“You can’t always get what you want. You get what you need.”

Today was registration and our first orientation lecture. Some facts about training:

·         This is the 39^th teacher training program

·         This is the largest ever – 430 students

·         People have travelled from 34 different countries

·         The hot yoga room that is setup in the ballroom is the biggest in the world – 16,000 square feet

The session was hosted by Jim Kallett who runs a studio in San Diego. We were introduced to the teaching staff (including the amazing Emmy Cleaves, more on her later) and the staff from Bikram Headquarters.

Jim gave us a great introduction to the program and there was no shortage of inspiration and motivation.

At teacher training there is a focus on beginnings. We are here to start our journey. What we do over the next nine weeks will only prepare us to teach. We will learn from the source, observe our own patterns, correct what needs to be corrected. Once we leave, the real learning to teach begins.

Emmy Cleaves has been practicing yoga for over 40 years. She began studying under Bikram in 1973 and is Bikram’s most senior teacher. She has amazing experience and knowledge and I can’t wait to take her class – although we’ve been warned she’ll kick our butts.  She spoke today about mindfulness. Switching off the auto-pilot that so many of us run on. She has warned us that we will experience agony and ecstasy – but that importantly we must approach everything with an open heart and an open mind.

Which leads nicely to the inspiration behind the title of this post. We must also trust the process. “This is a little bit of India here in Los Angeles” but we must go with it and approach everything with willingness.

It’s clear there will be no ordinary moments here. And every moment presents an opportunity. It is amazing how quickly people are bonding and demonstrating such kindness to each other. I get a sense everyone is here to “pay it forward.” As we go through life we all touch people’s lives in different ways, but Bikram will give us the tools to help others make real transformations.

Tomorrow we meet Bikram and he will be with us full time over the next two weeks. In preparation we were all given a word of warning:

“Do not bring anything green into the lecture or yoga room.

“For no other reason than Bikram requests it.  Respect him,” said Jim.

The messages of the day continue to rattle around inside my head.

Open mind. Willingness. No judgements.

TRUST THE PROCESS!