Past the halfway point and now the 2/3 point. We had some really great lectures this week and some really hot classes. Really hot. I've had some personal insights that I've noticed in myself these past couple of weeks.
It is really amazing what the heat can do for you. Aside from the physiological benefits (of which there are many) it is a huge factor in improving your focus and concentration abilities. Here at TT the difficulty is raised way higher than in normal classes, whether it be the heat, the length of the class, or any other odd factor. All of these things serve to improve our mental fortitude and make us stronger yogis by improving willpower, which is the most important benefit of this yoga in my life.
As I overcome more challenges in the hot room, fewer things seem challenging outside of it. Lack of sleep, sickness, hunger, boredom, overwhelming emotions, even many types of injuries... are all things that can be overcome and worked through with willpower alone, and I have learned a lot about how to do that from the rigors of the last couple of weeks. I also learned a lot about when to push harder and when to relax. I reached my limit on multiple occasions and I found that it was okay to admit that and move on.
So next time you feel like you're burning up and you can't take it anymore; go to your limit and stay there for a while. You'll be amazed at the benefits to your mental strength.
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Monday, October 14, 2013
Week 4
We finished our intro to anatomy with doctor Jim Preddy. Not only was he a fantastic teacher but he is the first person who was able to identify and tell me what my knee problem is. I have Osgood-Schlatter disease. It's a growing disorder that usually goes away on its own, but for me it never did. The reason my knee hurts so much is because the bone grew to be sharp and pointy, so it pokes me from the inside. At least now I know I'm not damaging myself further when I feel pain.
My birthday was this week. It was pretty cool to have 300+ people sing to me in yoga class and wish me happy birthday all day, and my parents sent me some chocolate in the mail. All-in-all it was a good birthday.
I got my first ever massage this weekend. It was really nice, but I wouldn't say it was life-changing. I could see myself getting one occasionally, but I won't be going often.
Fresh pineapple juice from whole foods is actually life changing. No joke.
I forgot to mention how awesome miso soup is. I get miso paste from whole foods and make some high-quality miso soup in my thermos to help me get through lectures with enough sodium so that I can be hydrated during class. Not to mention it's delicious.
This week is going to ramp up the difficulty as we reach the halfway point. It's going to get interesting...
My birthday was this week. It was pretty cool to have 300+ people sing to me in yoga class and wish me happy birthday all day, and my parents sent me some chocolate in the mail. All-in-all it was a good birthday.
I got my first ever massage this weekend. It was really nice, but I wouldn't say it was life-changing. I could see myself getting one occasionally, but I won't be going often.
Fresh pineapple juice from whole foods is actually life changing. No joke.
I forgot to mention how awesome miso soup is. I get miso paste from whole foods and make some high-quality miso soup in my thermos to help me get through lectures with enough sodium so that I can be hydrated during class. Not to mention it's delicious.
This week is going to ramp up the difficulty as we reach the halfway point. It's going to get interesting...
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Weeks 2-3
I am still surviving and having a great time. I wish I could write more about what we are doing but those pesky NDAs seem to be following me wherever I go. That said, here are a few snippets from the last couple of weeks.
Re: food; I have found a pretty good balance and I seem to be getting proper nutrition now. A few things that are working really well are peanut butter and banana sandwiches, and fillets of hot-smoked salmon, which I also make into sandwiches - usually with something spicy. This week I am going to try and incorporate more veggies in - I got some kale to add go my smoked salmon sandwiches. I have also been eating at the nearby Thai restaurant a few times a week - gotta have some comfort food.
When I wake up now I am already thinking in Spanish. Sometimes I have to stop myself from greeting people in Spanish when I am walking around. I keep remembering more and more from my classes, it just takes a while to resurface from old memory storage I guess. My roommate is learning a bit of English too, but not enough to be conversational yet. We'll see what happens after a few more weeks!
My energy levels are fine, but my body is feeling pretty bruised because I am working really hard in the yoga classes. It's especially tough on my knees, which always hurt anyway. It's usually in the morning classes that I struggle, and by the evening classes my joints have loosened up a bit. Fixing my junk body is definitely a slow, painful process but I can tell things are changing, even if I can't define those changes yet.
