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| Hi, great website! Love reading everyone's personal experiences with Bikram. Ok, here's my question: is standing stick pose (forgot the name) the same as running 10 miles? The teachers where I take Bikram (Las Vegas) tell us that every class. I also run and the two don't feel the same my body. I've been doing Bikram for 3 years and I've accepted a lot of the hooey the teachers proclaim in class but this one.....any unabashed insight, ya'll?
Thanks! Fifi  |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
  
Location: A Blue State |
That's utter bull****. It's a strenuous pose, sure, and coming after Standing Bow and
Standing Forehead to Knee, in the heat, it makes quite an impression. But standing for
10 seconds on one leg is not the same as running for about 1 hours.
Where in Vegas do you go? I had one Bikram class in Vegas while travelling. |
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| Fifi--good thinking looking (listening) to the spiel with a critical eye (ear). Unfortunately, I think many of the Bikram teacher trainees take everything Guru B says too much to heart when he's probably trying to be entertaining. I went to a seminar conducted by Mr.s Bikram (Rajashree) this past summer--three days of her conducting two classes per day--there was NONE of that type reference to the asanas--just common sense. However, several of the attendees, including some Bikram teacher's questioned her-- "But Bikram said during training..." She intoned it was anecdotal, an over-the-top exageration to keep people paying attention.
And welcome to the forum lady--always fun having new Bikramites aboard. We have a couple of Bikram teachers on the board, perhaps they'll chime in. |
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| Hi Bad Guy. I practice at the only Bikram studio I know of in LV - the one on Highland, near all the strip clubs. I like the studio but I would really like to try a different one if anyone out there knows of another Bikram studio in Las Vegas. BTW, what do you think when other studios advertise "like Bikram-style yoga"? Worth a try or just a hack trying to make a buck? f |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 418
Location: New York | OMG! This is my hot button. I have run 10 miles many, many times and have also done Balancing Stick posture many, many times and they are nothing alike. Like Bay Guy said, that is just utter BS. Not even relevant on an anecdotal level.
Along the same lines is saying that doing Half Tortoise is equivalent to 8 hours of sleep. It's bad enough for Bikram to say but it's worse for teachers to repeat it.
Fifi- I think that I read that a new studio in LV is set to open soon . . . check www.bikramyoga.com and look under "Schools." Also, why not give one of the hot yoga studios a shot? Often they are run by Bikram certified instructors who chafe under the yoke of the "master." |
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| Jackie Cat--a Bikram Instructor, knows of what she speaks. I just tried a "Hot Body Yoga" this week in San ANtonio--teacher is Bikram certified (or was) and has incorporated different aspects such as sun salutations, hip openers and a varied asana sequence depending on her mood and the classe's--nice change of pace. However, I will say and I will NOT accept discussion on this topic, nearly two years of Bikram overseen by my favorite teacher who would not accept my whining, using props or trying to cheat in some of the harder Bikram asana versions, made me look like a pro at Hot Body where tolerance was accepted--and, I'll humbly add, I can do the Bikram Triangle perectly--perfectly I say...thanks to two years of unrelenting Bikram instructor demands. |
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| Thanks, guys and gal. It's so nice to have an open dicsussion about Bikram without anyone getting all offended/defensive. Kinda reminds me of an AA meeting (oops, did I just say that?) Well, more like a Co-DA meeting where we can actually talk about people (die-hard Bikramers) who want to make us crazy thinking Half Tortoise pose is equalavent to 8 hours of sleep. Now that's one I haven't heard before!
Anyway, I really appreciate everyone's input and warm welcome. Congratulations on your "perect" Triangle, Bruce.  |
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| If I'd have had a Bikram teacher overseeing my elementary education, my spelling would be better...or my typing...or my attention to detail...or my cavalier attitude...or my...well, I could go on & on...but seriously, as I continue my yoga journey, I will take a lot of positive things about Bikram along with me. He and the teachers he's blessed have made a positive contribution to my quality of life. Some call it "McYoga," if I were Bikram, I'd take that as a compliment--available to nearly everybody, most like it, and it aims to please. You don't want it everyday, all day for the rest of your life but it's nourishing, filling and something you can understand and appreciate. And I tell you folks, if you ever come to San Antonio and get the chance to see my teacher Carol do the asanas, I guarantee you nobody could do them better. Her standing bow actually brings tears to my eyes--it is truely beautiful. If she happens to be practicing rather than teaching, when it's bow time, I don't do it, I just watch her--and the half moon--don't get me started--it's unearthly how she can get to that angle. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
Location: A Blue State | Hey Guys --
Bruce, I hear you about the benefits of Bikram as a starting point. It made
me serious and focused, and now that I've moved on I still see how it was the
right place for me to start.
