Bikram Yoga for Inflammation

by Noa Glow

A new study from the University of Ohio shows yoga can help calm the body’s inflammatory responses and, as a result, decrease the likelihood of heart disease, diabetes and even cancer. Find out how yoga for inflammation can help you.

What is inflammation?

Most people think of inflammation as temporary swelling that occurs after an injury – nothing an ice pack and some R&R won’t fix. But unlike acute inflammation, which is in part how your body responds to harmful stimuli and kick-starts the healing process, chronic inflammation is a prolonged process that can do damage to your body.

It starts with the immune system. When you’re injured or sick your body dispatches an army of white blood cells to fight the infection – a totally healthy and normal response. But if this reaction occurs for no reason (i.e., when there’s no infection to fight), the white blood cells may harm perfectly healthy organs and even destroy other cells, leaving the door wide open to disease.

Unfortunately, you can’t feel or be tested for chronic inflammation. And with more and more research pointing to this condition as a pre-cursor to some very serious diseases – from hay fever to arthritis to cancer – it’s important to stay healthy and minimize your risk. Bikram Yoga can help.

University of Ohio Study on Inflammation

Researchers compared 25 women who had practised yoga regularly for at least two years with 25 novices. The beginners showed 36% more leptin – a hormone that stimulates inflammation – in their bodies than the experienced yogis. Additionally, the experienced yogis had 28% more adiponectin, an inflammation-soothing hormone. The longer the women in the experienced group had practised, the greater their ratio of anti-inflammatory to inflammatory hormones.

Additionally, the expert yogis had lower heart rates in response to stressful events than the newbies. Yoga also seemed to boost the mood of practitioners in both groups, which (as we’ll find out) can reduce inflammatory activity.

Causes of Chronic Inflammation

• WEIGHT: Extra pounds can cause well-meaning white blood cells to inflame other bulging-but-otherwise-uninfected cells. This can make healthy cells resistant to insulin, which in turn can lead to diabetes. The unneeded white blood cells may even start to leak into your bloodstream and aggravate your liver.
• STRESS: Since the parts of your brain that sense pain are also activated by social anxiety, inflammatory activity can increase under stress.
• TOXINS: Cigarette smoke and smog can pollute your body with toxins and, according to some research, encourage inflammation.

How Bikram Yoga for Inflammation Can Help

• EXERCISE: Maintaining a healthy weight means eating right and doing regular exercise, like practising Bikram Yoga.
• RELAX: Lowering your stress levels can be a key to beating chronic inflammation. According to stress expert Dr. Ken Nedd, doing Bikram Yoga releases certain stress-induced hormones, reduces tension in the muscles and relaxes the body through the stimulation of pressure points. The controlled breathing exercises in the series also enhance your ability to relax, release tension and experience a clear, focused mind.
• DETOX: Bikram Yoga keeps your body in prime toxin-fighting form, helping it to get rid of unwanted waste and fight infection effectively.

Noa Glow writes for and practices at Bikram Yoga Vancouver. This article was originally published on December 13, 2012 by Trevor Ellestad on the Bikram Yoga Vancouver Blog.

An Open Letter to a New Student on Their First Class

by Barbora Simek

Dear New Student,

Welcome. Like it or not you are now a part of the Bikram Yoga family. Whether today’s class will become something that is laughed about with friends and never attempted again, a daily routine, an occasional pastime or obsession, your experience today will stay with you forever. This means I have ninety minutes, and ninety minutes only to show you a practice I have dedicated a part of my life, my heart and much of my body to. So listen carefully, because this is important, this can change your life in ways you never thought possible.

I know the room is hot, and the poses are difficult. This is not because we are trying to prove something. This is because these specific elements: the postures, the heat, the mirrors, the style of teaching — are the perfectly combined to heal your body, heart and mind.

I know there are a lot of people. This is not because the studio is interested in a big pay-day. This is because the more we can practice together, the more we can share energy. Your neighbors will help you get through class, inspire you, become your friends and maybe even your future fiance (it’s happened more than once!) So be kind. Be patient. Because the more patient you can be with people here, the more patient you will be with them out there in the world.

I know my voice is loud. This is not because I want to dominate you. My voice is the best tool I have, along with the dialogue (the directions), to help you through your class today. When you feel weak, my voice will be strong to support you. When you are tired my voice will be energetic to help you off the floor. When you are discouraged, I will encourage you. All this is I will do with my volume, my intonation, my words. I want you to hear just how much I care about you and your practice.

Yes, our outfits are small. This is not because we are vain. This is because it is hot and because when you can see your body in the mirror fully, you can more easily make adjustments and learn to appreciate  what you see. Small clothes stay out of our way, so we can focus more on our practice than on adjusting our shorts for triangle. In time, we’ve learned in this room that, contrary to what the world says, every body is beautiful and every body should be appreciated. So we wear short shorts and we LOVE them on us and on each other.

