Week four, day one.

Morning class was taught by a visiting teacher from Kansas. Good class but I feel like I'm getting more and more stiff as each Monday comes. Perhaps its because the room hadn't been used for a while, but Monday classes typically seem a little cooler than normal. Having barely broken a sweat, I vowed that I would move to a more heated part of the room during the afternoon class.

We took our Anatomy midterm today before posture clinic. I have never laughed so hard during a test in my life. We were sitting there in rows, trying to be quiet, but kept finding ourselves being interrupted by accidental noise. Like the sound of my mom's thermos gurgling as she sipped on it, her fanning herself intensely with her finished test because the room was too stuffy (or was it menopause?), and her need to put her face against the laminated page containing her dialogue and recite into it in an attempt to not disturb those still taking the test around us. Ok maybe not so much accidental noise, but mostly just my mother and her noise. Aaron/Cheese (Our new friend from Wisconsin), Beau (Our fellow BY at the Camp trainee), and I just couldn't keep ourselves from laughing like school kids. To the point where a couple staff members had to shush us and flock over to make sure we weren't cheating or wreaking havoc, while trying to figure out what all the fuss was about.

My mom then proceeded to hold a tissue up to her nose to blow, but now aware of what a ruckus she was inadvertently causing in our corner, couldn't bring herself to, for fear of perpetuating the distraction and getting even more glares at those around us. That's when we lost it. She used that moment as an opportunity to properly blow her nose, while our laughter ( and I mean tears in eyes and can't catch my breath laughter) masked the sound and drew even more glares our way. Just when we were able to take some deep (at least six counts) breaths and calm ourselves down, Beau's stomach let out a huge grumble. At this point, we really couldn't contain ourselves... absolutely hysterical. And that was how we got kicked out.

Just kidding.

Afternoon class was taught by Diane Ducharme. Such a nice surprise, especially since we've gotten used to expecting Rajashree to teach the afternoon classes whenever Bikram isn't around. As promised, I moved away from my comfort zone and found a much more heated spot for my mat. There were definitely moments where I found myself wondering why the hell I made this decision, but it felt so good to be properly bending and sweating again. I walked out of my class, empty coconut water container and drenched towel in hand, with the biggest smile on my face. For once, in a really long time, my Bikram class did exactly what it was supposed to do, give me more energy coming out than going in. And that made the brief moments of struggle and minor anxiety completely worth it.

I enjoyed my comfort zone/ money spot for the past week, but part of me just doesn't feel like its Bikram without a little bit of an "oh shit, what am I doing here?" moment. I think I'm going to continue to give my comfort zone a break this week. After all, we're here for the challenge. And if it were smooth sailing most of the way through, this process just wouldn't be worth it.

Looking forward to tomorrow. Carrie Bain, my amazing studio owner (BYEG), will be joining us. And its always a such a pleasure being around her.