DAY SIX: The Opening

Author: bikramyogachick /

It's only been six days and already we are bonding. Leaving comments on each others blogs, encouraging the non-blogger participants via the Facebook group. It's really great, this community we have built together. Already I can feel a group energy. Days one through three started off tough for many of us. Blog entries about illness, hangovers (Jan 1st of course!), creaky joints, tight hamstrings....heck, tight everything! We pushed on knowing we are at the very beginning of the challenge and that we just need to keep at it, day by day.

Then slowly it started to happen. Posts about solid practices. Slowly but surely we, as a group, started to get into the groove. We started to open, like a flower petal blooming.
Can you feel it? Ain't nothin' gonna breaka our stride!

1 comments

DAY FIVE: Dedicated to Ren

Author: thedancingj /

I am not really qualified to write this, but here goes.

The Bikram community lost one of its own in the last hours of 2009.  A deeply fabulous senior teacher, seminar leader, and true Bikram yogi by the name of Ren Soriano.  In the last few days on Facebook, so many yogis have been speaking up and sharing their beautiful memories of him.  He was simply adored, as a teacher and as a human being.  Across the board, there is one sentiment that keeps being repeated: he is still with us.  He still lives in us.  We won't forget him.  We honor him by living our lives the way he would have wanted us to live.  He is with us.

He taught for Bikram in Los Angeles, and I saw him plenty of times when I visited headquarters.  He was a perfect bundle of energy and enthusiasm.  But you know, I never took his class.  I walked by him in that big room and never started a conversation with him.  I was really looking forward to it.  I thought there would be time.  It scares me shitless that he's just gone.  He wasn't old; he was younger than Bikram.  He was a yogi, a senior teacher, the real thing.  Part of me thought that these people were supposed to be spared, they were supposed to stick around to help guide the rest of us.  I guess that was naive, one of my last illusions.  Next time, I won't wait around.

As they say:  Life is a terminal illness... act accordingly.

Ren's funeral is being held this morning in Hollywood.  I can't make it, but I will dedicate my yoga practice to him tonight.  For those of you who knew him - and those like me who didn't, but wish you did - maybe this is one of the best things we can do.  And if you have memories of him, please, I invite you to share them here.

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DAY FOUR: My Crutch. My Bad Habit.

Author: Me /

Oh. My. God.


I pretty much DIED in class tonight. And this is only DAY FOUR of the challenge! My issue tonight: Acid Reflux.

It happened first in Standing Separate Leg Head to Knee pose. But I struggled through and did both sides. Then I moved onto Tree and Toe Stand. But once I turned on my belly in the floor series for Cobra... I was up "Sh#t-tastic Creek." I couldn't even lie on my belly, let alone do the "back strengthening" series. I had to turn on my side to take the pressure off of my stomach and chest.

For those of you who have never had the pleasure of having acid reflux, let me enlighten you... For me, it starts out as a slight pain in my stomach. Then it moves up my stomach, into the sternum-area. That is where I get to experience more cramping followed by a burning sensation. That slow burn then proceeds to move up into my chest... Then, if I don't back off, it shoots up into my throat.

It is the most uncomfortable sensation I have ever personally experienced during a Bikram class. What causes it? Well, I believe the following:
  • Drinking coffee less than four hours before class.
  • Eating less than three hours before class.
  • Guzzling water right before or during class.
The last one was what did it to me. My really cool Lululemon "Sweat Once A Day" water bottle was filled to the brim with a mixture of Emergen-C and water. And despite having hydrated all day at work, I still proceeded to use the mixture every chance I got in class... Even though I didn't particularly need it.

Simple truth: I just wanted it.

And my body gave me a simple response: "You don't eff-ing need it!" And it decided to try to push it back up out of my body.

I fought my body for the entire class. But I lost the battle while standing around, waiting for the shower after class. It wasn't bad. That's one thing I have learned from Bikram in the past five years...

"You abuse your body, eventually it will correct you on what it likes and does not like."

Tomorrow, shooting for less water.

2 comments

Looking For Guest Bloggers!

Author: Me /

We're a few days into the challenge, and we know many of you have experiences you would like to share about your Bikram 101 Challenge. Every Sunday, we would like to have other practitioners share their thoughts right here.


So if you have an interest in being one of these guest Sunday bloggers, please send us an email at bikram101challenge (at) gmail.com. We would love to get you slotted in to post.

Thanks!

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DAY THREE: The Dehydrated & Creaky Body.

Author: Me /

There's a big difference in my body when I practice in the morning versus in the afternoon or the evening.


