-
*z
Posted on October 2nd, 2009 4 commentsHad this wonderfully long blog post written up in my tiny skull, but I’m nodding off to sleep even as I type the first sentence.
Las Vegas is awesome, bikramyogachick is AWESOME, and everything seems to be falling in place!!!
Got my LOVELY tank tops from McKinley - along with a hoodie, wrap and t-shirt. OH MY GOD. THANK YOUUUUUUUUUUU [can you hear the squealing from Nevada? Cause I'm pretty sure it's so high pitched only dogs can hear it....]
OK, gotta jet off to bed for a 930am class with Sumach – an awesome looking guy with dreadlocks. Speaking of awesome men – we spotted a USC [or was it WWF? I forgot!] fighter in the hot room today. Not to mention he was kinda cute [blame my ovaries]
M*
-
VEGAS, BAYBEH
Posted on October 2nd, 2009 8 commentsHELLO FOLKS.
In sunny and beautiful Las Vegas, Nevada!
Here’s a brief one cause I need to catch up on sleep.
LAX Airport
Arrived in LAX at 9.35am on Wednesday. LAX = unfriendly, confusing, BORING airport. I was bored out of my head, bored outta my mind, and the security peeps there were BRUTAL. It was almost like they failed to become Navy Seals / soldiers so they became…AIRPORT SECURITY personnel. As I was clearing security to go to my gate, one of the security peeps yelled [shouted? barked? running out of synonyms!] and EVERYONE was made to stop moving. There I stood, trying to get my belt through my jeans and half holding my jeans ["Maam, do me a favour, STOP. MOVING." she said] while everyone STOPPED DEAD in their tracks. As for me, I was PRAYING that my jeans wouldn’t fall off and flash half the airport and that there wasn’t a terrorist around who was going to bomb the airport up.
Flight was DELAYED by 30minutes – so sorry Michelle! But it was all good! Michelle’s daughter is not feeling too great plus her kitty was put down today
so please do send maximum positive energy their way!Culture Shock
Right, I thought I could acclimitise to America as I’ve lived overseas for a bit, but NOTHING could prepare me for the sight of… SLOT MACHINES in the freaking airport! Walked out further and it’s MORE slot machines EVERYWHERE! And SLOT MACHINES pokies [ok just gonna use the kiwi term] in the GROCERY STORE.
Shock #2 : You can’t drink water outta the tap in Vegas as it tastes funny. Ugh. Tried some water out of a dispenser today and I must say it tasted like mint, juleps and insect repellent. It was rather tasty, if it wasn’t drinking water.
Shock #3 : Cars that drive on the right side of the road. I knew this fact before I got here, but in the car I just started freaking out and mentally screaming “AH ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!”. OK I think I’m used to it now.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.
Nope. Guess not.
Shock #4 : There are some HONESTLY really cute guys in Michelle’s studio! Ok, fine, cute GUY. Ahem. But he’s young. And I like my men seasoned
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaand I practiced at Michelle’s studio today! AWESOME! The energy was strong, everyone was going, it was REALLY cool! A pity I forgot about washing off the damn moisturiser before I went to class because I was SLIPPING and SLIDING like an eel throughout class! Oh, and I taught half moon again today
ONE side though! Lacey was awesome, she wanted me to teach the FULL posture but I got chicken shit nerves and decided not to [what if I bungled up the timing?What if they don't understand me? What if I miss out a paragraph?!?!?!]. Oh yeah, I fart when I get nervous [JUST LIKE DOMOKUN, hee hee!!!!] so if the studio has a rather acrid smell to it, er… yeah. *whistles and scoots.BTW Lacey just got out of training, but she taught an AWESOME rocking class! She’s funny, kind and oh so generous with the fans. I am AMAZED! I would have to find a mentor when I get out of TT and just.. train with the person!
Staying at Michelle’s is AWESOME [she told me to make myself at home-what she doesn't realise is I walk around half naked at home wielding a samurai sword and lop people's head off while reciting dialogue - hah kidding!]. Like thedancingj said, the Bikram Yoga community is O for AWESOME and everyone’s so kind and generous and giving [inviting a TOTAL stranger into your house is random, weird, and involves OODLES of trust. What if I were a serial killer?!!!!]. Love love love the community, and I’m FINALLY excited [just a titch] about Teacher Training!
