The Power of a Pose

Not feeling especially happy today?

There’s a well-known, quick fix solution social psychologists might tell you about … it involves putting a pencil between your back molars and clenching down for about two minutes.  You’ll feel a little happier when it’s over (and not just because you get to relieve your face from the discomfort).  Try it with an open mind – it’s a little weird, but it works.

Here’s the “science” behind the trick. The muscles activating in this “pose” are the same ones that bring a smile to your face.  This biting-down activity is doing more for you than simply “turning a frown upside down” … in theory, it’s securely activating the same tissues and nerves around your mouth to simulate a sense of well-being in your psyche, mimicking a smile without the psychological effort of “faking it.” In other words, you’re letting your neurological system take care of your mental well-being, from the outside in.

The same logic applies to our yoga practice, perhaps in an even broader context.

Think about your body language during the times you feel your happiest, most confident self.  As you walk into a room, perhaps your chest is protruding.  You walk a little taller. When you’re full of good energy … your arms are extended and ready to hug, help, high-five … whatever.  You’re literally a “bigger” version of yourself.  It’s not rocket science – it’s just easy to tell that you’re feeling good by looking at your posture.

On the contrary, during the not-so-great days, you might catch yourself slouching or folding your arms, holding yourself tight for comfort or protection.  You’re a smaller version of you, maybe using those hands to chew your nails as a coping mechanism for your anxiety.

Much like the good old pencil trick, this is how the yoga helps us psychologically from the outside-in.  You’re opening your body.  Expanding your chest, lengthening, stretching … Releasing whatever nervous energy you’re holding up that’s keeping you tight, small, or timid.  By standing tall during tree pose, you’re giving your body permission to feel strong and balanced – even if your mind isn’t 100% there. By proudly releasing your chest in camel, you’re beaming with confidence – even if you’ve had the kind of week that would rather make you feel like crawling into a cave. By enlarging your body, you’re enlarging your mind.

Bottom line … There are those sometimes elusive feelings in life we all strive for:  happiness, confidence, inner peace.  You may not always be feeling these things on the inside … but if you start by displaying them on the outside, through your body, you’ll get there.  Don’t discount the power of a pose, no matter how small it may seem.  Keep it up!

Yoga for “Type A” Personalities

By P.J. Stuart

Before I started my Bikram Yoga practice, I’d heard it described many ways. It was called everything from a torture chamber, to a grueling workout, to a smelly room.

“There’s ‘om’ yoga, and then there’s ‘ohmigod’ yoga … this is ‘ohmigod’ yoga,” someone explained; and it didn’t take me long to find out why this was true.

But what resounded most clearly with me was when BYPV’s Nicole Deacon said during a class that this yoga tends to attract a lot of type-A personalities – ambitious, achievement-oriented people who aren’t afraid of rising to a challenge in the name of self-improvement.

It makes sense to me – Bikram’s series of ever-intensifying commands (“Go back! Waaaay back! Fall back!”), the sweltering heat, the 90-minutes of heart-pumping challenges – how could any health-focused, type-A personality truly stay away?

Interestingly enough, this works out quite well for more reasons than you might think.  It turns out, Bikram Yoga and type-A personalities really are a perfect match.  And not just in the way that peanut butter and jelly go well together.  For those of us who are a little higher strung, it might also be just what the doctor ordered.

The phrase “Type A personality,” and its corresponding psychological diagnosis, was coined by two cardiologists in the 1950s -- Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman. They conducted an 8.5 year study in which they determined this personality type carried double the risk of contracting coronary disease in otherwise healthy individuals.

What better designed self-defense system could there be?  Like flies to the light, the Bikram Yoga series draws the type-A personalities in to the torture chamber to quench their desire for ambition; then, systematically eradicates the very risk they are prone to by their sheer nature. (Think: flushing the arteries in balancing stick pose or marrying the heart-and-lungs in triangle pose).

It’s either genius or serendipity that it’s designed this way, I’m not sure which. Bravo, Bikram, bravo.

More recently, scientists have refined Friedman and Rosenman’s theories, stating only certain attributes of type-A personalities create the risk for poor cardiovascular health. Namely:  impatience, workahol-ism, and the stress derived from constant exposure to a competitive lifestyle.  A little pranayama breathing and some time spent in savasana is probably good for that too.

