy to hear I don’t have to wander any more. This feels like home to me.

Week 6 started off in a stupor. I was still tired from the week before. But also reenergized in a way. It was a blessing for me to connect with my peers through massage. My giving to them and their relief and relaxation was very comforting and nourishing to me when I needed it most.

Monday I had another excellent posture clinic. The sitting teacher said some really nice things and continued to fuel my excitement for this work.

Monday night Bikram lectured and I had my first “contact” one on one with the “man” himself. He was lecturing about the meaning of life, or how to cook a good curry, or how a man is half pig, half goat, half dog I don’t recall exactly. When he asked us directly what is our purpose in life, why do we do what we do. I happily shouted out my answer, “self-realization”! He turns to look at my side of the room and said “yes. Who said that?” He turns and looks at me and says every body give a big hand for “Miss Green” over here. And the claps turn into gasps.

For those of you who don’t know, green is a big no no around here. Bikram has some personal superstitions about wearing the color green and so he respectfully requests that we don’t wear green while we are here. I knew this and went to great lengths to purge my wardrobe of green. Which was a bit difficult for me because green makes me feel quite happy. Anyway, this shirt, with a swirly pattern clearly contained green. I had worn it all day. I even gave my dialogue in it in posture clinic and no one mentioned I was wearing green.

Then Bikram proceeds “I noticed that before. I see everything. But that’s ok I kind of like it with that crazy pattern and the way it looks nice with those big boobs.” Yep he said it. Then he proceeded to call me “miss Boobs” and tell a 10 minute story about how I reminded him of another student of his that couldn’t breathe in rabbit posture so he had to stand behind her and pull her boobs out to the side so she could breathe during the posture. “You kind of like that but not so big.” “What the hell was I talking about? How you get me talking about boobs? Oh yes, self realization.” And off we go again to the meaning of life.

For those of you who don’t know me personally, I was not traumatized. It was quite funny actually. I was glad to be fodder for some comic relief. I just couldn’t believe I had been wearing green all day and not noticed.

When lecture that evening ended at 11pm I noticed one of my friends from my group and I made my way over to her to ask her why she hadn’t told me I was wearing green. She happens to be Bikram’s niece. I didn’t realize she was standing right next to Bikram. (He is only about 5’ tall) She thought this was a great time to introduce me to Bikram.

I turn around and she says this is my friend Melissa, she is a massage therapist. “Oh, its you. You can come back tonight and massage me during the movie?” Sure boss. I’ll be there. So to pay my penance for wearing green I went back to the amphitheater @ midnight to give Bikram a massage while he and the other diehards stayed up and watched more of the Mahabhrat. I didn’t get to bed until 2pm that night. Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

Later that week my Lovely teacher and studio owner Traci arrived. It was a nice break in the action to see a familiar face and share a meal and friendly conversation with someone who wasn’t stressed out or exhausted. It was refreshing to hang out with a normal balanced human being. Recharging, soothing. (Thank you Traci.)

Friday night of week 6 Craig taught class. Dun, dun dunn!!! For various reasons he hadn’t taught class in a while. When he came in the room half the group started cheering and the other said “oh shit”. I was with the cheering crowd. I love his classes. He is so focused and disciplined. He has a way of controlling the energy of the room in a firm but gentle manner. I laugh as I write this because very few people would describe him as such. It is subtle but true. He wouldn’t be as good as he is if he didn’t fully get both sides of the coin.

Ruthless Compassion – he calls it. And ruthless compassion it is. He brings out the best and worst in people. But ultimately he only mirrors what was there already. What you decide to bring to the table in the face of intense scrutiny, demanding excellence, and intense knowing is all about you, not him.

I am happy to shut down my brain when he walks into the room. (That is something that is frequently repeated in the yoga room – “your body, my mind”. But it is a rare teacher that can truly inspire one to surrender their big fat brain.) Nevertheless, I trust he will take me where I need to go. I trust that he has my best interests in mind. I trust that, as with any great teacher, he will remind me of the greatness within me and inspire me to new heights.

And then, when he’s done kicking our asses ever so compassionately around the room. When there is nothing left on our mat but a pile of wet atoms and molecules. He says you did great job, you are beautiful, and he plays “3 little birds” by Bob Marley. And the entire room of steaming, soaking, quivering yogis; pinned to the floor by inertia and gravity sing together in unison

“ don’t worry,

about a thing,

cause every little thing is gonna be alright.

