Day 16: comfort

A good practice today. Full class! 21 students. I was excited to practice. (Even though i skipped my mid-afternoon snack.) I had lots of energy going in, and took energy from the practice. Sam taught, and called my Standing Bow Pulling "beautiful." (Personally, I think I have plenty of work to do--my foot isn't coming up in the middle of my body, my hips aren't square...) But it was nice to hear. I didn't rest out any poses, and took great comfort in the series.

Sam is a newly minted teacher; she went through Bikram's training last fall. She has a lot of enthusiasm, and I like her, but she's just reciting the dialogue--no soul, no juice, not a lot of light. The emphasis on rote recitation of the dialogue, word for word, is one of several things that turned me off of Bikram's training. Conversely, the emphasis I can already sense from the Barkan training of finding your own voice promises to be empowering, realistic, healthy, and in my view is to the students' benefit. I feel bad criticizing Sam in any way--she has our best interests at heart after all, she's very sweet, and I'm going to be in her shoes in a few short months! Who knows how terrible I'll be... As Krista has warned me, I'm going to suck my first year as a teacher and that's just how it is. I'm not going to really Be a Teacher after four short weeks of training. Teaching yoga is a demanding and multi-faceted undertaking and it will take time, experience, and seasoning in order for me to be any good at it. Years. But I'm going to do it!

After class, I went for a smoothie with one of my fellow practitioners and her sister, visiting from out of state, who went through the Barkan training last fall. She was kind enough to give me advice on what to pack, what to eat, etc. VERY glad I got to talk with her. Apparently there is a sand flea problem on the beach, so I'm to wear long yoga pants and tall socks every morning for the sun salutations/meditation on the beach. Suddenly that's not sounding so great. (Trust me, if it bites, it loves the taste of my blood WAY more than the taste of everyone else's. Seriously.) What about when my hands are on the ground in downward dog? If there are sand fleas, why would we be practicing there?! I suppose Jimmy has a good reason. In the meantime, I'll be purchasing some DEET at REI. The girl also said sand fleas might not be a problem at the time I'll be there, since they "spray the beach." Oh goody. Shall I have my bites now, or my cancer later? Remind me not to move to Florida! I guess I'll be at the pool, not the beach, in my spare time. Not that my vampirishly pale skin needs any sun at all, no no.

She told me lots of good things about the training, too, how great the teachers are, which books are her favorite, and the name of a great vegetarian restaurant that's a short drive away. I can't wait. I'm off to study!