Not as much yoga and a Mei update...

Well, when I finished my 63 days in a row I thought I would continue on doing my normal 5 or 6 times a week. That hasn't happened. I've had my daughter 3 weeks this month and have been "taxi cab" mom. So my yoga practice has waned down to 4 times a week. Not my normal 5 or 6. This has actually been good for me in many many ways. **gasp! the crazy challenge chick is cutting back a bit!!** Yes, I have lightened up considerably. Here's the rub: My daughter is growing up fast, will be an adult in just 3 short years! I don't want to miss one single second of that! So I have appreciated the time with her, and the four days a week I could get in the hot room, I appreciated the heck out of those too. Add to that some "challenges" (see: appendix out, cat dying, water heater taking a crap and two friends dying) and you'll understand why I am so content to just enjoy and breathe right now.

So tonight, after a two day reprieve (my daughters 15th bday!!) I went to 530 with Goril. She is my age and is from a different country, but I can't place her accent. The room was not very hot (it just got pretty cold here, and the studio owner said it's been hard to heat the room the past two days) but it was humid enough to get our juices flowing. Regular Mark was next to me and I fed off his energy in the front row. I felt so strong and did not even get winded at all. It was one of those classes where you feel a bit like superwoman. Perhaps the days of rest are good after all!

Mei Update:

Internet access down at teacher training = sucks. So, the few people that are blogging, are doing so sporadically. Mei has been updating her page every weekend, but what about during the week? How is she doing? I'm going down to teacher training to find out in person this Saturday morning and taking the 8am class with the trainees again. In the meantime, thanks to this little site called twitter** we can get a "glimpse" into her training experience. Here are some of her more amusing "tweets".

Enjoy! (listed from most recent tweet to oldest)

Men are a combination of 3 animals, dog, pig and goat. Women need english bulldog determination n tiger strength to put up with them.

Party rule- everyone must eat at least 5 slices of pizza or it,s a make up class on saturday morning. Ok, time for bed at 1am. #bktt

Party getting wild. Yes, i'm still at yoga camp! #bktt no alcohol or drugs involved

Bikram said for the first time he misses trainees! So he's buying all of us pizza tonight :) #bktt

So bleeding cold my nipples are about to fall off. No kidding! Lecture tonight, movies galore!

Hate shaving my legs! Managed to cut myself many times doing this ritual. Will stick to waxing and epilation ...

No i didn't make it to hooters cause @nthooi stood me up. It's a sign, i'm not meant to go check out a titty bar in vegas.

F*@k dehydration. Stupid period causing dehydration. Roar! I hate you ovum! Add gas and constipation and lethargy and you've got a mei day

Chinese food isn't the same here :( i miss home cooked food. Been eating cold sandwiches the whole week. #bktt

Dehydrated like a donkey n couldn't feel face again. Props to Tu for the coke with salt and kicking my sorry ass back to class. #bktt

Must. Keep. Breathing. Even. Though. Model. Is. Sitting. Next. To. Me. Gasp! #bktt

Hottest temp recorded was 144f. That's 62c nz friends. F*@k me like a roasted donkey. Boss comes back, so it,s late night movies, groan.

Snore. My bed is so comfy. Must get up and out. Zzz. Oh it,s friday! Meeting up @nthooi for lunch tomorrow and hitting up hooters after.

Practicing behind a guy who looks like a calvin klein model tested my concentration,especially since he was wearing tiger print shorts 2day.

He touched my butt and i his nipple ring and sweaty stomach. This is #bktt where you feel people up in a hot room. And yes, it,s legal ;)

That time of the month beckons. Cue dehydration maximus n sleeping during anatomy. Gotta love being a woman. #bktt

Awkward all 3 parts done! Ok need to speak slower, but er, malaysians speak fast. Very fast. #bktt

**Twitter is so very strange! It's like a stream of consciousness! For those of you new to twitter, the #bktt is just a tag, it means she is talking about bktt which is a shortened way of saying bikram teacher training. It's so people can search "tweets" from anybody on a specific topic. If you see the @ sign, that means what comes after it is another twitter "user" that she is either replying to or referring to. Oh, and the "f" word has been edited here on my site so I don't get flagged for adult content. ;)

