Bikram in my pocket!

On my Ipod, that is.  :)  (That was almost a Dr. Seuss moment - anyone else remember "Wocket in my Pocket?"  No?  Maybe it is just me.)

I let myself into the yoga studio early this morning, before the first class (with permission), and practiced by myself to Bikram's class CD, which I have loaded onto my Ipod from Itunes.  It was SO much fun!  Way more fun than I expected.  I've practiced to the CD plenty of times before, but it's been a while, and I've never listened to it alone before.  I think it actually made a difference that I was listening on headphones!  It made it sort of intimate and direct, like I was having Bikram's voice piped directly into my brain.

I was really struck today by how many funny, interesting, important, and even profound things Bikram says on the CD.  I had been planning to skip through some of the set-ups once I got to the floor series to save time, but I ended up listening to the recording straight through because I wanted to hear everything that he had to say!  Seriously, there is SO much there.

One of my favorite lines has always been the bit about, "if anyone can steal your peace from you, YOU are the loser."  But I'd totally forgotten something that he says right before that: "Your investment is worthwhile."  I loved hearing that this morning.  It felt so validating.  Cause you know, we come in all the time, every day, at crazy hours, and do all these difficult, uncomfortable things with our bodies, and to a large extent we do it all on faith.  So I think that is important and special, just to hear somebody say, yes, this has a purpose, this has a meaning, this is a good investment, this work is worthwhile.  Here's the full transcript of that little moment (from "Locust Pose IV" for those of you with the CD):

"Elbow hurt?  Arms hurts?  Back hurts?  Hair hurt?  Hands hurt?  Good for you.  Your investment - time, money, energy - is worthwhile.  One day, all the pain in the world is not going to take happiness, peace away from you.  If anybody can make you angry, you are the loser.  If anyone can steal your happiness, peace away from you, you are loser."

And here are a couple of my other favorite moments, just off the top of my head:

"Don't look so sad. Don't look lonely."

45 min into class:  "Good mooorning everybody!  Welcome to Bikram yoga torture chamber, to kill yourself for 90 minutes!"

backbending: "Do you trust me?  Do you have a choice?  No, is Indian marriage, no choice, very quick."

singing:  "Don't look so saaaad... it's not oo-ooo-ver... long way from home... to kill yourself... that's why you pay for... that's why I am here..."

standing bow, all-time favorite instruction:  "What are you waiting for?  Somebody come and help you?!  Bring your body DOWN!"

If you guys are ever stuck without a studio or just can't make it to class, I totally recommend getting the CD, heating up your bathroom, and practicing to Bikram's voice.  You are bound to get something out of it, especially if you've never had his class before.  He's an awesome teacher.