No, New Student, you cannot talk. Not because I want to silence you. I want your voice to fill the halls, the change-rooms and lobby. I want your voice to be one of the many threads that builds the ever-expanding web of our Bikram Yoga community. But in the hot room, I want you to listen. First to me, so that you can do the class safely, but more importantly to yourself. I know you try hard and listen to so many other people all day. Today, you start to learn to listen to yourself: your breath, your heart, your true thoughts. Enjoy that opportunity, don’t waste it by chatting.

You must stay still, New Student. Not because I want to control you. You must stay still so you can let go of all distractions and connect to the vast benefits of this practice. You work hard in your poses to open your body, and when you stay still your cells recover and begin the process of healing. Give your body the chance to heal.

I know sometimes my jokes are not funny. But we do not call this the “torture chamber” because we enjoy your discomfort. I try to make light of how hard this yoga is because we all know that it is hard. Every teacher you will have, including me, has cried here, hurt here, wanted to leave here. So we joke because we understand how hard this is. The fact that we persevere is the one thing that connects us all in the hot room. I want this experience to be at least a little bit fun.

I am not correcting you because I think badly of your effort, New Student. I know you have taken other yoga classes, or your body is aching from your injuries and you have been through a lot in your life. Knowing all of these things makes me want to help you even more. And the best way I know how to help you, is to teach you how to do the postures to the best of your ability. I promise your best is enough. If today, you simply imagine your posture a different way because of a correction, then you are on your way to an improved practice, body and life.

It’s okay to feel emotional. This is a safe space, we’ve all been there. Remember this is a place of healing and sometimes your body hangs on to your emotions even when the mind has released them. Just cry, everyone will think it is sweat anyway.

Come back, New Student. You did well today. Remember the worst class is the one you don’t come to. I can’t wait for you to see how this series can change your life and I am here to help every step of the way.

Love,

Your Bikram Yoga Teacher

Barbara Simek is a writer for the blog Oh My Bikram! This article and photo originally appeared on their blog, where you can other great articles about Bikram Yoga to read! 

No one can do everything, but everyone can do something

By Kristin Ryan

I started Bikram Yoga in 2006 and went for about 6 months. It put me in the best shape of my life and I did the Breast Cancer 3Day Walk without even getting a sore muscle. I started back on December 30th, 2009 after my orthopedic surgeon told me I needed a knee replacement. He supported yoga as a therapeutic exercise for my knee, but assured me I would still need a replacement soon. I chose BYPV because it was the closest yoga studio to my house and I been there in 2006.

I have always been an athlete. I was a competitive swimmer, volleyball and soccer player my whole high school and college life. That included a lot of running and weight training. In addition, I have always been an avid backpacker and hiker. After college, I continued my backpacking, hiking, biking and weight training. I have suffered from lower back and knee pain since HS. Prior to starting back to BY in 2009, I had become unable to hike or walk distance anymore and by "distance" I mean I could not walk my dogs around the block. I was doing tons of mountain biking, but always suffered severe swelling of my knee afterward. After the births of my children (18 years ago) I have been sick about 4 to 5 times a year with upper respiratory and sinus infections. I had pneumonia 3 years in a row 2007, 2008, and 2009 when I couldn't kick the upper respiratory and it dropped into my lungs.

In 2009, my Dr. told me that a knee replacement was inevitable. I had had two total reconstructions on my right knee at that point. I decided to start yoga at his recommendation to strengthen the muscles around my knee. BY was my choice because I liked the assurance of a total body workout. I worked hard for a little over two years and had my knee replacement May 24th, 2012. I had to laugh when the Physical Therapist came in to teach me how to "Lock My Knee" after surgery. Before she could explain it I pulled up my gown and said, "Like this?" She gasped and said that she had never had a patient do that before. I told her all Bikram Yogis can. I returned to BY classes 15 days after the surgery with the blessing from my Dr. and his assurance that I could not hurt the new knee....after all it is titanium. Long story short, BY helped me attain full extension and flexion in just 10 weeks. It was the quickest recovery that both my Dr. and PT had ever seen in a 50 year combined career. I know that was the yoga. Oh, in the hospital I was able to bring down two fevers in the middle of the night with breathing. I would just take "long deep inhales and longer slower exhales" while saying, "My breath cools my body." I thought it was cool that all these yoga words kept coming to me!!!

The biggest thing yoga has done for me is stopped me from getting sick. My last two upper respiratory infections were exactly one year apart. I am getting sick WAY LESS often and when I do get sick I heal much faster. In fact, I was through my last upper respiratory infection in six days. That stunned me. I always used to be sick for three weeks every time I had upper respiratory.

Secondly, it has significantly reduced my lower back pain and it prepared my knee for replacement in a way I never dreamed possible. The other benefits are not minor. It has truly made me a more patient mother and teacher. My mind is more open and I have become a better listener.

