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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: Why the heat?
Q: What is happening in my body during Bikram's yoga?
Q: What if I am not flexible?
Q: How many times a week is it recommended to practice?
Q: Does Bikram Yoga help with balancing emotions?
IS IT SAFE TO PRACTICE BIKRAM YOGA..
Q: When menstruating?
Q: When pregnant?
Q: With high blood pressure?
Q: With Asthma, Emphysema, Chronic Bronchitis?
Q: With Arthritis?
Q: With Back Problems?
OTHER QUESTIONS...
Q: I feel nausous, dizzy during class and very tired after my first class. Is this normal? What should I do about it?
Q: Why are inversions not included in Bikram's series?
Q: With a proper diet is Bikram yoga good for weight loss?
Q: I am an athlete. Will Bikram Yoga be good for me?
Q: I've been experiencing tremendous pain in my hamstrings. What should I do?
Q: I have kidney problems. I wonder if Bikram's yoga practice can help?
Q: My back hurts after I practice. Do you have any suggestions?
Q: I have degenerative disc disease (or bulging or herniated discs). Can I still do forward bends?
Q: I have bad knees. I experience knee pain. Can Bikram yoga help me?
Q: I have been diagnosed with plantar fascitis. My doctor tells me to wear arch supports. Can I wear them when I do Bikram yoga?
Q: Why is it important to learn from a Bikram certified instructor?
Q: Why the heat?
Here is a good analogy to think on…. Suppose you are going to make a sword. You start with a piece of fine steel and first thing you do is put it into the fire to heat it up. When the steel is hot it becomes soft. Then you hammer it and slowly change it into the shape you want. This is the natural way. If you don’t heat it up and you start hammering away at cold steel-- nothing is going to happen to the steel, but you’ll have a good chance to break your hand, the hammer, your arm and all the connecting joints. When you do your hatha yoga in the heat, your body is more malleable and can be shaped into anything you want.
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Q: What is happening in my body during Bikram's yoga?
Muscles are contracted and stretched at a cellular, biochemical level. Lipids and proteins reorganize optimally in such stretching, allowing for better circulation. Joint mobility and range of motion is increased, and strength is built by the use of gravity. Muscles and joints are balanced. Blood and calcium are brought to the bones. Working against gravity strengthens the bones. The organs of the immune system within the bones (red marrow) are boosted.
The lymph nodes are massaged, lymph is pumped throughout the body, and white blood cells are distributed throughout the body as the lymphatic system works more efficiently.
There is compression and extension to the thymus, spleen, appendix and intestines; lungs are stretched and flushed out by increased blood circulation. The endocrine glands are encouraged to secrete appropriate hormones, and the communication between hormones and various glands and systems of the body is perfected. Toxins and waste are eliminated through the organs of elimination.
The nerves are stimulated by compression and extension, improving communication within the systems of the body and supplying fresh blood, oxygen and nutrients throughout. The brain is stimulated by varying blood pressure and improved circulation.
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Q: What if I am not flexible?
NO PROBLEM! This is the most common misconception that prevents people from coming to yoga classes. Yoga is not about how flexible you are; it is about stretching your spine and body to increase your flexibility. If you cannot touch your toes, if you cannot even see your toes, you are a perfect candidate for this yoga.
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Q: Does Bikram Yoga help with balancing emotions?
Physiologically, Bikram Yoga harmonizes the nervous and endocrine systems, two systems which figure heavily in emotional well-being. This yoga also cultivates the metal faculties of faith, self-control and patience. As we become more aware of our bodies (yes plural), we notice how events and interactions effect us. When we are aware, we can exercise choice in our response. We can control ourselves and not let a given situation get the better of us.
Also, practicing daily (or at least regularly), getting on the mat whether you think you feel like it or not, will show you how to let go of the fluctuations of your mind. The mat is where you can go to let go of self-sabotaging behavior and negative emotions as you experience yourself as bliss, and breath, and totally free from whatever……
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Q: How many times a week is it recommended to practice?
Bikram himself recommends doing the Full Class religiously each day for two months to jumpstart your practice. He also suggests that if you have a chronic disease, you should continue daily until your condition is resolved. If this option will not work for you, you will have to decide what you want to gain by doing this yoga.
