The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › The Hot Yoga Poses › Pada Hastasana › Dialogue: Japanese ham sandwich
The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › The Hot Yoga Poses › Pada Hastasana › Dialogue: Japanese ham sandwich
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At the studio where I practice, several teachers ask us to make ourselves look like a Japanese ham sandwich in this pose.
I just don’t get the reference? Does it change anything if they just said to make yourself look like a sandwich? Why Japanese and why ham?
Hello Gavin
Yes, one of the mysteries of the Bikram-centric universe where the words take on sacred (and almost biblical) meaning by many and which can mean absolutely nothing or imply something even ambiguous or tenuous in nature!
I guess I could answer this one in just about the same vein as the other question you posted about 14 major joints…
Again, many wonderful things to say to open up one’s awareness of this pose. But if the script is all that is quoted, just be prepared to hear that interesting phrase again!
Feel free to look around the forum because you can apply many distinctions from here to your practice.
There’s always somewhere to go, slight, incremental changes that come from new awareness. That may not come from hearing the same thing over and over.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂This is part of Bikram’s dialogue, and just means upper body touching your legs. Maybe ask yourself, why does this reference bother you so much?
It is just Bikram’s way of expressing his thoughts, and he’s an indian guy with english as a second language. You still get the point, right? I don’t understand why Gabrielle’s responses always begin with a vibe of “yeah, I told you this was so wrong, let me explain why I think it is…sigh.” Her posts seem to do that every time. Kinda depressing that she feels she should apologize for her own job so much, especially when this series requires no apology, it does amazing things!! I don’t understand….this practice is beautiful, regardless of who teaches it and whether they say Japanese Ham Sandwich or not…I came back to Bikram yoga after a 8-year lay-off from the practice. Now I’m 44 and have constraints on my time, so I didn’t want to mess about with something that doesn’t benefit my health. In the past six months, the structured classes have yielded great results physically (I’ve dropped 20-lbs), but mentally as well.
Here’s what I mean….there are parts of the dialogue that I find pretty difficult to take seriously. One of those is the “Japanese ham sandwich” phrase. It’s a perfect example of an instructor mimicing (sic) something they don’t fully understand.
I actually have my thoughts that it’s a phrase that an older person might use referencing back to Japan’s post World War II economic hardships…if you can believe that Japan was seen as a poor country at some point. So the reference is that a Japanese ham sandwich is two pieces of bread with no ham.
How does this help mentally. Eventhough I hate that reference, I effort not to let it derail the rest of my class or my appreciation for the benefits that I get from this yoga. In fact, it’s helpful because in life we run into a wide variety of distractions that aren’t helpful to us…
And could that be why the use that reference the first place…as part of the process of helping the students learn to not let a distraction pull us far from what our purpose is in the class? I think I just blew my mind there.
Peace out.
Hi Paul
Nice to have you at the forum! (I just found this post finished and not submitted from 10 days ago. Sorry bout that!) I hate to say it, but it really IS just one of those annoying phrases that mean nothing or add nothing to the practice. It was definitely NOT designed to do anything other than describe what Bikram thought was getting your body flat on your thighs. It makes no sense. Yet for some reason teachers continue to say it simply because he does.
An instruction that works is one that needs no explanation, ie it’s unambiguous, precise and meaningful. An instruction that works doesn’t require anyone to look around to check if they are doing it right by constantly comparing themselves to others (a small amount of checking is natural).
The dialog is not a sacred text. There are people who dissect the phrases to make meaning and even act disparagingly toward those who don’t feel the need to follow it a ‘t’ (even when following it causes problems). The problems caused are the very ones that this forum is here to fix. People come here to read about these issues on a daily basis.
I have found that when I am stuck in a dialog driven class that 2 things happen. One is that I listen to the words and use that to ascertain the things that actually don’t go with the movements that the teacher is attempting to teach. It helps me be present with my practice. OR the other way is to use the cues of entry and exit into the poses to guide me through. In all instances I just try to be present as much as possible. I TRY my best to follow the instructions but if they are lacking I do what I can to maintain the outcome of every pose. I hope that helps you. You can use whatever you’re being taught, dialog or no dialog to help you be more present in your practice.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂 -
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