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| I've been doing Bikram's since the end of Feb this year. I thought I would give it a year to see what happens. And while I've progressed, I am SO darned frustrated with my lack of progress in certain poses.
Now, I am barely into the first part of standing head to knee pose, as in, I can get there and perhaps hold it for about 30 seconds.
I'll be DARNED if I'll EVER figure out Locust pose -- the "ladies" prevent my shoulders from resting on the floor.
I can't get into a proper Tree pose.
My standing bow is more like a standing OMG I'm GOING TO FALL OVER.
You get the idea!
But I DO love the practice and I would LOVE to teach one day. So the question is: how perfect do I need to be to teach? How can you possibly teach if you can't do the poses correctly?
I know what the studio answer is -- which is to find your perfect pose in that moment in your practice. And you ARE only working within yourself, not in competition. But darn it, what if I NEVER get into these poses? How can I demonstrate form if I can't do it???
Freia |
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| you need to be more perfect than you'll learn to be in bikram yoga...
oooooo |
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Veteran
Posts: 243
 
| I'm going to TT in the fall and my postures are nothing like perfect! I expected my studio owner not to recommend me based on this- she said that bodies change in time, and what she wants from a TT trainee is dedication to the practice and love of the yoga.
Having said that- the first discussion I had with her was over 6 months ago and my body HAS changed- while I will never be a rock star, I think my postures are at least decent enough now to blend in with the other trainees. I hope so!
You will change too- and you only mentioned poses you aren't good at- you must have a couple you do think you do well? |
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| i guess at the end of the day, it probably takes a lot of determination. everytime my instructor says "kick your legs" i make sure i kick until my hands feel like it is being rip apart by it (bow pose). just try your best to dig your mouth into the towel when you are doing locust pose and in that way, you will be using a lot of your back to lift the legs. forget about the "ladies"!
standing bow pulling was hard for me as well, but it has gotten better over time. if you say you are falling over, could it be because you are not locking your knee enough? that your quadriceps are not being contracted? my instructor told me that you should not be grabbing the floor with your toes. all the weight is just in the heel. try locking the knee so much that you use your whole thigh, and that it sores! and kick your the other leg. you will find amazing balance.  good luck. |
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Regular
Posts: 73
Location: The City of Brotherly Love | You weight is absolutely NOT just in the heel in St. Bow. You need weight distributed all over the foot, especially in the ball behind the big toe. Don't worry if your toes grip for a while that's a real minutia type of adjustment not for everyone right away--you have bigger fish to fry for now. To put all the weight in the heel can potentially cause you to jam the knee if you are not locking the leg properly.
Take your practice seriously but not yourself too, too seriously. Ok? |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 399
Location: Oregon | I love the articulation of the series and the attention to detail and the set up. But, it's yoga practice, not yoga perfect. I totally believe it's about whether you're given "100% honest effort" not what the posture looks like or ever how deep you'll ever get in the posture. Let go of perfection. |
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| I have been practicing for over a year and still have most of the same issues as you do - but have my good postures, too. I really love that my practice is always changing, I am always learning something new, and sometimes even when I finally figure out a posture, I realize a few months later that I had another part to still learn, and I have to figure it out all over again.
I did a posture clinic a few months ago with one of the international competitors who placed quite high this year. She told us that it took her 3 years to be able to do Toe Stand. This made me feel better about my lack of Standing Bow.
You say: "So the question is: how perfect do I need to be to teach? How can you possibly teach if you can't do the poses correctly?" ---> I think that the best teachers are the ones that have had a hard time to get where their postures are now. These are the ones that can watch someone else who is struggling and find the right words to correct them. If it was easy and they could bring their forehead to their knee on their first class ever, how will they know what to tell me when I can't do it? All your work now and your victories will make you a better teacher. |
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| Thanks, all, for the input. I absolutely believe that if you give 100% to wherever you are at that moment in your practice you will get the benefits. I am also concentrating on form from the ground UP, so while I lose my balance in standing head to knee pose, while I am IN it, my supporting leg is locked like a lamp post! The problem that I have in the balancing series is really understanding WHERE I should be -- in standing bow, for example, keeping my hips forward in line instead of rotating the hip of the kicking leg back is SO much harder, making balance a challenge for me. And given that I am about as flexible as a board (but strong!) means that every day is interesting and a supreme effort.
