Object

The posture is not the object, your body is. These words single-handedly changed my practice forever. I am on week 2 day 3 (class 16) of Bikram Teacher Training and so far it has become routine for a visiting teacher, usually a studio owner from anywhere in the world, to teach a morning class (8:30AM). Some coax us into the day with sugar and honey in their dialogue and some drill us hard like our teacher this morning who was pregnant and on the podium. She spoke these words that maybe I have heard before but today I really listened and applied. When I concentrate on this pearl of wisdom, my postures are deeper and there is less fighting the posture as I am not eagerly awaiting the transition to the next. It is after all about your body and not the posture.

Bikram likes to teach the evening classes(5:00PM) which usually works well for me because my evening classes are stronger and he often holds postures for longer and the class will stay in the posture until the person he is yelling at gets his correction. As far as the yelling goes, there is a lot of it. There is a lot of swearing and some really funny choice words that come out of his mouth.. but when it is hot strong language gets attention and works. For example, my foot will alway be on my pussy during Head to Knee with stretching pose, I will never forget to make sure it is on my pussy. With that said, Bikram cares so much for us. He wants us to do our best he wants us to push beyond our own hurdles and be regardless of his language (which I actually enjoy).
*Illustration of the Mahabarata by Mukesh Singh