As a personal observation -- If you are prone to the type-A personality’s constant “need-to-succeed,” Bikram might keep your ego in check, as well.  There’s no better way of keeping us humble than a standing head-to-knee you just haven’t figured out yet, or a triangle pose that makes it hard for you to win …

And that’s why we never give up!

Enjoy the Moment

Imagine practicing Bikam Yoga for a decade! Well our November students of the month have done just that! Neeta and Bharat have been practicing for 11 and 10 years, respectively. Neeta started at the urging of friend who told her about BYPV and within a year Bharat was practicing as well. Having suffered from significant neck pain and generalized arthritic pain for years, Neeta says Bikram Yoga has really helped to lessen these ailments and improve her physical well-being.

Bharat, who was already very active and healthy prior to practicing, (gym, weight training, cardio, personal trainer, sauna steam room, hiking, 5 and 10k runs) says that he has stuck with just the yoga for the past 10 years, never looking back on all of the other exercises he used to do. He says, "That tells you how much I like this and how many benefits I have experienced from yoga". His weight is under his control, HDL went up from 39 to 59, all numbers were good on his recent physical, he feels good, sleeps well, performs actively, and has no tiredness.

As Bharat talks about the yoga, he states, "Yoga has been an ancient Indian method of keeping ones mind and body in harmony. It has been practiced over 5000 years. There are many different types of yoga and all help, but Bikram has formatted this ancient yoga in such a scientific way so that it can be easily applied in today's busy life and yet still get all of the benefits of yoga."

Neeta's advice to new students is to "keep coming to class and continue your practice! That is the key to gaining the most benefits from Bikram Yoga." Bharat advises, "Be fortunate to have discovered Bikram Yoga in America which was only kept to the East. Be patient, and continue the practice at your own level and all the benefits are just the bi-products as your mind and body become harmonious. Be peaceful, be in the present, and enjoy the moment."

Appetite for Yoga

By Rachel Payne

When I was first asked to write about yoga and nutrition for our BYPV blog, my first reaction was that of resistance.

Why, you may ask?  After all, that is what I am going to school for.   To honestly answer that question, I don’t know why I resisted.  Maybe because I am always bogged down with essays, and research papers and the thought of having to write ONE MORE THING purely nauseated me and sent me into a child-like rebellion (and straight to the kitchen).  Or perhaps it was because when it comes to nutrition and fitness, there are so many variables, and one size does not fit all, so I felt like it was going to take a lot of preparation on my part and that was stressing me out. Or maybe it is my ever increasing senior-itis, and I just don’t want to do it.  Whatever the reason, it’s insignificant. Ultimately I wanted to deliver something personal, and authentic.  I wanted to talk to you about a subject that I have a passion for, a topic that many can relate to, something that keeps me up late at night reading and meditating upon….something that is me and that is potentially you too.  After a lot of prayer and meditation, I felt led to guide you through this mini journey of my life….my yoga and my nutrition…but with a much different twist. If I reach but one of you, my mission is accomplished...deep breath...are you ready?  Or a more appropriate question, am I ready?

From as far back as I can remember I have had a poor relationship with food.  Through all the tragedies and circumstances this life has handed me, food was my comfort.  It never talked back, it never disrespected me, it never judged me, it never abused me, it was always there; it flooded my brain with all the feel-good chemicals that I needed in order to temporarily ease the pain of the moment.  And now as a 30 year old adult, my relationship with food is still poor.  It is a vicious cycle, stressful emotions lead me straight to the kitchen, followed by remorse and guilt, which then sends me back into the kitchen.  Many variables play into this aspect of my life.  It is not just one thing that keeps me a slave to the cookies, cake, pudding, and ice cream.  But the bottom line is, it is an addiction.  But unlike the addictions of sex, drugs, alcohol, gambling, exercise, (insert yours here), food cannot be taken away.  We need it to survive.   Thus continues my struggle to overcome, or mend my relationship with food.  I feel like my own prisoner sometimes, trapped in this body that I cannot seem to maintain.  I bust my tail in the gym 5-6 days per week, I do yoga, I eat clean, I hydrate, and I rarely-to-never eat out.  Yet I cannot maintain any amount of weight I lose on a permanent basis.  As a Dietitian to-be, and nutrition professional, this is a constant struggle.  I want to live authentically, practice what I preach.  Every day I battle this addiction.  Every day I am faced with emotions that are hard to handle, not to mention the ever expanding waist line due to my frequent binges.  I have always been one who tries to practice what I preach.  And it is ever imperative that I lead a lifestyle in which my future clients will look up to and respect.