For life changing results, 4 or more classes per week are necessary. To maintain your current level of health and flexibility 2-3 times per week should suffice. With just one class per week, you will still get a good flush, but your body will feel like it is repeating it’s first class over and over.
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Q: When menstruating?
It is perfectly safe to do Bikram's yoga when menstruating. Inverted postures are normally the postures contraindicated for menstruation. But there are no inverted postures in Bikram's yoga. So in fact, Bikram's yoga is very good for toning the reproductive system as it directly affects the reproductive organs and the endocrine glands--pituitary, pineal and thyroid gland in particular. The women's cycle becomes regular; complaints of irregularity and PMS decrease.
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Q: When pregnant?
If you have been doing Bikram Yoga regularly just prior to your pregnancy, then you may continue with the regular yoga exercises in the Bikram class until your third month, or up until the time you are no longer able to lie on your abdomen. Then you should use modifications which can learned by purchasing Rajashree's Yoga for Pregnancy home video or consulting one of the instructors at our studio.
If you are new to yoga or have not been doing Yoga just prior to your pregnancy, you should wait three months until you start. At that time you should use the Rajashree's pregnancy yoga video and practice at home in a moderately heated room.
Should you decide to practice in our heated room, please make an appointment with an instructor at the studio so that he or she can go over in detail the modifications for pregnancy. We have a chart for to your reference during class. We also ask that you bring a digital thermometer with you and take your temperature during class. The core body temperature should not rise more than 2 degrees.
Post Partum: “If your delivery was healthy and normal start your yoga the moment you are out of bed. Do all the exercises from the first day, no problem.” -Bikram Choudry
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Q: With high blood pressure?
Unstable high blood pressure responds so quickly to diligent Yoga practice that doctors sometimes doubt their instruments. (This quick response of the blood pressure is one of the most telling demonstrations of Yoga's ability to regulate and synchronize body systems.) If you are tested about a week after starting Yoga, you may see a slight rise in pressure. Don't be alarmed. By the second week, that pressure will be normal or close to normal and will stay there as long as you maintain your yoga regimen.
Consult your doctor, use common sense, and don't push hard in any of the poses the first three days. The poses in which high blood pressure patients must continue to exercise caution until their blood pressure checks out normally are these: the backward bending portion of Half Moon, the Standing Bow Pulling, Balancing Stick, Cobra, the third part of Locust, Full Locust and the Camel.
Depending on the severity of your condition, the above should be done for a count of no more than five at first, building to ten counts only after two weeks. If you are supple enough to do the Fixed Firm fully the first few days, limit that to five counts as well. Be absolutely sure to rest between each set. It is also essential for heart patients to breathe normally during the postures. As for the Bow Pose, (on the floor) a beginner with high blood pressure must never perform the pose without a qualified teacher present.
It is because these backward bending positions create pressure in the chest, and so on the heart, that high blood pressure patients must use caution. Do not eliminate them though--with the exception of Bow Pose. They are the very friends you need to control your ailment.
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Q: With Asthma, Emphysema, Chronic Bronchitis?
Without knowing the cause of your asthma, we can tell you that Bikram yoga will be good for you in several ways. It is done in a warm room which promotes relaxation of the muscles and nerves, and is the type of exercise that you can do with as little or as much intensity as appropriate for your needs. In other words, you can do each posture with less effort if you're concerned about overexertion triggering an attack, or you can sit down and rest whenever you need to during the class.
It will relax your mind and help let go of tensions, toxins and negativity. It also strengthens your heart and lungs, improving your lung function. You will breathe easier and deeper than you ever have before.
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Q: With Arthritis?
Yoga can "cure" arthritis. That is, it can relieve symptoms. This is not a miracle; it is common sense.
Many people think arthritis occurs because of an overabundance of calcium in the body. But there is really no overabundance. The problem is that the calcium is deposited as a form of calcium phosphate in the joint-tissue, including the spine. At that point, the calcium phosphate deposit begins to build layers in the joint--spiky crystal formations like a cactus--until no room is left for the joint to pivot smoothly in its socket. And these spiny needly irritate the surrounding muscles and nerves, and the agony of arthritis begins.
