tweeter from ejphoto.com
Yes! Tweet me: all about the studio, the hotel guests, can you make smoothies in your room, what are you eating, how far to the ocean, how far to Joshua Tree, and on and on on on. Bikram bodies want to know!
The only teacher training blog that I’ve read is YogaJenn’s at yogabootcamp.blogspot.com. She realizes by Day 8 that folks know about her blog and are actually following it. Later she writes just briefly about Senior Staff questioning the wisdom of blogging during training.(1) Can you truly uncover the deepest parts of yourself, attend to what you find, and communicate to the masses, all without compromising what could be incredible moments of growth? The assumption here is that a Bikram trainee is there to do some tearing down, some self destruction with the hopes that what’s left standing is a better version of her self. Which could only lead to her being a better Bikram teacher. Right? Maybe. I’m guessing that many a trainee has already hit their walls, slayed their demons and lived to train with The Boss.(2)
Tweeting, blogging, late night calls to our loved ones are inevitable precisely because Teacher Training is not boot camp.(3) The Bikram Staff should talk amongst themselves about their thoughts and reactions to the new media.(4) Then, at Teacher Training Orientation, take a minute to let folks share their concerns, assumptions, and as a class, create guidelines of respect for tweeting and blogging. I can’t wait!
1. Can’t find the post. YogaJenn, you out there…… ?
2. Bikram, not Springsteen.
3. Military plebes don’t have access to their phones, computers, friends or family during their training. But, they are paid!
4. And then tweet it.
Tags: Bikram blog, Teacher Training, twitter
Jenn’s blog was about the Spring ‘08 teacher training. A few months later, I read some blogs from people who were at Fall ‘08 teacher training and they mentioned being told not to blog. So maybe that’s what you’re thinking of?
I think mainly the Bikram administrative folks want the teacher training to be somewhat of a black box. They don’t want all of us knowing exactly what goes on. Kind of reminds me of a sorority or something - can’t let people know the secrets! From looking at the Bikram web page, one gets the idea that Bikram hasn’t been exactly embracing web 2.0. That site needs a revamp probably worse than any other site out there!!!
There were quite a few blogs that continued through the last teacher training. A few of them shut down, or went to a subscription only basis. I don’t think anyone was told not to blog, but it sounds like the staff recommended that the bloggers be more mindful about what they post, and also to be respectful of other trainees’ privacy. Even after that, there were some remarkably well written and informative blogs that continued through the end of the training.
I think there needs to be a little more information about TT out there, other than what is on the Bikram site. If I go to training this Fall, I won’t blog specifics about training… But I will blog about it a little.
i think the best thing to do is talk to your teachers—they’ve all been through it and are more than eager to share what it was like.