Giulia's Journey

A friend invited me to attend a Bikram Yoga class to try to help me deal with my anxiety during a particularly stressful time in my life. My workouts at the gym just weren't doing it for me anymore so I thought I would give it a shot. Little did I know what was in store for me. At first, I was very skeptical about the yoga and could not believe that keeping the room so hot and humid would benefit me. I wanted to leave the room when the heat became unbearable and would get angry at myself and the teachers. I could not believe that people signed up for this! I questioned the way the teachers taught class and was almost defiant in certain situations. I even refused to buy proper yoga attire thinking that I would only do this yoga for a few months.

Over the past 2 years, with the help of the instructors at Bikram Yoga PV, I slowly began to learn the true meaning of yoga. They have taught me so much about myself and the yoga. It is a mental workout just as much as it is a physical workout. I am so thankful for their words of wisdom and commitment to teaching Bikram Yoga. I learn something new with each class that I take.

Bikram Yoga has changed my life for the better. It has given me a sense of peace and calm that no other workout has ever been able to do for me. I have more patience than I have ever had and I feel more relaxed. Those that are close to me have commented on what a positive difference they have noticed in me since I have been doing yoga. Bikram Yoga has provided me with coping skills that allow me to tackle the stress of everyday life with a sense of ease and confidence. If I can handle that hot room, I can handle anything that comes my way. I am a happier and calmer person.

Bikram Yoga helps me to maintain balance in my life - both mentally and physically. It is the medication I take for anxiety and stress and it is also my preferred workout to keep physically fit. My advice to new students would be that Bikram Yoga is the best medication for what ails you! Most people end up sick or in the hospital because of what they do to themselves and not for themselves. Do something great for yourself and your health; practice Bikram Yoga on a regular basis. Relax, don't fight it, don't give up and breathe!!

Get the "Yoga Glow"

By Dr. Paul Jerard Yoga provides many physical and mental benefits. One of the most overlooked benefits of Yoga is healthy and beautiful skin. Most people do not decide to practice Yoga for skin benefits. However, you need only to look at mature Yoga practitioners to see the amazing effect that Yoga has on the skin.

While it takes regular Yoga practice and a healthy diet, many people experience a remarkable improvement in their facial complexion and overall healthy appearance of their skin. Yoga increases blood flow and removes toxins from the body. This increased blood flow develops a youthful appearance and reduces the toxins that are released through the skin. The toxins are damaging to the skin, often creating a dry skin surface, with a dull appearance. In addition, the increased blood flow provides essential nutrients to the skin and also aides in collagen production. Collagen is essentially the elastic in the skin. As people age, collagen production diminishes and supple skin disappears.

Yoga develops a healthy mind, body, and soul. This practice relieves tension and stress. Tension and stress are two significant factors in the aging process. If you compare two people of the same age, similar jobs, and similar environmental factors, you will clearly see a stunning difference between the person who practices Yoga and the person who does not engage in physical activity. The person, who practices Yoga, will look significantly younger, which results in a much healthier appearance.

The skin is the largest organ of the human body. If the body is ill, the skin reflects this. You rarely see an ill person with radiant skin. If the inside of the body is healthy, then the skin will reflect that health. Many people are beginning to recognize Yoga as one of the best natural anti-aging tools. The health benefits of Yoga, for improving one’s skin, are drawing many people to the practice. In this youth driven culture, Yoga is becoming the most popular method for staying healthy and looking younger.

Conclusion

To achieve the “Yoga glow,” requires a regular practice of at least two times per week. Of course, avoiding excessive sun exposure, alcohol, and smoking plays a role in developing healthy skin and maintaining a youthful appearance. A regular Yoga practice, with a balanced diet and consumption of good quality drinking water, will help one achieve the best possible appearance. This formula will gradually translate into a healthy and radiant appearance. The benefits of Yoga for skin are a bonus for those who have incorporated Yoga into their daily lives.

All of the techniques learned in a typical Yoga class will help practitioners achieve radiant skin. Pranayama techniques increase oxygen flow throughout the body. Asana techniques strengthen, stretch, and tone the body below the surface of skin, but they also relieve tension and stress. Relaxation and meditation enhance mental health, while keeping emotional health in control. Finally, the Yogic lifestyle of moderation helps practitioners to form good dietary and exercise habits.

