Thursday, March 1, 2012

Cat Lyons - Bikram Yoga Midterm









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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