One week today I leave for the adventure of a lifetime. Next Thursday Sarah and I, my roommate for Teacher Training, will be setting off on a 25 hour drive from Calgary to LA where we’ll be fully immersed in this yoga and all that it stands for. The good, the bad, and everything in between. That includes the grammatically incorrect, broken English dialogue that we’re required to memorize word for word, its rather eccentric and controversial founder, Bikram Choudhury (whom I am so excited to finally meet), and the twice-a-day yoga classes we’ll be attending Monday to Friday when we’re not in lectures and posture clinics with one additional class on Saturday morning. We’ll be living in the hotel where it all takes place, with not much more than a few small appliances, my beloved Berkey water filter, and my brand new 40 and 64 ounce hydro flasks. It will be nice to have my car there to be able to do weekly grocery runs and trips to the beach, or wherever else we feel like exploring during the day and a half we have off.

As much as I sound like I know what I’m getting myself into, I’m fully aware that I do not (and cannot) fully comprehend what Teacher Training will be like until I arrive and surrender myself fully to the experience ahead of me. My plan is to follow the advice I keep hearing from all corners of the Bikram Yoga community and just “trust the process”.  I have been told by Cheryl, the studio owner here at Bikram Yoga Northwest in Calgary that I’m more than prepared mentally and physically, but I still have my doubts. She has been amazing over the past few months, helping us learn the dialogue, providing us with advice, and answering all of our questions. I can’t imagine preparing myself for this without her – or Sarah and Ian, my fellow teacher training buddies.

Last night things got real.

For the first time ever, I had the chance to walk the class through half moon pose – all four parts. Being up there was a bit surreal but it gave me a taste of what teaching will be like, which was exactly what Cheryl had in mind. I almost got a little choked up telling the class that from the side they should look like a “Japanese Ham Sandwich” (perhaps one of the most famous "bikramism" out there – what on earth is a Japanese Ham Sandwich anyway?) because I knew in that moment that I am right where I need to be. After an unexpected round of applause from the twenty some odd people in the class, I walked back to my mat and was filled with so much excitement – about training, about teaching my first class, and about everything that the universe has in store for me.