Yoga for Panic Attacks

By Lisa Jakub

I’ve heard several people say that they don’t like Bikram yoga because it’s not meditative or spiritual. I suppose on the surface it looks like boot camp, but it is not purely physical; it is an incredibly deep meditative practice.

I get panic attacks. I have been carried out of restaurants, bars, house parties and art galleries because I am a hyperventilating, sobbing mess. For a time they were so debilitating it was difficult to leave my house.

I thought Bikram might help me manage stress but I was very nervous about trying it. It involved going to a place I had never been and staying in a room for 90 minutes with people I didn’t know. This is a terrifying prospect for someone with panics like mine. I literally had an entire therapy session dedicated to discussing if I could survive my first Bikram yoga class.

I did survive. In fact, I thrived.

It is all well and good to meditate in a candle lit room with soothing music and people using gentle voices. It does feel great and I enjoy those types yoga classes, too. But they didn’t help me with my reality. I need to learn to relax when my brain throws some serious, hardcore panic at me.

Bikram has trained me to breathe and meditate when I am trapped in a room that is really bright, a million degrees, packed with people who smell and a teacher who is loud. That’s why I can now survive life in my head.

When I panic, it is bright and loud and I’m dizzy and nauseous. I can’t run away from that situation, either, but that’s fine because this yoga has taught me that there are options beyond fight or flight.

I rarely get panic attacks anymore. I have the same stress and the same triggers. The panics rise up and threaten me; they insist that I can’t breathe and I am going to die immediately. Then, I hear my teacher:

Meet resistance with breath. – Lizzie.

Don’t meet panic with frustration or defeat or anger. Just take a moment. Then, I hear another teacher:

This is going to hurt like hell. It’s O.K. Don’t be scared.  - Kirk.

I know I can do it, I can make it through this just like I make it through class four times a week. Then, I hear another teacher:

Deep breath in. Let it out slow. – Amy

And that’s exactly what I do.

The hot room is my training ground for the real world. Those instructions – seemingly about my physical practice – are the deepest, most spiritually profound lessons I could imagine.

Maybe it looks like boot camp to you, but to me, it’s church.

Lisa Jakub retired from acting so she could be a writer, yogi, wife, traveler and dog-mom. Read more from her at 

JustHereJustNow.com

 and 

LisaJakub.net

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!

Life is Not a "Dress Rehearsal"

By Susan P. 

I have been practicing Bikram Yoga at PV for 5+ years. I was looking to find an exercise routine when I moved in this area and a friend recommended I give Bikram yoga a try. I came to a very busy class over Labor Day weekend and found everyone very welcoming to me as a newbie. I honestly enjoyed my very first class and came back the next day. I found that the routine and repetition of the basic 26 postures gave me the consistency I wanted to establish for exercising. Overtime BY has come to mean way more than that for me. I have learned how breathing correctly in the postures carries over to my everyday life. When I face a stressful situation at work I am able to just breathe and handle it. I do not get as anxious about things as I used to be. As a matter of fact my close friends have commented that I seem more relaxed and happy. I have always been a morning person so the 5:30 AM class is perfect for me! I love starting my day with yoga. You will find me in the front row next to the stage as this is my comfort zone. I like being next to the instructor and directly in front of the mirror. I would encourage new students to stay with it. I started out slow coming 2 to 3 times a week. The more you come to class the more you learn and find that you can improve on your postures. The other advice I would give is really listen to the dialogue. When I find my mind straying I come right back to the words and I end up having a great class. My favorite posture is Cobra. For me it was one of the most difficult when I started practicing. I still can improve upon it but feel I have made it my best and look forward to doing that posture in every class. I will be celebrating my 65th birthday in the spring and I know that my daily practice of yoga has been the key for my good health and fitness. “Life is not a dress rehearsal” so I think everyone should make up their mind if they want to live it as the very best they can. Things happen that we cannot always control but things we can control can make a difference. I have made wonderful friends at the studio who continue to inspire me in my practice. I am very glad I can call myself part of the BYPV family.

No one can do everything, but everyone can do something

By Kristin Ryan

I started Bikram Yoga in 2006 and went for about 6 months. It put me in the best shape of my life and I did the Breast Cancer 3Day Walk without even getting a sore muscle. I started back on December 30th, 2009 after my orthopedic surgeon told me I needed a knee replacement. He supported yoga as a therapeutic exercise for my knee, but assured me I would still need a replacement soon. I chose BYPV because it was the closest yoga studio to my house and I been there in 2006.

I have always been an athlete. I was a competitive swimmer, volleyball and soccer player my whole high school and college life. That included a lot of running and weight training. In addition, I have always been an avid backpacker and hiker. After college, I continued my backpacking, hiking, biking and weight training. I have suffered from lower back and knee pain since HS. Prior to starting back to BY in 2009, I had become unable to hike or walk distance anymore and by "distance" I mean I could not walk my dogs around the block. I was doing tons of mountain biking, but always suffered severe swelling of my knee afterward. After the births of my children (18 years ago) I have been sick about 4 to 5 times a year with upper respiratory and sinus infections. I had pneumonia 3 years in a row 2007, 2008, and 2009 when I couldn't kick the upper respiratory and it dropped into my lungs.

In 2009, my Dr. told me that a knee replacement was inevitable. I had had two total reconstructions on my right knee at that point. I decided to start yoga at his recommendation to strengthen the muscles around my knee. BY was my choice because I liked the assurance of a total body workout. I worked hard for a little over two years and had my knee replacement May 24th, 2012. I had to laugh when the Physical Therapist came in to teach me how to "Lock My Knee" after surgery. Before she could explain it I pulled up my gown and said, "Like this?" She gasped and said that she had never had a patient do that before. I told her all Bikram Yogis can. I returned to BY classes 15 days after the surgery with the blessing from my Dr. and his assurance that I could not hurt the new knee....after all it is titanium. Long story short, BY helped me attain full extension and flexion in just 10 weeks. It was the quickest recovery that both my Dr. and PT had ever seen in a 50 year combined career. I know that was the yoga. Oh, in the hospital I was able to bring down two fevers in the middle of the night with breathing. I would just take "long deep inhales and longer slower exhales" while saying, "My breath cools my body." I thought it was cool that all these yoga words kept coming to me!!!

The biggest thing yoga has done for me is stopped me from getting sick. My last two upper respiratory infections were exactly one year apart. I am getting sick WAY LESS often and when I do get sick I heal much faster. In fact, I was through my last upper respiratory infection in six days. That stunned me. I always used to be sick for three weeks every time I had upper respiratory.

Secondly, it has significantly reduced my lower back pain and it prepared my knee for replacement in a way I never dreamed possible. The other benefits are not minor. It has truly made me a more patient mother and teacher. My mind is more open and I have become a better listener.

Two Quotes I try to think of every day as I teach children: "No one can do everything, but everyone can do something." — unknown

"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid." — Albert Einstein

My advice to a new student is advice that I need to follow as well! I know that consistency and patience are the two keys to total transformation, however, I still struggle to stay consistent. I know those things are the most important part of curing myself and yet I still slip up because it is such a difficult class. I always feel worse after a long lay off.

So, my advice.... just try to come three days a week (at a minimum) for a year and you will be hooked/cured. Yes, I said "a year"...that is why you need the patience!

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!