If this seem to be reducing some of the oldest, most painful, and perplexing diseases to lack of exercise, you're right. But that is what they often seem to boil down to.
Sadly, the theory seems to be that with advancing "age" one should "slow down," "take it easy," don't exert oneself or do too much exercise. And if you get something like arthritis, take it even easier, don't move, except to open your mouth to swallow the latest pill being offered as a cure. This advice is simply more nails for an earlier coffin. Exercise--meaning daily Yoga--is the cure.
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Q: With Back Problems?
Picture your spine as a series of ball bearings (vertebrae) one on top of the other, each separated from the next by a cushion (a cartilege disc). When the spine in shiny and new, all the ball bearings are smooth and round, moving freely in all directions, and the cushions are strong and thick. Now picture your daily activities. In one position after another, probably ninety-five percent of the time, that spine is leaning forward.
What is happening, then, is that each vertebra of your back is compressing its cushion in a frontwise direction. This goes on year after year until there is no resiliancy left in the front of the cushions, while the two sides and back have grown weak and slack from disuse. In addition, lack of movement has made the bearings rusty and barnacles have developed. The result: backache, stiff neck, headache, and countless other complaints.
The cure: exercise! Make the spine work so that resiliency and strength are restored to each cushion, so that the rust and barnacles are worn off the ball bearings, so that an X ray would show them smoooth and round, sitting snugly on their fat, renewed cushions.
Beginning with Half Moon, this series of exercises is designed to make your shocked and shriveled spine work to both sides, to the back, and then to the front. Only by exercising in all directions can your spine be healthy; and only with a healthy spine can you have a healthy nervous system.
If your chronic problem is something such as sciatic pain, lumbago, sore back muscles, whiplash, vertebrae out of line, shoulder trouble, radiating pains down the arms, tension headaches, swayback, spinal curvature, pinched nerves, or "something not quite right that the doctor said I ought to watch," stop watching. Act! Get to work on these exercises. Even those who have had spinal surgery should get to work--with their doctor's okay and with the guidance of one of our Bikram certified instructors.
People with slipped disc are often in such pain that Yoga seems further torture. However, in numerous slipped disc cases, determined Yoga can save the day. So endure the pain. But please ntoe that those with slipped disc should also work under the supervision of a qualified instructor using Bikram’s exact series of exercises and the safety rules laid down in his book.
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Q: I feel nausous, dizzy during class and very tired after my first class. Is this normal? What should I do about it?
It is not unusual to feel nauseous or dizzy during your first class. Practicing yoga in a heated room reveals to us our present condition, and inspires us take much better care of ourselves.
Usually the problem is that we do not drink enough water for daily living, let alone for exercising in a heated room. Nutritionists tell us that we need 64-80 ounces of water a day to help the body function properly. Perspiration allows us to release heat from the body. Once you are drinking enough water, your body will tolerate the heat SO MUCH BETTER, you might actually enjoy the heat!
If you feel disoriented or like you need a good nap after your first few classes, this is likely because your body has begun to cleanse itself as a result of the yoga practice. Don't be scared. After the first few classes this sensation will pass. The more you can relax as you give your honest effort during class, the more energized you will feel throughout the class and throughout the rest of your day.
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Q: Why are inversions not included in Bikram's series?
Most beginners do not have the strength to do traditional inverted postures safely. Bikram feels it is more important to do the postures outlined in his method first because it safely builds all the strength the body needs to be totally healthy--throughout all the systems.
Some of the benefits of inversions (blood flow to the brain, reduction of blood pressure, compression of the thyroid gland) are provided by separate leg stretching, separate leg forehead to knee, rabbit pose, and the whole series in general.
After several years of steady dedicated practice, your Bikram instructor may invite you to an advanced class in which inverted postures and more are practiced.
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Q: With a proper diet is Bikram yoga good for weight loss?
