The Hot Yoga Girl’s Bikram Teacher Training Journey: Week 5

October 25, 2011 3:38 am

Our very own Kitsilano yogi, Tiffany Leong, is halfway through her journey to becoming a Certified Bikram Yoga Instructor. Read her latest dispatch from Fall Teacher Training in Los Angeles, California, right here on the Bikram Yoga Blog!

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Week 5 was the halfway point of Teacher Training and it was a week full of love, sweat and tears. The sweating didn’t just happen in the yoga room, either – we’ve been sweating our butts off in posture clinics as well (not physically but mentally). Initially, we took two weeks to recite Half Moon Pose to Bikram; now, we only get a day to recite a new pose during each posture clinic – sometimes even two or three new poses! Not to mention, everyone is scrambling for time to memorize the Teacher’s Dialogue; our weekdays start at 8:30 a.m. and end at 12 a.m., and that’s only if we’re not watching a Bollywood film with Bikram until dusk.

Sweating in the hot room is, obviously, a given. We just completed our 54th class in 34 days! I’ve gained multitudes of strength from the yoga but along with it come the muscle aches and pains. At training you learn to practise with pain because there isn’t any other way around it.

It’s not just beads of sweat that fall upon our mats anymore; the shedding of tears has become commonplace in the hot room, at posture clinics, in the hallways … in fact, I’ve seen them everywhere. It has been an emotional week for many and I’m somewhat surprised that I still haven’t felt the need to cry myself (maybe I did all my sobbing before coming to L.A.) …

I did, however, cry when things got out of control on Thursday night. It was another scorching-hot class with Bikram and I was practising in the front. The story told in the mirror’s reflection was frightening. A handful of trainees were carried out one by one by the staff due to cramping and dehydration. It was such a disheartening sight to see my fellow yogis undergo such distress. I just couldn’t help but shed my first tears during the final breathing posture.

Thankfully it’s not all sweat and tears; Teacher Training gives way to a lot of love. Those who can give love give it to those who are in need. And it doesn’t have to be a grandiose gesture because, in this strange bubble I’m living in, encouragement, smiles and hugs are just the right sentiment to keep us all pushing a little bit harder.

Until next time … Namaste,

 

Tiffany xoxo

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Read more about Tiffany’s adventures in the hot room on her own blog, The Hot Yoga Girl.

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