Tuesday, November 20, 2001

the heat is on// By the end of the seventh week I felt like I was in a groove. I was handling the heat without any difficulty, I was pushing myself in my postures and seeing some results in my ability to go deeper and my concentration was improving. I also have been getting my muscle spasms under control in my lower back and my overall lenergy level has been up. That all ended yesterday morning, the first day of the eighth week. They've turned the heat up. Literally. I'm dying again. I feel like I'm back in week one. I know that my body is stronger, albeit still exhausted, so the real test I'm facing is one of the mind. I'm sure I'll do fine but it's been unsettling having the rug pulled out from under me. It's not like I was getting complacent but I have to admit I was starting to feel comfortable in my practice. Ha! Like Bikram could let that continue unchallenged!

I hate running but I ran a fast sprint today for two blocks. I surprised myself with my speed -- it was pretty awesome. The studio has a door with a foyer on the west side of the room which opens out onto La Cienega, a major thoroughfare for vehicles with a small amount of foot traffic. The door is usually propped open during lectures and posture clinics to help improve the air quality in the studio (this is the same air that I have to wash off my car on a weekly basis). Since shoes aren't allowed in the studio many students leave theirs in the foyer and sometime they leave other kinds of clothing and personal effects there. During Rajashree's lecture this afternoon, Kevin, who was all the way across the room on the east side, stood up and ran towards the west door saying something about someone having stolen something from the foyer. Without really understanding what was happening I jumped up and followed him thinking that whatever was going on Kevin shouldn't be running to deal with it alone. I fell in behind him running north on the sidewalk and I could see a kid running a block ahead of us with something in his hand. I assumed it was a wallet or purse. I've previously mentioned that my body is quick to produce adrenaline and it came on fast. I couldn't believe how fast I was running. Fortunately, my mind was sharp enough to know that I wasn't conditioned for running and that I could potentially harm myself by exceeding my potential so I backed off until I was just behind Kevin. The kid must not have known he was being chased because he slowed almost to a stop after a couple blocks. As Kevin and I were bearing down on him, Kevin shouted at him to just drop it and everything would be cool. The kid turned and looked at us coming fast and did as he was asked. He then took off running again. It turned out that all he had taken was a pair of sneakers. As we picked them up and turned to go back we discovered that there another six or seven trainees running right behind us. The poor kid must have shit his pants when he saw a posse of large, barefoot, barely clothed and well built men, about to overtake him. The sneakers were returned to their owner and we didn't bother trying to pursue the kid any more.

I asked Bikram if I could make a brief speech at the graduation ceremony and he said yes. He wants to approve the content ("correct it" were the words he used) and asked me to keep it brief but I'm excited that he gave me his permission. I'll share the speech with you after it's been presented -- I have a tendency to make tweaks and changes on such things up until the last minute. Here's a small section that I have decided not to include...

"I would like to thank my fellow trainees

for showing me that the shortest path is not always the most direct path... by putting your shoes on in the doorway and holding conversations in the middle of the hallway.

for helping me get past my queasiness over bodily fluids... by pouring the contents of your water bottle over your sweaty body and letting it collect in puddles on the floor.

for helping me learn to maintain my focus in the midst of chaos and confusion... by rushing to place your mat down for class when I'm presenting my dialogue during the last few minutes of the afternoon posture clinic.

for making it easy for me to take a nice long final savasana... by rushing to the shower immediately after class to wash your mat, your costume and then your hair following the shampoo instructions to the letter (wash, rinse REPEAT).

for reminding me that my place in this world is wherever my heart is... by claiming the favored spots for class an hour and a half ahead of time.

for providing me ample opportunity to work on correcting my sitting posture... by marking all the purple chairs as "taken" by casually draping your clothes over them and stapling your dialogue pages to them while I'm still laying in savasana.

for providing equally ample opportunity to contemplate and appreciate the mysteries of life... by placing your food and water inside your personal food coolers and then placing your personal coolers inside the public food."

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