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
M*
p.s : I’ve got myself a us mobile number, so if anyone wants to contact me, mail me and I’ll pass you the number. Remember, I get charged for EVERY incoming text!
-
Greetings from Incheon, Korea!
Posted on September 29th, 2009 7 commentsWhy hello!
Just a short update before I jet off to look for lunch [hungus!!!!].
Flight was ok, food was edible [yum yum omelette!], aside from the turbulence and the earthquake seat that I received [idiot male behind me kicked my chair and kept on grabbing my headrest for some reason].
Ok, let’s just put it this way : a group of mainland Chinese with bad bad bad personal hygiene occupied the area where I was seated. Add in feet odour that smells like a chunk of rotting cheese atop a rotting carcass, tobacco breath, loud and rowdy behaviour, talking, lack of respect for personal space [as we were disembarking this guy had the nerve to invade my personal space, how would YOU feel with an old man's belly prodding your bag?] – which I promptly fixed with a few violent swishes of my pink yoga mat [I KNEW there was a reason I brought one along!!!] .
Basically, it could’ve been a great flight was it not for the horrible people. hmph.
I am now in Incheon International Airport, Korea and I must say that the airport is FABULOUS and AH-MEI-ZING. LOTS of shops, oodles of things to do! Have you ever heard of a CULTURAL museum in an airport?! The toilets are freaking clean [there's an etiquette bell in every stall -not quite sure what it's for, but I'm afraid of pressing it just in case some random SWAT team breaks down the door].
So what’s there to do on a 7-hour layover in Korea?
Here’s what I did :
- Painted a traditional Korean hand-held fan
- Blog [the FREE internet service here is on a MACBOOK - weeeee awesome!]
- Twitter
- Send out a few emails
- Nap [ungraciously with my mouth hanging wide open]
- Took heaps of pictures with Domokun
- Attempted to take a crap [I'm so bowel shy, stupid bowels]
Now excuse me, I gotta jet off and look for food before my flight to LOS ANGELES!
M*
-
NOW NOW NOW GO GO GO
Posted on September 29th, 2009 4 comments4 more hours.
Have I packed everything but the cats in yet?
Passport – visa – e-tickets – change of clothes – yoga wear – CHECK CHECK CHECK.
SQUEAAAAAAAL!
M*
-
Fears & Tears
Posted on September 27th, 2009 3 commentsAs most of us know, ustrasana is one of the postures where one experiences total emotional abandon. You come out of it, weep, cry, sigh, and acknowledge whatever negative repressed energy / memory / bad juju you’ve kept hidden for so long. I’ll admit, I’ve cried a few times coming out of camel, once after locust and once during the standing series.
On that note, it WILL be interesting what sort of emotions / forcibly repressed memories will bubble out in week 1/2 – and whether I’ll start sobbing in class, post class or before class. Yes, I’ve got a tonne of [emotional] baggage that I’m carrying around which I hope to shed – ASAP!
Lately, I’ve been having [rather irrational, I know] thoughts such as, “Will I make friends at training?”, “Will people like me?”, “What if they don’t understand me [my accent / brand of humour]?”, “Can I get RICE from trader joe’s?” … to “Who’s gonna drive you home toniiiiight?”
But I suppose, a little bit of anxiety thrown in with some anticipation is a heady cocktail that goes straight to your brain. You may not even register it, but I suppose that your brain’s sending out super signals that go “ONLY 2 MORE SLEEPS TO VEGAS”.
M*
-
Tick, tock…
Posted on September 26th, 2009 6 commentsA few numbers since Jakob brought it up during class…
- 9 weeks
- 100 classes [AT LEAST!]
- 145.5 hours [AT LEAST!]
- 43ºC [AT LEAST!]
- 70% humidity
- 300 yogis
- 3 Malaysians [and counting...]
- 2200 backbends *groan
- 8 days more
- 3 more sleeps …SQUEAL!!!!
*skip skip hop hop jump jump
Kissy kissy hug hug
M*
p.s : I’m still struggling to pack everything but the kitchen sink in. I hope Michelle / thedancingj don’t kill me / laugh out loud at the ridiculous amount of baggage I’m bringing…
-
Of Dreams & Aspirations
Posted on September 25th, 2009 6 commentsA friend recently posted on Facebook and Twitter, “There are exactly 98 days remaining for 2009. What have you accomplished this year?”
His question putforth was very interesting indeed, for he recently migrated to Singapore in hopes of greener pastures. I would think his accomplishment for 2009 is just living to the fullest.
