Good evening! First, before I post I just want to say that I know I owe you guys some pics of the yoga regional champs. For those of you that know me IRL (in real life, my daughter would be proud of me for knowing this abbreviation, but I digress) send me a message on facebook and I will have you make friends with my friend that posted TONS of fabulous pics that she took with her big girl camera.One more thing. I see, from my counter stats, that I am getting hits everyday from people googling "bikram teacher training fall 2009 las vegas" or some variation of those words. I am not at teacher training, just live in the city where it's being held. I do lots of Bikram yoga challenges and will be taking classes down at training, but alas, this is not the droids you were looking for. You're welcome to stay though!!! and....for your benefit I added a gadget to the right side with links to the blogs I have found pertaining to your search. Note to my other Bikram blogger friends: if you find more, please share the links with me so I can help these googlers out!
Ahem. Ok. Now back to my post (as if you care, you've already clicked away because I gave you all the info you were looking for. That's ok, I still love you!)
Tonight was 530 with Yuko. Reggi, Shahid and I chatted in the lobby beforehand, noticing there were not many yogis signing in. It was a slow night. Class starts and there are no newbies. We all have plenty of room, there's only about 15 of us. Yuko kept the temp at the perfect mix and did a great job of interspersing tips with the dialog. She practices twice a day usually, is our little flexible japanese doll, and KNOWS these postures like she knows her own heart. Many things she said helped me, but most importantly...she actually came over and helped me a few times. The first assist was during:
Dandayamana-Bibhaktapada-Paschimotthanasana |
Standing Separate Leg Stretching Pose
I don't look like that little guy in the pic. Instead my forehead is roughly a foot from the floor and my spine is really curved. I try to get it straight, but no dice. Yuko came over to me, tapped my right knee and said "microbend your knee". What? I did it, but wasn't sure why. Then she said "now stick your butt up in the air and relock your knee!". Holy shit. I was suddenly pointing downward with a much straighter spine and was closer to the floor!
The next assist came during
Wind Removing pose 
I was never able to grab my elbows and get all compact like the picture. But I've lost 12 pounds in the last 5 weeks, so with less "stuff" in the way, I'm getting closer to grabbing those elbows. Yuko came over and pressed gently down. My spine flattened out, my knees came closer to my chest. I breathed gently and pulled with my biceps and received the most wonderful stretch. I just hope I didn't cut her. My legs were stubbly. Yes, I just admitted that on the internet. Crap. At least it wasn't Frank giving me the assist. **cheeks turn beat red**
Last assist was another stretching posture in which my curved back gives me grief:
Stetching Pose
Again, I look nothing like this cool little flexible guy. God love him. Yuko came over and gently pressed on my lower spine. "Inhale!". "Now exhale and stretch forward, suck your stomach in, contract your thighs, keep your heels off the ground!". Holy mother of God. I wasn't at the look-at-me-I-can-bite-my-toes-and-give-myself-a-cheap-pedicure-while-bikram-himself-stands-on-my-back stage, but I looked more like that flexi little stick figure than I ever had in my life! And it didn't hurt, it was a nice gentle push toward where I should be. Aaaahhhh. It was good! I DO get by ....with a little help from my friends.
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My impression is that assistance or modifications/adjustments aren't strongly encouraged in the Bikram studio. Hands off policy, thank you very much!!
ReplyDeleteBut, I have LOVED each and every time a teacher has taken all of 10 seconds to come and adjust me, press on my spine, help stretch my leg, move my hips into a better position, etc. That one second of help extends into your practice indefinitely. What's better than that??!!
Yes, they are totally hands off, so that rare assist is wonderful!
ReplyDeleteI can do all of those poses.
ReplyDeleteNone of them on purpose, though.
moooog~ this does not surprise me: the fantastic midget man of steel can do anything he puts his mind too!
ReplyDeleteWe've had three teachers who do some hands on assisting. My favorite is when the teacher snakes a towel under your back in Camel and then gently pulls up, giving an idea of what they mean by pushing up with your chest.
ReplyDeleteThere are two basic issues involved with the hands on corrections. First, there's the liability question. Second, there is the question of adequate training. With the size of the teacher trainings that he's done, there really isn't an opportunity to teach hands on corrections. And there aren't any follow-ups that I know of that would supply this knowledge. But if you look at pictures of Bikram, its pretty obvious that he doesn't mind being hands on. I'm thinking of the pictures of him surfing on top of someone during Camel, or doing a Crow perched on a Camel.
Duffy~ I love it when you see pics of him standing on someones back in stretching pose too. Pretty funny!
ReplyDeleteAwww, so sweet. I could never do yoga without some "help"!
ReplyDeleteLilu~ I'm sure B would volunteer to help you get your leg over your head or something. But that's a whole 'nother blog post. :)
ReplyDeleteI like the pics. Brandy's floor bow looks EXACTLY like Sarah Baughn's. They've got the same spine. You've gotta show me how to set up a counter sometime... I've never gotten around to it and still have no earthly clue who's reading my page. I nearly gave myself a stroke just now when I googled "lock the knee", though....
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