Exploring
Bikram Yoga:
At Bikram Yoga for You
Catherine
Lyons
Lesley
University
For this project I
chose to focus on Bikram Yoga, a yoga method that uses 26 different Hatha
postures and is practiced in a heated room (Yoga for You & enorm,
2007). This is one of the methods
that are commonly referred to as “hot yoga”. There are several reasons I chose to focus on this
particular branch of yoga, I think what initially got my interested was my
dad’s experience with Bikram. A
few years ago, my dad was having some problems with his heart and was
attempting to become more active in order to improve his overall health. Somehow he stumbled upon a Bikram yoga
class and has been religiously attending ever since. I’ve always had an interest in yoga and when asking him
about it I learned that much of what is accomplished in Bikram yoga corresponds
with many of the things I would like to accomplish in practicing yoga myself
such as: posture, breathing/breath control, and stress (Yoga for You &
enorm, 2007). It also flushes
toxins from the body in many of the ways that traditional Hatha yoga does
(Bikram, 2010). Since these were
all things that have drawn me to explore yoga further, I chose to attend 2
classes at the studio my dad goes to in West Roxbury called Bikram Yoga for
You. It was a very nondescript
place, the door was in a small walkway behind a parking lot and it was marked
by a modest sign stating no more than the name, website, and phone number for
the studio. Inside and down a set
of stairs there is a small center with two changing rooms, a bathroom, a desk,
and a door into the studio itself.
I managed to find the resources they had available, these were similarly
modest - an information card with rates, and a copy of a holistic
magazine. It was certainly simpler
than many yoga studios I have been to and I was surprised by the lack of
advertisement.
The classes itself were certainly
an experience. I had been to a
class with my dad once before this project and I had not enjoyed the class at
that time, I was half anticipating a similar response on this occasion. I was pleasantly surprised to find
that, although the classes were extremely difficult, I had a good experience
overall and I very much enjoyed the process and the style. I minded the heat less than I thought I
would and I found a comfortable place with most of the poses and was able to
focus on myself much more than the rest of the room. My teacher was Sarah Canfield, a graduate of the Yoga
College of India, on both occasions - she was very fast and direct but what she
said made sense and was helpful once understood. The thing I think I appreciated most about the class, and
about many yoga classes, was that we went through every sequence twice. This gave me the opportunity to correct
and adjust my poses to improve from the first cycle and create a better
result. I felt very contented with
both of the sessions I attended and after the second one felt much more fluid
and confident by the end of the class.
I think the heat may have also helped me a great deal in my practice,
besides the enhanced muscle flexibility it provides – I also find in most yoga
classes that my body feels cold and this becomes a distraction during my
practice, causing me to lose focus and the overall experience is lessened. I think the heat was easier for my body
to adjust to and the lack of distraction in that area led to a much better yoga
class both of the times I attended.
An
Indian Yoga Guru named Bikram Choudhury founded the practice of Bikram
Yoga. He began practicing yoga at
age 4 and studied with Bishnu Ghosh, the brother of the famous author of
Autobiography of a Yogi, Paramahansa Yogananda (Bikram, 2010). At age 13 he won the National India
Yoga Championship and was undefeated for 3 years before injuring his knee at 17
while weightlifting (Yoga for You & enorm, 2007). Doctors informed Bikram that he would never be able to walk
again, and, refusing to accept this he worked on with his guru for six months
and using yoga therapy – claims to have been fully healed (Bikram, 2010). From this healing experience Bikram
used traditional Hatha yoga practices to create a sequence of 26 poses and 2
breathing exercises to be completed in a prescribed order with the goal of
attaining overall balance and health (Bikram, 2010).
26 Postures of Bikram Yoga: (Bikram,
2010)
Standing
Deep Breathing – Pranayama
Half-Moon
Pose – Ardha-Chandrasana
Hands
to Feet – Pada-Hasthasana
Awkard
Pose – Utkatasana
Eagle
Pose – Guarurasana
Standing
Head to Knee – Dandayamana-Janushirasana
Standing
Bow Pose – Dandayamana-Dhanurasana
Balancing
Stick – Tuladandasana
Standing
Separate Leg Streching Pose – Dandayamana-Bibhaktapada-Paschimotthanasana
Triangle
Pose – Trikanasana
Standing
Separate Leg Head to Knee Pose – Dandayamana-Bibhaktapada-Janushirasana
Tree
Pose – Tadasana
Toe
Stand – Padangustasana
Dead
Body Pose – Savasana
Wind-Removing
Pose – Pavanamuktasana
Cobra
Pose – Bhujangasana
Locust
Pose – Salabhasana
Full
Locust Pose – Poorna-Salabhasana
Bow
Pose – Dhanurasana
Fixed
Firm Pose – Supta-Vajrasana
Half
Tortoise Pose – Ardha-Kurmasana
Camel
Pose – Ustrasana
Rabbit
Pose – Sasangasana
Head
to Knee Pose and Stretching Pose – Janushirasana and Paschimotthanasana
Spine-Twisting
Pose – Ardha-Matsyendrasana
Blowing
in Firm Pose – Kapalbhatl in Vajrasana
These poses are designed to work
every part of the body in order to provide the muscles, veins, and organs of
the body the tools they need to sustain personal functioning and overall health
(Yoga for You & enorm, 2007).
