Why is it Important?

Just to start off, took Bikram last night with Afton and it was a fantastic class again. Set my mat up near Stacy and we ended up laughing our asses off about the teenage kid we both wanted to punch in the middle of class on Sunday. See previous post for the story. We also both remembered, apparently we had a mental block on it for good reason, dude spit on his towel during one of the postures. Next time we see him in class which will probably be on Sunday again we're moving our setup as far away from him as possible, he was a total distraction and took away from our practice that day.
It's been an interesting few days in life just simply reading the news. A lot happening around the world, around MY world. Perceptions, distractions, media taking abstract stories and making them mean something to me. Let me first say that I'm not a Penn Stater. however I did grow up in State College so in fact Joe Paterno's life meant something to me and the community I was raised. He was not my grandfather, a family member, a professor of mine, a family friend, anyone that I associated with throughout my life in State College but the man he was and what he did for my small hometown MEANT something to me. I was posed the question "Who cares? Why is it important? Its this today and something else tomorrow..." Yes you are right, its a blip on the radar of the media. Tomorrow something else will happen and it will be perceived as important to care about that too. My grandfather recently passed away and he was important - to me. Not to a throng of people waiting to view his casket for hours but I would have stood for hours to say goodbye to any great man that influenced my life in some way. Paying our respects I believe its called. You do so with disregard to time and money, its important to you its important to them. If they were important and did great things that influenced your life in some way, it is important.
Unintentionally, yesterday I wore a Penn State sweatshirt and I saw lots of images online from the public viewing held for JoePa. He was important to a lot of people. You may not give two blinks to who he was as a man or what he did for a community but I felt something. A month ago I lost my last living grandfather, I felt something much different. I attended the funeral, I grieved with my family over a life of a great man who did great things who influenced our lives for the better, he was important and paying my respects to my grandfather was important. At that time I realized the lessons I learned from him, what he taught me throughout my life that I never really understood until he was gone, I am a better person and a stepmother with unconditional love to give because he taught me what that meant.
Joe wasn't my grandfather but he influenced the place and the people I grew up around. He was a great man who didn't have the ego he of all people deserved. He gave back, he was a role model in more than one way, he was an inspiration of what one person can build in a lifetime of working hard. He of all people had some fantastic stories to tell of his life, his achievements, failures and regrets - regardless of the end result the story would have been fantastic to hear from his perspective. Why is his life and his passing important to my life- my here and now? In some way I want to emulate his achievements and his life. We all do. I want to build something up, better a community and stay the same person I was when I started. I want to tell those stories to my grandkids and be one ounce of the amazing and humble person that he was to sooo many people. You never realize how important or influential someone or something is to you until its no longer there. Joe Paterno meant something to many.
Of all the people that I thought about yesterday when I saw the pictures of the people standing in line to pay their respects to Joe - my Penn State friends, my parents, my family, my town there was one person I knew if given the chance would have stood in line for hours - Lowell. Penn State meant the world to him and Joe Paterno was part of that world, I may have broken just the slightest piece of Grandpa's heart when I defected to Virginia Tech instead of staying home as a Nittany Lion. He would buy Peachy Paterno ice cream just because even though Butter Pecan was his real favorite. If Lowell was alive today he would have been in those pictures at the public viewing. He would have paid his respects to a Penn State colleague, Joe Paterno meant something to him. I laughed yesterday when I thought about this because Lowell passed away five years ago. He may not have been able to stand in line on the Penn State campus yesterday to honor JoePa's life but he sure was standing in line waiting to shake Joe's hand at the pearly gates.
Why is Joe important to me? Deep down WE ARE...all a little bit or at least hope to be a fraction of the great person he was....JOEPA.

I want to be a Yogi...

