The 60-Minute Bikram Class.
It's not really out there in the public eye yet... But there's a lot going on in the Bikram yoga world. I'm a member of a few of private groups on Facebook for Bikram yoga teachers. We talk about everything that is happening, from the current session of teacher training and the treatment of the students... to the newest thing that has caught my eye:
The 60-minute Bikram yoga class.
It's an abbreviated version of the class, where you do only one set of certain postures... And two sets of others. We're starting to see the international studios start to offer this type of class as a way to get more students in the door. The idea is that a 60-minute class is less intimidating for newer students, and some students just don't have time for a 90-minute class.
It's early days, but I am leaning towards not liking the idea. But I am keeping an open mind. I've even put together the Pros and Cons of the idea.
Cons (Because I like to get the negative out of the way):
Pros:
I definitely want to open this up for comments from readers... What are your thoughts on a 60-minute class verses the original 90-minute class?
It's early days, but I am leaning towards not liking the idea. But I am keeping an open mind. I've even put together the Pros and Cons of the idea.
Cons (Because I like to get the negative out of the way):
- It's a system! The flow of the class, and the order of the postures, were developed to hit every single part of your body systematically. This isn't the peaceful meditative yoga most people think of when they think about taking a yoga class. This class is designed warm up your body, increase your heart rate and provide you with some aerobic sense, stretch your spine and compress your internal organs, strengthen your spine in isolated moves, flush out your knees, push some blood into your brain for a few seconds, and then end with the deepest compression-opening-stretching-twisting of the spine. You cut that short, you're cheating your body of the full benefits.
- Training. At teacher training, we're taught a dialogue. And that's pretty much it. You get a minimal amount of insight on posture benefits outside of the dialogue while at training. But the emphasis of our training is "Posture Clinic" where all we do is take turns reciting the dialogue. This is one of the things I very much dislike about training, as I think telling students to memorize a dialogue and they'll be ready to teach is complete and utter B.S. In the past few months, I've come across a few teachers who have both recently come out of training as well as been out of training for a number of years who SUCK at teaching. Shrill voices, no idea of how to handle the heating of the room, horrible delivery and lack of control of their words... The dialogue is a crutch. It does not a teacher make. However, it's what we're taught, with the expectation that we go out on our own and learn more about the benefits of the yoga, if we choose to teach our students that. But shortening the class by taking out repetitions of postures? I just don't think enough teachers out there are strong enough to be able to teach an effective class this short. Only very experienced teachers should attempt it.
Pros:
- Time. I mentioned it earlier... And yes, 90 minutes of class is a lot of time to commit to. Add on top of that the 30 minutes it takes after class to get showered and meander home... And then also the 30 to 45 minutes before class that you have to travel to and get to the studio to secure a spot... When all is said and done, at a minimum, it's two and a half hours. YIKES! It's worth every minute... But the reality is that most of us don't have that kind of time.
- Intimidation. Not going to lie... There are postures I absolutely hate with all my guts. And the thought of not having to do two of them makes me more likely to want to go to class.
I definitely want to open this up for comments from readers... What are your thoughts on a 60-minute class verses the original 90-minute class?
Comments
Referring back to an earlier post of yours, perhaps instead of trying to configure the class, Bikram's name should be dropped from the studios. But then again, that could lead to another lawsuit...
Conclusion: I go for the yoga, I go for the consistency of the dialog, I go for the absolute euphoric feeling I get at the end of every class. It makes me concentrate, meditate, and truly focus on myself and my body. It also helps that we currently have some bomb-diggity teachers at my studio - true veterans preserving how great this yoga is while leaving some of the craziness of the man out of it.
But I do see how it would get new students into the studio. I know at my studio the owner and teachers wouldn't have problems then convincing those people to try the 90 minute class after a while.
I've only heard bits and pieces about the current training. It's all hearsay. And what I've heard peeves me greatly. The extent of what I have heard is that there are a number of students upset with the quality of the training. Classes have been canceled because they can't find teachers. They're not allowed to leave the lecture hall until dismissed. One person even said they weren't allowed to leave to go to the bathroom... Which I find very hard to believe.
I do think they are probably being treated more strictly than my session was. Some will say, "That's part of the process! You have to surrender and breakdown!" And that is crap. And not something I subscribe too. Nor do I encourage my students do that.
First off, she did address the water thing at some point saying something to the effect that it's a rumor that she doesn't allow anyone in her classes to drink water. She made the joke that it only applies to her regular students. Her only "rule" for the class itself, was that we kneel or sit on our mats if we needed to take a break, but please don't lay down.
I wish all my classes/instructors were like Mary, or, at the least, that I could have had my first Bikram experience with her; it would have changed everything for the better.
Without getting into any of the amazing alignment instruction she gave during the posture clinic, here were my greatest takeaways from the day:
The goal is the holding still (basically, go as far as you can with good alignment and then WAIT; don't spend the entire time fiddling with the alignment -- get to it/into it, hold it and breath)
Five years of HONEST (I.e., no forcing) backbend (she was referring to bow here) and you will look like one of the competitors. You'll NEVER get there by forcing your body to go further than it is ready.
Do not force! You have to eat and allow it to happen over time.
If you have been forcing, back it off and start over.
She doesn't believe in no pain no gain or push, push, push. It shouldn't hurt.
She did not use the dialogue at all.
Everything was about the breath. Slow, deep, calm breath. If breathing becomes fast or labored, you've gone too far.
There was certainly more, but these were HUGE for me.
BTW, the class portion lasted well over two hours, but Mary was so calming it did not feel that long. Windows were open for fresh air, but we were packed like sardines -- mat to mat with not an inch to spare -- so I was still sweating like crazy, looking like I was peeing with all the sweat pouring from my shorts!
However, the one time I took a 60-minute class I couldn't wait for it to be over. Hated it.
What we do that is different from all the other 60min series I have heard of is sequencing the class. We do one set of 20 Pranayama and then the warm up series is the same....2 sets...party time. Separate leg balancing series is the same....2 sets full time. Then we sequence pretty much everything from here. SLS, TRI, SLH2K is all done in sequence (one right after another) and we do 2 sets. For the floor we sequence everything else too and do 2 sets of everything. So the whole cobra series is done together and same for FF, HT, CAM, Rab....and we Savasana in between the sequences too. At the end we do 1 minute of Kapalabhati. I was totally skeptical about it but I think it works and I actually really enjoy it and it's HARD MAN. But I can't quite wrap my head around the way other people do the 60mins. Not 2 sets and no savasanas and stuff like that I just don't understand cause, you're right, I feel like you miss out on some of the benefits.
My studio owner started offering it to her students this last week. However, it is not offered to new students and there is no formal instruction. She leads it like one would advanced class and offers corrections and explanations when needed. The absolutely only thing that is completely different from the 90 mins we do is the Eagle set up is done advanced style and the 2nd set of Balancing Stick is the advanced separate arm balancing posture.
I think what allowed me to open my mind to it is the simple fact that Boss does not hold much weight with me anymore. I appreciate what he created and am grateful for that, but I no longer feel like his way is the ONLY way anymore. Which is nice cause rigidity and close mindedness (which is what I have experienced myself and see in other teachers with everything going on) is not the type of relationship I want to have with teaching and practicing my yoga. Sorry this was so long.....
I do hope the yoga continues, but I have an emotional struggle with the name association given the current situation. I am in hope the yoga practice rises above the man.
Do not force! You have to WAIT and allow it to happen over time.
Darned auto-correct made it into EAT instead of WAIT.