This struggle and reality is what led me to yoga.  Every day I face myself in that mirror.  It doesn’t matter how far away I am from the mirror, from the front row to the back row, I cannot hide.  That mirror is MY accountability. Looking, loving, and accepting myself is the hardest feat.  To accept today, the now, and THIS body is all my body wants.  My 90 minute moving mediation is my “cure”.  Every day when I am faced with difficult emotions that unconsciously send me straight to the kitchen, I stop and breathe.  What would happen if in that moment I put into practice all the discipline and focus I demonstrate on that yoga mat?  What if I allow the emotions to arise, watch them as a spectator without judgment, just as we are instructed to do in our daily yoga practice?  Imagine, most of our suffering comes from resisting what is already there, particularly our feelings.  All any feeling wants is to be welcomed, touched, allowed. It wants attention. It wants kindness. If we treated our feelings with as much love as we treat our dog or our cat or our child, we'd feel as if we were living in heaven every day of our sweet life.  This is what my yoga has taught me.  Have I mastered this? Absolutely not.  Every single day I start over.  Some days are better than others, but what I do know is that I always have my yoga.  It calms me, teaches me, encourages me, and keeps me in that space of gratitude.  All our bodies want is love and acceptance, and from that space, we are overcomers and conquerors.  There will always be problems, so many problems, but if we stay grounded in our own presence, in our own “alrightness”, we can deal with them from a clear space that our yoga practice creates within us.  The more and more we love and accept ourselves exactly the way we are, the better and better we will get at EVERYTHING.  Such self-acceptance creates emotional freedom which inspires all of us to grow to our fullest potential.

Thank you for allowing me to share this with you. You all motivate, encourage and inspire me.  I am grateful.  I look forward to sharing with you again, perhaps next time on a more educational note about yoga and nutrition.

Bikram Bungy Jumping

By P.J. Stuart Thank goodness for Pranayama breathing … or I may not have kept my cool.

Standing on top of the world’s tenth tallest structure – the Macau Tower in Macau, China – I could feel small beads of sweat running down the small of my back, quickly mounting in succession.

My palms were clammy and my heart rate increasing, while I tried to suppress the nausea I felt as I peered over the edge. I was about to surrender myself to a dizzying sensation, as I prepared to plummet down the side of this 1,109 foot building, with a bungy cord attached to my legs.

It’s no big deal if you’re skydiver Felix Baumgartner, who broke the sound barrier this month during his record-setting jump from the edge of space.  Peanuts to him, perhaps. But in my world, this was a much feared item on my “bucket list,” and one I stubbornly pursued despite the naysaying voices in my head telling me to hold back.

In fact, that’s precisely where I can credit my Bikram Yoga practice for pushing me through. Ignoring those pesky voices and continuing to breathe, despite my discomfort.

Forget locking my knees. They shook and trembled, while staff members on the tower clipped me into a harness. I inhaled deeply through the nose … releasing a steady exhale through my mouth. Again and again, as the seconds leading up to my “plunge” ticked by slowly.

Then that familiar feeling came. The one where you need to make the decision – are you gonna do it or not?  Grab your foot for standing head to knee and get in, no hesitation? Step into balancing stick pose quickly or let those ten seconds pass you by? Unfurl yourself into a camel pose or timidly stay seated on your mat?

I guess I could have turned around. But I’d come this far. My heart rate was up, and, though it wasn’t pleasant – I knew I could sustain myself through the anxiety and prevail. All those hours in the torture chamber had prepared me for this.

Three, two, one … and I was flying. Lost my breath for a moment in exchange for a death-defying scream, one I didn’t’ know I had inside of me. And then, once I got used to the unfamiliar feeling – pure joy. Laughter. Giggles, even. A beautiful release, despite the suffering I went through to get there. Sound familiar?

It’s just another reminder – it’s never as bad as we make it out to be in our tricky little minds.