Thanks for Sharing Your Practice, Local Yogis

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All it takes to remember your compassion for your fellow yogis in class is a crowded Bikram class where the collective group energy is off the charts. You realize:


We depend on each other.
We thrive because of those around us.
In this way, yoga reminds us to be compassionate.


In the past few months of my practice at my lovely home studio, I've started to recognize some familiar faces and even develop a few friendships in the hot room. Sometimes I'll enter the torture chamber, set up camp on my mat, and begin stretching to warm up for class. Often I'll look up from my space to discover


hey -- all of the regular characters are here!


at which point my face erupts in a big, goofy smile and I get giddy about practicing with such awesome people around me. In fact, that's something I've noticed has changed as I become more familiar with the Bikram experience: with time, I've begun to look forward to being side-by-side with yogis who used to scare me, intimidate me, or simply seem like faraway strangers.

So, with that exhilaration in mind, this post comes leaping out of the bottom of my heart: I'd like to thank the following usual yogi characters for showing up on a regular basis, for pushing me to work harder in the hot room, and for bringing me great delight simply by your smiles, nods, laughs and antics around the studio.

You guys rock:

  • Double Pigtails Dearest: always a sweet smile on your face and always those crazy buns atop your head. They tend to brighten my day.
  • Mr. Bald Yoga Guru Guy: the headwrap intrigues me. Without your dialogue, I'd probably miss half of savasana. Oh, and I think about half the girls in the studio seem to have a crush on you. I consider your presence a way to practice my focus -- and hey, my eyes meet the mirror more often when you're up top the podium, so thanks for that!
  • Shush Woman: I find it silly how you whisper-yell at everyone not to talk in the hot room, but I do appreciate the subsequent silence. I sometimes wonder if you realize you're making as much, if not more, noise than the rest of us. Update: I've recently realized what a great sense of humor you have. And your swoopy dance/stretch warm ups are the most amusing. The best. Smiles all around.
  • Old Lady Rascal (also known as Egyptian Bronze): you hardly ever stay with the rest of the group, but your eagerness, twitchy, sparkly fingertips, and ridiculous flexibility for your age never cease to impress. And I'll admit: I get a kick out of your wildly colorful outfits and your eastern European accent!

Photo via The Stickler on Flickr.

All said and done, I guess I'm getting closer to the real-deal namaste thing, where


the good in me acknowledges the good in you


and we may not be best friends or even know each other, but I can feel how the yoga brings us together. And I love it, and I appreciate your practice more fully because I depend on it.


I'll continue to introduce you to more local characters along the way in my blog adventures, and I encourage you to make friends with those around you in the hot room. Thank them for sharing their practice!

Dreaming of the Future: Bikram Teacher Training

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So as you may or may not know, I'm about to graduate from Northwestern University with a degree in English (creative writing), which means I'm at that time in my life where everybody's asking:

what's next?
what are your plans?
where are you going from here?

I'm hoping to do someday is embark on the yoga adventure of a lifetime -- 9 weeks in the torture chamber with Boss himself! -- and then make a lifestyle of teaching others how to live and breathe Bikram.

It's true: I can't wait to be one of those little 747s taking off in the crowded hot room someday. And right now, I have faith that it will happen... it's just a question of when.

So, have you completed teacher training? If so, first let me say I'm so excited you've encountered this blog! I hope it resonates, prompts you to contemplate your practice in new ways, challenges you, inspires you, and helps you have a good time thinking about your Bikram adventures.

I also hope you'll share it with others, inviting them to offer their ideas and feedback as well!

And if you're an active and enthusiastic instructor, I'd love your thoughts on your TT experience...
  • First and foremost, how did you survive?
  • Best moment? Worst?
  • What was your strategy for keeping in touch with family, friends and loved ones during training?
  • How did friends and family react when you announced you wanted to adopt the yoga teacher lifestyle?
  • Did you do any fundraising prior to training? I mean, $10,000 ain't cheap... (I'm hoping to apply for a scholarship myself!)
  • Anything in particular you couldn't live without during training?
  • Best Bikram quotes/ memories?
  • Did you have a job lined up prior to training? How did you manage the transition toward teaching?
  • Anything else?

Photo Via Roz Yoga Training.

Post-Bikram Bliss: Celebrate with Massage!

