Bikram Yoga Free Yoga Day - Labor Day 2009

Karen and me before class, Bikram is in the back!

I just finished Bikram Yoga with 58 other people at Bikram Yoga Dallas as part of 

Free Yoga Day in the Dallas/FTW area.

I got to the studio early to make sure I got a good spot, I suspected today was going to be busy but I had no idea the room would be SO packed. I was debating where to put my map when Sherri, one of the instructors was getting up from taking the earlier class and commented to me that seasoned yogi's should be on the front row. "Come on Carolyn, come up to the front row," she says to me. Sure I think, does that mean I am a seasoned yogi? But I haven't been practicing because I have been training for a marathon and century ride. What if I can't do all the poses? Goodness gracious, a million negative thoughts went through my mind in a millisecond. After that had passed, I cheerfully moved my mat to the front row.

One thing that happens when there are new students, and a lot of them, they tend to not know what to do and place there mat in a place where they can't see themselves. I noticed this and the increased number of people that were coming in so I helped a few people move their mats so they could see better. Plus, since so many people were coming in, we all had to squish together more to get everyone to fit.

Ok, so class hasn't started yet and I am already drenched in sweat! Great I think, today is going to be a big water day. I got get another bottle of water, just to be safe. And yea, Karen is teaching class. Karen is one of the owners, along with her husband, David, of Bikram Yoga Dallas and she is an awesome teacher. We start the class with a brief overview for the new yogi's and of course, the statement of staying in the room is the only goal gets a little chuckle. But that is true for new yogi's, staying in the room is all you need to do for the first class. Getting use to the heat and humidity can be very difficult and many people can't clear their minds and let go enough to stay in the room.

We lost three girls at the first water break after "eagle pose". I think everyone else stayed in the room. There were 59 yogi's all doing the same postures and giving 100%, it was quite amazing. And even with all the heat, humidity and extra people, people were trying all the postures, very few times were people sitting out, which is really impressive.

Being in the front and not wanting to disappoint Karen made me try even harder today. I know, it is about me and that statement didn't say I didn't want to disappoint myself. But I wasn't planning on being disappointed, my goal was to stay in the room and do the best I could, I didn't really want to be on the front row! I haven't been practicing consistently so my postures are not as polished as they once were. Today though, I pushed myself to a full 100% if not more and did all the postures. Today might be the first day to a renewed practice.

While I was in the room today, I was thinking about the meditation contest from NamasteBookClub, trying to think about not thinking. From time to time my mind would wander and then I would hear Karen or see someone else and my mind would refocus, almost like when my eyes get blurring and refocus. My mind was blury and then sometime would make it very clear and I would be in the moment again, thinking. I think that is meditation, being in the moment but having the mind a little cloudy. I'm going to try that later today.

 

Karen and I AFTER class, all sweaty! 

 (I'm the one on the left.)

The Yoga Community is Like a Family

I have met some wonderful people and found great resources over the last 30 days; that is about when I started my twitter account and decided to start this blog, Bike Run Yoga. Bike Run Yoga gave me the perfect reason to seek out other yogi's online and connect with people from all over the world. One of the great resources I found was NamasteBookClub on twitter. This group is a combination of yogi's with varying types of practice, skill and expertise and they come together once a week to chat online about a book or a specific topic.

Today was my first day to join the online chat. I hadn't read the book but that didn't matter, many people in the chat either hadn't been able to read the sections previously given or haven't been able to locate the book. That was fine, it was a very free flowing conversation that went from targeted conversation to more abstract thoughts. One person made a comment from the book about the idea of you are already what you are suppose to be and your practice is about opening your mind to see the real you.This got the chat going.

As I mentioned in the chat, I liked this idea. Practicing yoga tends to make me more patient and compassionate. Based on thought process in the book, Yoga in America, I am ALREADY patient and compassionate, I just need to remove the obstacles in my mind. This is great news since I was told not too long ago that I was not compassionate and I have always been told I wasn't very patient. I am particularly pleased to know I am already these things and practicing yoga will help bring these things to more clarity. Wonderful! I love practicing yoga!

Most people in the chat agreed in some form or fashion with the concept from the book. Many gave accounts of there own and that was extremely interesting to read about. I liked the ability to "listen" and respond and not feel silly saying I really had no idea what they were talking about. I consider myself a very novice yogi and sometimes can feel intimidated around veteran yogi's that have been practicing for years and are fully into the spiritual side of yoga.  Not the case in this chat, everyone was very nice and it felt like a very welcoming environment. I "listened" or read what others were saying for a bit and decided I really needed to read the book, participating in a book chat when you don't know anything about the book is not the best use of ones time. 

During the chat they also made two announcements, the NamasteBookClub blog was moving to NamasteBookClub.wordpress.com to provide better resources and features and there is a new meditation contest for twitter. I had to admit on the chat, I have never meditated and am not even really sure how to do it correctly. Sitting and NOT thinking seems like a very hard task. Even in yoga when I am suppose to be concentrating about the moment and being present in class, focusing just on myself...my to do list for the day is going through my head, or the things I forgot to do at work, or the comments someone made during the day, or a passing thought of an old memory and boom...then I hear the instructor and bring my mind back to class. Rarely though am I 100% in class, something I must work on daily. So meditation where you don't think seems virtually impossible but I'm willing to try.

To be more prepared for next week, I am off to Amazon.com to buy the current book. Tomorrow I will practice meditation in between enjoying Labor Day and Free Yoga Day at Bikram Yoga. Can't wait till next Sunday for the next NamasteBookClub Chat.