A minimum of 10 classes per month is recommended to get the benefits of Bikram yoga, among which is weight normalization. As a beginner, It takes three classes for your body to understand the proper approach to the posture, and ten classes for your body to begin to work with postures. After that you will begin to realize optimization of all your body systems. Digestion and respiration, as well as endocrine, lymphatic and elimination systems will begin to work harmoniously. Your appetite will normalize, and your unhealthy cravings will diminish. All of these results will help to normalize your weight. If you devote yourself to regular practice, at least, but preferably more than 3 times per week, you will witness a major restructuring of your body including slimming and toning.
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Q: I am an athlete. Will Bikram Yoga be good for me?
Bikram Yoga is a tool to help one reach his or her highest potiential. It can take althletes to the next level of play. It will improve lung capacity, elongate muscle fiber and increase range of motion. These things lead to an overall increase in muscle efficiency. Bikram Yoga helps to eliminate injury and helps to speed recovery time if an injury does occur. Further, this particular method does wonders for the ability to remain calm, concentrated and relaxed during any given circumstance. Many professional athletes incorporate Bikram Yoga into their training regimine.
We find that this type of yoga compliments tri-athletes and cyclists particularly well.
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Q: I've been experiencing tremendous pain in my hamstrings since I started yoga. What should I do?
Bikram says, "It's not what you do, but how you do." So don't let the mind wander during practice. Don't be too aggressive or impatient, either. The only time you will hurt yourself (create a sprain or pull) is if you overuse your strength or do postures mindlessly. Think of alignment. Biomechanically you are very safe if you do postures in alignment.
Muscle imbalance creates a lot of problems. Check to make sure there is good alignment with the left and right side of the quads. Balance with the foot in alignment and the weight in alignment. Remember, the body follows the eyes. Be careful to do the postures correctly, because you are creating an imprint that is hard to undo.
Breath is the only way to affect the involuntary systems. Oxygen deprivation is a major cause of spasms, other muscle pains, and sciatica. Use breath to break through fear of pain-- sigh a relaxed sigh. Deep diaphragmatic breathing is best when dealing with lots of resistance. Send the breath there--breathe through the nose.
And finally, honor your boundaries, but expect them to expand. Have faith!
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Q: I have kidney problems. I wonder if Bikram's yoga practice can help?
Bikram recommends performing the whole series religiously, working extra hard and long on those poses listed below as being excellent for kidney function and abdominal organs. Your body can and will right itself.
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Q: My back hurts after I practice Bikram yoga. Do you have any suggestions?
Please follow the instructions carefully when you are doing forward bends. For example, in the half moon--padahastasana series, the instructions are to bring your torso on your thighs, chest to the knees, no light space anywhere between the torso and the thighs. If you try to straighten your legs without having this first part accomplished, you can create pain in your lower back. Working carefully, mindfully, allowing your breath to flow with your movement will help you to gradually deepen your experience of the postures.
You also want to follow these guidelines in separate leg stretching. Bikram says, "Suck in your stomach and bend your upper body down from your lower spine towards the floor." It is difficult to suck in your stomach unless you exhale, so make sure to exhale as you fold forward. When you suck in your stomach, it supports the whole pelvis to roll forwards with the rest of your spine--this eliminates strain in the lower back.
Finally, be aware of the tendancy to collapse or pinch in the lower back when doing backward bending. Some pressure is good, but creating a kink is not. You can avoid this by always stretching up with the chest as you go back. Lifting the chest helps to spread the bend to all parts of the back and will allievate pain.
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Q: I have degenerative disc disease (or bulging or herniated discs). Can I still do forward bends?
Generally, doctors recommend not doing forward bends with such conditions. With degenerative disc disease, improper forward bends can cause slippage of the vertebrae. With herniated or bulging discs, in forward bends, the bulge can press onto the spinal nerves creating pain. Backward bends are recommended for building strength in the spine and spinal muscles, and they have the added advantage of taking the bulge away from the spinal nerves, relieving pain as well as toning the digestive system and strengthening the breathing.
Your practice of what you can do will gradually enable you to do more and more of the series as your back strengthens. You will get relief from pain and it is not impossible to regenerate the herniated or bulging discs. Expect to practice regularly for the best results.