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Last night I experienced the best of the best: following a Bikram class with a full-body massage. Talk about bodily bliss!

Not only does completing class beforehand get you warmed up, loose and ready for work on your deep tissues, but it also makes your leg muscles and feet so ready for post-workout relaxation. And as my massage therapist noted as I happily plunked my head into the face hole, "Relaxing shouldn't be much of a problem since you're already in the yoga daze!"

Amen. to. that.

Those 90 minutes were my celebratory close-eyed meditation, and afterward I felt like I'd been on a week-long retreat! To boost your post-yoga bliss, or if you're looking to celebrate (like me: graduation from Northwestern in less than a week -- woohoo!), I highly recommend a massage after class.

Focus Forward Friday

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Photo Via Alameda.



Focus Forward Friday:
A weekly ritual for deepening your Bikram practice.
Today's focus: find a way to be the only one in the hot room. Forget about all those other sweaty people, distracting thoughts, and lingering emotions. How fully can you occupy a single moment?When you practice Bikram, there is nothing else.

Private Practice: Just You and the Mirror

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Photo Via Health Food Nation.



In the hot room, your focus should be forward. Your practice grows when it is intensely, deeply, passionately focused.

Sounds simple enough, right? Keep your eyes on the mirror and you should be good to go.

But in reality, it's not always so easy. We want to look around the room, see what local characters have joined tonight's class. We start to compare our bodies to those around us. We check to see if friends are around. We guess what that guy over there does for a living, whether that old lady up front will be able to keep up, how the woman one row back can possibly be so flexible. Or smelly. Or whatever.


If your mind is wandering around all over the place,
what are you practicing?

Bikram reminds us: "The whole Bikram class is one big brainwashing session." Or, one of my personal favorites which one exceptional teacher from my studio often repeats throughout class:


"If you let someone steal your peace, you lose."

So next time you find yourself aware of how crowded the torture chamber is, and the endless amount of distractions available to you -- the unceasing number of emotions, thoughts, disruptions present all around -- let them go. Get out of your own head. Don't fall into the trap of comparing yourself to others. Not only will it prevent you from falling out of the balancing poses in the standing series, but it will strengthen your entire practice from the inside out.

Bikram is a collective experience and requires a group energy, but it is first and foremost a private practice. Keep it between just you and the mirror!

Mr. Bald Yoga Guru Guy's Handstands After Class: Intimidated Much?

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You know the feeling: complete overwhelm. Maybe it's the heat; maybe it's the sweat. The simple thought of being locked in the torture chamber for 90 minutes. Increased heart rate? Labored breathing?

Oh, wait. Maybe the reason you're feeling a bit stunned and terrified has to do with none of the above.

Maybe it's your hot neighbor. Or better yet: the teacher standing up on the podium there. Or the day when you unexpectedly find yourself side-by-side with that well-built, well-practiced Bikram instructor, their lovely muscles shiny with sweat and oh-so-close to your very own mat.

Throughout pranayama breathing, you find yourself sporadically glancing their way. Your eyes meet for a moment in the mirror, as a rush of embarrassment floods your cheeks. Great: now your face is red from the heat and the shame of revealing your interest in the other yogi's currently seriously-flexible shoulders and audible throat-like-a-valve inhales.

Let's be honest: we've all experienced intimidation in the hot room. There are those days where we wish the notion of competition didn't get in the way of a posture's integrity, and we push past our edge for the wrong reasons.

Or, in my case, I look around the room after class to discover a teacher who I find rather intimidating executing beautiful, bold, sturdy handstands. I mean, we're talking muscular strength in all its glory. Balance and grace and tenacity all rolled into one vigorous posture. And this is after class, people! Most everyone else in the room is half-asleep, doggedly making their way to the door, or oogling in his direction.

Don't get me wrong, but I felt a tinge of jealousy as I watched him fling his legs skyward with athletic control and freeze in the statuesque spot. Jeez, I thought to myself. I wonder if I could ever do that?

It was a momentary blend of feeling like a miserably-inexperienced yogi with little potential, but then simultaneously realizing how long it must have taken to develop such a skill. It was inspiring.

