Day 9: Monday, Monday!

Posts seriously may be getting shorter. Our days are so packed, and the little free time you do have (and I use the word "free" loosely) usually require you to be doing something productive, like...
- Water prep: always having your water ready, cold, etc. for the next class. I now have graduated to being one of the "orange jug" kids; that is, the cooler that holds icy cold water - yes, the water I've up-to-know eschewed as being well, beneath me. (In your whiniest voice ever..."I've practiced enough that I don't need cold water".) Mea culpa. I need it. I need it. I need it.
- Vitamins: I count out two little bags of vitamins, one for lunch, one for dinner. Electrolytes, a multi-vitamin, calcium, potassium, tumeric, and glucosine for joints. Seems to be working, so I'm sticking with it.
- Clothes: Managing the yoga clothes, the regular clothes. You change a lot in this kinda heat.
- Your Bag: Do I have what I need for what I'm going to go and do now?? Practice (which is yoga class), Class (which is lecture or posture clinic)...
- Eating: Ah, food, my blessing and my curse. I feel like I'm eating so much - I doubt I will lose an ounce here, but I'm ok with that. When you're up from 7 a.m. - 12:00 a.m. every day, with only two proper meals, well, snacks happen.

Today was another "Groundhog Day" feeling day. But with a few new characters. Emmy, the principal and most senior (and by senior, I mean senior) teacher arrived and is now teaching us our 8:30 a.m. class. I had my most normal class yet - that is to say, it kinda just felt like a class at home. It was wonderful to start Monday with an emotional boost of a good class. I will further my running analogy so as to say that it feels like I'm sort of getting a stride - still painfully aware I have a long way to go - but with a "just do this now, enjoy this now, be here now" attitude. So far, so good. Emmy is 83 years old, by the way, and an ass-kicking yogini and yoga teacher. She teaches the advanced class - totally different from the beginning class - with the classic 84 postures done only 1 time each in a flow. And get this - she doesn't 'talk teach' like in a typical Bikram class. She gets on the floor and performs all 84 postures every time she teaches it. Holy smokes. 83-years old!

We then had Anatomy "lecture" with Dr. T, a 75-year-old pal of Bikram's who gave him his first teaching gig in Hawaii way back when. He's retired now, and clearly this gig is Bikram's payback to him for the life he feels he owes to Dr. T. Now, Dr. T. is also a yogi, and a chiropractor. While I do believe there is someone in the world who may be a better fit for the students, clearly, he's in the "bikram family." He took us through the Anatomy Coloring Book (no joke, but don't think it's dumbed down - it's a pretty smart book) and told us what is to be on the test. It wasn't learning as much as "highlight this, red mark by that" with short explanations. Clearly, any learning to be done will be by reading and studying. He then talked about nutrition a bit and got on a soapbox about the evils of anti-biotics (which, I tend to agree with, but the talk was well, impassioned to say the least, and confusing to young'ins in the group who weren't able to assimilate the information into their yoga teacher training).

We finished posture clinic! Amen! All 290 people did their half-moon dialogue for Bikram, and that was that. Done by Monday of week 2, which is fairly impressive as I understand it, in comparison to years' past. I can say that posture in my sleep at this point!

Our second class of the day was as usual, with Bikram. It was just fine too - rougher than the morning, but not far from my normal reality of a hard class. Settling in, it's nice. One thing Bikram does at the end of class is share a little ditty off of one of his self-produced CD's. And oh my, they are often cheezy ballads, or lonnnnnggggg (re: 9 minute forced savasana) Indian songs. He does have a beautiful voice, but the love songs are killer - complete with washed up back-up singers. And yesterdays was played at about 10 decibels, making for a ear-shattering savasana. And I had to pee, too. Oy! He is a character, and you have to sift through the bullshit and remember that he wants good for you. He is sexist, racist, homophobic - all these things - but yet he does this yoga and made this yoga and for that I am grateful. The juxtaposition is at times rough, but I just separate things as best as I can, and accept him for who he is.

After dinner we had the treat of Bikram's first lecture on "What is Yoga?" and at first it seemed exciting, but the lecture, like Bikram, was all over the place and really not presented in an organized fashion. The only organized thing about that man is his yoga class, I swear. But it was technically "short" and we were only there 3 hours, until just after midnight. Still, I'll admit to being disappointed - he told a lot of stories, Hindi tales, etc. and while interesting, it was hard to find the connection between them and also to the bigger picture. I was soooo beat. And, he was having the lecture room set up to show movies, and thankfully did not require us all to stay until 3 a.m. watching Bollywood films (which he was considering) - though we did watch the 60 Minutes clip he was on a few years back.

A few Bikramisms for today:
"What's worse, 10 seconds of pain or 10 years? 90 minutes of suffering or 90 years?"

"Too good is no good."

"You are born to prove yourself...how to make yourself strong and powerful in this life; you must go through hell to get to heaven."

Special to Robin/digdeeper: Indeed, anyone can join our classes here in Acapulco! They are held daily at 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., plus 8 a.m. & 11 a.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m. Sunday. They cost $20 unless you are staying at the Acapulco Princess, in which case they are free! It's been fun watching hotel workers give it a whirl! Come and try it out, there is no better way to get a feel for training. And plan your day to come to both classes, for added effect ;)
----
Today's Photos: Good Morning sunrise!; Copious amounts of water taken to class, of note is the new orange cooler - I've never been an ice water girl, but here, I am!; Me, after class #11; bird on the beach that bit Luke; Dr. T, anatomy teacher; Bikram; and Me, after Class #12.