LA Woman...walking down the street with her dog

So I arrived in Los Angeles, found the Bikram Headquarters (more on that later) and then made my way into Hollywood to find the hypnotist.  I know that going a small distance in LA can take hours due to traffic, so I did the recon, found it and then got a comfy and safe hotel nearby.  Showered up, gave Higbee a quick walk and then walked onto the studio lot where Mary's office is.  Our appointment was at 5pm, and most of the business of the day was over,  so I didn't get to see any famous people.  Mary's office was in one of the original buildings, a beautiful art deco design looking over a courtyard.  We spent nearly 4 hours together, and talked quite a bit about my experience in training, why I felt I was having trouble learning the dialogue and how I did in posture clinic.  Then we did two meditation  imagery exercises.  Finally, Mary talked with me for about 45 minutes about hypnotism and how it works.  Then I put on some headphones, wore a lavender scented bean bag for the eyes and settled comfortably into the couch and listened while Mary mixed her voice and ocean sounds into her computer and of course into the headphones I had on my head.  She did the countdown and I was out before she got to five, and then I woke to the count back up.  I have no idea what she said, and even after listening to the CD she gave me later, I still went to "sleep".  But I do seem to have more ease memorizing the dialogue and it seems to be sticking better.  So hey!  I'm happy with the results so far!  

The next day, I took Higbee for a walk around Hollywood and Vine and we looked for a place for her to do her business.  There's a lot of concrete around, and lots of bars on the windows in that part of town, but finally spotted a beautiful lawn in front of an apartment building.  Feeling a little guilty about the inevitable pee on that nice green lawn, we made a beeline for it and found....it was a plastic yard!!!  Yup, that green was astroturf.  So we walked around a bit longer and finally found an appropriate place for Higbee to do her business. 

We then headed back to Bikram headquarters.  I was surprised that it wasn't as luxurious as I expected it to be.  In fact, it seemed a little run down!  The studio itself was really large and I virtually stood alone while I practiced.  Had a hell of a time doing the balancing postures as the floor and the walls were all the same tan color and had trouble finding a point of reference.  But it felt so good to practice and I even saw two people there from training!!  Honestly I do miss being in the room with 300 other people.  The women's room had really old lockers and the color on the wall was kind of stale, but I did like that the studio had doors on either side -- it was obvious that opening up both would create a great cross breeze.  

Manali was not there, but I did get to talk with several other people there and it looks like my thesis can progress.

Made the long drive home after that, and dealt successfully with the holiday traffic.  Am enjoying a terrific day today with friends and family.  Looking forward to getting back to the studio tomorrow.

Love to all and happy thanksgiving!!!