2009 NV Regional Yoga Championships & FItness in the Square

Well, as promised here are the pictures (in no particular order, because blogger is not very friendly when you want to upload pics).
1) Banner for Fitness in the square which took place the day before the event
2) Bikram showed up when there were two women competitors left to go -Summer and Brandy
3-6) These are all Brandy. She got 1st place. Look at that spine! Beautiful postures.
7) Don - also below with Yuko doing couples yoga
8) Instructor/studio owner Dray
9) Front desk Patrick manning the sound system
10) woman competitor 11) john knocke 12) male competitor
13) Shelley, instructor Adele, me
14) Shelley and Bikram (cute)
15) Summer (I can do that. Ok, not really)
16 and 17) Don and instructor Yuko demonstrating acro couples yoga

I get by with a little help from my friends...

Good evening! First, before I post I just want to say that I know I owe you guys some pics of the yoga regional champs. For those of you that know me IRL (in real life, my daughter would be proud of me for knowing this abbreviation, but I digress) send me a message on facebook and I will have you make friends with my friend that posted TONS of fabulous pics that she took with her big girl camera.

One more thing. I see, from my counter stats, that I am getting hits everyday from people googling "bikram teacher training fall 2009 las vegas" or some variation of those words. I am not at teacher training, just live in the city where it's being held. I do lots of Bikram yoga challenges and will be taking classes down at training, but alas, this is not the droids you were looking for. You're welcome to stay though!!! and....for your benefit I added a gadget to the right side with links to the blogs I have found pertaining to your search. Note to my other Bikram blogger friends: if you find more, please share the links with me so I can help these googlers out!

Ahem. Ok. Now back to my post (as if you care, you've already clicked away because I gave you all the info you were looking for. That's ok, I still love you!)

Tonight was 530 with Yuko. Reggi, Shahid and I chatted in the lobby beforehand, noticing there were not many yogis signing in. It was a slow night. Class starts and there are no newbies. We all have plenty of room, there's only about 15 of us. Yuko kept the temp at the perfect mix and did a great job of interspersing tips with the dialog. She practices twice a day usually, is our little flexible japanese doll, and KNOWS these postures like she knows her own heart. Many things she said helped me, but most importantly...she actually came over and helped me a few times. The first assist was during:

Dandayamana-Bibhaktapada-Paschimotthanasana Standing Separate Leg Stretching Pose I don't look like that little guy in the pic. Instead my forehead is roughly a foot from the floor and my spine is really curved. I try to get it straight, but no dice. Yuko came over to me, tapped my right knee and said "microbend your knee". What? I did it, but wasn't sure why. Then she said "now stick your butt up in the air and relock your knee!". Holy shit. I was suddenly pointing downward with a much straighter spine and was closer to the floor! The next assist came during Wind Removing pose I was never able to grab my elbows and get all compact like the picture. But I've lost 12 pounds in the last 5 weeks, so with less "stuff" in the way, I'm getting closer to grabbing those elbows. Yuko came over and pressed gently down. My spine flattened out, my knees came closer to my chest. I breathed gently and pulled with my biceps and received the most wonderful stretch. I just hope I didn't cut her. My legs were stubbly. Yes, I just admitted that on the internet. Crap. At least it wasn't Frank giving me the assist. **cheeks turn beat red** Last assist was another stretching posture in which my curved back gives me grief: Stetching Pose Again, I look nothing like this cool little flexible guy. God love him. Yuko came over and gently pressed on my lower spine. "Inhale!". "Now exhale and stretch forward, suck your stomach in, contract your thighs, keep your heels off the ground!". Holy mother of God. I wasn't at the look-at-me-I-can-bite-my-toes-and-give-myself-a-cheap-pedicure-while-bikram-himself-stands-on-my-back stage, but I looked more like that flexi little stick figure than I ever had in my life! And it didn't hurt, it was a nice gentle push toward where I should be. Aaaahhhh. It was good! I DO get by ....with a little help from my friends.

We are so much stronger than we give ourselves credit for

Today was 5:30 with Roberta. I texted Reggi and Andy in the afternoon. "Prepare to suffer". Tongue in cheek, joking around. We all know Roberta is tough, so we love to tease each other. Thirty minutes before class, Reggi and I are suited up , ready to go, chatting in the lobby. The doors open and the 3:30 class staggers out. The tile floor in the lobby quickly becomes a mess of puddles as yogis walk to the locker rooms, dripping wet. It is quiet. Reggi and I look at each other and we don't even need to say what we are both thinking...our standard "oh crap, it's going to be ugly". Reggi goes into the laundry room and grabs a mop to clean the floors. Front desk Patrick pipes up, "Reggi, what are you doing?". "helping." she says, grimly drying off the floors.

