Bikram Yoga and Philosophy

I am very thankful for all of these responses on this post particularly from Newbie’s first post. I have been practicing for 9 months and for the first time recently had a teacher whom I feel really truly is mean-spirited and a bully. I have taken his class 5 times now, and each class I have walked away having witnessed him say something inappropriate that makes my hair stand on end, or I have injured myself. I do recognize my part to play and that the class is my journey and to be leader of my own body in the practice, but had my only experience been him as a teacher – I wouldn’t have known that. Last night was the last straw for me, and honestly I just feel like his negative energy is still with me. I think because our bodies and minds are so open in this practice that something like this we as students are very sensitive to. I understand that teachers are human beings, too, however – I think every teacher need come to the podium with compassion in their hearts and encouragement to the student to take themselves to whatever level comes next for them (AKA – kill themselves, the self they used to be). Needless to say, having been a victim of abuse in my life I will never willingly subject myself to his teaching again. Call me sensitive, fine, but even as I consider going to teacher training myself, I wonder about some teachers who mindlessly and boringly deliver the dialogue. They are in such stark contrast to the ones who you know have the yoga alive in their hearts and see the bodies and energy before them that the bad ones ugg, really just stand out like a splinter. I can forgive a mistake in the delivery of the dialogue but not in the delivery of the joy of the practice and particularly not the negative chiding and manipulation of students who come with open hearts and hands for help in reaching their goals.

Well, anyway, this experience has sat on my heart all night and this morning and I am thankful for this thread and having the opportunity to get it off my chest and move on knowing that I have been lucky to have other wonderful teachers who get it.

I can say that I go to the same studio so far, but they have different teachers sometimes. So it was, probably, my fourth time and there it was – a different teacher then the one I was used to. She was talking to us as if we are soldiers. I have an old knee ligaments trauma so I’m trying to be easy on my knees. And she was coming to me all the time pushing me further down or up depending on the pose – and she didn’t care when i told her about my bad knee.I could not relax. I felt like I had to do the pose well for HER otherwise she will come and hurt me correcting. I was so angry I didn’t get any benefits for my body or mind that day.
However, next day I came and she was there again. So what I did was I asked her before the class not to press me to do what I cannot do, let me move in my pace. And since then I feel perfectly fine at her classes as well as with other teachers. ;-P

And what is interesting, last time I had a teacher who was not EXACTLY following the speech. And, oh my god, he was so good. I’ve never done better or felt better in and after the class. He was correcting little-little things that were making all the difference. He managed to make the atmosphere both relaxed and concentrated. He gave more explanations to the poses than there is in original speech and everything just made so much more sense. Maybe following the exact story letter by letter is not the best idea…

This thread means a great deal to me on a number of different levels.

My first experience with Bikram was very supportive, encouraging, accepting, and overall positive. So much so, that even at my advanced age and lack of flexibility I was encouraged to go again. This particular studio is not necessarily close to where I live but at that time it was the closest one. So, I started going regularly, 3,4, or 5 times a week. I found that the atmosphere in general was very accepting and positive. A few months later another studio opened which is much more convenient to where I live. I decided to give it a try. Turns out this second one was similar to the drill instructor atmosphere. I did not respond well. I went 3 times and haven’t been back. The owner and principal instructor is a retired Army officer, Airborne Ranger and relishes fostering that sort of an atmosphere. The dynamic I find most interesting is how the interaction and attitude manifested itself with how the students at the differenct locations treated each other as well. For example, just last night, I was talking to a young guy, who very respectfully asked me how old I am, I admitted my age and he said how great he thought it was because he had been encouraging his father to try it and it turns out his father is a few years younger than I am. In addition, this young guy and his girlfriend attend class. She is amazing, it was her 3rd class of the day, and she was situated right next to me, and man she is as flexible as a noodle. She paid me a very nice compliment in that she said she hopes she can continue doing yoga like me. Had to laugh at that, she’d have to regress a great deal to be like me! But, you get my drift. Both of them, young, good looking, clearly successful people readily engaged in conversation with me and were really eager to talk about the benefits of doing bikram and to encourage me.

So, from the perspective of age and varied experience I am convinced that the approach of people like Gabrielle and others is much more likely to produce positive results and a rewarding experience for the students.

Very inspiring to read – thank you!

It’s great to know there are plenty of studios out there doing a great job – and it is motivating me once again to look into hosting a “favorite, positive, non-aggressive” hot yoga directory where everyone poses their fave places to practice and anyone else who has also been can vote and comment.

Stay tuned …

Thanks for posting!

Awesome placement of this thread…insightful reflections and ideas from all, in the right places..
After an honest attempt to decipher truth from opinion the understanding most perceived, from a regular practioner of varying yogas(more predominantly Bikram)like myself, seems mostly about teacher experience not the ‘Bikram Method’

Acting or instructing according to the need of the moment surely is a measure of ‘this’ experience..

The point worth exploring here might be the integrity and management of the teachers at their training …?

Hi Pamela

I am not sure that “all Bikram instructors” have been referred to in this context. There are really very few reliable generalizations. One that is reliable is that we all need oxygen to breathe.