© Copyright 2011 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

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Your Focus Determines Your Reality

By Nicole Deacon

“I can’t take the heat” “I’m not flexible” “I need to get into shape first”  “I’ll never be able to do that”  “I can’t bend my knee” “I can’t, I can’t, I can’t, I won’t I won’t I won’t” As a teacher we hear these words every single day.  Before class students pull us aside and say I wanted to let you know I can’t ________ fill in the blank.  Well, not with that attitude!The beautiful thing about this yoga in my opinion… is quite frankly… it doesn’t matter.  Not to be mean or harsh, but really… it doesn’t matter what you can’t do.  What matters is you try the right way to the best of your ability.  Bikram Yoga has nothing to do with and is not concerned with what you can not do YET!!! The only thing you need to be concerned with is what you CAN do.  Do everything you can to the best of your ability and you will receive the benefits of this yoga.  Maybe all you can do that day is get to class.  Maybe all you can do is breathe.  Maybe all you can do is 10% of the posture.  Great!  Do that!  Come back the next day and do that again!There is a universal law called the "Law of Praise and Increase".  If you want a dollar and have a dime and you curse the 90 cents you don’t have, you won’t get it.  But if you praise the 10 cents you do have, more will come to you.This yoga is designed to heal the body.  It is physical therapy.  You can come when you are injured, sad, depressed, overweight, when you are not at the top of your game.  When you leave class you will feel good.  If you continue to come you will start to improve your body and your well-being.In my experience as a practitioner and a teacher of this yoga I have seen miracles happen.  If you focus on the things you can do, pretty soon you can do things you never thought possible.  If you spend your energy and attention on what you can’t do you get bored, frustrated, injured.  But as you train your mind to focus on what you can do, you will continue to be able to do more and more.

One of most clear examples of this is our student Jeffery Derwallis.  He fell from a 3 story building while serving in the Marine Corps. The result was a "burst fracture"of the 1st lumbar vertebra creating severe damaged to his spinal cord. Soon after complications arose and he became a "complete" paraplegic.  It would have been easy for him and completely justified to come into this room and say I can’t do this yoga.  I can’t balance on one leg, I can’t stand up, these postures are impossible.  No one would have questioned him or blamed him if he felt this way.

That’s not what he did.  Instead all he did was what he COULD do.  In the early stages of the game we looked at postures one by one.  Can you do this?  Great!  How about this?  Not yet, okay well do this.  When he started it was difficult for him to stay seated without falling backwards, the teacher handed him his feet during bow pose, he wasn’t able to sit down in fixed firm.  In 2008 he  began his first 60 day challenge! His circulation had improved so much that the veins started to become visible in his legs and feet. The numbness and pain in his hands was gone. And he lost 36 lbs. Two years after he started the Yoga he was able to touch his hands palms together in Eagle and touch his head to the floor in Fixed Firm. In Feb 2011, he got on to his feet for Pada Hastasana! For the first time in 20 years his legs held his weight without any kind of brace. Little by little he built strength and vitality where for so long there was none.  To quote him, “ Since starting my yoga practice my health has improved 1000% along with just about every aspect of my life. “

Let Jeff be our example.  To quote Star Wars, “Your focus determines your reality.”  So focus on the things you can do.  Can you lock out in standing bow?  No, okay can you grab your foot, can you stretch forward, and can you kick back?  Great!  Do that.  Come back the next day and do that again.   The object of yoga is not the posture.  The object of yoga is you.

Can you control the government, the economy, your parents, your kids, your spouse, your boss, and your ten-year-old high school injury?  NO!!  What can you do?  Can you show up to yoga?  Can you breathe?  Can you focus one spot?  Can you lie still?  Can you be kind to your neighbor?  Can you smile at a stranger?   Can you?  Can you?  Can you?

Just try.

Finding Your Bengal Tiger Strength

By P.J. Stuart I remember attending my first-ever Bikram yoga class and finding myself in shock when, at the end of the standing series, the teacher said, “Alright everyone … we have now just completed the ‘warm-up’ portion of the class.”

WHAT?!  Warm up?  That was more intense than most workouts I’ve done recently, and it’s only the warm up? In that same class, I heard the teacher remind us all to call upon our “Bengal tiger strength.” It suddenly dawned on me this yoga class was something else.