Ray, Reggi, Andy and I set up in our "usual" spots and break a sweat just putting our mats down. Class starts and it's a pretty good size crowd. We are all sweating during first breathing. Awkward series was brutal, we were held in second part forever second set. My legs were shaking like crazy, but I hung in there, trying to focus on breathing. By eagle I noticed my chest and face was beat red, sweat pouring off me like rain. By the time we got to balancing stick, there were downed yogi's taking a knee scattered throughout the class. I kept plugging away, red faced, trying to ignore the sounds of yoga carnage around me. Loud breathing, sighs, grunts, it was crazy! It was hot, humid, tough. By the time we got to triangle I was at the point where I needed to take a knee. I was unsteady on my feet, dizzy, losing focus, exhausted. I bent my knees, heading toward my mat when all of the sudden a voice said "don't bother Michelle. She'll just call you out. She'll say Michelle get back up , you can do this, don't give up" and you'll have to get up. So don't bother taking a knee. Instantly I sucked in some air, straightened back up and finished out the standing series to the best of my ability. The floor series didn't get any easier. Camel about ruined me for the rest of the class. She kept us in second set forever and I held it the whole time, seeing yogi's coming out early from the corner of my eye and hearing sounds of agony as they moaned and breathed loudly. But I held it, and when I came out, I clasped my hand over my mouth, sure I was going to throw up on my mat. I didn't throw up. I clumsily fashioned my body into a slow moving descent to savasana and just sucked it up. When the class was over, I lay there in amazement. Amazed that I didn't give up. Amazed that I pushed myself harder than normal. In that moment I loved Roberta for ignoring the whining and complaints that always ensue in the lobby afterwards. It falls on deaf ears. She stays true to her style of teaching. She doesn't waver, doesn't blink, doesn't change. And for that I am grateful. It's easy to become complacent. It's easy to take a knee when you are tired, not just in that room, but in life. So when somebody reminds you that you can in fact do it, whatever "it" may happen to be, that is a gift. We are so much stronger than we give ourselves credit for. I walked up to Roberta after class and said "hey, thank you. Thanks for keeping it real".

She rocks.

Class down at Teacher Training

Saturday morning I trekked on down to the Hilton and took class with 300 teacher trainees. It was an awesome experience. The biggest class I've ever taken was a little over 60 people. I couldn't help but look around several times during that 90 minutes watching all of these yogi's moving in snyc. The back three rows are for visitors, so I parked it back there, near instructor Yuko who was also visiting. The class was taught by a lady named Lauren. She was the nurse there for the first two weeks and is going home now. So Bikram told her to teach the Saturday class before she left. She was an amazing instructor. The very cool thing about it was to hear her interspersing advice to the trainees, as future instructors as she was doing the dialog. She told the trainees not to rob their students of the 20 second savasana, or they can't recover between postures, but on the flip side, don't let it go too long or their circulatory system slows down too much. She also pointed out not to let students slack off in final spinal, and told them the setup for that posture is important, in fact so important that it's longer than the actual posture itself. I felt like I was given just a little peek into training. The class was pretty mellow which was probably a relief for the trainees after what happened Thursday evening. Apparently on Thursdays evening class the room was extremely hot (the floors were even heated for that class) and there were many downed trainees that night. Including poor Mei! The most interesting thing about taking class with the trainees was being in the very back. You are very far away from the mirror. I've never done the whole practice without a mirror like that. It was challenging to say the least! I did very well except in triangle. The carpet is different from my studio floor. I got into triangle and my legs started to shake after about 10 seconds. I ended up coming out a bit early and not by choice. It was this sudden jerky and very dorky hot mess of limbs falling out of the posture. Kinda funny looking back at it now. Lauren had this great very dry sense of humor. Here are some highlights:

"I have no guidelines for water breaks"- at the beginning of class

"Don't drink while somebody else is in the posture. Oh wait, I have no guidelines for water"

"You look like a dead body on CSI. I could draw a chalk outline around you. Get your arms and legs closer to your body"- directed at a student during savasana.

