The Guru was back

Today was a mixed bag. Have almost recovered from the flu, except for the lingering cough and eye infection.

That said I dropped my MIL off at Bikram Yoga San Jose, earlier this morning. That was probably the hardest thing I have done. Get to the door and drive back!

The family had told me in simple terms "you can go to yoga class today but if you come back all exhausted and looking dead and sleep through the rest of the day like yesterday, then don't come back!" .  They know that there are times when I push myself to the limits, especially when it comes to trying things while still not being a 100%. Gave them the assurance that when I come home, they will see the same guy who left the house.

I was reminded of the off airport parking worker, who walks around my car and notes down the dings and blemishes before driving it into the parking lot. Kind of did that check in front of wife and kids and said "see this dude.. he is going to come back the same in 4 1/2 hours".

With that deal made, and with a lot of resolve, went to Jim Kallet's 4 hour special class. It is no secret that I respect this teacher immensely for his breadth and depth of knowledge and his abiilty to communicate what he has learned from personal experience to people in a way they can understand it. 

It was mostly teachers in the audience and he was like an irate VP of Technology, beating up guys in the technology transfer department on "following the specifications to the letter" (As a person who transfers technology, was able to relate to that personally!)

In between his "don't change the spec" topics, Jim was soft and mellow and addressed folks like me with very specific do's and don'ts.

One doesn't need to know how a CD player works on the inside to enjoy music, but knowing how to put the CD into the player the right way is a requirement!

Yoga is kind of like that. As long as you do the basic stuff right without hurting yourself, the results come. You don't need to actually know which body parts are being expanded or compressed in which pose for it to have the right result.

The class was like drinking from a fire hose. My brain could not grasp everything he showed or said in the last hour (notes or otherwise) but my usual goal of  "get at least 5 takeaways that you can remember from this class and put it in practice", was met! 

Over the next few days to months, will have to put those changes into the practice. He even gave us exercises to do while sitting on the couch and watching TV. That was interesting. Have already started doing "couch-a-yoga" as of this evening. In fact doing couchayoga while typing this post! 

There was a regular 90 minute class Jim taught, after the 4 hour class. One of the teachers told me "you can do it. stay for the class". Could have probably done it, but given what I would have had to face, if things didn't go as planned, decided to drive back home. 

One thing Jim said that resonated with me this time? 

"This Yoga helps you with your day job and with your family. That is what this is about. Does it matter if you can do everything the way everyone else can do it? No. The only thing that matters is that you try the right way."

When driving home the second time today from the BYSJ, had a smile on my face. Had given it everything I got, made the right calls w.r.t. family and myself and learned a lot. 

ps. I lost horribly on a game of Ticket to Ride with the MIL and kids after coming home, but I lost with a big smile on my face! That is Yoga in the works..