The content of the classes is great too. I am starting to get a much clearer picture of why this yoga is set up the way that it is and it really is quite brilliant. I guess that's what the NDA is for ;D
I'm still meeting many cool new people every day, and the community as a whole is getting more friendly now that we are all in the swing of things. Meeting so many people from all over the world is giving me the itch to travel and teach. Who knows what the future holds?
Until next time~
Re: food; I have found a pretty good balance and I seem to be getting proper nutrition now. A few things that are working really well are peanut butter and banana sandwiches, and fillets of hot-smoked salmon, which I also make into sandwiches - usually with something spicy. This week I am going to try and incorporate more veggies in - I got some kale to add go my smoked salmon sandwiches. I have also been eating at the nearby Thai restaurant a few times a week - gotta have some comfort food.
When I wake up now I am already thinking in Spanish. Sometimes I have to stop myself from greeting people in Spanish when I am walking around. I keep remembering more and more from my classes, it just takes a while to resurface from old memory storage I guess. My roommate is learning a bit of English too, but not enough to be conversational yet. We'll see what happens after a few more weeks!
My energy levels are fine, but my body is feeling pretty bruised because I am working really hard in the yoga classes. It's especially tough on my knees, which always hurt anyway. It's usually in the morning classes that I struggle, and by the evening classes my joints have loosened up a bit. Fixing my junk body is definitely a slow, painful process but I can tell things are changing, even if I can't define those changes yet.
The content of the classes is great too. I am starting to get a much clearer picture of why this yoga is set up the way that it is and it really is quite brilliant. I guess that's what the NDA is for ;D
I'm still meeting many cool new people every day, and the community as a whole is getting more friendly now that we are all in the swing of things. Meeting so many people from all over the world is giving me the itch to travel and teach. Who knows what the future holds?
Until next time~
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Week 1
Again, I can't talk about the content of the classes so this is more of a collection of personal anecdotes, but I hope it is still fun to read!
My roommate is a really nice guy from Chile. He speaks almost no English. He says my Spanish is pretty good, and we are able to communicate more or less. On Friday night I went out with him and most of the Spanish-speaking people at training - from Chile, Mexico, Argentina, Spain, among other places. I am having trouble thinking in English again.
Nutrition is equal parts careful planning and following your random cravings. Your body always knows what it wants, even if it doesn't know how to explain it to you. I had no appetite for most of this week due to a number of factors like nerves and shock at the change in lifestyle. Finally in the middle of the week I got my appetite back after I had some hot and sour soup. I think the spiciness reminded my body of my old diet, and after that I started to get hungry again. I got some pickled jalapenos for when I start to crave spiciness again.
On that note, I have become overly reliant and somewhat addicted to the overabundance of wonderful Asian food available in the northwest. a) It's delicious and I am used to the flavors and ingredients. b) I think I rely upon the high-sodium in many Asian recipes to keep my sodium levels high enough for hot yoga. This week I was low on sodium until eventually I just ate some sea salt chunks and I felt a lot better. Now I am more conscious about how much sodium I am getting and adjusting it with snacks like green olives and beef jerky.
On the note of sodium, balancing electrolytes has been a big challenge this week. If you ever get a really weird, consistent tingling feeling or numbness and muscle cramps, it is probably due to low electrolytes: sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium. I knew this coming into training but I still wasn't prepared for how MUCH of them I would need. After a bad crash early in the week, I switched from my 16 oz. water bottle to bringing my 64 oz. bottle to class - and added in some electrolyte powder into the mix. I am still downing coconut water and bananas in between classes, but the extra supplements help keep me going throughout the day without cramping up. I am also drinking a lot more water than I expected. I usually go through my 64 oz. bottle about 3-4 times a day. That's a lot of sweat!
I am learning a ton and having a great time. I'm also meeting a bunch of really awesome people from around the world. It really is an amazing community to be a part of.
Until next week~
My roommate is a really nice guy from Chile. He speaks almost no English. He says my Spanish is pretty good, and we are able to communicate more or less. On Friday night I went out with him and most of the Spanish-speaking people at training - from Chile, Mexico, Argentina, Spain, among other places. I am having trouble thinking in English again.
