Week 3 Complete!

Yay!! Week 3 is over and we are 1/3 of the way through. Hard to believe. We had our 32nd class this morning. Whoddathunk I could ever do that many yoga classes in 3 weeks! One of the senior teachers, Jim, from San Diego said, "Never, ever, ever, ever, underestimate yourself!" Great advice.
Let's see, where do I begin. OK, Monday. I don't even remember that far back, so I'll just do an overview. This week was the last week with Dr. T and the Anatomy lectures. We will be tested on Monday and then it's completely concentrating on posture clinics and learning the dialogue from here on out. I missed one question on the test and was beating myself up for it. Well, gee, I'm not perfect! I'm proud of myself for admitting it here on my blog. I'M NOT PERFECT!!!! My perfectionist ways have caused me a lot of grief in my life. I'm feel like I'm learning to let go of that (I hope). It's so much easier to do the best you can, accept the results and move on. Where did I ever get the idea that I have to excel at everything??!! It causes me to put so much undue pressure on myself! OK, that's my release for the day! My new friend, name withheld, has been crying hysterically during and after each yoga class. On Friday, she was in the fetal position, howling at the top of her voice outside the room. Apparently, she is letting go of tons of pent up emotions. She says she is feeling like a new person.
I took Sheila to the infirmary again today. She started throwing up again this morning. Just when she was getting better. I really hope she can hang in there through all this. I don't want to lose her as a roommate, since she is an ideal one. We lost two more people this week.
So about posture clinics.......We divide up into groups (I'm in lucky 13) and two groups at a time go into separate rooms. You stand up in front and deliver a posture to 3 models. You have senior teachers over in the corner taking notes and when you're finished they give you feedback. So far I have done Backward Bending/Forward Bending, and Awkward pose. I am ready to do Eagle on Monday. It was so amazingly helpful that I memorized all the standing poses before I got here. I wish I had done them all, but I'll take what I can get. The feedback I have gotten is mostly very positive like, you are a natural teacher. One instructor said, "I'd hate to get you mad at me". I like that one. The only negative (they call it homework) I've had is that I'm not loud enough. I have a soft voice naturally so it's hard for me to concentrate on bellowing while I'm trying to do all the other stuff like pay attention to the students, don't screw up the dialogue, what the hell to do with my hands, etc. John suggested that I go online and read up on voice projection. Good idea. I Googled it and there seems to be some good info. The thing is that at my studio we use headsets so I won't have to talk very loud. I suppose they just want you to project. I have to say, it's really scary to get up and perform in front of a room full of people. EVERYONE is scared. Some are shaking visibly! Like I said before though, it's something I want to confront and learn to overcome. The first time with Bikram was terrifying, the second time (in the posture clinics) was a little better but I still had sweaty palms and my heart was thumping out of my chest. The third time was a teeny bit better so I'm really hoping it gets easier and easier. I do notice that once I get up there and get going, I seem to relax and do fine. Some people are frozen and stand there blank. I feel so bad for them. One girl started crying when she finished because she forgot some lines. This is a fascinating study in human nature.
Tonight I'm going to order room service (a weekend treat) and go to sleep early. As usual, on Saturday nights, I plan to sleep as long as possible in la manana. Tomorrow, who knows?? I will do absolutely NOTHING and love every minute of it!!!! Onward to week 4!
Oh, and HAPPY 7TH BIRTHDAY MACON!!!!! (My grandboy!)