Sunday Funday in the hot room and the lessons learned are always inspiring.
#1 - Not everyone is cut out for the hot room - mentally.
#2 - Everyone is cut out for the hot room - mentally.
#3 - Its all mental.
First thing is first, it was hot, it was humid and it was crowded. Perhaps due to the humidity outside, the humidity in the hot room seemed ten fold the norm. Before class I was chatting with Stacy another 60-in-60 Challenger and I was sweating sitting on my mat and towel before any of the postures began. It was sticky hot.
To address number one; lots of newbies in the hotroom with lots of challengers - I know this because Edy did a poll before class started. During the standing series one gentleman (a newbie) stood up and walked to the door. Before Edy could stop him he was out the door - he said that he couldn't breath. Not everyone is cut out for the hot room - mentally. As Edy explained to us later and as I've heard many times before in the hot room, the difficulty breathing part is actually worse if you go out of the hot room into the cold. Its better to stay in the room and lay down if necessary just don't leave. Our newbie could have made it through the class but he mentally was out the door.
Another factor in my own practice was the annoying teenage boy in the row just behind me, right next to Stacy. I hope he didnt bother her too much but he was irritating the hell out of me during every single posture in the standing series. If you want to be a yogi then act like it. I know you might be new(er) to this yoga, you are trying this out with your buddy next to you who is brand new today but you are acting like a jackass baby boy that needs his momma to cut the crust off his bread and has been handed everything he's ever wanted in life on a silver platter. Not in the hot room my friend, you do it for yourself so get over yourself and check out of your ego. Bikram is all mental and you are ruining my practice today! Ok...now that I'm done ranting - he was obnoxious and I had wished he walked out of the room, I wouldnt have to focus quite so hard on my own two eyes in the mirror. My new friend didn't commit to the do each posture to the best of his ability and instead of bowing out and sitting down or standing still in between postures he provided extra movements to showcase his "I can't believe i'm doing this again" feelings to his friend.  As you can tell I was not impressed.
We moved to the floor series of postures so I no longer had to fume over my ego-tantrum yogi poser neighbor and I could bask in the deliciousness of all my favorite postures. :) Enter person #2 to stand up and try to escape the hot room. Edy coaxed the woman to sit back down on the towel and rest. She couldn't breath and wanted out.  Insert earlier story about the hot room vs. cooler lobby area and breathing. Edy asked the woman her name, Sheila. Next obvious question, "Is today your first day?" - "No, it's my 21st day." Turns out Sheila started Bikram and started right in on the 60 day challenge with the rest of us crazies. During the next savasana we all heard Edy, "Sheila, what are you doing I thought you were resting and you are already over there doing the postures again?" The best line I have heard in the hot room ever which is my new inspiration for when I feel like I can't catch my breathe and I just want to flee the room came rapid fire from Sheila, "But, I want to be a Yogi!" Enter lots of applause and laughter in the middle of savasana.
You are Sheila, you are a Yogi. You are proof of #2, everyone is cut out for the hot room - mentally.
In the end, #3 its all mental. You can work yourself up or you can work yourself out of anything. You can mentally assault a not-even-trying in the hot room-er or you can put all your mental energy into your own two eyes in the mirror and get deeper into your own practice. You can be a yogi and keep trying or you can be a human and fall out. The second Sheila turned around and took a moment on her mat instead of leaving the room she became a Yogi. In Bikram and in life - when you fall out, get right back in!

Thoughts to Live By

"My thing was play as hard as you can, don't be stupid, pay attention to details and have enough guts in the clutch." ~Joe Paterno
"This is who we are. And no one can take us from us." ~ Sue Paterno

Inspirations through Bikram - Change

Jeanne Heaton, a Teacher with Experience, Mirror

Pure Bikram on K Eye

Valentine's Date

First in 5 years that Dustin and I have planned ahead for Valentine's day.
Looking forward to a hot date with my honeypot.

"Well you’re the color of a burning brook, You’re the color of a sideways look from an undercover cop in a comic book You’re the color of a storm in June, You're the color of the moon. You’re the color of the night, that’s right, Color of a fight - you move me. You’re the color of the colored part of The Wizard of Oz movie."


"Come out tonight, come out with me, baby. We'll throw the careful into the crazy, Turn the sky black into a sky blue, Turn the close shave into a hoo-hoo. What I say is true, make a fire, gotta burn a few, Make a fire, gotta burn a few, We can do what we want to do."

Burning Ankles and Arthritis Prevention Grip

Those were the themes for my class last night with Nora. I only felt the Burning Ankles during my new favorite posture and I did not get my upper back to pop. My last challenge I completed I had pain and stiffness and soreness rotate through my body throughout the 60 days and this time around the movement /rotation is moving more rapidly than before. It took the first 30 days to feel sore the first time. This time around I've completed day 15 and I've been sore the whole time, first and most prominently in my hamstrings, up until last night it was my entire back and this morning my arthritis prevention grip is really yelling at me. My fingers in my left hand are crying today. But we practice Bikram's postures today to prevent diseases later. I'll take a mini-heart attack every day for 60 days than a big one later on in life. Same with the Arthritis. Bring on the stiff fingers and soreness from my kick ass Arthritis Prevention Grip so Arthritis doesn't attack my joints later on in life. Its also the little things, the small pains that make us aware of our body and what it can accomplish. If we are feeling pain, stiffness, soreness than we are alive  - remember the goal is no flatlines just consistent and everlasting change.
eyes open, breathing normal - change