Week 8 and 9 were the home stretch! I was so close to being home, back with friends and family and my own schedule that I started counting the days. Literally crossing them off my calendar! Still, 11 more days of classes made it seem like I had an eternity ahead of me. At the start of week 8 my energy level shifted. I started the week completely exhausted and absolutely elated by Wednesday that the weekend was so close. It became a week of “lasts”. Last day of posture clinic, last Saturday morning class, last weekend with my friends. However, the late night lectures and movies continued. I had to dig deep to get through it. A little retail therapy and A LOT of Starbucks are my new coping mechanisms. It could be worse!
Week 8 was also the recertification week of Bikram teachers. To maintain your certification as a teacher, you are required to come back every 3 years and take class and hear Bikram lecture. Naturally they came from all over the world. California, New York, Arizona, Australia, Brazil. One night I had dinner with a few of them and what struck me the most about them was not their advice or experience but the bond they all had together. They were like family. They all had a common thread of enduring this 9 week training together and all shared similar stories from around the globe, as if they see each other everyday. I was happy to meet new friends at training but to think that we’ve created the same bond is really absolutely priceless.
By Week 9 I couldn’t help but think I am done, I’m over this, I am ready to leave. That Wednesday we watched an Advanced Bikram class. The Advanced classes are for teachers only. Practitioners can only attend by invitation. It was a class that consisted of about 20 visiting teachers, Bikram and a legendary teacher, Emmy Cleaves. Emmy is in her mid-80’s and is impressive when she teaches but, today she wasn’t teaching. She was bending and twisting effortless along with everyone else. They moved quickly from posture to posture. Bending legs behind their heads. Standing splits, floor splits with full backward bends. Variations of headstands and handstands, transitioning into the most beautiful postures I had ever seen. Again, I was inspired on a whole other level!
Finally, Friday came. Graduation was on Saturday at 3pm. That meant Friday evening was our last class of the training. Almost 100 classes in 9 weeks were almost behind us. Bikram promised to teach without corrections to finish within the regular 90 minutes. You can only imagine the energy in the room. We were nearing the end. All of us moving in sync. Injuries, exhaustion, frustration aside. We were there to give 110% in our final class. At the end of 90 minutes we went down for our final Savasana. Most of us in the room couldn’t stay down on the floor for the final relaxation. There were cheers, tears and hugs! We did it!
Graduation that Saturday came and went in a flash. There was a dizzying amount of pictures being taken with our teaching certificates in hand. We were all trying to squeeze in last memories. My flight was that night. I was sad to leave my friends but thrilled to be getting back to reality and out of the yoga bubble!! By 6 a.m. the next morning I was back in New York. Nine weeks went so fast, it felt like it was all a dream.
I’m writing this after being home for one week. I don’t know if this was a purpose of the training but, I have a new appreciation for everything! My friends, my family, my house, my bed, my car, my non-yoga clothes, a small yoga room, the seasons!! The list is endless! It felt great to be home but now it was time to put my skills to the test and teach! I was back to at work on Monday. On Wednesday evening I taught my first class. Although, I was completely nervous, for 90 minutes the words came out of my mouth, in the right order and I was still alive to talk about it! Overall, I would call it a success!
I read a quote recently that said “The pain of discipline is far less painful than the pain of regret.” The “discipline” of the training overstretched muscles to a point of pain I didn’t know before. I was sleep deprived. My days were so long it didn’t matter if it was morning or night. I got to know the inside of the Radisson so well that if I ever see another one it will be too soon! I don’t know where this yoga journey will take me 1 year from now or 10 years from now. I do know if I didn’t do this training I would have regretted it forever and that was not an option. To be continued……
