Wearing Thin

Another week in camp is nearly over and I get the impression that I’m slowly wearing thin.
Since Monday we have Bikram back at the helm. Everyone expected him to teach the Monday evening class but he was a no-show. As it turned out later he had an upset stomach and couldn’t come due to that. BUT we had him for lecture after class and he made it up to us with a lecture on the cons of Tattoos and another few series from the Mahabarat, that kept us there until 4 in the morning. Tuesday evening class was a mean one. The good part about it was that he pulled out 2 students to demonstrate postures on his podium. That was very beautiful to see!! Not so nice was that he kept on picking on students who were not performing to his liking. To me he seemed to be in a foul mood and had me worried that he might keep us longer in the tent. Now, it is part of this camp to be in danger having Bikram kick your behind, and there are some that certainly have it coming, but I don’t like it when he continuously picks on you for things that you can’t do anything about ( like: too short legs, too big boobs, too small boobs, big nose etc.). Also I’m a little overdosed on coarse humor at this point. I know that these are all things that make Bikram who he is, and as mentioned before I guess I’m wearing out a little, but it makes me wonder why a man like him, successful, very intelligent, ambitious, entertaining and generally likeable needs to act like that so often?? Tuesday’s class was very nic, but he said later that he didn’t feel well and even apologized for not being his normal self. In the evening we were released after posture clinic but offered the option to watch a movie with Bikram. No big surprise that I took a pass on that invitation. Luckily there are a few die-hards who went and made him happy!! Wednesday’s, Thursday’s and Friday’s class were good and he seemed to be in a generally good mood, so all is well in the Yoga-bubble! Thursday after class and before the next movie, he had a Q/A-session. There were some really good questions and it was interesting to listen. I do wonder though why some people seem to have an undying appetite to ask questions every opportunity they get to do so without really contributing to the theme but being more concerned about themselves…. And please, could someone explain to me what it is with these continuous questions about in which posture you can get an orgasm and if you haven’t experienced it yet if you could get some advice on how to improve???? So far the top runner-ups are Camel and Backward Bending.…things people keep their mind occupied with… Other ‘new’ things of annoyance for me: people that keep talking DURING Yoga-class, come late and place their mat right in front of yours so you can enjoy their feet in your face (and that is surely not a pretty sight, not to mention the sensory overload), still leave during class on a regular basis and then stomp past you like a Rhino having all the yogis they pass bouncing off their mats and, newest addition as of today, dump their leftover ice-cubes right in front of you on the floor carpet before they leave the tent! Then there are those visiting teachers who think they have to motivate and animate us and get so carried away in the process that they keep us in postures longer then even Bikram, annoy the heck out of us with reminding me how tired and exhausted we are feeling, or tell us that we have to kill us every single class because we should behave like the students we want to teach….. Yayaya, just get the class over with even if it means that you will have to come down from that podium at some point!!! Wednesday and Thursday night had us in the Lecture-tent until 3 or 4am in the morning due to another load of Bollywood. Today we had our CPR class, so we can help students who get overwhelmed by the effects of a class. It was fun, as these kind of classes usually tend to be, and we all passed the course! After that, we were released into the freedom of the weekend. Since our little group of weekend shoppers didn’t all end up in the first group of CPR, we waited a little and started our tour at 5:30pm. After the laundry was taken care of, we went to a very tasty Vietnamese restaurant and enjoyed delicious dishes. After that we power-shopped at an empty Ralph’s, the local supermarket. Another good day! Tomorrow will be dedicated to learning the next postures so I might be able to keep up with the pace in posture clinic.