On my side, it has been quite a ride this year. I first thought of attending Bikram Yoga teacher training late last year. After one class, I took one good look around, and could not help but feel envious of the teacher. Here he was, standing on top of the podium, helping people realise their full potential, gently encouraging us to “Kick up higher, kick up harder” and telling us that “All the suffering in here, it’s all mental and only temporary”.
BAM. It was then I realised [after going through other work-related and personal stuff] that YES, I want to be a Bikram Yoga Teacher. I want to teach, inspire, and hopefully some day be able to help individuals with chronic health problems.
Not to mention I was having a crap time at work. The pay was crap, the hours were crap, the clients were crap, everything was crap [except my wonderful colleagues!]. And if I did overtime, that meant no yoga, which meant that I am not a happy camper.
After a few rather… fortuitous / coincidental occurences at work, I abruptly quit my job April 2009. I didn’t exactly burn bridges, but let’s just say it wasn’t very… nice, the things I called my boss when I handed in my letter [I've got a relatively short fuse and a foul mouth to boot]. A-ha, I thought. I can freelance and work on my practice, I thought.
But freelancing did not exactly earn me a lot of money, and during the economic downturn, freelancing jobs were hard to come by, especially for a copywriter that specialises in digital [I don't feel too comfortable writing press ads / tv / radio ads anymore]. I sold stuff on the side, but that did not earn me enough. I had cats to feed and bills to pay and of course, Teacher Training tuition to pay! How the heck was I going to cough up enough money to live and go for TT the same time?
Luckily for me, my parents supported me financially [a little] during my 6 months of bumming. The last month before training, two big and monstrously huge copywriting jobs were offered. Oh boy oh boy! I had a little more money to spare!
Right, I guess all I wanted to say after that long and tiresome rant [failed copywriter I am indeed!] is that no matter what your dreams – how big, small, ridiculous, out-of-the-world ludicrous it may seem – just go out and do it. Manifest positive thoughts, don’t sit on your ass thinking “Oh, I would like to someday…”. Instead of being passive, be proactive! Do whatever it takes to get to where YOU want to be!
I say this because a good friend of mine feels that he has yet to accomplish anything. To him, I say – you are young – do what you want to do. Never ever ever feel like you have done NOTHING, when in retrospect, you have done SO MUCH in your life. You’re one of the most inspiring, heartwarming, intelligent and funny person I know and I am so proud to call you my friend. You may feel like you have lots to do / accomplish, people to meet, hobbies to do… but take one step at a time, soak in all the experiences
and I GUARANTEE you, when you look back – whether it be 5,10, 20 years from now – you will NEVER look back in regret. Another friend also wished to just drop EVERYTHING and go learn Dutch, climb mountains, live in Europe. To him I say, DO IT. Who cares what people think? Who cares whether family or friends whisper to each other “Is he CRAZY?!”. It’s your life, your experiences, do it before you hit 50. I truly believe that in life, you have nothing to lose – except for the regret you feel 10 years down the road when you think to yourself “What if…?”. Contentment breeds complacency which in turn, breeds regret. Never settle for less or what you have – always strive to aim higher and harder!
Yes, it has been a rough ride for me to get where I am today. People wondering if I’ve been dropped on my head too many times during class [no, we don't do advanced postures in the beginning class!] as I suddenly want to leave a cushy job and be sweaty *sniff sniff, do I stink class?* the whole day.
And with that, I’d like to advise everyone to “Do what you like, like what you do. Work for a living, play for life”.
M*
-
Hydration Tips
Posted on September 23rd, 2009 5 commentsSince I’m stalking the lovely Fall 09 Bikram Yoga Teacher Training facebook group Yes, there IS a facebook group, I’m LOVING all the tips past trainees / teachers are giving us! I think it’d be super rad if ALL of us can meet up and take 1 big group photo, and WHERE are all the yoga peeps on twitter?!
But I digress. Here are some awesome hydration tips from Shawn, who’ll be coming down to rock with us Week 6 / 7.
“Hello fall 09 trainees! Just wanted to take a sec to pass along some hydration tips to help get you through training. I was pretty damn nervous about the whole 2 classes a day in the desert thing when I went to training. Im one of those dudes that sweats like a freakin pig in class so if you are like me at all and lose a lot of water, these tips are for you. Here is the science.