Nutrition is equal parts careful planning and following your random cravings. Your body always knows what it wants, even if it doesn't know how to explain it to you. I had no appetite for most of this week due to a number of factors like nerves and shock at the change in lifestyle. Finally in the middle of the week I got my appetite back after I had some hot and sour soup. I think the spiciness reminded my body of my old diet, and after that I started to get hungry again. I got some pickled jalapenos for when I start to crave spiciness again.
On that note, I have become overly reliant and somewhat addicted to the overabundance of wonderful Asian food available in the northwest. a) It's delicious and I am used to the flavors and ingredients. b) I think I rely upon the high-sodium in many Asian recipes to keep my sodium levels high enough for hot yoga. This week I was low on sodium until eventually I just ate some sea salt chunks and I felt a lot better. Now I am more conscious about how much sodium I am getting and adjusting it with snacks like green olives and beef jerky.
On the note of sodium, balancing electrolytes has been a big challenge this week. If you ever get a really weird, consistent tingling feeling or numbness and muscle cramps, it is probably due to low electrolytes: sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium. I knew this coming into training but I still wasn't prepared for how MUCH of them I would need. After a bad crash early in the week, I switched from my 16 oz. water bottle to bringing my 64 oz. bottle to class - and added in some electrolyte powder into the mix. I am still downing coconut water and bananas in between classes, but the extra supplements help keep me going throughout the day without cramping up. I am also drinking a lot more water than I expected. I usually go through my 64 oz. bottle about 3-4 times a day. That's a lot of sweat!
I am learning a ton and having a great time. I'm also meeting a bunch of really awesome people from around the world. It really is an amazing community to be a part of.
Until next week~
Monday, September 16, 2013
It begins...
Today it all begins. I'm not allowed to go into specifics about the content of training, so here is a brief overview given on the bikram website:
Spend nine weeks immersed in an in-depth study of Bikram Yoga with Yoga Masters Bikram and Rajashree Choudhury and their staff of senior teachers. The course, leading to a certificate of completion, will introduce you to the basic knowledge needed to begin teaching this powerful healing yoga.
I will be doing a lot of yoga classes over the next 9 weeks. As such, one of the primary things I will be working on is staying hydrated and healthy. I got a nice 64 oz. Hydroflask so that I can have plenty of water throughout the day, and I stocked my room with coconut water, bananas, and Himalayan sea salt because those are all of the best sources of electrolytes that I know of. I've also got a lot of protein bars to make sure I'm not deficient there. I'm going to see how things work out this week and adjust from there!
Today I will get to take class from Bikram for the first time - looking forward to it!
Spend nine weeks immersed in an in-depth study of Bikram Yoga with Yoga Masters Bikram and Rajashree Choudhury and their staff of senior teachers. The course, leading to a certificate of completion, will introduce you to the basic knowledge needed to begin teaching this powerful healing yoga.
The course covers asana, anatomy, therapeutic applications and health benefits of Yoga, nutrition, philosophy of Yoga, Bikram's Posture Clinic, and the Bikram Yoga dialogue. Through dedicated practice and study of the 26 postures, you will expand your knowledge of the Bikram Method and prepare yourself to teach it.
I will be doing a lot of yoga classes over the next 9 weeks. As such, one of the primary things I will be working on is staying hydrated and healthy. I got a nice 64 oz. Hydroflask so that I can have plenty of water throughout the day, and I stocked my room with coconut water, bananas, and Himalayan sea salt because those are all of the best sources of electrolytes that I know of. I've also got a lot of protein bars to make sure I'm not deficient there. I'm going to see how things work out this week and adjust from there!
Today I will get to take class from Bikram for the first time - looking forward to it!
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Prologue
I'd like to start this blog by explaining why I started doing yoga in the first place and why I want to be a teacher.
As I was transitioning between my Junior and Senior years at LCAD, I started to feel the effects of doing digital art 24/7 for so long. I began to feel constant pain in my hands, wrists and arms. During my fall semester I immediately sprang into action to try and fix this problem - after all, if I was in this much pain before I even started my career, there was no way I could handle working full time doing it without some countermeasure. I investigated stretches, medicinal remedies, and changes in posture and ergonomics. Alas, nothing worked and my pain continued to inhibit my ability to work hard. I didn't know what to do next.
