week 8 is finito…

Where to start? Week 8 was schizophrenic to say the least. We finished the postures on Thursday night, which was awesome! We went until 12:30 at night just to get everyone done and there was much joyous celebration! I had a rough week so I probably wasn’t as outwardly expressive as I could have been but I was definitely happy to be done with posture clinic!

This week really took it’s toll on me, both physically and emotionally. I know I’ve said that before but this week was a little different. I have lost so much flexibility at this point it’s almost ridiculous. It’s due to the constant physical strain, your muscles just can’t keep up. There’s never more than 14 hours between classes and that just is not enough time for your body to recuperate before you’re back in there doing it again. My knees are still yelling at me and now my hamstrings and my back have joined in the chorus! We had a late night on Wednesday, Bikram kept us up til 2:00 watching some godawful bollywood atrocity. I got down under my chair and slept some but the volume is so insanely high that it’s almost impossible to sleep. I’m guessing that’s what started my neck problem but I’m not certain. Anyway, I woke up Thursday with a really sore neck and figured I just slept (all 4 hours of it) wrong. At the Thursday evening class I really pushed my head forward and back to try to work out the kinks. But by that last posture clinic’s end that night my neck was just screaming at me. That’s why I wasn’t as outwardly joyous as I would have liked! Friday morning was a disaster, I couldn’t even move my head. Friday morning I basically had to stand through the standing series and I couldn’t do most of the floor series. Totally frustrating, I was not a happy camper. Then we had a long lecture and I just could not get comfortable. The medical staff is pretty good but their empathy level is a little low. The attitude is basically “ice it and deal with it”. I got through the evening class but only got about 2 and 1/2 hours of sleep. At this point I’m sleep deprived and pain driven so I’m not the best company. We had another lecture that went long so the Friday evening class started at 6 instead of 5. We were all there, ready and willing, but Bikram didn’t get there until 7. (he definitely runs on his own time schedule) By the time we finished it was 9:00. No bonus. Then they decided we would have lecture (translation: another godawful movie) at 11:00. This time there was no sleeping and they came around and made everyone sit straight and stay awake. It was about as much fun as getting a brazilian wax so you can only imagine. I got about 3 hours of sleep that night so I totaled about 8 hours for 3 days.

So, on top of weeks of sleep deprivation add a scoop of homesickness and generous sprinkles of sick to death of these people and that about sums up week 8. I’m REALLY happy that we only have a week left! I am depleted on every possible level and I need some down time desperately. The bright light at the end of the tunnel is teaching my first class! Jeanette scheduled me for Monday, June 28th and I’m crazy excited! I am starting at the beginning of the dialogue and going through each posture, both sides this time, and trying to get prepared. It will be an amazing experience, I truly can’t wait! All of the bullshit and pain and exhaustion and frustration will totally be worth it to be able to get up there and teach all those beautiful yogis!!

7 days and counting….

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