Fall Teacher Training Is in Full Swing!

I've been having fun reading blogs and re-living my own experience at TT. In fact, for the first time since being back, I've been going to back and reading my blog in tandem with the new training class. It's amazing the similarities already, and truly, it's so interesting to me how overall, the experience is kinda "the same but different." People are going through the first week issues - dehydration, adjusting to the room (heat/humidity) and managing their own expectations of their personal experience - which is not easy, because we all want to go and be a rock star and never get sick. It's the same, only different. The group experience, I mean, seems to be the same - of course each person's experience within that group is different. Anyhow, I added a link list of the blogs I've found so far. Feel free to comment with any others!

In other news...

I've been teaching a lot and that's been good and fun. My studio director, who is a non-dialogue senior teacher whose practiced 30 years and taught for 20, is teaching again these days so I've been chasing down his classes and learning loads about my own practice and about the postures. It's been a breath of fresh air, since overall, there isn't much opportunity for mentoring here in Seattle, or at least not that I've found. Anyhow, each class he teaches I get new material for my babbling in between postures, and it's nice to also grow in my own practice to better understand what I'm learning.

Practicing is going well too. I've taken to doing ~2 solo practices each week - one bonus of teaching - access to the hot room whenever you want! So, in between my 6 a.m. and 9:30 a.m., I do my own practice and it takes about 1 hour, 10 minutes. It's been super cool to have time to work on things that in normal classes I can't. I can re-adjust myself and do an extra set or hold it longer. It's like I'm going to a trainer, and then going on my own other days to apply what I'm learning so I can do better next time we meet. It's been great - and right now, I'm able to stay really focused and engaged in it; that may wear off one day, but right now, it's working. Oh, and I put on a (music) CD too. I suppose that is breaking the rules in some people's eyes, but it's so groovy for me to sort of experience the Bikram in a different way once a week or so. I'm on track for my 53-day-ish challenge!

More sooner than last time, hopefully. :)

Photo above: Lucy, Kevin (studio owner) Yu, another teacher, Joyce, Lynn, me and Christian, all from Spring '08 training. Lynn is Lucy's dad - she lives here in Seattle and he was visiting.