Sat 10am w/Ocidee

Arrived 5 minutes late and heard about it from the instructor. He was a bit harsh. I had driven 45 minutes only to arrive late to class. As I pulled into the parking lot I nearly turned around because I was five minutes late and didn't want to walk into class late. Then I decided it was better to be scorned than miss the class. So when the instructor barked at me, I chose to be grateful that at least he isn't an instructor whose opinion matters much. He yells at people for drinking water between postures and then one day when he was next to me in class, what does he do? Swigs water between postures. Ha, I don't really care. I suppose he feels that the Bikram program is the place where he can release his inner control freak with utter abandonment because no one at his day job will put up with it.

The really useful lesson out of all this is that being a teacher, I get to see my reaction and learn a bit more about what it's like for my students. For example, Ocidee taught me that when you are teaching a class, and you want to give specific direction to an individual, you should not talk to them them at the same level of volume with which you are addressing the entire class. It throws them off balance. Instead, soften your voice and just make it between the two of you. A student is less inclined to be embarrassed or feel like you are calling them out. And therefore, less inclined to become preoccupied with defending themselves. They can just focus on their lesson. Restated another way, they will feel that you are trying to help them and not just challenging them because you are a control freak who only cares that they do what you say. So thanks once again, Ocidee, for teaching me what NOT to do. ☺

The house is further from the studio than work and I just didn't judge the time properly. The last time I came from the house it was the 8am class and I forgot that there would be more traffic at the 10am class. And there was way more traffic than I'm used to.

Anyhoo, during class I was feeling great. No pain in the hip. So, the short break must have been good for me. However, towards the last few postures I was beginning to feel some pain in the hips again.

The fresh watermelon juice I made tasted great after class. It's half rind and half fruit. There is, apparently, a lot of nutrition in the rind. Later tonight, as I was juicing the rest of the watermelon the thought occurred to me, wow, wouldn't this fresh watermelon make a fabulous martini....

I'm looking forward to June where I can have an entire month to do a yoga/detox program and where I will not be working so I will be able to get to class on time. har har har.