Each piece of the routine focuses on a different area of the body and
ultimately combines them for a whole body yoga experience (Bikram, 2010). Bikram’s brand of yoga is taught in a
room with 105-degree heat and preferably 40% humidity. The first purpose of this heat is to
warm and soften the muscles in the body for optimal reshaping. Another vital reason for this heat
builds off of the tradition of Hatha yoga, which flushes the organs and glands
in the body of unnecessary waste and toxins (Bikram, 2010). The intent is to achieve a natural
irrigation of the body through circulatory functioning with the help of the
respiratory system while bringing nourishment to your cells. The heat employed in Bikram yoga
furthers this cleaning process by sweating out impurities (Yoga for You &
enorm, 2007). Overall this, and
most forms of yoga, will increase oxygen supplies in the body and teach proper
use and control of this resource (Bikram, 2010). Bikram named this new practice for himself and in 1974
founded the Yoga College of India in Beverly Hills, California. Bikram’s school now offers instruction
and certification for aspiring Bikram yoga teachers and Bikram himself leads
seminars, workshops, lectures and classrooms – which he often calls “torture
chambers” (Bikram, 2010). He and
his practice are among the most respected in the world and many enjoy and
benefit from the practice of Bikram Yoga.
Diane
Ducharme founded Bikram Yoga for You in October of 1995 – the center’s mission
is to use the 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises of Bikram to relieve the
body of toxins and achieve balance (Yoga for You & enorm, 2007). This is based on the ideas of Bikram
Choudhury, a three time National India Yoga champion who, inspired by the
ability of yoga to heal himself, created a practice centered around balancing
and healing the whole person.
Ducharme is a graduate of The Bikram Yoga College of India and is the
first such graduate to open a Bikram Yoga studio in Massachusetts (Yoga for You
& enorm, 2007). Diane took her
first Bikram yoga class in 1985 and attended Bikram’s second training session
in January of 1995 with a group of around 30 other people (Yoga for You &
enorm, 2007). She always felt very
connected with Bikram yoga and uses her knowledge of how to read the body and
of posture to facilitate her classes and the style expressed at Yoga for
You. As well as Bikram yoga
classes, Yoga for You also offers posture clinics, classes for pregnant people,
seminars, mentoring for certified yoga instructors as well as teaching
opportunities (Yoga for You & enorm, 2007).
On
both occasions that I attended the Bikram class, I made sure to take note of
the people in the class and the noticeable culture trends that we have discussed
in class. Based on my observation,
most of the individuals in the class were in their middle age and
Caucasian. The rates on the
information card I picked up do not seem too far off from many other studios
but are still expensive to say the least.
It is very likely that the sheer expense of this and other yoga classes
limits the demographic to a group that can afford to pay for the classes such
as a middle/upper-middle to upper class individuals. People who do not have the extra money for a yoga class
among the various necessities in life are less likely to pay for a month’s
worth of classes at a yoga studio, let alone one. The drop-in rates are not bad but will cost more for a
regular attendee – the options for cheap yoga seem to be fairly scarce. I noticed a pretty even balance of male
and female individuals, which was different from many of the contexts I’ve been
in for yoga classes. My dad likes
to arrive early because the class gets crowded so I got a chance to watch as
people walked in and to listen to the conversations before and after
class. I noticed less of the trend
of specific yoga clothing or intricately designed mats and more of a leaning
toward intensity in many of the people there. The clear regulars were confident and often participating in
their own stretching and breathing routines before class – they’re conversation
was also much more geared toward the Bikram Yoga community and the developments
in other classes and in the wider movement. At one point I overheard my dad and one of the instructors
scoffing at the new powdered drink mix that Bikram Choudhury is marketing as
part of the Bikram Yoga brand. As
I kept observing and in the second class in particular it seemed more and more
as if the popular culture in this particular studio was that of yoga, just yoga
– with a clear scorn for excessive commercialism. However, this studio certainly does not escape commercialism
entirely and they make their efforts to bring people into the Bikram community
and to introduce them to the practice.
The website is much more commercial than the studio itself and explains
the lack of resources at the center.
While this is not what I tend to see in other classes but I am not
surprised by the existence of this opinion. What I did notice that is similar to most other yoga
practices and classes that I have attended was the identification or
affiliation with a particular practice of yoga, Bikram or other – and the
insistence that this is the most desirable or best method of yoga. This is a common theme with many areas
of holistic healing – the subjectivity of yoga is emphasized by people’s desire
to affiliate with one brand or practice.
Overall
I very much enjoyed the opportunity to explore yoga more and to do so with a
more critical mind. I observed and
took in a lot that I was not expecting throughout my experience and found that
I have a more expanded view of what yoga culture looks like in America. I am glad that the center I went to
surprised me because it forced me to think more about the diverse ways in which
yoga culture and practice can manifest itself in different communities. I was glad to get a chance to
experience a different form of practice and to inquire into why some might
choose the Bikram method over others or visa versa. The practice of Bikram was very beneficial for me and I felt
as though I really connected with my body during the class – I really would
like to go back sometime soon if I can, it would be interesting to see if I
continue to have similar experiences or if it changes after I’ve completed the
routine a few times.
Works Cited:
Yoga for You, enorm (2007). Bikram yoga for you. Retrieved from: http://www.bikramyogaforyou.com/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/
Bikram, C. (2010).
Bikram yoga: Bikram’s yoga college
of India. Retrieved from: http://www.bikramyoga.com/
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