Day 22: Letting Go Of The Ego.
I had a good class tonight. A very good class. And that's because I made a strong effort to not let my ego move me in my practice.
One of the most important things that I am striving for in my Bikram practice is letting go of my ego when I walk in the door of the classroom.
Do you not know what the "ego" is when it comes to yoga?
It's the idea we carry in our practice where we allow how our poses look to dictate our practice. Rather than listening to our teachers on how to get into the posture, we move into the pose just to achieve the look of the finished pose.
And this, my friends, is how one injures themselves in yoga. Any yoga. This is one reason why I like doing Bikram's yoga, and not the other crap you see out there... Which is often "Americanized" yoga, complete with made-up postures. (Seriously people, there are postures that are popular in American yoga that are completely made up and not what you see being practiced in India.)
In Bikram's yoga, you move slow. And you hold the positions. This allows you to progress in the pose, as well as focus and meditate. You are able to experience how the pose feels, without rushing into the next one. Yoga isn't about being in a race. You move slow to make sure you are doing things the correct way. As they say in Bikram, "Get the form right, and the depth will come."
It's so true. It wasn't until last year that I finally understood how to deepen my Standing Bow pose. In this pose, you keep your shoulder right by you chin. And when you move into the bow part, before you go down, you kick your back leg up as high as you can. Once it's as high as you can get it, THEN you start to bring your body down... Keeping your chin and shoulder connected. But it took me nearly three years of practicing to finally get that. I was always rushing into it before, rather than balancing and relying on the kick to move me into the depth.
With other forms of yoga, you bounce around and move in and out of the poses too fast. Additionally, I've seen many people make it a point to get posture "beautiful"... Rather than realize yoga is about "healing" and not "beautiful art."
I guess I'm writing this particular post for a few reasons... One is because I had a good class and did a solid job of not allowing my ego to take over. The other reason is because someone left a comment on an earlier post about how "Bikram yoga is NOT good for you. It forces your body by using heat into postures that it is not ready for and can have long lasting, damaging effects."
And to that I say, "Umm... Yeah. It will have damaging effects IF you are the type of person who does not listen and allows your ego to push your yoga practice."
This person went on to say how Bikram isn't a "full body workout" because we only do 26 postures instead of experimenting with the hundreds and hundreds of postures there are out there in "yoga world." And to that I say...
"Yoga is about healing. It's not about focusing on getting a workout in. You heal your body mentally and physically by focusing and stretching/pulling/balancing in positions. The 26 postures we do in Bikram's BEGINNING yoga practice 'systematically' work every part of your body.
Workouts aren't about healing your body. They're about expelling energy and gaining muscle mass. I don't know about you, but I certainly don't meditate when I work out with my trainer. Additionally, it's because of my BIKRAM YOGA PRACTICE that I am very flexible and able to utilize (what my trainers call) 'perfect form' when I work out with them."
And as far as the heating of the room in Bikram's yoga is concerned... It is hot to make your body more supple and open to moving and stretching. But again, you can't let your ego take charge in your practice. You have to listen to your body and how you feel. If you listen to your body, you will be able to do postures deeper and deeper each practice while taking advantage of the heat.
In my nearly four years of (committed but not always regular) practice, I have seen many different types of people practice Bikram. Older people. Younger people. Pregnant people. Disabled people. Short people. Tall people. Overweight people. Skinny people. You name it.. I've seen it. And they were all able to have a great practice because they LISTENED TO THEIR BODIES.
And, as one closing comment... I'd like to note that I take absolute pleasure in seeing someone who maybe doesn't have the ideal "yoga" body-type, and seeing them kick ass in class while standing next to someone who comes to class for the first time from some other yoga path, who has to sit down in the first 20 minutes.
Just because you did Ashtanga/Vinyasa/Baptiste/PranaVayu yoga some place else, don't expect Bikram's BEGINNING class to be a breeze. It will kick your ass. It'll kick your ass the first few days you practice... And it'll continue kicking your ass four years down the line.
Bikram's yoga should never not kick your ass. Day 23 of the ass-kicking is tomorrow!