"Wow, it took you the whole first set of rabbit just to fix your hair. You've got to work on that girl"- self explanatory!

"There is a whole conversation going on up here. How cute they are sharing water! He just showed her how to open it. I don't want you guys to feel left out"

"Oh wait, let me update you on the water conversation: he knocked over the water, she said it's ok I don't need any anyway. Oh good, everybody's ok, what a relief"

So class was great. I wish I could get down there for a class with Bikram himself but I wouldn't make it in time since it starts at 5. I'll go down another Saturday or two though. It was great to see and talk to the trainees from Las Vegas, and of course wonderful to hang out with Mei a bit. I drove her and her roommate up to trader joes after class, so I got to spend some time with them and get all caught up on their week. Pictures: I took a picture of the yoga room from outside and inside, you can of course see Bikram's "throne" in one of the pics and I also snapped a pic of Mei and Mel's hotel room with their food, vitamins, etc scattered on their hotel room desk.

'Battery Exhausted'

Sunday was the big Yoga Regional Championships. My daughter and I picked up Mei and her teacher training roommate and jetted down there to watch the raw talent. The event was held in an outdoor mall called Town Square (which also happens to be my favorite mall/hangout). They have a park in the middle and that's where the festivities were held. I promised to post cool pictures, so I went down there, little purple digital camera** tucked safely in my purse. I whipped it out to take pictures and as soon as I turned it on it said 'Battery exhausted'. I couldn't help but laugh. Hasn't that been me lately? Battery exhausted? The cat dying, my daughter getting a terrible flu, a very sad funeral to attend. I put the camera back away and just thought "Universe, please recharge my batteries, and please please let the calamaties be over!"

No such luck. The very next morning I stumbled into my bathroom at 5:30 am to take a shower for work, sandy eyes barely open. I turned the shower on. It didn't warm up. I shrugged, went to the toilet and came back, expecting it to be warm. No such luck. Cold as ice. I shoved my glasses onto my face and made my way down the stairs in the dark. Water heater, I've got to check the water heater, was all I could think as I opened the door leading to the garage. My bare foot stepped cautiously into the dark quiet garage. Squish. The mat in front of the door was soaked. Oh shit. I flip on the light. The garage has water all over the floor. I walk over to the water heater and look at it. It doesn't look any different than normal, and of course I have no clue what to do next. Turn off the water, says a voice in my head. Oh, that sounds like a good idea! I stand in the garage, staring at my pretty blue convertible car, sitting innocently on the other side of the garage, yet untouched by the creeping water. My head swivels around, looking at walls. I think the builder told me how to turn the water off when I moved in four years ago, however, I have no idea whatsoever what may have been said. None. I don't know how to turn my water off. It's almost 6am. I go back inside, grab my cell and dial a guy friend who lives about 10 mins away and that I've known for 11 years. He answers and tries to walk me through it over the phone. We aren't having any luck with that, so he says "I'll be there soon" and drives over to my house at SIX FIFTEEN in the morning just to turn my water off! As he is leaving he asks what I'm going to do. Call somebody I guess. I shrug. How much do you think this will cost, I ask. He gives me a guess and my face goes white. I really wish this would have happened next Monday, after I get paid! I don't have that much left in my account! I am dismayed. Without batting an eye, he asks where the nearest bank is. He drives away and comes back, cash in hand. Here, he says, handing me the cash. I'll pay you back this Friday! I say, eyes wide, staring at the cash in disbelief. He shrugs. Don't worry about it. Pay me as you can, you don't have to pay it all back at once. He gets in his car and leaves, to go get ready for his workday. I stand there, watching his car leave and in that second gratitude floods through my entire body. I understand as I stand there that none of this is that bad in the grand scheme of things. That I have so very much to be grateful for no matter what the universe continues to dish out to me this week.

The next night I am driving to yoga and receive a text from regular Mark. "You gonna be there?" I reply "of course". He responds back "It's Roberta! Prepare to suffer!". I smile and text back "good, I'm looking forward to it".

I get there, lay my mat down in that hot room preparing for the tough class that I know will follow. Class starts and I stand there, looking at my own two eyes in the mirror. My own two still alive eyes and smile. My batteries are recharged.....

