Fantasies and a kick in the bits

Today I want to talk about fantasies.
When I am in class, and I haven't hydrated enough, or I have finished my water, there are a couple rotating fantasies.

1. I am a filter, COLD water goes in my mouth and right out the hole in the bottom. A never-ending stream of water quenching my thirst and gushing.

2. A 1-2 liter glass container part 1 can of cocunt water, 1.5 cups of ice cubes, the rest filtered water. Ahh.. would that be nice.

3. Cold Pacific Ocean waves. I dive through them, they envelope me. I am no longer hot, I am not thirsty.

4. I gaze at a fellow 'bikramites' tall tower of cold water condensating and teasing me. The cold water drips on me, each drop cold and on a different place on my body. Yes.

These are my dominant fantasies in the hot room. It is not enough to drink 3-4 litres of water a day and I found this out the hard way.

About three weeks back, I was on day 28 of my 30 day challenge. SO close. I finished my 8PM class with Victoria, showered, and sat down in the reception area to wait for my man. It hit me. I had my first ocular migraine. Unsure of the floating rainbow obscuring my vision and doubting my sanity, I downed an Emegen-C. I felt dizzy, scared, and unsure of my footing. I was nauseous and my head had hurt during class, but I pushed it out of my mind during Savasana as a distraction. Behold the power of the mind.

If only I had listened to my body. The previous days, even week of classes, my muscles were more fatigued than normal and occasionally cramping. My body was screaming and I wasn't listening. I drank more water.

Back to the ocular migraine, I went to the hospital. What was happening, I had been doing everything right and was almost done with my first 30 day!

Diagnosis: Ocular migraine triggered by an imbalance of electrolytes. I had been drinking water like an addict but NOT replenishing my minerals and electrolytes. A couple hours and an iv of Salt and water solution later.. I still didn't have to pee.. but I felt more like me.

In Vancouver, where I live, the water is de-mineralized. I now add drops regularly to my water and don't hesitate to indulge with Coconut water. I cannot emphasize how important it is to listen to your body. Here I was all self rightous that I reflect on my practice with words, and share them with you. How powerful I felt to push those signs my body was giving me away, not attaching to them, it was a false power.

My experience was a kick in the lady bits. I DID complete my challenge at the encouragement of one of my instructors who had been through something similar. I did one set of each of 26 postures, stood in the back, and turned BOTH ears inward to my body. I did this with iv marks and botched attempts on my left hand that was so dehydrated she couldn't find a vein (at least that was her excuse).

I AM hardcore but I AM hydrated.
Learn from my mistake, remind your students and yourselves of how important it is to their body and replenish not only water but lost minerals.