bikram yoga

Just a quick mention to anyone in any stage of their macro exploration that is also looking to heal from specific ailments through this diet: joints, skin, organ function, smoking, sugar, headaches, etc, etc. I have stumbled upon the perfect mate to macro eating: bikram yoga. This is that hot yoga form where the room is kept at 100+ degrees for a 90 minute session of balance, concentration and the most sweating you have ever done ever, bar none. This practice is like macrobiotics from the outside in! Towards the end class, i feel the bikram soaking in and meeting the macro on the inside and I'm freaking thrilled and literally beaming from ear to ear....i feel so cheesy right now, but it's true! I think you all should try it, it's a yoga for the body and mind and is adaptable for all levels...one room with those that can't touch their knees and the circ de soilel contortionists! You should try it if it's in your area, you will not forget or regret it!

[Shiitake Jones]

Hello Chipchewmunk
What a great post!
I feel that mb and yoga go hand in hand.
They both spiral one forward to infinitely more balances states of health and Beingness.
I have found my macro practise enhanced by my yoga practise and now teaching! and my yoga is definitely influenced by my food and lifestyle choices! How does it get any better than that?!

I would love to discuss yoga more - lets discuss it more in my forum....
sounds like you are having fun with Bikram. I dabbled in Bikram myself and found it amazing. Though it did make my organic mascara run! ;-)

soon I will also have my own website with lots of yoga and lifestyle discussion and resources. With the ultimate in balanced living....

watch this space for more details

love and miso soup

xoxoxo

Shiitake

[rickfrank]

I am responding to the recommendation regarding Bikram yoga.
I respectfully disagree, as one who is a yoga teacher, and teaches people with a variety of health conditions and injuries.
I think that Bikram yoga is NOT suitable for all levels. It is really for people who are fit, dont' have any medical problems or injuries. It is very easy to overdo it. Certainly not for anyone with any kind of cardiac problems.
From an energetic perspective, Bikram yoga is extremely yang, done in a VERY HOT room, very active and intense. I'd be concerned that an overly yang person would be drawn to this, and perpetuate there condition, OR someone too yin would find it too extreme.
I think that yoga is very similar to macrobiotics; the purpose of the practice is to help one be more fully alive. As in macrobiotics, yoga should be tailored to one's individual condition at a given point in time. For both yoga and macrobiotic eating, one should ask: "what do I need today to support my condition, and help me to do what I want to do?" Yoga practice may be very restful, very powerful and intense, somewhere in the middle, or some balance, but always include some relaxation. I think that it is very challenging to take this into consideration in a Bikram class; there is one sequence of practice that is done every time; I would not have confidence that many Bikram teachers would modify the class for individual issues.

I'd welcome any replies, to this list, or to me directly.
-Rick Frank
Boston, MA
rickfrank@rcn.com

Rick:

I hear where you are coming from about bikram yoga's dangers concerning both the heat and the sequences. Yes, it is incredibly hot in that room and that draws the yang sports enthusiasts, that I am admittedly a member of, by the droves. What I have to say in Bikram's defense is that within the heat one can start to hear and clear the voices in her head, and I have found that as I sweat, I sit with my old food cravings and pent up emotions along with healing an old and persistent running injury, giving me a stronger yin-yang compass for my next macro meal. The majority of my instructors begin the class with asking about our various injuries and the better of them show modified forms of the asanas. With each class I find a different practice, but each feels centering much like macrobiotics. It's a bit like my 10 day rice fast in that it's not easy, but is rejuvinating and restoring and helps my body to tell me what I need. Now, this is my first intense yoga practice barring a few dvds used mostly to supplement a lifetime of running, so I could feel equally (or more) freed by other forms of yoga. I hear and absorb what you have said, though I still suggest others to give Bikram a go. It's not for all, like anything else, but the joy it's brought me is something I want to tell everyone, it's that feeling that comes with a good balanced macro life and we should all at least know it's out there. You can only explain the taste of an ume plum but so much before you just want to give one away! Thanks again for your post.