” And the smiles break across the room like a crashing wave and tears mingle with sweat. And there is nowhere else on earth that you would rather be.

And that was the end of week 6.

Week 7:

The Woo hooo week

WE kicked off week 7 with 3 classes in a row given by three spunky chicks from NYC. One of which was pregnant. All of whom were bringing it. This entire week was jam packed with great classes and great fun teachers.

For the first time I feel like I have my yoga body back. My hamstrings have returned and I seem to be making forward progress with my postures since I first got here. (With the exception of my knees. They neither want to bend nor lock. But I’m so excited to have my flexibility back I could hardly care.)

It is unfortunate that a lot of us have finally found our groove in class, we have finally acclimated to the lack of sleep, we have finally found a good memorization technique for dialogue, and now we are almost out of here just when we are hitting our stride. Just when we are starting to want more. (I say that now but ask me again in two minutes and I will tell you I can’t wait for this to be over.) I can’t begin to explain how strange it is to be living with that paradox. It is totally disorienting. I feel like I’ve been tumbling in the dryer for the last 7 weeks. I believe its called concordant dissonance. And I am the human embodiment.

This week I had another big first. In an effort to get ahead in my dialogues, and show a bit more confidence in myself, on 2 different occasions I gave 2 postures in one clinic session and went first both times. For those of you that don’t know what this means, ask me later. For those of you that do know, you can appreciate that it was a big accomplishment for me. Before this week I had been getting by with one posture a day.

Now, as a group we have finished with dialogue early. This is good and bad. Yeah, were finished. But, the yoga drill sergeants have plenty of time to invent new ways to torture us with all of the extra time we have left. And Bikram has extra time to “share” Indian movies with us. (this week we were dismissed at 12, 12:30, & 1:30).

Whoever said we have it better here than they did in LA for training probably didn’t consider 9 weeks of Montezuma’s revenge and Bikram in possession of a big screen and projection system. I think I’d trade you for the gravely parking lot any day. But I am aware, the grass is always greener.

I have to thank my mom for visiting. She inspired me to get ahead with dialogue so I could have more free time with her. She kicks but by the way. She came here and took 3 classes in 24 hours. Her first class here was with Bikram. And it was a doozie. Apparently he decided to kick it into the next gear that evening and there were more yoga casualties than ever. People were dropping all around and mom stayed in the room the whole time. She didn’t even loose her lunch. Grown men with hot yoga bodies were being carried out by bigger yoga men.

Way to go mom. I can’t wait till you come and do this. You are going to love it.

Well I suppose that is enough for 3 weeks worth of yoga fun. It is getting close to the end. The next time I write I’ll probably be all nostalgic and weepy. So if you’re not into that kind of thing consider yourself warned.

Thanks for listening. Have a beautiful week.

Until next time, Love & blessings

melissa

Week 3 and 4

Hello my friends. I’m back! I decided it was best to refrain from writing my weekly letter at the end of week 3 because I was in a decidedly surly mood. Nothing much interesting would have been revealed except complaints about every muscle in my body aching, getting hit by something they lovingly call the yoga bus, and continued sleep deprived ramblings of a yoga lunatic.

My sour mood continued into the start of the week and I found it difficult to remember why I had agreed to this venture. I was stumbling out of class more pissed off than when I went in. When usually yoga makes me smile, like ice cream does. People were walking out of class and screaming in the foyer and then turning around and starting again. I was jealous of their release.

Then we were surprised with a class by Craig, the spark plug of a drill sergeant that runs this whole kit and caboodle. (He usually only teaches on Sat mornings). A Lot of people don’t care for his class because he is intense, and demanding and he holds the 2nd part of awkward for something like 5 minutes. I don’t know what happened but I worked hard and I came out of that class with a big ole smile on my face. And since then I’ve been much better. Still aches and pains, still bumbling sleepy. But happy again with my place in the yoga world.

We had another earthquake this week. This time I was awake and on our balcony when it happened. Unique experience. I prefer living in hurricane-land though.