You are right: There are examples of every profession, every vocation on the continuum from downright terrible to excellent.

There are people who have had really soul-destroying experiences with some woeful teachers. And there are those who have had superlatively wonderful experiences. Are they always one or the other? Usually not!

We can all get through a class where the instruction is poor. We can even REALLY enjoy it immensely. However, mistreatment of fellow human beings is not OK. This thread has surfaced some very poor experiences. The comments are about a pervasive culture that often accompanies this style of yoga. For some it becomes too much, they either find another studio or even regrettably, give up.

You must feel great to be powering along, staying motivated and happy! You go girl!

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

I just came across this discussion and feel great sympathy for the original poster.

I’ve had only one unpleasant yoga experience (not at a hot yoga or Bikram studio). It certainly was upsetting; it was like a violation of trust.

At the Bikram studio I’ve attended for three years, every one of the teachers radiates loving-kindness. They are very gentle, very attentive and somehow manage to give personal attention in class and still keep that all-important timing. Amazing. Good, good teachers are out there.

I too just came across this thread and I have to confess that I am really really mixed about what I am reading.

I understand that IF you absolutely do NOT believe in a script-driven practice, if your view of teaching involves hands-on corrections and a practice tailored to specific client-driven abilities with the opportunity to modify/change poses and sequences, then Bikrams is not for you. In fact, you will probably find it to be a rigid, abusive, power-structure driven practice which you will view as harmful to the self-esteem and development of yoga practitioners.

I also understand that IF you believe that your life lacks structure, that the script ensures a certain amount of predictability and routine, and that some discipline in a practice is a good thing and needs to be enforced, well, you will enjoy a Bikram’s practice.

The thing that bothers me the MOST is this: often, those who personally don’t relate to the concept of script nor the routine are quite happy to really criticize the entire practice and essentially discard its positive sides outright. This is so very ODD in the yoga world. It would be as if I attended a Kundalini practice and said “BOY the entire concept of Kundalini is flawed: I really didn’t want to chant and shuffle around my mat: what WAS the point of that? Kundalini MUST BE STOPPED because it didn’t respect my PERSONAL preferences.”

Now, of COURSE no one says this! Yoginis say, well, I guess a Kundalini practice isn’t for me. So I find it strange that those who have found that a Bikrams practice or elements of the Bikrams practice are not to their preference feel free to “write off” the entire practice and its culture as being wrong, flawed, or inferior in some way. And the odd thing is that it is such an unyogini-like thing to do for a yogini! Where is the acceptance, the recognition that there are different ways to practice yoga?

There are so many forms of yoga out there — a person can find a yoga practice that they agree with. But this doesn’t mean than one form of yoga or its teaching style is better or worse than another. There are reasons for a script; there are reasons why the instructor doesnt demonstrate the poses; there are reasons for the rigidity and for the structure in a Bikram’s practice. And I personally feel that if you remove some or all of these elements and teach, for example, a “hot 26” practice, it just isn’t a Bikram’s practice anymore. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but it just isn’t Bikrams…kind of like saying “I love Yin Yoga, but I dislike holding the poses for so long so I’m going to teach a Yin class but have it in constant motion because holding poses for so long is just too hard”…it just isn’t a Yin class at that point. And it seems strange to me for practitioners to take it to tne next level and outright criticize or denegrate the form of yoga that is not personally appealing to them. It is one, perfectly acceptable, thing to say “I don’t like the long expression of Yin yoga poses because they cause me pain”. It is another, and quite strange thing to say “Because Yin yoga poses are held so long, they are dangerous and Yin yoga practitioners are foolish not to see this and to keep teaching in this way AND I’m going to really be vocal and critical about Yin yoga because I don’t agree with its philosophy”. So unyoga-like!

I don’t know, I just know that I really enjoy a Bikram’s class, I find a meditative quality about the script, I appreciate the instructors having the ability to observe and correct instead of doing poses themselves, I like the routine of the poses and of the predictability and reliability of the class, I often need the verbal butt kick to really work my body appropriately, and I even find that such structure provides me with a huge amount of personal freedom! I know, it sounds counter-intuitive, but think of it like this — every day I know I’ll be doing a standing bow. Some days I decide to work on the entry to the pose. Other days, I focus on the stretch. Sometimes, I work on hip alignment. Sometimes I want to find my personal edge. I don’t have this freedom in other less structured classes as I am constantly reacting to change in the routine. I don’t have the freedom to say, you know I can’t do inversions because of my wrists so no downward facing dog for me…I have to say, well POOP today is all about inversions NOW what do I do? (And trust me, I’ve been there and THAT was sould-destroying. I have never felt more incompetent and singled out in a class! Absolutely humiliating to have the class stopped every 2 minutes because the instructor wants to personally come over to point out my many many inabilities…it was my second class, I immediately quit and didn’t go to another yoga class until I tried Bikrams 10 TEN years later. I don’t even count those 2 classes as “previous yoga experience” LOL). And I really don’t have any trouble with the script at all, because I KNOW that a class is taught with the true intentions and specific directions of someone who really knows his yoga, rather than a teacher who may or may not be accurately representing their form of yoga during a class. Besides, at a certain point one becomes so familiar with it that it becomes meditative in nature. I can understand and appreciate other points of view about what I enjoy about a Bikrams class. I really wish others could be just a bit…kinder?..concerning the particular POVs and culture surrounding those of us who enjoy a true Bikrams class.