In the same way that I've been intrigued by the teacher since my first class with him -- the calm, smooth tone of his voice as he delivers the dialogue, his fierce demands of yogis during class (especially his strictness when it comes to unifying the class), and (perhaps most of all), his bald, lovely, perfectly rounded head. His physique looks a bit like a statue itself, I've sometimes thought. And combined with his stern expression and posture, he seems a bit like an ancient Egyptian or some expert yoga guru or something.

A couple of days ago I experienced a breakthrough about this guy, though. For all of his outwardly exotic allure, his severity while leading class, and his mastery as a practicing yogi, I could make an equally compelling case for his normalcy.

He might sit behind the studio desk looking mysterious in his head wrap, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't mean intimidation by it.

And hey, when it comes to the yoga, we're all getting the same benefits, as long as we're working at our maximum.

It's just as Bikram reminds us: we should bring no expectations to the hot room. It should be a place where we go to lose, not boost, our own egos.

Truly falling in love with Bikram means bringing humility to our mat every time we practice -- and using that lack of pretentiousness to build a strong collective energy, an inspiring sense of grace, comfort, and love in the room. We use our humble hearts to welcome others -- no matter their level of flexibility or strength -- to the power and beauty of yoga.

The other night as I was leaving the studio after an energetic class with Mr. Bald Yoga Guru Guy, I made my way quietly to the door, ready to slip out unnoticed and into the post-Bikram bliss of the rest of my evening. Much to my surprise, he turned to me with a sheepish grin, a cheerful wave of his hand, and joyfully exclaimed, "Nice job tonight!"

I felt a little burst of butterflies in my stomach, the excitement of being recognized filling my core. In that little moment, I was so proud, so thankful for the practice. Grateful for the guidance of exceptional teachers, and for their mystique as a tool for bringing me to my knees and boosting me up at the same time.

Who knows: maybe someday we'll be doing those handstands side by side in the Bikram studio, Mr. Bald Yoga Guru Guy. You just never know.


Photo Via Maui Yoga.

Never Too Late

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Last night at class I was reminded of the power of remembering to stay open-minded in the hot room. Even on days when we feel our practice is strong, there is more we can be doing to deepen the experience of Bikram, whether it means focusing forward, remaining patient with a posture, or letting go of frustrations from inside or outside the studio's walls.

Just think: how seriously do your consider your savasana? With a gentle reminder from my instructor last night -- "Dead body pose, Rachel!" -- I realized (with some shock and a bit of embarrassment) that I needed to rethink my dedication to stillness in between postures. So often we are apt to respond to distractions (squirmy neighbors or the tickle of sweat dripping) or the temptation of gulping water instead of getting right to the goodness of savasana.

Make your new power nap time 20 seconds. See what it can do for your energy level.

And one other thing: stay the full two minutes (or more) after class! There's nothing worse than the disruption of fellow yogis rolling up their mats, clomping around the room, and opening and closing the studio door when everyone should be enjoying final relaxation together. Bikram designed the end of the class with our best interests in mind, so be sure to let your body, mind and spirit receive the rest they deserve after your 90-minute meditation.



Photo Via Sweet Tater.

Beginning with the Beginning: Bikram Basics

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At the beginning of every Bikram class, the teacher's first words remind us of the importance of humility in the hot room:

"Welcome to Bikram's beginning yoga class."


It's a friendly reminder to everyone, first-timers and well-practiced practitioners alike: today's class is new territory. Whether you've worn holes through your yoga mat or never been to the studio until today, you're starting fresh. Wiping the slate clean. Beginning again. 


There's something beautiful about being new.

Being new means open to learning, and learning right. Being new means bringing no expectations to class. And most importantly: being new means getting all the benefits.


So what's this Bikram thing all about?

Bikram Choudhury's a crazy guy who developed a 26-posture sequence based on Hatha yoga and then packaged it, franchised it and marketed it to sweep the earth and become the McYoga of all yoga! Well, pretty much. There are a lot of opinions out there about the rigid routine of Bikram and the fact that each class takes place in a room that's 105 degrees and at 40% humidity, but the fact is: it's a yoga practice that works every system, tissue, organ, vein, ligament and muscle in the body. Each component takes care of something different in the body, and yet they all work together synergistically, contributing to and extending the other benefits.

Why the heat?

