Sunday, May 13, 2007

turning 23 at training



the 4th week has come and gone. i'm still feeling pretty great, but this week had more fluxuations than the last. i started out the week somewhat tired, but following the advice of craig, i stood front and center for as many classes as i could manage. being up there is sorta scary, but it really forces me to work harder, especially in his classes. i can hold the second part of awkward pose for 45 seconds! i really surprised myself. it felt great! my thighs are sore all the time though, but in a good way. also, my back doesn't hurt any more! hooray!!

so i turned 23 on thursday. it was the best birthday i've ever had. i woke up to room service delivering a nice fruit basket to my door. My friend Margery gave me a really cute little gift and card, then sang a dirty birthday song to me in front of everyone. i had a super strong class in the morning and saw my feet for the first time in floor bow! i didn't think it would ever happen. then was posture clinic. i've been killing posture clinic - people are calling me 'that girl who always does perfect in posture clinic.' not a bad title, and hopefully i can fulfill all the expectations for the rest of training. anyway, so mike harris (owner of the Bend, Oregon studio) is at training, and i REALLY wanted to do well in front of him for posture clinic, but he kept on coming in the room after i was already done. so on my birthday he was there, i asked if i could make an announcement, and i told everyone i'd baked cookies and Mike got really excited. he ate a few of them, and kept asking me to go get more during posture clinic. so they were passed around and eaten, then mike chatted with us for a while, then pointed at me and said "you go first." so i got up there and NAILED standing head to knee. i mean, it was the best i'd ever done, and mike even said "wow" when i was done! yay! then later he spotted my lewis & clark water bottle and we chatted about portland for a while.

I had another strong evening class. then i brought down the cookies i had baked for everyone in training (probably around 500 or so) and it was so amazing to see how happy it made everyone. everyone was standing in the lobby in front of the studio and were chatting and laughing, which made me feel even happier! so then we started the evening lecture before posture clinic and craig said "where is the keebler elf, you need to get up here so we can sing to you." before i got up there, my roommate charm grabbed the mic and told everyone how long it had taken me to make all the cookies - it was so sweet. then everyone sang to me and it was so amazing that my hands and face went completely numb. i came to when craig gave me a hug and said happy birthday and then the tears came. i cried and cried and cried and cried. it felt SO good. i couldn't tell you why i was crying because i dont really know, but i think i'm starting to figure it out. i probably got about 250 hugs and thank yous, it was amazing.

so later in the evening i ran into mike harris and he gave me a big hug and said "promise me you will come teach in Bend" and i said "i'll try" and he said "No, promise me right now you will come and teach in Bend." So i promised. yay!

Friday evening's class was really hard for everyone. we were all tired and sore, and after class craig announced that we had the evening off and everyone cheered and yelled for a good 5 minutes. it was so funny.

and tonight, a group of us went out to dinner for my birthday. there were about 10 people, and we went to a burger place up the street. it was SO good, holy crap. just what i needed. and Ron from john's landing got me a cake and they sang to me again and gave me a plumeria lay. it was so sweet.

Bikram was gone this week in tokyo, so i dont have quite as many quotes. interestingly enough, bikram told us this is the most time he has spent at teacher training in almost a decade. usually students get 3 weeks of him and we're going to get close to 7. lucky us!

Quotes:
Pain is mapping the terrain for yourself; it's liberating. then only can you help others on the journey. - Craig

If you deny them their pain, you deny them their healing. - Diane from Mass.

If you change your mind, you can change the posture. - Cynthia

The mirror enables us to know ourselves. - Diane from Mass.

It's not selling pain, it's selling confidence. - Craig

It's amazing to see what happens when you let people heal themselves. - Diane from Mass.

Let go of the handle bars and peddle as fast as you can. - Craig

This is like 5th grade band class. You know what i mean. - Mike Harris

5 comments:

Christyogini said...

Happy Birthday! And congrats on the awesome posture clinics! You're already getting snatched up for teaching gigs, way to go! I can't wait to take your class when you get back.

kt said...

Hey, let me try to find you sometime tomorrow, and I'll give you my email address and you can ask me questions. Electronic is definitely preferable to handwritten.

I think I have all of the quotes you've posted on your blog, so don't worry about compiling (but if you have any more you didn't post, I'd love to have them!).

Just one cookie recipe? :) (I actually didn't realize you had made more than just the sugar cookies--those were really good. I'm amazed that you took the time. Happy birthday, as well!)

Therese T. said...

Fellow Taurean, my birthday's coming up in 6 days, ohmyGod. If you're Irish, are you Catholic? Just asking :)

Found this yummy blue cheese muffin recipe, then thoughtlessly threw it away. Sigh.

Jessica said...

Erin,
Happy Birthday!
So great to finally catch up on all your experiences and thoughts (about training). You are an inspiration!
I miss you in class and can not wait to practice with you again as well as be taught by you.
Congrats on seeing your toes in Bow!

Anonymous said...

Had no idea a little 'Mouse' could be so agile. Ahhhh yes, May 10th, 1984. I remember it well. As I recall, I was there, too when everyone said, "will ya' look at those dimples!" 8lbs. 10oz of pure joy!!!!

I LOVE YOU