Fifi, I would encourage you to look at some of the other studios in Las Vegas, hot or
Bikram affiliated. There's one listed as open or soon to open, as JackieCat says,
on Mr. B's website. It's a big yoga world out there, and I've only met one yoga
teacher who needed to wear a wireless headmike in 1500 sq ft studio....while she
sat on the floor in front of her armchair.
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
Location: A Blue State | Hey JackieCat,
On Tortoise and 8 hours of sleep....all I can say to that is that one night
I told my wife I was going to go upstairs to stretch before bedtime. She
found me up there, asleep on the floor, in Tortoise Pose.
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| Hmm...maybe if I fell asleep in half tortoise, my head would hit the floor while my hips stayed on my feet--can't seem to get that while awake. |
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| Dear fifi:
The fact that you are asking this questions makes me feel that part of your mind believes that stick pose = 10 miles. Is that why you enndured 3 years of Bikram with lot of hooey?
If you are a runner, then you know better. Ask your teacher to run 10 miles with you and see what happens.
Neel Kulkarni
www.authenticyoga.org |
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| Okay, here's my lame attempt at explaining the ridiculous...perhaps the jump in your heart rate during a long balancing stick is akin to the heart rate achieved during a long run. I always find that balancing stick and third part of locust kick up my heart rate during class. |
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| HI Neel,
The thing is I WANT to believe in hooey and a lot of times I do! Jeez, I wish stick pose = running 10 miles. Ok, I have a confession: I really enjoy doing Bikram yoga but I don't personally enjoy the vibe of any of the Bikram teachers I've had. However, I adore other yoga teachers I've encountered even though I don't dig the yoga as much. I suppose my new equation is love = hooey + acceptance. Anyway, I've taken Jackie Cat's advice and have located the newest Bikram studio scheduled to open in LV soon.
Thanks for everyone's input. This is fun! Fifi |
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| Fifi,
I think as a group, the Bikram teacher's are younger with less life experience never mind yoga experience. I've gone through love/hate relationships with many of them and we all grew with the experience. I think this is because as they are younger, they are open to the knowledge and experiences of others IF your concerns are communicated to them. I just today interviewed a Bikram teacher for my teacher's training and one particular question I asked was, "How do you see your role as a teacher?" Part of the answer was she thought she was all knowledgeable when she first came away from Bikram's training--had a 'tude of superiority. I empathize. After my Air Force basic training, I thought I was ****hot. Enroute to my first assignment, I sat next to a guy who asked me what I did. I told him I was an Air Force Airman (at the lowest rank you can be), so I asked him what he did--figuring he was something much beneath me. He pulled out his identification card and he was an Air Force officer (major) and the pilot of the Presiden'ts Air Force One aircraft...I was properly humbled. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 418
Location: New York | Interesting that the teacher you interviewed felt she was really knowledgable after TT. I had the opposite experience . . . I felt that even after spending an obscene amount of $ and 9 weeks that I really knew very little about yoga and how to teach it. I was also angry because I felt that I could have learned more. At first I was more angry about "them" (Bikram, etc.) not teaching me more. But later that kind of morphed into me being disappointed that I wasn't able to be more open to the experience and absorb more of what was taught. I had such an extreme negative reaction to Bikram and to the way we were taught (the "bootcamp" atmosphere) plus all of the sychophants constantly sucking up to Bikram . . . I kind of shut down and in the process closed myself off. (But I still feel that we could have been taught more!)
But it's all good . . . learning to recite the Bikram dialogue gave me enough confidence to actually get up in front of a group of people and attempt to lead (I hesitate to use the word "teach" for those early classes) them. The more I did it, the more confidence I developed. I've been teaching for about 2 1/2 years now and while I use a lot of the information in the dialogue when I teach, I also use other information I've gathered through exposure to other teachers and yoga traditions as well as my own practice.
