Taking A Break, Getting Tattood, New Bikram TT Site Up!

Well, I'm on a break - not from my blog, though you'd think so by the huge gap in posts, no? But rather, from yoga! Yes, you heard me right.

Before I went to Bikram school, I had a small revision to my post-weight-loss plastic surgery scheduled for April 3 - needless to say, it had to be moved. Figuring I'd be all gung-ho and want to do loads of yoga and teach when I got home, I gave myself a 6-week window and scheduled the revision for July 18 - this past Friday. I thought I'd need to take a few days off, maybe a week - turns out, I'm banned from the hot room (teaching and practicing) for two whole weeks!!!!! In addition, I scheduled my long-awaited tattoo for the same week, and last Tuesday, got myself a new piece of permanent art. See photo- it's on my back, slightly covering my scar in an experiment to see how the scar tissue holds color, and if it goes well, we're going to add to it a bit and cover up more of it. Oh, and the little surgery thing went fine, just a little sore and sweating is not fun right now :(

So how is it not doing the yoga? Well, truth be told, since I knew it was coming, I'm enjoying it. Absence does make the heart grow fonder, and this morning I woke up feeling a yearning for the quiet in my mind I get from my practice...later in the day, I found myself doing a little bit'o half moon in the grocery store line. I'm missing it, without a doubt...but the guilt-free feeling is great. Normally whenever I take a day off I feel guilty - which is not good and something I need to work on, obviously. This is nice, time off without guilt.

And, let me tell you about time. One thing that is clear to me is how much time Bikram yoga takes in your day! Not a complaint - rather an observation. Jill will leave for yoga, and in the time she is gone, I will get so much done, I can hardly believe all she did was go to yoga. Yesterday, for example, in striking contrast to yoga class, I left 15 minutes before her to go to a party - while there, I drank several glasses of wine, ate dinner, met several new people and had two very long conversations with two different groups of people. In the course of those conversations, I arranged a blind date for my friend Mikey using my iPhone and gave out a handful of business cards to very potential organizing/personal assistant clients. I got home 1/2 hour after her, and while yes, she had cooked two hot dogs on the grill, otherwise, in all that time, she'd simply gone to yoga.

My point is maybe not what you expect - my point is that the yoga requires a serious dedication of one of our greatest resources: Time. And it is totally worth that time. I can't think of a better way to spend it, though I had fun yesterday - still, the regular, daily practice (and now adding in teaching) is such a healthy way to spend 2+ hours/day, feeding your mind and body with yummy yoga. I'm soaking up my two weeks of 'freedom' from this obligation, but I fully expect to be back in full force as soon as I am cleared for duty!


In the meantime, I've been busy with my business, and a writing gig! I was brought on to write the text/copy for the new Bikram Teacher Training website - if you haven't seen it, take a look! I tried to infuse detail, honesty and reality into the text. The last part just posted today was the FAQ's, and those of you going to training, I hope you find them helpful. As I wrote them, I thought back to me and Christian preparing to go, and all the things we said, "I wish we knew..." or "I wish they told us..." - Todd, my practically-back-up-blogger was kind enough to review the FAQ's for me and interject a few ideas I'd not thought of. Anyhow, my hope is that those who go to training will have an easier time getting ready, more clarity in their decision to go, and a good sense of what to expect. So, if you haven't already, check it out: www.bikramacapulco.com!