Bikram Yoga Az's Rev-Up Workshop: Let Nothing Steal Your Peace Away

By Nicole Deacon

My favorite season is the fall. I love when the leaves turn colors (sometimes have to travel to see it) and the weather starts to get the way I like it! It becomes perfect for nights on the patio, afternoon bike rides, and hiking. Summer ends…fall begins… and then we do it again the next year. We accept that there are seasons in the weather…but there are also seasons in our life. Everything has an ebb and a flow. In some ways both are similar to transitioning from one yoga pose to another. We all have moments of joy and clarity and moments of sorrow and fear.   We have new love come into our lives and loved ones we cherish leave our lives. This is life…seasons.

Bikram Yoga helps us to stay calm, peaceful, and joyful no matter what season of life we are in. It is easy to be peaceful in a happy situation… yoga practice teaches us to remain calm among the storms of our life as one stays composed during a yoga pose. We start to accept things as they are, instead of as we wish them to be.   We learn to control and direct our minds to create the experiences we want. Consistent yoga practice disciplines us to balance how things are and how we want them to be. We do not always have control over the events that happen to us (the weather, parents passing, wars, traffic, etc) but we do have control over how we experience them. We can train our mind to find the value, and to appreciate each moment that comes to us for what it is.  If we can remember Rollo May:

“Human freedom involves our capacity to pause between the stimulus and response and, in that pause, to choose the one response toward which we wish to throw our weight. The capacity to create ourselves, based upon this freedom, is inseparable from consciousness or self-awareness. “

Yoga class is ultimately about self-awareness and self-realization. Bikram yoga helps us to be conscious of our breathing and more aware of ourselves. Yoga poses challenge us… in a hot, stinky, difficult position… can you breathe? can you find peace… and can you find joy?

It is through continued yoga practice; putting ourselves in a challenging environment that we get better and better at finding peace no matter what is happening around us. Through yoga, we eventually reach that point of bliss where nothing…no one… can steal our peace away.

Bikram Yoga on the Road

By Jessica Frent

Monday I flew to New York’s JFK airport, Tuesday I flew from New York to Chicago and Thursday back to Scottsdale. Each day I had the joy of practicing at a new studio, with instructors I hadn’t experienced before. Although it’s the same dialogue and postures, it’s never the same. I hear the dialogue differently each time, learn something new, and experience new challenges. If you’re like me and your work keeps you frequently away from home, you know how challenging it can be to maintain a regular practice. Travel time and meetings might leave little room in your schedule for a 90 minute class but I have found a little dedication and planning can help you keep up your practice when you're traveling.

Whether you are traveling for work or on holiday most major cities across the globe offer Bikram Yoga and I make it a habit to always take a class after long flights to minimize jet lag. When you schedule your next trip, go to the Bikram Yoga class finder to find a studio near where you are staying.

Visiting Phoenix or Scottsdale, Arizona? We'd love to have you in our studios for your Bikram Yoga class "on the road"! We offer great drop-in rates, as well as an Out-of-Towner package (includes 5 consecutive days of yoga AND a mat and towel on each visit for just $50!). Click here to see our locations and class times.

Five Keys to Improve Your Practice

By Stephen Rumpp

Determination

 - To start!  And if necessary, to start again!  To keep coming to class especially on those days you don't want to!  To make up your mind to stay your course!  To let nothing get in your way.  To make room for your daily yoga practice!  To stay close!

Focus

- To discover new edges in your practice!  To experience your improved ability to breathe while working hard!  To cultivate a tuned mind-body connection and improved alignment in your body!  To allow yourself to go places you did not think possible in your practice (and in your life)!

Patience

 - To stick to a plan!  To give your body time to transform!  To have bad days!  To have breakthrough days!  To work through injury and experience the healing!  To have your friends and family join you when they are ready!  To build a stronger foundation each time you practice!  To keep going no matter what!