At least I think it was this week. Our schedule is so full and repetitive and the weather never changes here (always sunny & 95 degrees) it is very difficult to tell what day of the week it is. I have a hard time putting things into place by time or date. We get up put on our yoga clothes, do yoga, come back to the room, shower, eat the same buffet with the same food every day, go to posture clinic, do more yoga, shower again, do more posture clinic and then sleep. It is the closest thing to Groundhogs Day I will ever come to. The only evidence I have that time is really passing is that my fingernails keep growing.

I'’ve lost my desire to eat. My postures are not getting any better. In fact I think they are defiantly getting worse. My hamstrings have packed up and moved away. I’m not exactly sure whose body I am waking up with in the morning, but it sure doesn’t feel like mine. But, I have learned that no matter what you can do the yoga.

Stomach ache, just do yoga. Headache, just do yoga. Sleepy, just do yoga. Montezuma’s revenge, yoga. So when I get home I won’t be able to come up with any reason at all not to do the yoga.

Posture clinic is moving along nicely. To everyone’s dismay we went through 5 postures in 4 days this week. That means we all had to memorize and recite Eagle through Triangle. Everyone is walking around this 4 star hotel squatting and stretching and talking to themselves. The tourists are wondering what the hell is going on. I think it is like some weird episode of Fantasy Island.

Bikram returns this week from his exotic travels. Apparently that will throw our nice little schedule into an uproar. I’'ll let you know how that goes next week.

So at the end of 4 weeks what can I tell you? Hmm, not much. My body and mind feel like I’ve been through a centrifuge. One seems outside the other. All my cells are humming, not quite sure of their place in the world. People in class are still sobbing and vomiting. Only now they are crying louder and not even getting up from their mats to let it all go. I am making good and kind friends and compassionately watching the neuroses unravel.

I learned that if you can lock your knee for 60 seconds you can do anything because you can control your ever wandering mind. 100% benefit if you try the right way. I’m not there yet. But at least I know where I’m headed.

One last thought. Bikram’s mantra given to him by his guru:

“ You’re born to give not to get. If you make people happy, you will be happy.”

Pretty huh?

Bikram’s mantra given to us: “Lock the knee! Lock the knee! Lock the f-ing knee!"

Yours in gratitude.



Until next time ,

melissa

Week 2

Hello there amigos

Well it is Sunday night the official end of week 2. Where exactly the time goes I will never know. It is very paradoxical this yoga training. I often wish simultaneously that it will end immediately and last forever. Weird huh? The interesting thing I've noticed is that those two contradictory feelings create the perfect yogic state of mind. One of full presence, every moment of the day. It seems like these people know what they are doing. Go figure.

If I seem particularly flighty or esoteric today (a fine line I know) please forgive me. In addition to the usual full plate this week, me and all the other students on this side of the hotel were treated to fiestas Thur, Fri, & Sat night right in our rooms.

At least it felt that way. Apparently there was a convention of 2000 Mexican bankers here partying like rock stars till the wee hours of the morning. Complete with full-blown bands, dj's, amps, and mariachis every night. It was so loud it truly felt like they were in our rooms and last night they topped the whole thing off with fireworks at 1am. Arriba! So sleep, as we know it was a little hard to come by.

I suppose I'll survive. I'm convinced that sleep depravation is one of the techniques they use here to break you down before they build you back up. Most of us are walking around in some sort of sleep deprived yoga overload induced happy trance. But as Bikram says "Hell is the only way to get to heaven". Or alternately, if you prefer you got to kill the pain with pain. But enough about me. Have I told you how beautiful it is here? I would really love to be cynical about this place. I'd like to be underwhelmed and cool and tell you its ok. There are lots of Palm trees and the ocean. But we've all done that before. We live in Florida for goodness sakes. But it truly is beautiful here. And by here I mean compound of the Fairmont Acapulco. I don't really know what exists outside the ten-foot walls. There are peacocks, swans, parrots, and flamingos just hanging out and looking pretty. There are lagoons and waterfalls and lush flowering plants around every corner.

And my absolute favorite part is the lobby of the main hotel. It is a sort of indoor-outdoor space. It is raised up a bit above the ocean. The way it is situated it captures all of the ocean breezes and funnels them in throughout this truly grand space. I go there everyday to blow-dry my hair and center myself. There are comfy chairs everywhere and free wireless internet access. What else could a modern yogi want. If I could I'd take my blanket and pillow down I'd sleep there.