**Lucky for us, regular Shelley has a "big girl" camera. You know, the one that is black, and has a strap that goes around your neck and a lens that will come out and make noise and zoom and you can push buttons and adjust things and take killer pictures! Ya, that camera. She posted amazing pics on facebook. I will work on saving those to my hard drive and writing a post with pictures from that day. Oh, and I forgot to tell you: Brandy won. She was amazing! Well, they all were amazing and inspiring actually. Wait for the pics. You'll see. :)

Mei Update: Operation Successful, patient is dead (not Mei!)

Hi there! For those of you that were reading Mei's blog (and are missing her) I will give you a little Mei update.

From her tweets, it sounds like they have fixed the heaters (finally)

'operation successful! Patient is DEAD!'-bikram after class.5 casualties today,3 of them young strapping men. #bktt

Casualties=people dehydrating,cramping,crying. Evening off cause we've been good #bktt trainees. :) time to SLEEP.

And as you can see, she has not lost her sense of humor at all:

Delivered dialogue today:)You know it,s time to grow ur hair out when bikram HIMSELF thought you were a boy.Lolol #bktt

Yeah growing my hair out cause people think my roommate and i are a couple. #bktt

I love that kid. I'm picking her and her roommate up Sunday morning and taking them down to the yoga regional championships with me and my daughter. I have to tell you, I'm so excited to go down there and see the wonderful yogi's and yogini's from the Las Vegas studios represent! AND I'll be happy to see Mei again! I'm so glad the weekend is here! Pictures....I promise!

Friday Meme- Fill in the blank Friday- A Baker’s Dozen

Another meme from Restaurant Refugee. Answers are in blue.

1. If I was on a first date with someone and s/he ordered a shot of anything I would probably end the date early.
2. When I’m sick I really want someone to bring me chicken soup, tuck me into bed and promise to check on me later.
3. I know that some people really love shoes and purses* but I don’t understand how they spend so much money on it.
4. I know that some people think I’m crazy for spending so much money on bikram yoga but I really love it.
5. I’m so glad that I’ve out grown aqua net hair spray since high school.
6. I am living proof that the stereotype about lefties** isn’t always accurate.
7. I know that it is a made-up word; but bat shit insane*** is a permanent part of my vocabulary.
8. I can’t wait for bikram yoga teacher training.
9. The most common misconception about me is that I am easy and can be walked all over****.
10. I wish I wouldn’t be so damn hard on myself but sometimes I just can’t stop myself.
11. If I never heard the word (or phrase) OMG again, it would still be too soon.
12. I have a hidden talent for (no hidden talents- well that can be shared here ;) See #6) that no one would ever expect of me.
13. I am not a fan of extraordinary rendition; but if it were to take place for crimes against children then all child molesters! should be the first person/people on the way to Guantanamo.

*I know, I’m supposed to be one of those girls. I’m not.
**We are supposed to be creative. I’m not. Go figure.
***Ok, it’s real words. But I love that phrase.
***I will bite!

What a difference a pound (or 11) makes....

I blogged a few weeks ago about how disappointed I was with my weight gain. I was mad at myself for putting 20 lbs on in what felt like a matter of weeks. I realize it had been creeping up on me since about May, but it seemed overnight when suddenly I had to dig around in my closet for the next size up. Ugh. Well, two and a half weeks ago I decided to hit it hard and go in the other direction.

Last year, when I lost the 20 pounds I used the Jenny Craig program. That didn't work for me again this summer. I just resisted the heck out of the frozen foods. Perhaps losing the 20 pounds so quickly last year had everything to do with going to my 20 year reunion and also falling madly in love. Great incentive and certainly a distraction from having to deal with myself and also from having to make permanent changes. So these past couple of weeks I've made some changes. Without any emotional crutches or distractions (comfort food, a relationship, wine) it's been very hard. I've cried myself to sleep (several times the first week) and also in yoga. I've been too tired to properly do my yoga and had a few classes with Mei here this past weekend where I could barely keep my arms over my head during half moon. I am doing great this week, having made some adjustments (more protein before yoga). I've also been drinking water with pink Himalayan sea salt and fresh squeezed lemons in it to help keep the minerals in my body in tact. I'm slowly learning to respect my body and not just mindlessly fill it. I'm learning to be conscious, to be present outside of the yoga room as well as inside. It's going to be a long road. Hey maybe if I figure it out, I'll write a diet book and become rich and famous. Oh, never mind that. The first chapter will be "Week 1: Pain, starving and a lot of crying". Nobody will buy it, they want a magic bullet!

