Day 12--Tuesday, July 24 4:30 PM class

Day 13--Wednesday, July 25 9:00 AM class


On Tuesday, I totally MEANT to update the blog. I mean, I slacked on Sunday and had to do a two-class update on Monday, so I would hate to make that a habit, right? So what happened?

Hmm, let me think back. At this point, life is one sweaty Bikram-flavored blur. Hmm, yesterday. It does not help that I am also off for the summer and just got the Sims Freeplay. It is suking my will to leave my iPad. But I will strive to get back to yesterday's class...4:30...oh, yes! The cute little girl!


There was the awesomest little girl in class on Tuesday. She was 9 years old and a real trooper. I loved having her practicing in my corner of the room (the cool corner by the door, of course, where pregnant women, litle kids, and wimpies like me tend to glom together hoping for a breeze)!

She was an inspiration to me all class long. I tried to be extra-happy in class, though that is not really a major stretch. I smile and giggle tons in class on a regular basis. Sometimes I just feel like screaming, "I loooove yoga class!" when I walk into the studio. Sometimes I just feel so proud of myself that I just smile during a posture. Sometimes I guess I am just delirious from the heat melting my brain. Sometimes--let's be honest here--I am just "faking it till I make it". I am especially prone to do this before Camel. I love Camel, but it is a little scary nonetheless, so every bit of positive energy helps. Now, if I can only get myself to smile before Wheel! But, really, I am generally a happy yoga student. I feel like it makes class easier for myself and others who might see me having a good time (or at least pretending to) and get happier themselves. Plus, I feel so incredibly fortunate that I am in a spot in life where I can afford the time, money, and energy to practice yoga every day, and I have the happy fortune of living in yoga-crazy Portland where there are two Bikram studios I could walk to from my house. So many people would love to be in that situation, and I am happy and grateful that I am in it, so I generally smile, smile, smile.

But yesterday I tried to be extra-happy, for the little girl's sake. I am a teacher, and I thought, "I hope that this little girl thinks that when adults get together with their teacher for class, we are happy and it is lots of fun." I guess I was just hoping to help show this kid the joy of life-long learning.

Plus I helped her with her Camel. Her knees were together. I made eye contact with her in the mirror, reached down between my own regulation six-inch knees, and kind of waved my hand knowingly (if that is possible) between them as if to say, "Air should be there." And she got it. She corrected herself. It felt great. Maybe one day I will be a yoga teacher. Nah. Teacher training sounds like heck on earth to me.

After class yesterday, I came home and watered my new, beautiful plants in a post-yoga glow. Then husband, parents-in-law, and I went out for dinner. I was in a great mood. Better than I usually am with the PILs. Yay yoga.


OK, today. Today was not such a swell class. It was ass-hard, actually. I felt dizzier more oftener than I ever have. Why is that, you ask? WEll, I have my theories.

1. I had a pint of beer and some assorted tasters at Widmer last night. That was quite a bit of alcohol, and I drank no H2O with it either. Silly me.

2. I got an iPad. This caused me to stay up late (like 2 AM late) playing the Sims Freeplay. It is a major time-waster that would probably never gt a second thought during the school year, but hey, it's summer.

3. I got a new pillow? Lame, I know, but I am looking for clues here, people. Like Sherlock. Tasty, tasty Sherlock. Benedict Cumberbatch, you are sooooooo hot. But I digress. But, Benedict, seriously, if you are reading this, you are soooooooo hot.

4. I did the "quasi-double" of 4:30 PM and then a 9 AM class. Indeed, my lord, it followed close upon. Like Hamlet's uncle marrying his mom so quickly.

5. I woke up late, not really planning to get to the 9 AM class, and kind of ran out the door (after checking on my Sims, of course!) later than normal, and GASP! did not get my comfy spot. Instead, I set up right. in. front. of. the. teacher. Eww. It was hot there. Not Benedict Cumberbatch hot, either. "I hate my life" hot.

I was dizzy during pranayama breathing, standing bow pulling, balancing stick (not triangle, oddly), and my new least-favorite posture, standing separate leg head to knee pose. I finally got my head to stop buzzing and my eyes to stop seeing grey spots during Tree. I managed to do all the sets, but I was late into them because I needed more breaths between them. It just seemed like the teacher was going so so fast. I am sure it was probably just me. See my list of theories above. Please remind me in the future not to combine all those bad things in one day.

In good news, I have not smoked a single cigarette since June 25. It is my one-mnth anniversary. Yes, if you do the math, dear reader, you will see that I smoked after beginning Bikram. In my defense, I was not smoking much. I never did. At least not since I got pregnant in February of 1997 and stopped the pack a day habit I was nurturing in my wild and crazy college days. But after I had my daughter, a few years after, I kind of drifted back to smoking one or two a day. And I smoked one religiously on the way to school each morning. But about two weeks into practicing Bikram, I started getting this awful feeling in my lung and all this gross stuff came out, and...well, let's just say that it made me pretty disgusted by the thought of adding tar to the old lungs. The problem is now I credit my amazing feat (of quitting smoking that one cigarette a day, the one I thought I would keep on having till I died, cause, hey, it's just one, right? And I live reeeealllly healthy in general, right? So one tiny little smoke on the way to school can't hurt too much, right?) to Bikram's yoga. So I am scared to quit yoga because I might run back to smoking again. Time will tell. But for now, I am pleased that I do not feel the need to smoke at all. Of course, the trigger event is driving to school. And I will do that again on September 5. So that will be the test. However, I do have one thing going for me--the challenge will still be on then! Vive le yoga!

Only 88 more classes left to go!