Saturday 6 June 2009

Week 6

Advice for anyone wanting to do teacher training....LEARN AS MUCH OF THE DIALOGUE before you get here. This week has been pretty demanding in terms of learning the postures word by word and saying them in posture clinic. I got so stuck in Wind Removing (no pun intended), that I actually cried. I suppose I’m just used to being more prepared and when my mind went blank, I felt like I’d let myself down. This week has been up and down for me emotionally, I don’t really want to focus on it too much though in this blog. Maybe I’ll talk about it later.

The plus side is that I have some teaching shifts booked already, the week after I finish training! I’ll be doing the rounds in a few studios in San Diego. I’m nervous and excited all at the same time. This really adds pressure though. I have to study harder.

Time is so limited here. Breaks are so minimal and usually taken up by eating. I seriously feel like fasting after I finish training. I know my body needs food right now but I have to constantly eat when I can so I have enough fuel for class. I’m not eating for pleasure, it’s for energy. If I eat another fig roll I think I may turn into one. I miss hot food. Usually it’s hoummus and carrot sticks, sushi and cereal. Another hint if you do teacher training, bring a microwave with you. Seriously.

Okay, so although emotionally it’s been tough, Week 6 has been another huge learning curve. Dr Das, who is Rajashree’s (Bikram’s wife) Guru, gave a lecture about how yoga can help with different types of illness and disease. He also spoke about general health and happiness and the strong connection yoga has to both. I was blown away. Dr Das says that there are 3 laws we need to abide by for a healthy, happy life.

1. Exercise (Body)
2. Stress Management (Mind)
3. Food Assessment (Nutrition)

As long as we cover these 3 factors, we will be fabulous! I’m quickly learning that the most important thing to take care of is your mind. This is because it controls everything...your thoughts, your emotions, your motivation to exercise and your will power to eat well. This is why it is so important that everyone, no matter how old, young or able they are should do Bikram Yoga. The whole class teaches you to control your mind. Sometimes we think we have food under control with dieting etc but that’s your thoughts rather than your mind. Your mind will teach you to be good to your body without being extreme.

Yet again, I’m getting ‘passionate’ about my teachings but one final thing -there is an extremely effective way to help prevent and control Parkinsons Disease (PD). It’s so simple. Don’t think about what I’m about to tell you too much, just try it. There is a strong link between PD and stress (Dopamine hormones get released during prolonged periods of stress, this hormone can trigger tremors within the body). This can be stemmed by relaxation exercises and deep breathing. All you have to do is mediatate for 15-20 minutes a day. This means lying on your back, in a comfortable place in total silence. Busy people will say that they have no time to be able to do this but that is exactly why they are busy and stressed. Just try it.

In a nutshell.

Word of the week: Verbatum

Best dinner of the week: Room Service on Wednesday night...pasta. So nice.

Posture update: Standing Head to Knee is stronger, Triangle - I can almost touch in between my toes, Standing Bow - worse!, loving the back bending, still hating Floor Bow and Locust.

I’m missing...my Harry, my house and my sonic toothbrush.

I’m not missing...washing up and TV.

Strangest Savasana – all 325 of us sweaty yogis had to laugh out loud for 2 minutes. Wish I’d filmed it. Hilarious.

Life saver: started putting a pinch of salt and sugar and lemon in my water during class. It is an instant electrolyte boost.

No comments:

Post a Comment