"Orientating"

So, this afternoon we had orientation. "Orientating," I like to call it. I've spent the entire day orientating myself to the hotel, the logistics of where things are, the noise of the casinos, the slightly to mostly intoxicated people walking though the lobby areas. Lots of orientating today.

Rajashree (Bikram's wife for those of you who don't know) was the first to speak to us and welcome us all to the training. She was most inspiring, exuding kindness and love. I'm pretty sure she loves us all, and everyone is loving her right back.

We were introduced to the staff and each had something motivating and inspirational to say. What a great bunch of folks (who are going to try to kill us over the next nine weeks).

We had a very fancy dinner in one of the ballrooms tonight. A great treat, lots of food and more opportunities to meet our fellow classmates. The class is the biggest one yet. Three hundred and fifty-something. We felt very pampered. Even Bikram made an appearance at the end. Exciting to see him.

Tomorrow we gather at 10:30 in the lecture room with Bikram and then return at 5:00 for the first class. Bikram is teaching us and the excitement and anticipation is evident.

We are discouraged from blogging, emailing, texting, calling home too much. Discouraged from keeping in touch with our lives back at home. This is because they want us to be totally "here" and totally engaged. We are encouraged to take this time for ourselves, to really be present in this nine week experience of a lifetime, to allow this time just for us.

And while I understand this, I don't want to cut off totally for a couple of reasons.

One reason being that the former bloggers who shared their experiences online enabled me to feel like there was someone else out there like me who survived this training. Someone who I could relate to. For that reason, I hope to continue to record my experiences. Maybe I'll be someone who a future trainee relates to. So reason number one is for other people.

And of course, reason number two would be my failing memory, mentioned in previous post(s). I'd like to get this all recorded for my future self to enjoy looking back upon one day. Cuz she'll probably forget a lot of this. Maybe she'll have forgotten on purpose? Now that reason is definitely something I'm doing for myself, so I'm counting that as "all about me."

Reason three for keeping up the blogging? Therapy. It's theraputic for me to write, giving me an outlet for getting thoughts out of my head. Again, this reason seems like it's going to benefit me...so, I will hope to continue to blog.

Three reasons. That's enough. Time for bed now. Tomorrow looks to be pretty busy, as does the remainder of the week. I may not have time for another "therapy" session until the weekend. It'll be hard for me to leave my technology alone. Yet another "control" issue. But this is the goal from what the staff members all said tonight. Let go of whatever you come here with. Empty your cup. Turn it upsidedown and take a paper towel and dry it out. Let it air out some more to be sure it's really really dry. Put it down and just listen and observe things around you for a while. Eventually, over time, after you hit some sort of "rock bottom" that the experienced teachers are all talking about, you prepare to fill it up with more than you ever thought possible.

Day One..."orientating," is over. That's my word for today, by the way. Orientating. People told me that it's not really a word, but I figure if I can say "exactly forehead," I can say "orientating."