The Teaching Matters: Thoughts on the McYoga Myth and Tasty Classes

Bikram yoga is the tastiest, but every class has its own flavor.

Recently I had one of the most uplifting, empowering Bikram classes I’ve ever experienced. And it had nothing to do with me.

Well, nothing to do with my ability to execute 26 solid postures, anyway.

That’s right – the 90-minute meditation was inspiring, exhilarating and forgiving because the teacher teaching freaking rocked it.

You may have heard the phrase “McYoga” used to describe Bikram – which implies that because the dialogue drives the yoga so fully in each class, it makes the style predictable, able to be repeated, and therefore somewhat terrible. In the contexts I’ve read, “McYoga” seems to refer to the downsides of marketability, regularity and subsequent monotony.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not a super-vegan McDonald’s protestor or anything, but I completely disagree with the suggestion inherent in this so-called “definition” of Bikram yoga that it sucks just because you can predict the order and techniques in class.
If you’ve actually done Bikram a number of times, you know: every class is totally different.

The teachers vary immensely in their style, strictness, and delivery tone with the dialogue. Some are more positive than others; some are more calming and soothing. Some hold postures a little longer. Some tell funny stories; some let the silence fill the room.

And teachers aren’t robots, either. In the same way that your body and mind feel different during every class you attend, a teacher also experiences variability in his or her mood, focus, and energy depending on the day and depending on the time of day of class. When you think about it, this is a good thing! It keeps us open-minded and open-hearted about approaching the yoga from wherever we are in the moment.
We don't have to struggle to transform the yoga to fit our needs; instead, we do our best to let the yoga work in us.

As my super-compassionate teacher always says, "Quit the Monkey Mind!" This means: give up your own resistance, your stronghold on controlling all of your thoughts and movements all the time. Let it go.

The other day as we began the first set of standing bow, my teacher said, "What if I told you I'd give you a million bucks not to fall out of this set? Would you set your mind to it? See, that changes the game...alright, let's go! Right hand to the right..."

She caught my attention with this statement. Oh, I realized. That's true: I could be a little more determined if I just found a way to let go of all the distractions, all of the no you can'ts going on in my head, all of that madness and drama that's supposed to be anywhere but inside these walls.

And then, in second set, she literally brought a smile to my face. As I stood motionless staring into my face in the mirror, desperately trying to slow my heart rate, finally escaping the Monkey Mind's blabber, she simply said:

"You are all worth more than a million bucks. Here we go: second set!"

So, my dear readers and yogis, make no mistake. Just like Starbucks (the epitome of corporate uniformity between stores) can blend your frappucino with the wrong mixture of ice and flavored syrup and leave you sucking oversweet sips or annoying chips through your green straw, Bikram teachers can stumble in the Torture Chamber. They can mispronounce words, forget postures, fall behind schedule.

But if you're anything like me, you've come to notice how more often than not, they nail it. They get it right, all 90 minutes long. The teachers kill it, and somehow motivate you to absolutely kill yourself for all of class and use 100% exertion all the way through.

And then both of you stroll out of the studio, all smiles, ready to enjoy your well-deserved 100% relaxation and newly-found confidence. Or -- what the heck -- a McFlurry every now and then! Some sorbet, at least? Hey, it's hot out this summer :)