Baptiste Level 1 training

Wow, so much has been going on in the last two weeks,   I went to my Baptiste Level 1 training in Sedona, Arizona. I left Friday June 8th to travel to Sedona. I had to fly into Phoenix and then we took a shuttle to the information center in Sedona.  From there we took another shuttle to Mago Garden. This was an experience.  We drove 10 miles up a bumpy dirt road.  It was very secluded.  During the course of the ride to Mago Garden, I saw something fly in front of the car. The driver told the four of us in the van that it was a bat.  I was like are you kidding me, bats, I do not want anything to do with bats.  Then he also proceeded to tell me that he had seen a mountain lion once or twice.  DUDE, why are you telling me this, I am going to be walking around at night.  Are you kidding me? We finally get to the reception area. They were nice and stayed open because we arrived late.  I found out what room I was in and went to meet my roommate. My roommate was from Boston, awesome young lady. 

Saturday we didn't start anything until 6 PM, so we spent most of the day walking around the retreat area and taking pictures.  At dinner, the assistants that were a part of the level 1 training gave us an idea of what kind of time schedule to expect and who we would need to go if we needed something.  Now, this retreat is secluded as I mentioned, once you are there, you are there, if you leave, you leave for good. There are no stores like Walmart, Jewel, Walgreens, etc.  We did have coin operated laundry, but most of us decided to wash our clothes in the shower and let them dry in the heat, after all it was dry.  There was a gift shop in the Welcome Center where we could get some supplies if we needed them.  There was also a lounge in the Welcome Center with WiFi.  Cell phone reception was not very good.

After dinner we all went into Mago Hall, where we would have chair sessions and practice yoga.  It was there that Baron Baptiste made his appearance.  We practiced yoga for about an hour and half, then had a few minutes to change and come back to a chair session.  Afterwards we went to sleep for the night. We were up early the next morning for breakfast and a hike. During the hike we talked with people in the group.  After the hike we went into Mago Hall for a yoga practice.  This was where I lost it the first time.  We were in the middle of a practice and my mind was all over the place. Baron stopped the practice to break down some of the poses we do during yoga. I kept thinking to myself, what am I doing here, I am going home, what was I thinking.  Funny, how the mind works because as soon as I thought to myself, I am going home, my next thought was, umm where the hell are you going to go, you don't know anyone here, your flight does not leave until Saturday, get it together.  I was also crying at this point, but no one would have noticed because I was so sweaty.  Finally I got it together and I was like, just take it one hour at a time, stop thinking so far ahead.

I got to realize this was going to be intense, but in the end I would be happy and enjoying life.  To describe the intensity, mentally I felt like I was doing an Ironman everyday.  The physical practice itself was fine for me for the most part.  I did struggle with the chair sessions, but I am glad we did them. The chair sessions gave all of us a chance to work through junk we were going through. I was not one for getting in front of the group for my own personal reasons, but that didn't mean that I was not going to be in front of the group.  Tuesday night during a chair session we had to make a commitment to the group.  We each stood up and made the commitment. As I started, Baron stopped me and told me to come in front of the group.  Funny thing was I was talking to a gentlemen prior to having to do this and I said I am sure at some point I will be in front of the group, kind of figured it would that night after I said that.  After I went back to my seat, he was like oh you didn't seem nervous at all.  I was like I just wanted to make my commitment and sit down.

At night, starting about the 3rd day of training we started to do practice teachings.  We were in groups of 6-7.  My group was a group of 6 and we were called Fireworks, basically if you sing the lyrics to the Katie Perry song, that was why were called Fireworks.  We had a lot of fun with each other.  My birthday fell on that Wednesday of the training. They made it so special since I was not at home in my friendly confines.  Wednesday was also one of those days, where I could have done a swim workout on my mat based on how much I sweated. I believe we did 10 wheels ( back bends) that day. I had put a towel under my hands so they wouldn't slip, I should have got one for my feet. On probably the 8th wheel, I started to slip at my feet, but then all the sudden there was a hand under my back.  It was the gentleman next to me, giving me a boost. I was like thank you so much. Wednesday night instead of doing a chair we met the director of the retreat area.  He did a practice with that followed the Tao Fellowship. For a portion of this, I laughed hysterically.  As we were warming our bodies up, we would pat our bodies.  So whenever any of you hear me say something like hello sexy thighs, I love you. This is where that started. 

Wednesday night, we were told that Thursday was going to be the most intense day.  It for sure was. The practice probably went for about four hours.  I think we did 8-10 crow poses and then a ton of hip openers.  Now I was warned that Baron liked to hold certain poses for like 20 minutes, that didn't happen.  However, for whatever reason I was going into half pigeon on my left side and just started to cry. To this day, I really don't know why. I was trying so hard not to cry.  We went into savassana ( final resting pose) and I was just whimpering because I was trying so hard not to cry. I could feel my lips shaking because I was trying so hard not to cry.  One of the girls from my small group was practicing next to me.  She must have heard me whimpering and grabbed my hand to give it a squeeze, as if to say, it is going to be okay.  When we ended the practice, I looked around, I was not the only one that was crying. The room was filled with people.  I finally left with my new friends and went to shower. In the afternoon we had a 75 minute session after chairs. The only thing I am going to say about that, is that you really learned a lot about yourself and personality during that time.  Kind of like sending mind messages to one another.

We did some fun things at night. There were a couple times we danced and let loose. 
The rest of the week I felt so good about my decision to stay.  I enjoyed myself, met a lot of new friends.  The assistants that were there were awesome. Many of them have their own studios and projects.  Two we heard about were the Africa Yoga Project and Yoga for Wounded Warriors.  I plan to support both as much as I can. Overall, I enjoyed my experience.  Everyone was awesome and made me feel right at home.  I am looking forward to teaching yoga and doing some other certifications that relate.   I am attaching some pictures that I took while I was out in Sedona.