Gratitude

I am officially registered for the Spring session of training! There were a surprising amount of odds and ends to get together for the application. I heard back very promptly from Bikram's HQ and a copy of the dialog is in the mail on its way to me at this very moment! This week I missed a day of work and have been struggling though the end of the week because of a nasty little head cold. I was so very close to skipping class last night in favor of an early bedtime, but then I thought of how at training I'll likely be in class despite weirder things going on with my body and mind than a headcold. I made it to class just barely on time and despite the fact that the class was pretty full my favorite spot in the hot room was wide open. Clearly I was meant to fill that spot :). Despite the fact that it was not an easy class for me and I was struggling with some postures that are normally on the easier side for me, I found myself overwhelmed with gratitude. The combination of total exasperation from my cold and the emotional excitement of hearing back about training made my mind flood with all of the people and experiences that led me here. I tried to keep my mind focused on the single word 'gratitude' as opposed to the specifics. It was one of those classes where getting to the studio and on my mat was 99% of the battle and the rest just took care of itsself.

Next on my training to do list is booking my flights! Check in and orientation begin April 14th in the afternoon and graduation is June 16th (Father's Day!). I'm wondering when most people typically fly in? I want to have enough time to settle in without paying heaps of extra $$. I've also been thinking about the best way to prepare during the remaining 93 days till training. I've heard some varying pieces of advice on this, but the common thread is to focus on the dialog memorization and continue with your typical practice. Usually I practice 6 times a week and rest 1. Lately I've been trying to add in a double once a week to push myself and deepen the stretching a bit and still give myself one day off. I don't want to overtrain and get burnt out before training begins. I also want to make sure I dedicate a lot of time to family and friends in the upcoming months. Being totally away from everyone for the 9 weeks of training will be tough enough, so I don't want to constantly be blowing people off to go to yoga. It's also time to start thinking about packing lists and what I need to bring, but I'll post on that a bit later as the time draws nearer.

Let me know if anyone has tips on training, flight booking, or general preparation!