Namaste 🙂

Sometimes we continue attending a studio because the choices are limited. Classes are 90 minutes long and you have to factor in travelling time to and from class. Most prople go to the studio nearest to home or work. That’s why people keep on attending the classes of teachers they don’t like or find unsympathetic – Convenience.

I have read this thread with some concern though gratitude at the candour of the contributors. I have practiced yoga for many years though mainly Hatha or Ashtanga. I have yet to try a Bikram class but am very interested to know more. My concern is that I hear of serious injuries and teaching practice that seems to contradict the very heart of yoga. My assumption is that there are good and poor teachers in Bikram just as in anything else.

The main difference between Bikram and other styles is the intense heat. Though warm joints are good I do worry wheather the flexibility aided by the heat is likely to do more harm than good in encouraging students to over-extend their joints. If you add teachers who are pushing students to go further than they are ready for then this is a dangerous mix.

I started yoga three years ago by learning through several Bikram studios, and am grateful for the instruction, discipline, and knowledge I gained through those experiences. I still visit various Bikram studios in the States when I am there, and find the classes to range from fabulous to ok. No two teachers are alike, no two studios are alike, and of course, I am not alike any two consecutive practices!
Now that I live in a country where Bikram is not available, I practice on my own at home–I am proof of Gabrielle’s message that it CAN be done! And there is much I DON’T miss about the Bikram experience. In particular the emphasis on “killing yourself,” in a pose, which is dangerous in some cases, and the constant pressure to conform to a particular instructor’s standards. I found myself avoiding some classes or studios because I didn’t like the instructors, which is too bad–it should be ONLY about the Yoga! Some days, however, I just couldn’t make that leap.
My goal for my practice, whether in a class or at home alone, is to be the best I can be that day, in that pose, in that moment, but Bikram wore on me over time.
I continue to go to Bikram when I can, but having used many of Gabrielle’s tips and downloads, I am much more discerning and smarter about how I approach a Bikram studio.

Hi all,

I’m in a great studio that is accepting of all students. Some instructors are a little more “taskmaster” orientated than others, but hey, it would be boring if they were all identical.

Anyway, Birkham himself is a taskmaster. For me, I listen to my body first and foremost, but saying that, I also am willing to force myself through discomfort, but not pain. I always try to attain a posture, and don’t skip any postures or take a break other than when instructed to do so.

This is just my way. I’m afraid if I take a break I’ll never get going again! haha..
PS-I have attained a meditative state a couple of times in postures. For me, the only way I can describe it is, Time seems to stop, and before you know it, the instructor is calling you out of a pose.

Hello David Kiser

You seem to disbelieve what others are telling you of their experiences. Are you suggesting that these things did not happen?

The point of this thread seems to be about a certain culture that has become evident in studios around the world. Nobody is suggesting that it is all studios. There isn’t even a suggestion about numbers.

What seems to be the common thread is that people don’t want to be treated with disrespect or disdain. There are of course other points made. Can you step back and even accept the possibility that what has been written is true?

>> Are you simply expressing your dislike for people who don’t act as you do?
>> Is this personal?
>> Do you always feel the need to defend what you’re doing? (in reference to your comment about defending oneself)
>> What is stopping you from just BEING?

You may do what you like with your own studio. Nobody says differently. It is your choice whether you should buy into the culture or the franchise or whatever it is that is meeting your needs. That is not a flippant comment. That is an acceptance that your actions are meeting your needs in some way and I am not the one to identify those needs.

By the way, do you drive a model T Ford? That’s a pretty brilliant invention. My point? Whether you like it or not, things change, systems change, teaching changes, understanding changes. You have issues with the way I do things (that’s pretty clear). My guess is that you have very little idea as to where our opinions differ and even if you do, then to quote a wise person “what you think of me is none of my business”. One could surmise that you have issues with anything that goes against what you believe. Possibly.

Can you simply stop being so defensive and be curious for just a little while? Live your own life. You can teach Bikram yoga, do that! The yoga is wonderful (hot, bikram, whatever THEY choose). That’s why the rest of us are here too.

You continue to talk (here and elsewhere) about others changing the series making it cooler and 60 minutes and music and so on and so forth without any sense of continuity with respect to preceding posts.

You’ve been pretty busy trawling this forum for the last few hours.

Let me ask you this: Have you done that with hate or anger in your heart and hoping to catch everybody out (aka specifically me?) and prove a point, or are you here out of curiosity and interest for what happens here?

It’s all about intention.

Thousands of people who come to this forum are going to read your posts. Many of them will know you or look you up. They go to Bikram studios. What good is it to invalidate others to make your point?

“There is no need to blow out others’ candles to make your own light shine more brightly”… Hmmmm I hope I quoted that correctly!

David Kiser, go shine your light with love, acceptance and peace in your heart.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