Day 8

Today is Tuesday, February 9th, 2010. It is my 8th day of the 60 Day Challenge, I have taken one day off so far and that was the day that I flew into L.A.

I took the 10:30AM this morning. I got to the studio at about 10:15AM and got my mat and towels, changed, and waited in the hall for the class before to finish. HQ has a 9AM and a 10:30AM.... back to back. So as I was waiting out in the hallway for the class to finish, I asked someone who was teaching the 10:30AM... the woman answered, "Emmy." My heart kind of skipped a beat. All of a sudden I felt this mixture of excitement and nervousness... I was going to be taking a class taught by Emmy Cleaves, a Latvian woman who was said to have survived two Jewish internment camps during WWII and has practiced this yoga with Bikram Choudhury himself since he first brought the series to America in the 1970s.

To the home-students of Head Quarters it's just like any other Tuesday class with Emmy, but to me it's like taking a class that a celebrity is teaching. An extreme honor. I want to ask her so many questions. Not so much about the yoga but about life in general, about longevity and the human body, health, food. etc.

It was an interesting class and humorous at times. During the beginning of the standing series, she would be talking and talking and talking, she was a FOUNTAIN of information. It was amazing to listen to, but at the same time a hell of a challenge to hold the postures until she was done talking! I feel like my shoulders are going to fall off because I have stretched them so much! She even went on to say in her deep slow-speaking- Latvian sultry accent, "you all better get back in this posture or else we're looking at a really long triangle pose.... you're accumulating a deficit." She then continued by saying that we should not take time to sit down during the standing postures, they are the warm up. We will have plenty of time to lay down on the floor later. --I'm going to have to remember this one later....

There would be times in the postures where everyone would just come out of the pose and she would just keep talking as if everyone was still in it. It was great. She corrected my spine twisting pose. My wrist that was holding my knee was bent, she said. She manually reprogrammed my knee-ankle-wrist connection.

At the end of the class I saw her out in the hallway and shook her hand. Told her where I was from, my name, and that I was competing. She said "congratulations" and that she would see me this weekend. Very cool.

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I went back to take the 6:15PM class at HQ. A young fellow named Alex was teaching. An asian boy with long black hair that he tied in a bun, a mustache, and a little stubble on his chin. He talked pretty fast and softly. My body is starting to open up more, I can feel it in certain postures. My back. My hips. And I'm seeing progress in my over all physique as well: my abs are becoming more apparent and I am slowly becoming more 'sculpted'.... slowly, slowly that is. But none the less, I am pleased. It has a lot to do with my diet and a lot to do with my location. We went into a store today, I forget what it was called. It began with an "e." I'll look it up tomorrow and put it in here. But it was sort of like a Whole Foods, but the store sold 90% macrobiotic/ vegan/ raw food products. It was incredible. I've never seen anything like this on the east coast. It is very easy to eat 'lean and clean' (I made that saying up just now).

During class, I tried a meditation that was recommended by Nikki. It is known as the "me" meditation. You just keep repeating "me" over and over again inside. I had a few moments where I completely zoned out, it takes time to master though. The times that I did zone out were incredible though. There is nothing like a trance-like meditation that can take you away from your mind and all of the demons that are bouncing around inside of your head. I was having a particularly hard time focusing during the beginning of class, for my own personal reasons, which is when I turned to the "me" meditation. I recommend you all give it a try when you find yourself anxious or sad for some reason or another. It is a great way to silence your mind and find your center and the true happiness that lies deep within your being.

So many times, I get lost. And recently this has been happening pretty frequently. I have a severe anxiety disorder and depression that sometimes follows. My mind will wander and find silly things to worry about for no reason. And even if I am not worrying, I sometimes find myself having this overwhelming feeling of unease or anxiousness. Art (writing music, playing music, listening to music) has been a big help to me and especially this yoga. I was also recommended a fantastic book (which I have purchased on iTunes as an audiobook) by one of my teachers Abby that is called, "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle. Not only has this book helped me control the monsters in my head, but it has helped me execute a deeper focus during class. (Thank you Abby) --- I sort of side tracked here, but I feel the subject of 'the mind' deserves some light being shed on it. And in case any of you by chance have experienced what I have, I wanted to share with you what helps me cope in case you find yourself in the same place as me... No human being deserves chronic sadness. Life is a celebration---

After class, on my way out of the studio I was making my way down the hall way when Bikram walked turned into the hall way. I think I stopped dead in my tracks. I was taken back, I remember taking a deep breath. I introduced myself, shook his hand, and told him I would see him on Friday. I'm sure I sounded like a little school girl (what's new, eh?) but I wasn't expecting to see him and didn't have a prepared speech or anything. But it's all good. Hopefully one day he'll get to know who I really am. Where I am from. And about the incredible way he has changed my life.

Goodnight, yogis.