I think I'm just discouraged because I've read Bikram's books and he is very reassuring that "if you don't get it now, you'll be there in a couple of weeks" and its been freaking MONTHS and I'm SO not there...
I guess patience and acceptance in my practice is what I need to focus on, huh...
Freia |
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| Just like everyone says... the harder you work for it, the more it means in the end.
You certainly don't have to have "perfect" postures to teach - after all, you will never have to demonstrate them! - but you do want to have a very good technical UNDERSTANDING of the postures. So it's totally fine if you're not spectacularly successful every time you try to do a posture, as long as you understand WHAT you are trying to do. Cause then you can help other people. And your struggles will make you a much better teacher in the long run, because you will understand exactly what your students are going through!
I think you're getting some misinformation in standing bow, though. The technique of the posture is this: while kicking straight back as hard as possible, you stretch forward towards the mirror and bring your body DOWN, from the lower spine, until your abdomen and chest are parallel to the floor. ONCE your body is DOWN, then you can balance forever by kicking and stretching equal amounts in opposite directions. FORGET ABOUT THE HIPS. Your hip will follow your leg. Just get your body down and focus on the KICK. (If somebody's got you overly concerned about your hips, then I"m not at all surprised that you are having trouble. This drives me crazy. The hips are the LAST thing to worry about. Get your foundation first - body down, leg up, and KICK. ESPECIALLY if you are inflexible but strong, the body needs to come down right away.)
TECHNIQUE!!!
Oh and P.S. don't stress over your shoulders in locust... I have pretty small boobs and it still took me like 2 years before my shoulders touched the floor in that pose. |
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| If you never achieve perfection you will continue to be a "perfect" yoga student. |
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| Thanks guys. I feel much better!
I guess the issue with the hips is because instead of getting my abdomen and chest parallel to the floor, I tend to rotate my kicking leg outwards creating a twist in my mid-spine. So my lower spine isn't parallel to the floor! My teacher corrects me on this, and says the best way to keep yourself from twisting in the mid-spine area, keep your hips as in line as possible. So I see where she's coming from but I really appreciate a different perspective on this and you definitely make sense. SO, I WILL stress less about it, and will focus on going into the pose and just kicking my leg. The rest will come, I'm sure. And thanks for the encouragement especially re: locust pose! DANG I wish Bikram had chosen a different pose!!!
Freia
Edited by freiamaya 2009-08-28 7:47 PM
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| I gotcha, Freia. And your teacher is right that you shouldn't twist like that. I just believe (VERY STRONGLY) that you can't try to "steer" that with your hips. Check out the FIRST problem that YOU identified - your kicking leg is going outward instead of straight back. That is the source of your problem! The hips just follow the legs. When you learn how to kick straight BACK and up as hard as possible, then you won't be able to kick out to the side like that, and everything will straighten out. See how it goes.
Yeah, 5 years of Bikram and locust still = nemesis on most days. Today was one of those days. Learn to love it ANYWAY. ;)
J |
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| TOTALLY will lead with the leg next class. Thanks so much for your help.
Freia |
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| There is not one pose I can do properly, but I will happily stand at the back of the class and try my best. Ive got so many back problems that Im like a statue mostly, but Im sure that the heat and just the stretchnig has got to be helping. Sometimes I think the teacher must think Im the most hopeless student, but onwards we go.... |
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| One of my teachers said yesterday - "The poses will be effective long before they look nice." |
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| Just know that you will never be "perfect" while at the same time, you already are. It is passion and dedication that makes a good teacher. If anything, you might be a more compassionate teacher and have more to offer the general/mainstream people who practice Bikram yoga because you understand more what it is like to struggle with the physical/mental challenges of the asanas. Perhaps more so than a super-flexible person who "perfected" all of the asanas in a relatively short period of time. Most people do not look like the people on the cover of Yoga Journal, you know? One of my teachers, Lisa Goodwin, says, "Advanced Yoga is not the same as Advanced Asana." I think as long as you are speaking from your heart, from your knowing, people will respond. |
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How "perfect" do I need to be?