After fall semester, I went to visit home. A family friend, Marie Hoffman, was a teacher of Bikram Yoga and when she heard about my chronic joint pain she immediately recommended I try doing Bikram Yoga. After all, she insisted, it was designed as a beginner's class that could heal every kind of joint pain. While I would have normally scoffed at the idea due to my low opinion of yoga at the time, I was at the end of my rope and so I looked for a studio near my school. There was one only a few blocks away from where I lived, so I decided to give it a shot.
After reading about it online I went for Bikram's recommendation to new students: do it every day for 30 days and you will start to see amazing changes in your body. With that goal in mind I headed in to my first class, and within about a minute I thought there was no way I could make it through the entire 90 minute class even once. Just in the first breathing exercise, my shoulders and chest were exhausted and I had to take frequent breaks. When I looked around and saw all of the orange county soccer moms doing the class with ease, I began to suspect that maybe I really wasn't in very good shape, and so I kept trying.
After 30 painful days, I noticed that while the class still hurt, I didn't hurt nearly as much outside of the class. Almost like magic, I could feel my body healing itself of years-old injuries. Even my bad knee, which I have had since I was about 10, hurt less each day. I finished out my school year strong, confident that I had found the solution to my joint pain. The catch was that I had to keep going to class, or I started to hurt again. I was an addict, like it or not.
When I moved to WA to work at a big video game publisher, I immediately found a Bikram studio and began going 4-5 times a week. Despite my regular attendance, I began to gain significant weight and my joint pain returned at a simmer, due to high stress at work. Eventually I got my diet back under control and the weight began to go away, but the joint pain was still lingering, despite regular trips to the yoga studio. I was at equilibrium - damaging my body for 8 hours a day so I could fix it in 90 minutes.
I began to dream of having a job that didn't undo all of my hard work fixing my body, and one day it dawned on my that I might enjoy teaching yoga. After all, my favorite thing about visual art is studying the human form, and yoga is really just another outlet for that passion of mine (besides being outstanding physical therapy.)
I was still a long shot from actually considering being a teacher, because an even greater passion is my love of game design, and I can't imagine myself ever giving that up. By this time, however, I had transitioned out of my sweet video game job into a job that I can't describe concisely, other than that it was not something I ever want to do again. It led me to another kind of fantasizing - dreaming of a world where I could make creative games free from the constraints of a publisher - the indie game scene.
Around the time that all of these ideas were swirling around in my head, I got laid off from my not-so-video-game job. As I frantically looked around, trying to find a next place to work, I was revolted at all of the job postings I saw. Flashbacks of my old job haunted me, and I found myself longing for that indie freedom. But how would I support myself? I didn't have enough savings due to paying off school loans, and I didn't want to get another full-time job that would drain me too much to work on my passion projects. That's when I noticed that Bikram's Teacher Training was only a couple of months away, and yoga teaching was a part time job that I was already interested in.
While all of the doors had been closed in my face looking for jobs at video game studios, they were all wide open on my path to become a yoga teacher. My yoga studio was super excited to send me, they helped me find a temporary place to live until training started, and everyone was friendly and helpful with all of my questions and concerns. The layers of stress left over from my job began to peel away, and my yoga practice improved tenfold without work all day to undo it. I spent the summer figuring out all of my post-layoff nonsense, and now it is two weeks until Teacher Training and I've got nothing left to do but wait.
It's been a crazy couple of years since I started Bikram Yoga to fix my joint pain, but now can sit on my knees Japanese style and my arm pain is all but gone. Not to mention I have lost over 40 pounds, and a number of other health issues have magically resolved themselves in the hot room. I am very excited to pursue my passion of making games from a different angle, and I'm excited to learn even more about the human body as I push mine beyond its limits over the next couple of months at training.
Training starts on September 15, and I plan on posting at least once a week with some kind of update, story or lesson learned. I hope that this blog can be useful to those interested in going to training, and entertaining to those who are just interested in what I'm going through. Until next time~
As I was transitioning between my Junior and Senior years at LCAD, I started to feel the effects of doing digital art 24/7 for so long. I began to feel constant pain in my hands, wrists and arms. During my fall semester I immediately sprang into action to try and fix this problem - after all, if I was in this much pain before I even started my career, there was no way I could handle working full time doing it without some countermeasure. I investigated stretches, medicinal remedies, and changes in posture and ergonomics. Alas, nothing worked and my pain continued to inhibit my ability to work hard. I didn't know what to do next.