One of the most important things that I am striving for in my Bikram practice is letting go of my ego when I walk in the door of the classroom.
Do you not know what the "ego" is when it comes to yoga?
It's the idea we carry in our practice where we allow how our poses look to dictate our practice. Rather than listening to our teachers on how to get into the posture, we move into the pose just to achieve the look of the finished pose.
And this, my friends, is how one injures themselves in yoga. Any yoga. This is one reason why I like doing Bikram's yoga, and not the other crap you see out there... Which is often "Americanized" yoga, complete with made-up postures. (Seriously people, there are postures that are popular in American yoga that are completely made up and not what you see being practiced in India.)
In Bikram's yoga, you move slow. And you hold the positions. This allows you to progress in the pose, as well as focus and meditate. You are able to experience how the pose feels, without rushing into the next one. Yoga isn't about being in a race. You move slow to make sure you are doing things the correct way. As they say in Bikram, "Get the form right, and the depth will come."
It's so true. It wasn't until last year that I finally understood how to deepen my Standing Bow pose. In this pose, you keep your shoulder right by you chin. And when you move into the bow part, before you go down, you kick your back leg up as high as you can. Once it's as high as you can get it, THEN you start to bring your body down... Keeping your chin and shoulder connected. But it took me nearly three years of practicing to finally get that. I was always rushing into it before, rather than balancing and relying on the kick to move me into the depth.
With other forms of yoga, you bounce around and move in and out of the poses too fast. Additionally, I've seen many people make it a point to get posture "beautiful"... Rather than realize yoga is about "healing" and not "beautiful art."
I guess I'm writing this particular post for a few reasons... One is because I had a good class and did a solid job of not allowing my ego to take over. The other reason is because someone left a comment on an earlier post about how "Bikram yoga is NOT good for you. It forces your body by using heat into postures that it is not ready for and can have long lasting, damaging effects."
And to that I say, "Umm... Yeah. It will have damaging effects IF you are the type of person who does not listen and allows your ego to push your yoga practice."
This person went on to say how Bikram isn't a "full body workout" because we only do 26 postures instead of experimenting with the hundreds and hundreds of postures there are out there in "yoga world." And to that I say...
"Yoga is about healing. It's not about focusing on getting a workout in. You heal your body mentally and physically by focusing and stretching/pulling/balancing in positions. The 26 postures we do in Bikram's BEGINNING yoga practice 'systematically' work every part of your body.
Workouts aren't about healing your body. They're about expelling energy and gaining muscle mass. I don't know about you, but I certainly don't meditate when I work out with my trainer. Additionally, it's because of my BIKRAM YOGA PRACTICE that I am very flexible and able to utilize (what my trainers call) 'perfect form' when I work out with them."
And as far as the heating of the room in Bikram's yoga is concerned... It is hot to make your body more supple and open to moving and stretching. But again, you can't let your ego take charge in your practice. You have to listen to your body and how you feel. If you listen to your body, you will be able to do postures deeper and deeper each practice while taking advantage of the heat.
In my nearly four years of (committed but not always regular) practice, I have seen many different types of people practice Bikram. Older people. Younger people. Pregnant people. Disabled people. Short people. Tall people. Overweight people. Skinny people. You name it.. I've seen it. And they were all able to have a great practice because they LISTENED TO THEIR BODIES.
And, as one closing comment... I'd like to note that I take absolute pleasure in seeing someone who maybe doesn't have the ideal "yoga" body-type, and seeing them kick ass in class while standing next to someone who comes to class for the first time from some other yoga path, who has to sit down in the first 20 minutes.
Just because you did Ashtanga/Vinyasa/Baptiste/PranaVayu yoga some place else, don't expect Bikram's BEGINNING class to be a breeze. It will kick your ass. It'll kick your ass the first few days you practice... And it'll continue kicking your ass four years down the line.
Bikram's yoga should never not kick your ass. Day 23 of the ass-kicking is tomorrow!
Comments
congrats on day 22!
Nice blog btw :)
Thanks!!