And even with all of the attendant BS, at the end of the day, the Bikram series is a darn good one. A new student has recently started attending classes at my studio. He is quite overweight. He has been coming daily for about 3-4 weeks now and I have already seen HUGE improvements. He has already noticeably lost weight. At first he couldn't grab both feet for Floor Bow and now he can. It's quite remarkable the amount of progress he's made in such a short time, just coming to class regularly and doing the yoga.
Fifi- I laughed out loud when I read your post about wanting to believe the hooey. I too wish that Balancing Stick= 10 Mile run! |
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| You know Julie, I'd really enjoy having you for a teacher--nice commen sense attitude. One of the local Bikram teacher's said Rajashree was kinda curt during training and was not a "Go-to" kind of person. That's too bad as my quick dealing with her here was just the opposite. What was your first hand impression during training? |
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| Hey fifi, I'm in Vegas too and I've been to the Bikram studio on Highland. There's another studio on Decatur (Sahara is the cross street). They don't call it Bikram, but Hot Yoga instead because the studio doesn't want to pay the fees required in using Bikram's name as he's trademarked his sequence. While it doesn't have as many class offerings in the Bikram style, it does have it, and the lady who owns the studio, is really nice (she's Bikram certified too). I actually prefer the atmosphere and the energy at that studio better as she didn't scoff at me when I said I did other styles of yoga as one guy at the other studio did who shall remain nameless. There are other styles of yoga offered there too if you want to try them such as Ashtanga 1st-3rd Series, Power, Hatha, etc. If you want more info regarding the studio here's a link to it's website.
http://www.activeyogalv.com |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
Location: A Blue State | Bruce - 2004-11-19 4:12 PM
Fifi,
I think as a group, the Bikram teacher's are younger with less life experience never mind yoga experience. I've gone through love/hate relationships with many of them and we all grew with the experience. I think this is because as they are younger, they are open to the knowledge and experiences of others IF your concerns are communicated to them. I just today interviewed a Bikram teacher for my teacher's training and one particular question I asked was, "How do you see your role as a teacher?" Part of the answer was she thought she was all knowledgeable when she first came away from Bikram's training--had a 'tude of superiority. I empathize. After my Air Force basic training, I thought I was ****hot. Enroute to my first assignment, I sat next to a guy who asked me what I did. I told him I was an Air Force Airman (at the lowest rank you can be), so I asked him what he did--figuring he was something much beneath me. He pulled out his identification card and he was an Air Force officer (major) and the pilot of the Presiden'ts Air Force One aircraft...I was properly humbled.
I'm embarassed to remember what a hot shot I thought I was when I was 25 or so. OMG!!
I told off people whose shoes I should have shined...I had no idea how far I had to go.
It's actually a good thing I was as arrogant as I was, because it was a sort of fire-proof
suit for me that helped me survive the early parts of my career...overconfidence is a whole
lot more helpful than timidity.
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| Fifi -- I feel the same way -- what about the extended child pose one -- I don't know the formal name but you clench your shoulder blades up and extend your pinky fingers. My yoga studio quotes that done correctly that is equivalent to 8 hours of sleep. Well, I gotta tell you -- I still have to believe my 8 hours of sleep are not replaceable. Jill |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 418
Location: New York | Hi Jill- The pose you're referring to is Half Tortoise, the same one that I referenced in one of my above posts. It drives me NUTS when instructors rattle off that "equivalent to 8 hours of sleep BS." It simply isn't true!
Bruce- Thanks so much for the nice compliment! I would love to have you as a student in my class some day, and also be a student in one of your future classes. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
Location: A Blue State |
Like I said, Half Tortoise is a good pose to fall asleep in, not a substitute
for 8 hours worth. Are there really people out there who believe Bikram's
nonsense? |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 418
Location: New York | From the looks of the extreme sychophantic behavior of some of my fellow teacher trainees (and senior teachers who assisted at teacher training), I think there are people out there who believe anything as long as it comes out of Bikram's mouth. |
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| What about things he wrote in his book that he sleep only 1-2 hours each night. He also says the same thing in several interviews.
As I came from an industry in which misrepresentation is a very serious matter. It's hard not to believe what he boast in his own book or in a public interview.
What do all of you think about this? |
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| Don't believe everything you read and question authority. Often. |
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Stick pose = running 10 miles?
