Destination Bikram Yoga Teacher Training

After a two and a half month hiatus, I thought it was time to re-launch into the blogosphere. Not sure how committed I'll be to writing regular entries, but this does provide me a space to share my thoughts and feelings as I prepare for my nine-week stint as a Bikram Yoga Teacher Trainee this fall. Yup! It's official: Yesterday I mailed in my application. (See photo of me in the post office, holding said application just before I dropped it in the mail.)

While I had my paperwork in order a month ago, I held on to the application in case I changed my mind. My leave of absence from work was approved and I pretty much told everyone about my plans, but I still had reservations. A couple weeks ago and after months of rumours, the location of the training moved from Las Vegas to San Diego. To be honest, I found the idea of studying to be a yoga teacher in Las Vegas to be oxymoronic. San Diego on the other hand, is the perfect spot! So the decision was easy once the new location was announced. It just felt right for me to be going. And everything has since fallen into place. The stars are aligned!

Between now and September 19, I need to memorize the 26 postures that make up Bikram's beginning yoga class. While I don't "need" to go to training with the dialogue fully memorized, I want to. This is because I value my sleep (which will already be compromised at training) and can't imagine having to pull all-nighters at this point in my life. It might be a feasible solution for those who are younger, but I no longer fall into this category. My university days of staying up all night cramming for exams are ancient history. So over the next 11 weeks, I will be spending a lot of time immersed in Bikram's dialogue. People will think I'm crazy as they hear me muttering to myself, but it's all for good.

Very excited about what lies ahead. Leaving the comfort of my home and job to become a yoga teacher is one of the crazier things I'll have done. But I'm really looking forward to the experience and the changes in my life it's sure to inspire.

The cat's out of the bag!

I guess this blog is more widely read than I thought. When I arrived at the Bikram Yoga Centre last night, one of the studio's newest teachers (fall '09 graduate) berated me for having to find out about my plans to attend Teacher Training via my blog. Of course he did this in front of the other students and teachers -- so the cat's officially out of the bag: I'm going to be a Bikram Yoga teacher! This being public knowledge is both good and bad.

The good news is that I got lots of positive encouragement from the teachers, who said I'm totally ready and that my practice is very strong. One teacher, who actually taught me my first class a year and a half ago, said she was thinking about me the other day and how I'd make a good teacher. Funny thing is that they all agreed I'd be a really tough teacher, which I've always thought myself. I'm very focused and disciplined as a student, so I'd expect this to carry over to my teaching. No half-assing it in my class!

The bad news is that so many things still need to fall into place before I can pack my bags. For starters, time off from work is required. I don't have intentions to teach full-time, so I need to come back to something. Then there's the matter of location -- "Bikram Yoga Teacher Training in Las Vegas" sounds like an oxymoron to me. I'm hoping it will move somewhere tropical -- like Hawaii or Mexico or Costa Rica! I’ve been told it doesn't matter where you do the training; you'll be so engrossed in it that there's little time to explore your surroundings. Still, when I tell the story for years to come, I want to say it was somewhere other than Vegas.

Deep down I did want to share the news with a broader audience, so I'm glad it’s out in the open. I'm so grateful for the support I received from everyone last night. I left the studio feeling on top of the world! Fingers crossed that it works out!