Sunday, January 10, 2010

Day 10: I was THAT girl

Today was 3:30 with Roberta at my old studio. I was to the left of the podium about 1/3 of the way over. Nobody was between me and the podium when class started, giving 'ol eagle eye up there the perfect view of me. I knew I was in trouble! Pretty much, in a nutshell, I got my ass handed to me. It was hot and brutal. Guess what. I did not sit anything out! As overheated, sore and exhausted as I felt, I pushed on, yoga face intact. The only time I lost my cool a little bit was when I ended up being THAT girl....you know, the one that can't follow the teachers commands, and so keeps the entire class in a posture too long? Yah, I was her. Here is a recap:

Second part of awkward, second set *note: we had already been in posture at least 15 seconds
**Brazilian accent** Roberta: Michelle, sit down more!
Michelle: sits down more
Roberta: Michelle, get your heels up! Get higher on your toes!
Michelle: tries, but is a bit wobbly
Roberta: Michelle, higher on your toes! Sit down more! Higher on your toes......
Michelle: **shaking, wobbling, trying to do it, body not cooperating**
Roberta: Michelle, you can do this, higher on your toes, come on! Get up there. Michelle the whole class is waiting for you!
Michelle: falls out of posture completely, embarrassed laugh, notices half the class glaring daggers in her direction

Damn. If you are reading this, and you were in the 3:30 class, please accept my heartfelt apologies. Actually, the class was pretty tough and you probably forgot you were mad at me by standing bow!

Enough about me, go over here and read an awesome guest post on the Bikram 101 blog. Some of you may have noticed DancingJ, The Missus and I have been taking turns posting. We are on a rotation and have left Sundays open for guest posting. Email the Bikram 101 address found at the top right corner of the blog if you are interested in posting on a Sunday. We'd love to hear from you!
Now go read today's guest poster. She is a teacher in Seattle. When she went to training she kept up an awesome daily blog. It was my first blog ever. I stumbled across it while googling all things bikram and didn't even know what a blog was until I started to follow her teacher training experience. She's an inspiration, an incredible writer and I'm quite sure is now an amazing teacher. Go read!


13 comments:

  1. I've totally been "that girl" in cobra... heehee... don't worry, it's good for everyone! And you're right, half of them had already forgotten by the end of eagle. ;-)

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  2. As someone who's often been made to hold the posture waiting for whoever, but never had the verbal lashing (maybe I have but it's been long since forgotten) I can honestly say I've never blamed the person. I think it either needed, or more often just the teacher wanting an excuse to push us all. Steal our peace, just let it be and it will be fine.

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  3. smiling...I think we've all been "that girl"! I've been that girl in Triangle. Sounds like a great class though!

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  4. I think it's awesome to fall out of the 2nd part of awkward - they said in training - falling = finding your balance.

    If you're not willing to fall in that pose, you may never get to the proper height with the hips.

    For some, that pose is no problem but, depending on your body shape (length of femur vs length of calf bones) it can be brutal.

    I fell on my ass right about 3 days after coming back from training. I hope it opened up people's eyes in our studio about pushing the edges and falling out as a way to learn!

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  5. GO GIRL.. way to stick to it though!! you're doing amazing! :) i was "that girl" in standing bow.. and of course when they call you out, you start wobbling and crap!

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  6. If you where that girl, the others did not need to be it. So they are happy and so are you who got that extra push!

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  7. ~Ah yes, the extra push was good! And you're all exactly right, if I was THAT girl, they didn't have to be so probably didn't mind!
    ~Ariella~ I will have to remember that next time I fall out of anything and get frustrated. That falling = finding balance. Good point!

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  8. When the teacher gets that sort of thing into their head, someone is going to end up being THAT GIRL, and the class is going to have to endure. If she hadn't noticed you, it would have been someone else. And no matter high you get up on your toes, there's always room to go higher and to try harder.

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  9. I am THAT girl in triangle too!!

    @ Jen - She is awesome!! Last year, right after I took my first BY class, I went back to work and goggled Bikram for hours and hours. I came across 2 blogs, first Jen and then Tom Provost. Only because of her posts, I went back for a second class next day. Glad to "see" her again.

    I wish I was doing the challenge with all of you. I need to find time to blog too. Keep It Up!!!

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  10. Duffy~ you are right, there is always room to try harder....esp in that posture for me. Weak ankles and it's hard to get into my big and second toe on that one. My feet want to roll out. Ugh!
    cirita~ her blog was the best all time yoga blog ever! :)

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  11. LOL -- great post M! TheDancingJ is right: we are at some point, all THAT girl/guy.

    Glad that you laughed (albeit out of embarrassment) when you came out. It's good to laugh! "It's yoga practice not yoga perfect," as so many of my teachers say!

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  12. LOL yes, I too, have been 'that girl' but in toe stand "stretch your spine up, suck your stomach in, knee down and parallel, etc, etc' and I fall out and I have been laughed at, feeling so embarrassed. But as much as I felt kinda choked at the time, it was a great experience for me, at least the instructors are trying to help you out. Im glad you were able to laugh at it at the time:)
    I also want to say being a first time commenter, you have amazing humour and passion and it speaks to me in your blog. Love it!

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  13. Amber~ Toe stand is a good one! Teachers pay special attention to individuals alot in that one. Thank you so much for the lovely compliment on my blog!

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