Kripalu Yoga Teacher Training ~ Practice Teach 2/Man Down

Well it's been quite and week and it ain't over yet.  Before I get into what happened the night and day of Practice Teach 2 I'll explain the "Man Down" part of my title.

Two weeks into the program, which is the half way point, Joe one of my classmates, dropped out of the program. I was really shocked, but he was struggling with his health since he arrived here. In fact he went to the hospital due to dehydration in the early days of the program, but that being said I still didn't think he would drop out.  That really threw me. I know how much it takes for people to get here and it kind of broke my heart. I know if something happened and I had to leave it would be devastating considering all the work I had put in for two weeks and all the support that you all have given me along the way.  So we had to say so long to Joe. Actually I didn't even get to say goodbye.  One night he was there and the next night he was gone.  He was a good guy I wish him well.  So that actually makes two of our classmates that have left the program either on their own (Joe) or due to circumstances beyond their control (Scott).  The man count keeps going down in our class. So as of now, the last men standing are Barry, Troy, Peter, Andrew, Ben, Alex and Michael. Stay strong guys!

Moving on to brighter notes, I had an awesome Practice Teach 2!  Of course there is always room for improvement, but it was pretty amazing.  But before all that was the Hurricane Sandy watch.  We were also on alert here in the Berkshires, and it did hit us for sure.  It was nothing like NYC, NJ or CT, but she still came through.

Sandy hit the night before the practice teach. I was having a crappy day and everyone kept asking me if I was ok. They said I looked sad and thought I was worried about folks in NY. Honestly I thought my people would be OK and I was really PMSing and needed some space that day. LOL.  I love these folks, but after living together for almost a month I can't wait to get back into my own bed and not have to carry my toiletries to the bathroom. I know you feel me.

As I had mentioned before, I am a crammer. So on Monday night I took my spot in the Kripalu sanctuary and began to put together my practice teach. As I mentioned before, it's not that I don't have any idea what I'm going to do, but I let things swirl around in my head for a while before I put them on paper and Monday was no exception. I also sometimes like to go back to my room after everyone has gone to sleep so that night I stayed out until about 12:30am.  By the time I was on my way to bed Sandy was in full swing.  In the sanctuary you could hardly see the rain or hear the wind, but when I went upstairs to the forth floor on the other side of the building, the wind and rain were raging.  It felt like the windows could blow. Now that was scary!  So I quickly headed back downstairs to go to bed.

Now, we never lock the door in the room where I stay because there are 22 women in the room.  Did I mention that before?  With that in mind there are so many people coming and going at all times that there is no need to lock the door.  Well that night I got locked out.  Only briefly, but still I couldn't believe it. I know exactly what happened, but of course I was caught out there with no key.  So I had to knock on the door to have someone get up and let me in the night before the teach!  I really felt bad, but that, but folks understood.

Then I was getting ready to get in bed and had taken my pants off, when my roommate Alicia taps me on the shoulder and tells me there is water leaking on her from above the bed. Seriously??  OK.  So I ask her what she wants to do and she says she's going to the front desk to let them know and see if she can find another spot to stay in.  I waited for her to come back and she said they gave her another room to sleep in for the night.  Cool!  I'm about to get back in back, when there is knock at the door and three maintenance guys come marching in and I'm in my drawers!  They head strait to were the leak is, which gave me a minute to duck out of sight and put some pants on (damn!) and then I went and spoke to Alicia.  I asked her  if she wanted me to come sleep with her in the new spot and she was kind of hemming and hawing, which meant yes to me (and it did) so I went to sleep with her in the other room. We get to the new spot, set the alarm, turn on the ceiling fan because the new room is stuffy and hot and then head to sleep.

Now it's about 1:30am or so. Maybe later.  I finally get to sleep and then wake up again at about 3:30am. Strange bed and all. I look up at the ceiling fan and it's moving slower, but I thought that maybe Alicia got up to turn it down. So I went back to sleep.  Next I wake up at 5:45am. When I look up the fan has stopped and the clock is out, and I knew what was next.  No power.  So Alicia and I decided to get up and go back to the other room since we had to be up soon anyway.  When we opened the door to the room the emergency hallway lights were on.  Damn!  No electricity. We were told that the generators would come on, but that was clearly not happening at that point.  So Alicia and I walked back to the room and were trying to decide if we should wake people up because a lot of folks were using the room clock to wake up, which would clearly be out.  Turns out most of them knew that the power was out and people were looking for me and Alicia.  Everyone had slept through all that commotion from the night before.  Crazy.  Now we are all preparing for our practice teach in the dark or semi-dark. The building provided lanterns in the hallways and also some of the emergency lights were.  It was quite a scene.

Practice Teach 2
I went first in class to do my teach. I was actually glad about it because then I would have the whole rest of the day off. I would just be doing yoga for the rest of the day as a student in the class for the rest of my group.  By the time we were ready to start the generator power was on so we had lights.

I started my teach and everything was going really well. This time around I had to teach Virabhadrasana Eka (Warrior 1) and guide Virabhadrasana Dwi (Warrior 2), Kapalabhati breath (breath of fire) and Nadi Shodhana (alternate nostril breathing) with the sanskrit names, plus two more postures.  I felt way more comfortable this time, which makes sense. I feel that my personality came through in this teach. I think the thing that really impressed me was that during my teach, the lights went out again, but I was so in the zone that I didn't even flinch. I remember it happening and I just kept it moving.  There was light coming in from the windows so it was no sweat.  I stayed so deep in the zone that the lights came back on and I didn't even notice.  It was a lot of fun. Nerve racking, but fun!

