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!