It seems the best classes I have are when I practice around 3pm or 4pm. The evening classes, 6pm and on, are fairly strong for me too. In both cases, my body has been awake for a few hours and is stretched out a little more. The only problems I seem to encounter in these classes is that if I've eaten or had something other than water less than three hours before the class begins, I end up getting a feeling like I want to vomit. (Yep, right during Standing Head to Knee, as I am trying to get my hands "bucketed" around the bottom of my foot.) But despite the "vomit" feeling, I feel good in the afternoon and evening. But mornings? Ugh!

By "mornings" I mean the following:
  1. Wake-up.
  2. Get out of bed.
  3. Brush teeth.
  4. Pull clothes on.
  5. Head to the studio for class.
When I practice in the mornings, I literally roll out of bed and head to practice. I may have a glass of water before I leave the house... But often I don't. I just don't have time. And I walk into the studio for class with a dehydrated and creaky body.

My bones play their "snap, crackle, pop" melody for everyone standing around me. I can't get my back to arch and "go back, lean back, way back, more back" in the Half Moon series. Even after most of the class goes by, I have trouble with Camel. Then Rabbit pose comes along, and I can't tuck my chin far enough into my chest to get the stretch going down my spine.

"I should be warmed up by this point!" I tell myself. But I am not.

And that is how classes go sometimes. "Lifetime practice," they call it. You can practice for many years, and you're going to have days where you struggle. Today was one of those days for me. But it won't prevent me from taking another morning class next weekend. I just hope that by then, after practicing for over eight days, my body will allow me more freedom in flexibility first thing in the morning.

6 comments

DAY TWO: Letting go of Results

Author: bikramyogachick /

"The wise man lets go of all results, whether good or bad, and is focused on the action alone."
Bhagavad Gita

It's hard to let go of results. How many times do you fall out of standing bow repeatedly and start giving yourself the evil eye in the mirror. Maybe even shaking your head in disgust before getting back in. What if we decide "This challenge I'm not going to sit out any postures for the entire 101 days". That is certainly an awesome thing to achieve. There are many yogis on this challenge that will in fact do that without trying. However, even the most seasoned yogis have their bad days. The yoga truck doesn't discriminate. It doesn't say "Hi Bikramyogachick! You've been practicing for two and a half years so I'm just going to honk and drive by, no running you over!" No. That truck doesn't care who you are, what you have eaten, how hydrated you are or how long you have been practicing. It will run you over occasionally. Some days it might even chuckle, slam it into reverse and back up after you have staggered to your feet. The important thing is that we do not give up. We take each practice as it comes. We speak with wonder of our strong rockstar practices and we let go of the tough ones. For we are here to practice Bikram yoga for 90 minutes a day for 101 days. That is the action we are focused on. We will let go of the results and just.....do!

8 comments

DAY ONE: Just "kill your self"

Author: thedancingj /

Welcome to the new year and the first day of the 101 Day Bikram Yoga Challenge!  (Though as one of my friends pointed out, they're already on day two in Australia...)

I think that everyone doing this challenge is excited for the beginning.  There may be some apprehension mixed in there too, along with curiosity, ambition, determination, and any other combination of emotions.  A lot of people have never practiced this much before, so it will be a new experience.  Let's be fair; even for those of us who HAVE done ridiculous amounts of yoga in the past, this will STILL be a new experience, because every challenge is different, just like no two classes are the same.

What is our destination?  Many of us have heard teachers say that you have to "kill yourself!" in class.  What we don't understand right away is that the true instruction is to kill your self.  Here's what Bikram says in his most recent book (emphasis is mine):

The ultimate destination of human life is Self-Realization... When I say "Self" with a capital S, I mean the real you, the perfect you, the ultimate human potential that you carry inside you, which, I believe, is also the Divine.  You have godliness in you, and so do I.  That's our birthright.  Our mission here on Earth is to fully inhabit or to realize the awesome potential of our true Selves.  The "self" we think we are, the one spelled with a lowercase s, is just a creation of our minds, the ego.  We have to break down and fight through that ego self to get to the right Self.  And the only way to become a Self-Realized human being is to study and practice yoga.

And there you have it.  That's what we're really after

So tuck that idea away in the back of your brain somewhere, and keep it safe.  Because so many other things will happen over the next few months, it'll be easy to get distracted.  We get caught up in the changes in our bodies, we fixate on perfecting one particular posture, we get impressed by the magnitude of our achievement, or we get discouraged because we haven't met some arbitrary goal.  These things are fine!  They are all so natural, and they are part of... dare I say it?  The process.  But every now and then, remind yourself that you're not trying to "kill yourself" by being better than the other guy, by being more aggressive, or by suffering the most.  You're trying to "kill your self" and find the Divine part of you.

Let's do it...

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