Day 30-150-March 2nd (Tuesday)

Instructor-Brad-615pm
Studio-Metrotown, Burnaby

150 days..It's hard to believe I have gotten this far. I started out in October just wanting to do the 30 day challenge, never would have imagined that six months later I would be in a hot room being taught by one of Bikram's Canadian right hand men, Brad Colwell, also the director of this studio. I choose to take Brad's class because both Candice and Frank spoke highly of him and it would be an interesting way to see someone else's view of my practise.
Unlike Langley and White Rock, this studio has two hot rooms (as they have classes running every hour) and our class was apparently in the bigger one of the two (could have fooled me, I felt a bit claustrophobic at first), with only one window in the corner it was a little isolated for my taste but the atmosphere was quite different than what I am use to. The lighting is a bit darker, and the room has a soft, beige color to create a deep relaxing state of mind.
Brad is a perfectionist but his focus on helping the student's perfect form is much different than what I am use to, for he literally made me redo postures like balancing stick, cobra and fixed firm to make me aware of the small details I was either slacking on or have not focused enough attention to. The heat even felt different where I literally felt nauseous at times but even in my moments of panic (he is not a lover of fans), I was determined to take in this experience, even if I dropped to my knees at the end, however, I kicked past the mind BS and kicked my own butt.
The greatest moment tonight was when Brad asked me after when I was going to take TT because he said my passion and energy were there, he was excited to see me pursue this-true honour and privilege to have him congratulate me and say " I hope to see you in Las Vegas soon, come back to this studio anytime". And of course I was speechless.
Great night, that's why I'm up till midnight writing this, too excited to sleep♥
Last note-I have learned so much from many instructors but I believe my true determination and drive has always been from Frank, and I feel like he was there with me tonight and everyday in my heart and spirit. I hope to see him soon.

Just breath.....

Just want to take a moment to say thank you to all my readers, I will be taking a break from yoga :(, a temporary one but a much needed one for my body and mind. I think the hardest thing I have learned is that I need to give myself permission to say it is OK to take a break, one piece of advice I have given out but not taken internally. There are many students who are taking the 101 and there may or may not be a hype to continue on after, listen to your body and your mind, you are the reason why you go everyday, you are the ones putting in the time, effort and energy; everything and everyone else is just "surface"-valuable when you need the encouragement and support but not the necessity to overdue it.



Most importantly, just breath and the answers will come to you:)



Thank you for all the comments, I will continue reading every one's blog (and I have), and now that I have more time, you will see more comments- there are some amazing writers here, I encourage you all to read each other's yoga adventures, it makes me feel less alone in my thoughts and attitudes.



Everyone, Namaste~

Day 29 (149)- March 1st (Monday)

Instructor- Stefanie-1245pm (Making up for Day 143)
The last of my doubles, when I came to the studio I felt very stiff, I knew this day wasn't going to be as smooth as the others but Stefanie's class was amazing. The woman has such power that you wouldn't be able to guess it outside of class. My body was starting to take a little bit of a toll on the standing bow and my knees did not want to lock out properly but I managed to get through feeling ok after. Have you had those days where a class can fly by or crawl? Unfortunately, this class was the latter and it made holding certain postures like standing head to knee a real challenge, taking all my mental strength just to hold the posture at an L for what seemed like eternity.

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Instructor- Candice-8pm
I was exhausted by the time I arrived for this class, just wanting to call it a day and crawl into bed but I made it out to complete my second to last day with Candice, it wouldn't be the same otherwise. I had to laugh to myself when I came out of full locust a bit early and she proclaimed that this was equal to disqualification in the Olympics, always go for the gold..hmmm...I wonder if she had read my bikram101 posting? lol
I'm going to leave it on this quote directly from Candice: you come into the room for you, no one else- you don't compare yourself to others as we are all at different stages and levels, as long as you give 100% of your best effort it is all you can ask of yourself. You are free. Always open your mind and open your heart. ♥

Day 28 (148)-February 28th (Sunday)

Instructor- Mary-4pm

Today was a great day! I had breakfast with a friend, watched Canada kick ass in hockey, then headed on over to the last class of the day with the lovely Mary. The doubles the day before gave me some tension in my neck so I was glad to have the morning off so my body could be limber. Most students were teasing Mary after about the class being tough (she loves to hold certain postures longer, stretching out the dialogue) but I found it to be an energetic class with lots of fan love lol. I have to say the camel is a posture lately I anticipate, as if my back is craving the extra stretch and I find myself arching more and bringing my hips up higher, it's such a great feeling. It was a rewarding end to a fun day.