Week one I bought a cheap scale from wal mart. I drew some art on it and brought it to the hot room everyday so everyone could use it to weigh in before and after each class. It become a fun ritual I highly recommend it. I wanted to see how much water weight I was losing per class to help with the hydration.
Average class was 3-5lbs
If it was a scorcher in there 7-9Lbs no joke.
I told you I sweat like a damn pig. I wasnt the only one.
The group in general seemed to lose anywhere from 2-5lbs of water weight on average per class.
One gallon of water weighs 8lbs-in the hot classes I was sweating out over a gallon, sounds gross but very liberating thank you.Your electrolyte\water mix is a delicate balance that you need to figure out.
It took me a few weeks to really dial it in but heres what I came up with.
There are a lot of different options out there and around week 2-3 its like a big electrolyte mix convention, everyone is so siked to let you try thier concoction of home brewed super gatorade or whatever.First thing you need to do is just go ahead and buy an Insulated one gallon water tower of shame. Just do it, trust me. The early you accept the fact that your gonna practice with this one gallon monster next you, the better.
Pretty much everyone had one by the end. No shame sister!You cant just drink a bunch of water and think its gonna work because you need electrolytes which you lose when you sweat. In particular Potassium and Sodium. Once you get low on those, you cramp, get headaches. no fun.
You can also drink too much thats why you need to experiment. You wanna always stay hydrated until your pee is clear but only to an extent. Sometimes youll drink a ton of fluid at training and not pee for hours cause your body is playing catch up. Hate to keep talking about pee, but hey just wait to see all the stuff you guys are talking about around week 6. Your pee is your best guide to your hydration. Keep it on the clear side.
I tried several recovery drinks weeks 1-3. I tried endurox R4 which Id take right after class but it has too much sugar in it.
I always drank coconut juice during and after class but needed something way more awesome.Heres my mix. (this was per class)
One gallon water tower of shame.
2-3 Zico coconut waters (potassium, natural sugar for glucose stimulation)
2 oz of Organic Aloe Vera juice(allows your body to absorb nutrients 200 times faster and hydrates your internal organs)
One lemon and One lime cut into the slices youd stick in your Corona or Pacifico.
Slices of fresh fruit, watermelon, pinapple, apples,oranges, switch it up each day
Two teaspoons of Sea Salt(Himalayan is a good choice)
a little over half of the jug would be filled with ice-after everything was added, top it off with water.During class I only drink at the common times. Party time, 1st savasana and then a sip or two around camel. I would drink the bulk of it after class and then you can open the lid and eat all the ice cold fruit, share it with your friends and stick around and stretch, try new yoga tricks, I miss my after class peeps!
Once training was over, I had gone through 42 cases of coconut juice.
Its the nectar of the Bikram Yoga gods and you should drink a ton of it. Its Natures gatorade.So yeah, like I said, there are lot of different combos for electrolyte replacement but you should try to get these naturally. Avoid powders, sugars and all that other crap that you can get from good ol mother nature instead.
I wish you all luck and will see you around week 6!
Hope this helps,
Shawn”Thank you Shawn! These past few days I’ve had rather… “juicy” ie sweating like a horse classes and have been getting rather light-headed. Time to up the ante on electrolytes! I wonder if I can bring in my huge tub of himalayan pink sea salt and not get hell from US customs [I got it for cheap!].
Tick tock tick tock.
Now, to figure out whether to bring a tatty yoga mat there or just buy one and chuck it after I’m done…
M*
-
Step Right Up, Ladies & Gentlemen!
Posted on September 19th, 2009 2 commentsCome on down, ladies and gentlemen! Come on and see the GREAT and a-MEI-zing PACKER at work!
Circus tune whistling, doot doo doodle doodle doot doot doo
See how she packs THIS :
into THIS!
Yes, my tampons and my panty liners and a smattering of toiletries.
FABULOUS! AMAZING! ENTERTAINING! JAW-DROPPING SKILL!
Watch how she DEFIES aviation laws and fits EVERYTHING IN but the kitchen sink! [And the pets].
Stay tuned!
M*
p.s : This is by no means my complete luggage. More clothes to pack in, and don’t forget my bajillion pairs of underwear! And toiletries! Aauugh!
-
Super Thanks!
Posted on September 18th, 2009 2 commentsTo my awesome genius friend, Foo, for helping me out with the rotating banner and other wordpress-y things. HUGS!
You, my dear, are the best.
M*