And now for some random thoughts I wanted to mention:
The full moon is beautiful. Has anyone else gone out to look at it? I can see it rise, big and red right off my balcony.
We had an earthquake here this week. It was my first. It woke me up. But I just thought that my roommate was shaking my bed to get me up for class. I went right back to sleep. Sleep much more important than some silly little earthquake.
And just when I thought this experience couldn't get any better. They gave us coloring books and crayons this week. Its anatomy week and we get to follow along with our anatomy coloring books. For a girl that doesn't go anywhere without her 64 pack of crayolas this was an exciting event. I know I'm a dork. We might as well get that out in the open now. Look at that. Egos crashing down all over the place.

Anyway, I thought I'd end this week with a tip and a thought.

Bikram Yoga survival tip #1:
If, no, when you get overheated CLOSE YOUR MOUTH. Breathe a low slow flow in through your nose. I know it sounds obvious. But I've realized from personal experience, that we don't even realize our big ole mouths are hanging open panting away and we're wondering why the hell we can't catch our breath. This little tidbit has helped me tremendously this week. And I actually had a couple of classes where I completed every set of every posture.

Thought for the week:
Bikram mentioned in lecture this week that the Dharma for human beings (that is our reason for existence as a species) is to Love. (Everyone together now - Aaaww). How you go about sharing that love is unique to you as an individual. That's your Karma. Later he added, You do not exchange love. Love you give with no expectation So if you feel inclined, go out this week and share your particular brand of love with the world. Thanks for listening. Until next time.

melissa

Week 1

Hello there. Well it is Sunday and I have survived my first week of teacher training. Despite a tiny breakdown on monday when I couldn't imagine how I was ever going to memorize all that dialogue. I have passed most of my minutes with a smiling happy face.

During that teeny tiny breakdown I channeled the voices of my wonderful teachers back home. "Just keep trying and trying and trying and one day you'll have it", "Piece of Cake", and "If you cant memorize the dialogue, then just memorize the dialogue!" And then I was all better. I successfully delivered my half moon dialogue on thursday evening right before class was dismissed. (About 11:15- it was an early night)

As for the actual yoga classes. We had an easy week. We only did 10 classes in 6 days. Raj taught in the AM and Birkam in the PM. Next week we get 11. My body seems to be holding up pretty well. No aches, no pains, no constipation, no diarrhea. For those of you that haven't been to BYTT there is a lot of discussion about what is or isn't going on with your bowels.

My big concern is withstanding the heat. Its not that the room is so particularly hot, it is the 300+ steaming bodies crammed in together that has quite a stifling affect on the air circulation. I have had to sit out a lot to cool down, but I have never had to leave the room. Which is quite an accomplishment because I don't think that there has been one class gone by where the sounds of sobbing and/or vomiting weren't prevalent. Aaaahh what a beautiful thing. I think those people are just trying too hard and not doing what Bikram told us the first day "Take it eeeaasy baby".

Anyway on that note. I'l love to invite anyone down to visit us here at the lovely Acapulco Princess. This place is truly beautiful (at least what I can see of it walking from lecture to yoga and yoga to lecture :). Anyone that comes and stays at the hotel can take classes with us for free! If you are thinking about going to teacher training one day i'd be a good way to check it all out. The weather is lovely. The buffet we have included every day is quite delicious and filling. There is a wal-mart right at the entrance to our hotel. No LA traffic. Dolphins splashing in the waves. Ocean view rooms. Little men carry us on their backs to and from class. (Eat your heart out Traci)

As you can see there is not much to complain about. This is a beautiful group of the most diverse people you could imagine. They are friendly, warm and from all over the world. This opportunity is an incredible blessing for everyone involved. It is intense and physically and mentally exhausting but I can't imagine anywhere else I'd like to be.

By the way did I tell you we got to parctice twice last week with Karem Abdul Jabar? And Depak Chopra and his family are coming here for a week to practice with us and lecture!

I am very excited and Grateful

Until next week.

blessings,

melissa
You can email Melissa here! Drop her a line and show your support if you like :).


























Bikram's Yoga College of India
492 N Causeway, New Smyrna Beach, Florida 32169    |    386.427.4848    |    info@bikramyogansb.com