So Practice Teach 2 is done! We are already talking about 3.  I can't believe we are over half way done with this process.  What a journey and it ain't over yet.  I'm going to wrap this up, but don't forget there is still time to give. I'm just gonna keep going till they kick me out next week. LOL!  Thank you all so much!  What a blessing!

Well folks, it's 11:08 and well past my bed time. I just wanted to give you a little something to get you through.  Next week is the election. PLEASE VOTE!!! That's all I'm gonna say!  Thank you again so much and I'll be back with you shortly!  Thank you again!!!

Jai Bahgwan!

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Countdown to Yoga School ~ Day 17/The N word and I don't mean Namaste

Yoga in the city can be tough sometimes. Not the classes themselves, but what you walk in to after you leave class. I guess that's why we do it. So that we can have a better disposition and more compassion for everyone in world. For our fellow human beings.  But sometimes it's a challenge.  It's a challenge to stay grounded even when you've just left the studio 15, 20 or 30 minutes ago.

In today's class I definitely stretched some muscles that I haven't in a while. So I know I will be feeling that, but I've been feeling pretty good over all. I was thinking that my shoulder might give me some issue, but it's been pretty minimal. Maybe I'm a bit stronger than I think I am or maybe I just haven't hit that Power yoga class yet. LOL! Either way, I feel good.

When I left class today, I made a stop at Trader Joe's and then headed for the bus home.  For the folks reading this in Brooklyn, then you may know the joy and the pain or riding the 65 bus. The joy is that it drops me right in front of my house. The pain is that you might not ever know when it's coming.  The bus is notoriously late and today was no exception.

I was waiting for quite a while when the bus finally came. I found myself a seat in the front and started to settle in when I realized that the woman sitting next to me was having a really loud conversation in which every other word out of her mouth was N***a.  If you are not clear what that is, it's Nigga. Yeah I said it!  Lol!  Now mind you, I am not naive.  I know that the word is used all the time and without thought on a regular basis. But sometimes, many times, it's just used in excess and for no reason or in a spot where another would could be used to create the same emphasis.  Sonia Sanchez once said that if people curse all the time in what would be considered "normal" conversation,  it's probably due to a lack of vocabulary. She believes, if you are going to curse in life, in your writing, etc. you should make it mean something.  Give it real weight.

To this case in point, the woman next to me would not calm down, pipe down or slow down. She was just going on and on with n***a this and n***a that, and that n***a and this n***a,  and well, you know what I'm saying.  When I hear people do this on the bus, train or even in the street talking to friends about other people who are the brunt of the word, I really want to walk up or slide up next to them and repeat the word every time they say it within earshot of them to see if they can hear themselves. See if they can really hear the words coming out of their mouth as it is coming out of mine.  I wonder if it would get me in to an fight. Would someone wonder why I'm calling them a n***a not realizing that it is them saying the word and I'm simply a mirror.

I know you might wonder what this has to do with yoga. Well when this started happening I took a breath. I really tried to find some compassion for my sister.  Clearly there was some drama going on and I honestly hoped that the situation would resolve not just for the sake of my ears, but for the sake of her journey. But you know what, I guess this is her journey.  Hmm...  Then I looked around the bus and found another seat, away from the noise.  Trust me when I tell you that  I'm not like this everyday, but I think today it did help that I had just come from class.  Sometimes it's the little things.

Namaste.

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Countdown to Yoga School ~ Day 18

Hey Everyone,

It was another great day of yoga. I know that might sound like an ultra-hippie statement, but it really was good. At first I could tell I was a little grumpy because the teachers voice was getting on my nerves. LOL!  You know how some yoga instructors sound like they smoked a joint right before they came to class? Their speaking voice is so relaxed that you might think, "Are they really that cool?"  Well I felt that at first, but then as I went on I could feel the cobwebs clearing. Today's class was Slow Flow and I have to say that I really like that kind of class. You hold the poses longer and you can really work with the breath.  Also doing a Slow Flow or Basics class gives you an opportunity to really examine your poses.

I know you might wonder why I would take a Basics class after all these years, but it's just like anything else.  Sometimes you have to go back to the basics to get your foundation. Although my practice is intermediateI still have a long way to go. I guess that's why it's called a practice and not a perfect.

In class today and yesterday there was a lot of focus on breathing into our back and today the teacher also talked about breathing into our hands and feet.  I really like the feeling of breathing into certain parts of out body that we don't think about having air.  It's a really amazing feeling to move the breath around the whole body.

I'm feeling good! Sometimes I still feel that grandma shoulder, but I'm going to breath some life into her too.  :-)

Day 3 down, 17 to go.
Thank you for your continued support. $580 to go and the tuition is paid in full!

Namaste.

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Countdown to Yoga School ~ Day 19

Hey Everyone!

Day 2 of my lead up to yoga school and I'm starting to remember why it is important to practice every day if you can.  It's the breath. Even though I have been doing yoga for so many years, sometimes I just forget that it's all about the breath in a big way.

Today I had class again with Keri and I forgot one thing that she focused on yesterday and that was the breath. Filling your whole "cylinder" as she would say, with air. She's talking about the whole torso from the belly to the chest. She also talked about lengthening as you breath out.  Now I know this, I really do know this, but today it just felt like something new.

So today in class I really focused on my breath and it just reminded me of how much I don't breath.  Of course we have to breath in order to stay alive, but ofter our breath is shallow or we just take it for granted. We forget or don't even know, that conscious breathing can help release toxins from our body as well as relaxing the mind and body.

I'm so thankful for this practice.  Rock On!

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