Bikram Yoga Challenge: 38/60.

"I find that on days when I don't come, I get depressed."

That was what one fellow student said to me as we were walking into the studio this afternoon. She had asked me how it was going with my 60-day challenge... And then she told me about how her body is basically craving the heated practice.

"That happens," I told her. "You feel off when you don't come, once you've established a consistent practice."

"Yeah!" she agreed. "I think it's the serotonin I get from practicing. But I am just in a funk on the days that I don't come."

I told her that she should come every day. But that if she couldn't, maybe doing some inverted poses would help her feel better... Like a head stand or shoulder stand. All the blood rushing to the head and then being released when you come out does something good for your mental rejuvenation.

This got me thinking, though, about what will happen when I am done with this 60-day challenge. I have only 22 days left in it. Over the next few weeks, I will have to miss a few days of practice... So I will have to double-up. And then I go away for a small mini-break at the end of July to visit family.

But when I get back, in August, how should I continue with my practice?

I will have 11 weeks from August through October, before Teacher Training begins. I guess I should prep for that.. But how?

Those of you who have aspirations to become Bikram teachers, or those of you who already are, what do you recommend as preparation?

I am looking for ideas!

Comments

thedancingj said…
I'd do a few weeks balls-out at the end of August, beginning of September, lots of doubles and even a couple triples, to get strength and stamina and get rid of the psychological apprehension of doing 11 classes per week. I'd practice doing back-to-back doubles, since those are harder than the ones you'll do at training. Then in the month and days before training, EVERYONE says to BACK OFF and just do normal maintenance practice or less, so that when you get to training you are totally craving the yoga instead of feeling burned out!

Are your teachers gonna do dialogue sessions with you?
Me said…
Thanks for the advice, J! Knew I could count on you!!!

There are (as of right now) four of us going to training in October. The studio directors are going to get us all together and get us prepared. Not sure if that includes dialogue sessions.

I do have a copy of the dialogue that I someone randomly offered me (and funny enough, they aren't a teacher, so I didn't ask how they got it). I have begun studying it.
Anonymous said…
You guys sound so lucky to have a strong support network going on in your studio!

Doubt I'd get any help with the dialogue :( I've begun practicing what I remember from class - on my cat. She doesn't take too well to half moon pose.
Anonymous said…
Whoa...I didn't even think triples were possible! :)

Sadly, I don't have much advice (beyond J's---practice like crazy!), but I do have encouragement! You're so close to finishing your challenge already and getting so close to teacher training. It's amazing. Sigh...
Me said…
I heard that at one of the Acapulco trainings, they made the recruits do three in one day. Morning... Later afternoon and late night.

Triples would be intense! Still worth a shot. I will have to wait till I move into my house in August though. Right now, I only own two sets of practice clothes. All my other practice clothes are packed in storage from moving here.

I am going to attempt a back-to-back double tomorrow. SQUEE!
cath said…
I can't WAIT until you go to T.T. so we can hear all about it following on your blog (you WILL blog about it while you're there, right?). I'm still wrapping my head around 11 sessions per week, and the mere suggestion of 3X in one day.

What is the general reaction/result of the people after they finish T.T.? Do they feel burnt out or more energized? Are they in the best shape of their lives? Do they go through emotional changes?
Me said…
LOL!

I will be blogging from there. Probably not every day... But at least weekly, there will be an update on how it is going.

It seems like people, when the come back from training, feel empowered and ready to get to teaching. They all come back in great shape too... It is a bootcamp, more or less, after all.

They definitely go through emotional changes. Duffy (a fellow blog redaer and practitioner) send me this link: http://www.globalyoga.biz/100_Yoga_Days.html

It's about what happens to your body when you do 100 straight days of Bikram. You definitely start hitting the emotional spots in the second set of 30 classes.
Duffy Pratt said…
Sherie is a teacher here who used to teach in Boston. I know J knows her. She has amazing tatoos covering both of her arms like sleeves.

She was talking to one of our students about preparing for training. Her advice was to do a month of doubles, and finish it up about two weeks before training. She said the biggest thing that people need to adjust to at training is learning how to eat and take care of yourself when doing all the doubles. Thus, the doubles should be morning and afternoon, just like training.

Learning how do adjust to the doubles while adapting to all the rest at training makes things very trying for lots of people. The ones who struggle most usually have digestive problems, eating problems, and/or rash/immunity problems.

The other thing on which there is near universal agreement is learning the dialogue as much as you possibly can before you arrive. You'll be losing enough sleep to Bollywood. There's no reason to compound that with cram sessions.
Duffy Pratt said…
About a year ago, on Mary Jarvis' site -- the same one the Missus linked to above -- she congratulated two of her teachers, and one student, on completing eight classes in one day. Amazing, you say? They did it without drinking any water during the classes. (Mary Jarvis has a rule that her teachers not drink when they practice, and she encourages her students to do the same.)

I've been thinking of doing a triple next week to finish my 30 day challenge, and just to see what its like.
Me said…
I remember Sherie! She is a phenomenal teacher!!!

She taught most of my first 30-day challenge back in 2006. After the first few days she said, "HEATHER MOLINA! Don't always practice in the same spot! Move around! Challenge yourself."

Now, I always make sure to move around... Trying to never practice two consecutive classes in the same spot.

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