Two Quotes I try to think of every day as I teach children: "No one can do everything, but everyone can do something." — unknown

"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." — Albert Einstein

My advice to a new student is advice that I need to follow as well! I know that consistency and patience are the two keys to total transformation, however, I still struggle to stay consistent. I know those things are the most important part of curing myself and yet I still slip up because it is such a difficult class. I always feel worse after a long lay off.

So, my advice.... just try to come three days a week (at a minimum) for a year and you will be hooked/cured. Yes, I said "a year"...that is why you need the patience!

Can Anything Steal Your Peace?

By Nicole Deacon

“If anyone can make you angry, upset, take your peace away from you, you are the loser.”  -- Bikram Choudhury

What Bikram?  Come again?  If someone else does something that makes me angry or upset aren’t THEY the jerk?  What do you mean I am the loser?

We cannot control what other people do, say, and feel; but we can control what we do, say, and feel.  When someone does something that makes us upset, it is easy to blame them and easy to think that if they would just do what we want that we would be happy.  There is a great saying, “Resentment is like drinking poison hoping the other person is going to die.”  This is what Bikram is saying.  When we have negative feelings towards someone else, whether they deserve it or not, it is not them that suffers, it is us.  When someone cuts you off in traffic and you get mad… they may never know it… it doesn’t really affect them, but it does affect you.  You could be having the best day of your life, someone cuts you off in traffic or says something mean to you, and then you are having the worst day.

One of the most important lessons I have learned from Bikram is to “let nothing steal your peace away from you.”  That’s one of the reasons this yoga is so great.  You are in a HOT room, with florescent lights, smelly carpet, looking at your imperfect reflection in the mirror, a teacher with a microphone is yelling at you to do more, your mind yelling at you to quit, the person next to you is driving you crazy, and then what…. you find a way to breathe in the chaos.  Despite everything going on around you, you let none of it take away your peace of mind.  It starts in the yoga room for 90 minutes at a time, but then before you know it…. You’re more patient in traffic, kinder to your kids; little things don’t set you off as easily.  Little by little the yoga starts to make its way into your everyday life.

One of my favorite stories is about a mom who had taken a few months break from the yoga.  When she walked in the door after being gone, she looked up at us with this sad face and said, “My kids sent me back to yoga.  They said I was a better mom- more patient, less moody.”

During the Holiday season I find the yoga to be more important than ever.  With added stress and added time with family it is a good test to see…. Can anything or anyone steal my peace?  When I’m not doing class regularly, my answer is YES, so I make it a point to go to yoga.  When I’m done with yoga I feel stronger, more centered, more stable, more peaceful.

Happy Holidays.  May nothing steal your peace away.

Yoga for “Type A” Personalities

By P.J. Stuart

Before I started my Bikram Yoga practice, I’d heard it described many ways. It was called everything from a torture chamber, to a grueling workout, to a smelly room.

“There’s ‘om’ yoga, and then there’s ‘ohmigod’ yoga … this is ‘ohmigod’ yoga,” someone explained; and it didn’t take me long to find out why this was true.

But what resounded most clearly with me was when BYPV’s Nicole Deacon said during a class that this yoga tends to attract a lot of type-A personalities – ambitious, achievement-oriented people who aren’t afraid of rising to a challenge in the name of self-improvement.

It makes sense to me – Bikram’s series of ever-intensifying commands (“Go back! Waaaay back! Fall back!”), the sweltering heat, the 90-minutes of heart-pumping challenges – how could any health-focused, type-A personality truly stay away?

Interestingly enough, this works out quite well for more reasons than you might think.  It turns out, Bikram Yoga and type-A personalities really are a perfect match.  And not just in the way that peanut butter and jelly go well together.  For those of us who are a little higher strung, it might also be just what the doctor ordered.

The phrase “Type A personality,” and its corresponding psychological diagnosis, was coined by two cardiologists in the 1950s -- Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman. They conducted an 8.5 year study in which they determined this personality type carried double the risk of contracting coronary disease in otherwise healthy individuals.

What better designed self-defense system could there be?  Like flies to the light, the Bikram Yoga series draws the type-A personalities in to the torture chamber to quench their desire for ambition; then, systematically eradicates the very risk they are prone to by their sheer nature. (Think: flushing the arteries in balancing stick pose or marrying the heart-and-lungs in triangle pose).

It’s either genius or serendipity that it’s designed this way, I’m not sure which. Bravo, Bikram, bravo.

More recently, scientists have refined Friedman and Rosenman’s theories, stating only certain attributes of type-A personalities create the risk for poor cardiovascular health. Namely:  impatience, workahol-ism, and the stress derived from constant exposure to a competitive lifestyle.  A little pranayama breathing and some time spent in savasana is probably good for that too.

As a personal observation -- If you are prone to the type-A personality’s constant “need-to-succeed,” Bikram might keep your ego in check, as well.  There’s no better way of keeping us humble than a standing head-to-knee you just haven’t figured out yet, or a triangle pose that makes it hard for you to win …

And that’s why we never give up!