After fall semester, I went to visit home. A family friend, Marie Hoffman, was a teacher of Bikram Yoga and when she heard about my chronic joint pain she immediately recommended I try doing Bikram Yoga. After all, she insisted, it was designed as a beginner's class that could heal every kind of joint pain. While I would have normally scoffed at the idea due to my low opinion of yoga at the time, I was at the end of my rope and so I looked for a studio near my school. There was one only a few blocks away from where I lived, so I decided to give it a shot.
After reading about it online I went for Bikram's recommendation to new students: do it every day for 30 days and you will start to see amazing changes in your body. With that goal in mind I headed in to my first class, and within about a minute I thought there was no way I could make it through the entire 90 minute class even once. Just in the first breathing exercise, my shoulders and chest were exhausted and I had to take frequent breaks. When I looked around and saw all of the orange county soccer moms doing the class with ease, I began to suspect that maybe I really wasn't in very good shape, and so I kept trying.
After 30 painful days, I noticed that while the class still hurt, I didn't hurt nearly as much outside of the class. Almost like magic, I could feel my body healing itself of years-old injuries. Even my bad knee, which I have had since I was about 10, hurt less each day. I finished out my school year strong, confident that I had found the solution to my joint pain. The catch was that I had to keep going to class, or I started to hurt again. I was an addict, like it or not.
When I moved to WA to work at a big video game publisher, I immediately found a Bikram studio and began going 4-5 times a week. Despite my regular attendance, I began to gain significant weight and my joint pain returned at a simmer, due to high stress at work. Eventually I got my diet back under control and the weight began to go away, but the joint pain was still lingering, despite regular trips to the yoga studio. I was at equilibrium - damaging my body for 8 hours a day so I could fix it in 90 minutes.
I began to dream of having a job that didn't undo all of my hard work fixing my body, and one day it dawned on my that I might enjoy teaching yoga. After all, my favorite thing about visual art is studying the human form, and yoga is really just another outlet for that passion of mine (besides being outstanding physical therapy.)
I was still a long shot from actually considering being a teacher, because an even greater passion is my love of game design, and I can't imagine myself ever giving that up. By this time, however, I had transitioned out of my sweet video game job into a job that I can't describe concisely, other than that it was not something I ever want to do again. It led me to another kind of fantasizing - dreaming of a world where I could make creative games free from the constraints of a publisher - the indie game scene.
Around the time that all of these ideas were swirling around in my head, I got laid off from my not-so-video-game job. As I frantically looked around, trying to find a next place to work, I was revolted at all of the job postings I saw. Flashbacks of my old job haunted me, and I found myself longing for that indie freedom. But how would I support myself? I didn't have enough savings due to paying off school loans, and I didn't want to get another full-time job that would drain me too much to work on my passion projects. That's when I noticed that Bikram's Teacher Training was only a couple of months away, and yoga teaching was a part time job that I was already interested in.
While all of the doors had been closed in my face looking for jobs at video game studios, they were all wide open on my path to become a yoga teacher. My yoga studio was super excited to send me, they helped me find a temporary place to live until training started, and everyone was friendly and helpful with all of my questions and concerns. The layers of stress left over from my job began to peel away, and my yoga practice improved tenfold without work all day to undo it. I spent the summer figuring out all of my post-layoff nonsense, and now it is two weeks until Teacher Training and I've got nothing left to do but wait.
It's been a crazy couple of years since I started Bikram Yoga to fix my joint pain, but now can sit on my knees Japanese style and my arm pain is all but gone. Not to mention I have lost over 40 pounds, and a number of other health issues have magically resolved themselves in the hot room. I am very excited to pursue my passion of making games from a different angle, and I'm excited to learn even more about the human body as I push mine beyond its limits over the next couple of months at training.
Training starts on September 15, and I plan on posting at least once a week with some kind of update, story or lesson learned. I hope that this blog can be useful to those interested in going to training, and entertaining to those who are just interested in what I'm going through. Until next time~
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)