So, that being said, I have lost 11 of the 20 pounds I had put back on. **broad happy smile**. I don't think it's noticeable to people who see me everyday, but I certainly FEEL better!

Today was 5:30 with Lacey. It was a phenomenal class. I walked in and the room was HOT. I lay my mat down and just mentally prepared for the hot class, telling myself it would help with my tight hamstrings. They are still a bit sore and tight from the challenge I finished last week. Ray was the only "regular" in the house, and set up behind me and to the left in the second row. There were no first timers, just a solid group of students. We started rocking it out right away in pranayama breathing. You could tell it was going to be an awesome class. I fed off the energy and just flew through the standing series, feeling strong and solid. My "yoga body" decided to show back up. Oh how I have missed it! It was strong, flexible, graceful. I worked as hard as I could under the encouraging corrections of wonderful Lacey. I looked in the mirror, saw my shrinking hips and thighs, and the thinning midsection and could feel the difference in many postures. It makes a huge difference when you don't have, um, "stuff" in the way. Yoga is much harder with junk in the trunk and a couple of spares tires around the midsection! I don't have a goal weight in mind right now. Nor do I have a timeline I'm following. I'm just along for the ride, trying to figure this stuff out and enjoy the journey. I'm going to let go and let life bring me to the destination and enjoy the scenery on the way. Tonight's class felt GOOD. I may not have any "crutches" to lean on right now, but I have something so much more solid and permanent than a crutch to sustain me. I have Bikram yoga, and it's a permanent foundation upon which I can build on.

On another note, this Sunday is the regional yoga championships. I'll be down there with camera in hand and promise to post pics next week! Then the following weekend I'm going to go take a class at teacher training and visit Mei. I've heard that it's COLD in that room. Bikram can't get it hot enough and is hopping mad. I even heard that he cancelled class this morning (never done before!) and is trying to get a buttload of heaters in there to straighten things out. I'll let you know if they have "fixed it" when I get down there next week.

Teacher Training Fall 2009: Fun with Mei

Well Mei made it here safe and sound for teacher training. I felt terrible because she landed in Vegas, exhausted from traveling around the world and landed in absolute chaos in my household. Between putting my cat down (no, he did not make it, thanks for all of the well wishes though, I could feel the e-hugs!!), having a sick daughter and the death of a childhood family friend, it was enough to scare anybody away. Mei took it all in stride with grace and kindness. She even made homemade chicken soup for my daughter. Ya, she just rocks I'm tellin' ya! Read her blog, you'll see! She's funny too. Here are some of her tweets so far since I've dropped her off at training:

Some pretty cute guys here,but we're all sworn to celibacy. No f'y-f'y everyone! #bktt

Noisy sex couples don't stay at @lasvegashilton cause the walls are thin. Also got anatomy book today,feel like i'm in med school. #bktt

Can't believe there's a couple going to #bktt together,plus they're overly pda.Good luck!Still no free wifi,so updates will b sporadic.

Um, one of those tweets had a cuss word in it, so I edited it, but you get my drift.

Before she left, I took her to three classes at my studio:

Lacey, Brooke, and Brandy. Here we are nice and sweaty after Brooke's class (Mei, Me, Brooke)

We also went to redrock canyon and attempted yoga postures while we were there (yes, we are dorks. Dancing J~ I know you would have done it with us!!!)

Her balancing stick:

My **attempt** at a balancing stick: (it's hard to do yoga w/out being in the hot room! Being cold, in jeans with rocks under your feet sucks!!) **ahem. of course she doesn't have that problem. Ya.....that's why she's in training right now and not me. he he**

Teacher yells with Brazilian accent: body down Michelle, left hip down!

Actually, I think I fell over right after Mei snapped the picture. You should have seen us trying to do standing bow! Forget it! I have a new appreciation for the gorgeous pics Dancing J has of herself doing standing bow during a hike recently. Really. It's hard.

Well, I will be going down to take class with the trainees probably in the next week or two. I will for sure write a post and also snap some pics of the big white tent and hopefully the inside as well. Stay tuned!