I’ve finally decided to find out more about what “Bengal Tiger strength” entails.  (A few months ago, I embarked on a similar quest, when I wrote a post explaining how to conjure your English bulldog determination.) There are lots of interesting attributes I could provide for you about Bengal Tigers to help you create a picture in your mind. Next time you hear those words, you’ll know exactly what they mean.

Turns out, Bengal tigers are known as the “silent hunters” of India’s forests – amazingly stealthy even though they weigh more than 550 pounds and stand more than ten feet tall on their hind legs. Bengal tigers have heavily muscled bodies, with the highest muscle percentage of muscle of any mammal (along with their friend the Jaguar). When they pounce, Bengal tigers can leap more than 20 feet to catch their victims. They’ll chase down their prey at speeds of 40 miles per hour and above, even fast runners like the ostrich.

Everything about them is strong. Their razor-sharp claws are retractable, to grasp hold of their victims more easily; and their tongues are rough, to help scrape the meat off the bones of their prey.  Their canine teeth are five inches long to sink deep into the flesh.

Yep, there’s no messing around with the Bengal tiger. Get scary, people. This is more than just a wildcat – this is a ferocious beast. Mr. Bengal tiger doesn’t care who is watching or what time of day it is; he’s strong and determined all the time.

What I found most interesting when conducting my research is that Bengal tigers have actually had a direct impact on the way we exercise today. (Not just when a BYPV teacher tells you to draw on your Bengal tiger strength, but in an even more fundamental way.)

Charles Atlas, also known as the grandfather of the modern fitness industry, popularized a form of exercise called “Dynamic Tension” simply by observing cats such as the Bengal tiger.

In the 1920s, Mr. Atlas wanted to understand how these cats developed such large muscles without -- you know -- lifting barbells at the gym. In their play, he noted the tigers became strong by pitting their own muscles against themselves. In other words – tensing a particular body part and then moving the body part as if a heavy weight was being lifted. (Imagine firming your bicep and lifting an invisible dumbbell over and over again).

I couldn’t help but think of all the tensing and firming we do in Bikram yoga class, lifting our own heavy muscles in the air against the force of gravity. Training the natural way, like Bengal tigers do. In Locust pose, aka Salabhasana, for instance: “Lock your knee, tighten the quads and gluts, and LIFT your legs into the air.” Are those some Bengal tiger legs I’m starting to see?  ;)

There are many postures which fit the bill – but maybe that’s a good place to start consciously drawing on some of that amazing Bengal tiger strength.   Go get ‘em, tiger!

Prescription for a Healthy and Happy Life

By Jarka Kovarova Two years ago, I stepped into a yoga studio for the first time, knowing nothing about Bikram Yoga. The people I saw were sweaty and tired, but smiling. "Try it; you will like it,” one lady said to me. So, I took her advice and I tried it. She was right, I loved it!  I'm happily part of a 5:30 am group which consists of amazingly strong people who inspire me every day. The people I have come to know through yoga along with my beliefs about nutrition and exercise has proven to be a perfect match.

I was born in Prague, Czech Republic, where I lived for half of my life. I always believed in a healthy lifestyle and I am sure that is why I have never missed a day of work in over 20 years due to illness. I believe that proper nutrition is the best medication. As Hippocrates said, “If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, we would have found the safest way to health.” What we eat, together with exercise has a direct influence on our health and general well-being. I participate yoga for a couple of very important benefits that mean a lot to me. I have found that yoga has a positive impact on my physical body, strengthens my muscles, improve balance and posture, increase my flexibility and keep my body in good condition. In addition, yoga has also had a positive influence on my psyche, emotions, and assists with relaxing of my mind. As Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra states, “Yogash chita vritti nirodha,” or “Yoga is the cessation of turning of mind.” My mind becomes still and peaceful. I feel mentally more resilient, stronger, with positive thoughts, and more content feelings.

My favorite posture is the Standing Bow posture. It gives me a chance to learn how to have better balance and calm my breathing.  This posture is a challenge for my determination, which is to never give up. To me, it is more than posture; it is a challenge for my mind.

For me Bikram Yoga is a prescription for healthy and happy life. I love our enthusiastic team of teachers who welcome everybody like they are family. No one ever came to yoga without leaving a better person, more grateful, feeling happier, full of smiles and warm feelings in the heart. Yoga is a friend not only for my body, but also for my mind.