Self Control

 - To manage your expectations and your thoughts!  To love yourself!  To surrender to life's power! To manage your response to things out of your control!  To avoid drama!  To make appropriate life choices!  To pause, breathe and then respond to upsets!  To surround yourself with people who lift you up!

Concentration

- To try the right way!  To start again when things don't go your way!  To breathe evenly!  To stay in the moment while practicing!  To connect with your compassion!  To make adjustments!  To know good pain from bad pain!  To Self Realize!

Never, Ever, Ever Give Up!!!!

Student Spotlight: Bob

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I was having a conversation with a client and she mentioned Bikram Yoga, I had never heard of it before. Ironically, as I was driving home that day I noticed the Bikram sign when the studio was across the street. I stopped in to check it out and met my first instructor, Lora; the next day was my first class and I was hooked (Bob has been practicing Bikram Yoga for over 6 years now!). Before practicing Bikram Yoga I was involved with Martial Arts and Weight Training. It seemed I was always recovering from the sessions and occasionally in a healing mode.

Bikram Yoga is teaching me to work on realigning the balance between my body & mind, to apply the peace we learn during class in our daily lives. To –“ Let No One Steal your Peace”. The yoga has helped me through the expected and unexpected lows that life presents to all of us at one time or another. When I was 17 I was in a motorcycle accident. I dislocated my hip & shoulder. I have had chronic, neck & back issues since. I tried the chiropractor when I was younger, then went to Physical Therapy & different exercise programs. Bikram Yoga has helped me not only control the symptoms but also I see improved flexibility and mobility. I attended Nicole’s Boot Camp last fall and am working on my alignment for each posture; it’s amazing how the slightest change can have such a direct effect. I would say Balancing Stick is my favorite posture. I feel that’s the one out of 26 that I might actually be doing right – only 25 more to go.

My advice to new students is strive for consistency in your practice. I have to tell myself this one as well. I sometimes will do a challenge and end up then taking off several weeks. It’s like starting all over again. Learn to focus on yourself, it’s your practice, your time, let it happen. Also - Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate - I have seen my life flash before my eyes several times on my mat over the years when I don’t pay attention to hydration.

I love Bikram Yoga for many reasons. The two that stand out are: The Teachers & The Studio. I have probably experienced close to 100 different BY instructor’s classes over the years. And while the 26 postures are a constant, it’s the individual teacher’s passion that makes each class unique. Through their own personality they are always encouraging you to do your best, pointing out subtle changes that will make a difference in your posture. They are the energy conduit that makes you want to practice to the best of your ability, to try to not only find your edge but to see what’s on the other side. I always share my BY experience whenever I can with other people. I let them know what an amazing collection of people practice Bikram Yoga. People from all walks of life sharing and experiencing a common goal together. It’s a cross-section of the world in many ways. It’s the realization that thousands of people are doing the same thing, for the same reason, every day.

Perfection is a Direction, Not a Destination

By Jessica Frent

Before the holidays I had surgery and was forced to take a break from our beloved “hot room”. For almost two months I wasn’t able to practice and with every passing day I worried that my postures, which I had worked so hard to “perfect” wouldn’t look the same. I worried that my back bends wouldn’t be as deep, my balance would be lost, and my strength to hold triangle would be less than it once was. My first practice back, I was so concerned with how others may perceive my imperfections I went to the 5:30am, practiced in the back of the room, and hoped no one would notice me. I realized quickly I was the only one critiquing my postures with such precision and that perfection is a direction, not a destination. You can always go deeper, hold longer, or achieve a more graceful strength. It has been almost six weeks since that 1st day back while my practice isn’t the same it’s in some ways stronger than it was before. The “perfection” I was so worried about losing wasn’t lost it just shifted.

For those of you perfections out there like me, remember what the wise words we have all heard before "bikram yoga is a practice, not a perfect" and if you want to receive the full benefits it’s important to allow yourself to be vulnerable, learn something new each day, and not let your own ego make you afraid to step into the room after a break.