When you do feel comforatable beginning to do forward bends, it is important to learn to bend forward properly. (please read the answer to the previous question on back pain). Experiment by gradually increasing the strength of your pulling on your heels in forward bends. Do not cause pain with this pulling--you must back away from pain. Also, don't do situps while in the acute stage of your condition--roll over onto your side to sit up.
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Q: I have bad knees. I experience knee pain. Can Bikram yoga help me?
Whether the knees are arthritic or injured, Bikram yoga will definitely help. Bikram actually healed his knee, which was crushed by a 300 pound weight, by doing yoga.
So how should you proceed? Make sure to listen carefully to the alignment instructions in each posture. When you are told to keep your feet parallel in standing postures, please do so. A half inch in either direction away from parallel has its effects all the way up the knees and into the hips.
In standing balancing postures, it is also important to keep the standing foot straight and the standing knee pointing straight ahead. If your knee bows back (hyperextension) you should bring the weight forwards towards the toes so as to engage the quadriceps muscle ("lock the knee") and lift the kneecap upwards. This action brings the leg into one line and brings true strength to the knees.
When you are bending your knees in any of the standing postures, keep the knees pointed over the toes. This will ensure that the knees and hips are strengthened evenly inside and out.
In triangle, when you are told to push your hips forward as you bend your front knee, this will keep your hip in line with your knee in line with your foot. This is also good for even strengthening of hip and knee joints.
In some of the standing postures, it might be very difficult to bend your knee to a 90 degree angle. So do the best you can without creating pain. Better to keep proper alignment bending 1% than to go 100% in poor alignment.
In the floor poses, notably fixed firm, half tortoise and perhaps rabbit, it might be difficult for you to bend your knees enough that the hips sit on the heels. To test your knee flexibility, keep lots of weight in your hands and bend the knees gradually to the point (but not past) of pain. You must be able to relax and breathe in the posture, holding it steady, for anything to happen. As the pain decreases and you start feeling more comfortable, you can gradually take the weight out of your hands and allow more pressure on the knees. Eventually you'll be able to go all the way into the posture, and you won't even remember the time when you couldn't even sit down!
You'll find that little by little your knee pain goes away and soon you'll realize that you can walk, climb up and go down stairs, even run a little without pain!
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Q: I have been diagnosed with plantar fascitis. My doctor tells me to wear arch supports. Can I wear them when I do Bikram yoga?
It sounds like you're in pain and concerned about doing the right thing for yourself. Without knowing the details of your condition you should know that we've had students diagnosed with plantar fascitis who have gotten relief and healing by practicing Bikram yoga. Without shoes. Without supportive arches. All the postures.
However, if your plantar fascia is actually torn, you may need to take the doctor's advice and hold off on some of the postures till at least the ligament knits back together. Of course if there's a bone spur involved, you will definitely want arch support to prevent the nerve pressing on it.
Generally we recommend If it is difficult to do a posture completely, do it partially providing that it does not cause injury. You can usually tell if it is simply the pain of stretching (which is a good pain) or the pain of injury (which is to be avoided). It will be the increased circulation from Bikram yoga practice that will help improve the condition, possibly even washing out the calcification if there is any, but for sure helping to strengthen the ligaments, tendons, bones, and muscles of the feet.
As always, it is your body, so therefore it is your decision whether to wear support or not; whether to do all the postures or not. But certainly attending class and gradually doing more will be to your advantage.
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Q: Why is it important to learn from a Bikram certified instructor?
It takes more than a hot room and a list of postures to make your Bikram Method Yoga practice a safe, rewarding experience. Bikram Method Yoga is a specialized form of yoga, requiring appropriate training and knowledge to teach it effectively.
Bikram Choudhury, the creator of Bikram Method Yoga, personally trains and certifies his instructors to ensure that his methods and philosophy are preserved and properly taught. To be certified as an instructor in the Bikram Method of Yoga, an instructor must complete an intensive nine-week training requiring over 500 hours of study. Certified Instructors have a continuing connection to Bikram Choudhury and his training staff, allowing the Certified Studio to draw from all of the resources Bikram's training center has to offer. This includes special seminars, posture clinics, guest instructors, and answers to questions which may arise in a particular student's practice. All of the teachers at this studio are certified Bikram Method Instructors.
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