While at first the heat can contribute to an overwhelming feeling in the room, eventually it becomes a source of deep comfort and peace in practicing Bikram. Here's what it can do for you:
  • detoxify your body through sweating
  • protect muscles for deeper stretching
  • thin the blood to clear the circulatory system
  • increase the heart rate for a better cardio workout
Do you feel the results?

Perhaps the best part about Bikram is that it has the power to transform your body and your life, inside out. Of course a regular, dedicated practice over time bears the greatest results, but you can feel a difference even after your first couple of classes. Just a few outcomes to look forward to:
  • deeper sleep
  • reduced stress
  • greater mental clarity
  • glowing skin
  • lubricated, flexible joints
  • improved posture
  • stronger heart
  • greater stamina
  • expanded, unyielding lungs
  • increased flexibility
  • bolstered immune system
  • relief from chronic pain, injury
And the best part...

Speaking from personal experience (I've been practicing for almost a year, and I plan to do the Bikram Teacher Training soon), there are a bunch of other reasons to revolutionize your life, Bikram-style:
  • Give yourself something to look forward to every day.
  • Enjoy a 90-minute meditation where you can forget about the real world, be present in the moment, and completely get out of your own head.
  • Bikram forces you to stay hydrated and choose your meals wisely!
  • Make new friends at your local studio. Meet some amazing people and hear their crazy stories.
  • Feel like a bad-ass after class, because you will have conquered the hardest part of your day! It's all downhill (and energized) from there.
  • Show off your sweet tattoos in the torture chamber. Check out your neighbor's sexy body art (or body), too!
  • Become a better person who regularly practices strength, determination and fearlessness.

Photo via FindYoga.

Dreaming Bikram

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"You sweat out your elbows, your shins, your fingertips. You create your own puddle, your place in the hot room. The 'torture chamber,' they like to call it. But by the end of class, that puddle is home. Your own little haven: a space for letting go, focusing forward, and always, always locking the knee."

My friend sits down, wide-eyed. "It's really 105 degrees in the room?"

I nod, smiling.

"It's better than anything," I admit. "It's a 90-minute open-eyed meditation. You forget where you are and lose track of the real world. You learn to forget your ego in that room. It's like Bikram says: 'You have nothing to lose. You had nothing to begin with.'

As she listens, my friend's facial expression hasn't changed, her eyes and furrowed brows still reflecting their cynicism and doubt. She half-opens her mouth, pauses. "But wouldn't it be more enjoyable to take an evening Hatha class--"

I start to shake my head no.

"-- Or a Vinyasa Flow, something a little less..."

"--Intense?" I cut in, still shaking my head. "Ridiculous?" I'm starting to smile again, remembering the way it was in the beginning.

"See, there's something else Bikram says about the yoga," I add. "It can be pure hell, or heaven itself. The thing is, it's up to you to decide." And with that, unconvinced as my friend is, I'm satisfied to continue my raving description of the 26 asanas my body has begun to crave, the indescribable energy of a room crowded with dedicated yogis, that feeling of pure release in the final savasana...just imagining the perfect stillness of the room as I first enter it, settling into the humidity, inviting the sweat, easing into the stretch, I feel more at peace.

The feeling expands into flashes of the other moments only Bikram brings: pranayama building fire in the belly, overcoming the fear of the first back-bend of the class, losing the self by focusing on the dialogue, fighting the fuzziness and flickering stars of dizziness and nausea, watching the body open like a flower petal blooming in the mirror, discovering new love for a demanding posture, the rush of cool air from the air-conditioned lobby as I leave the studio...

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This list is only a glimpse at the beginning of what the yoga has brought me. The more I think about it, the more I realize Bikram is so much more than the physical experience or the calories burned: it is a life-practice. An opportunity to breathe fully. A chance to find out what you're made of. A way to grow stronger, push through fear, and let go of the rest.

It's true: not only am I continuously falling in love with the practice, I've started dreaming Bikram. And it's when yoga invades your sleep, bringing you images of deepening postures, feisty studio owners, fountains flowing with coconut water -- then you know it's time to start blogging about it!

So with pride, excitement and big dreams for the future (including, yes, taking on teacher training someday), I'd like to welcome you to the blog and introduce myself: Rachel, fellow yogi, nice to meet you, come on in, let the sweat beads roll!


Photo via MyBikram.