The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › General Hot Yoga Discussion › Motivation and Inspiration › The teacher AND my practice
The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › General Hot Yoga Discussion › Motivation and Inspiration › The teacher AND my practice
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This seems the best place for a discussion with is not about any particular position but rather about the practice itself.
I travel quite a bit and always look for a bikram studio wherever I happen to be. One of the things I grapple with is following Gabrielle’s advice, which I completely understand and want to honor, to follow the instructor at times when I really want to do it a bit differently.
For example, there are three positions where I tend to get called out because I’m not quite following their directions:
1. Dandayamana Bibhaktapada Paschimottanasana. I am focused on keeping my back straight and due to my very tight hamstrings that means my knees are bent. Many teachers will call me out to straighten my legs first, which cause my back to round. I feel that I get much less out of the position if I focus on the legs.
2. The sit-up. Today a teacher spent quite a bit of time telling us to exhale twice after we’d dived for the feet. Each sit-up he reiterated and then had someone demonstrate. I continue to exhale on the way up to “L-sit” and then again as I move forward. The teacher was very frustrated that we weren’t following his specific direction.
3. Paschimottanasana. Like number one above, the focus is on straightening the legs before pulling, while I’m trying to keep the back straight and pulling before they think I should.
Now in these 3 positions I get called out at times. Usually I feel fine continuing to do my practice. Sometimes I give in.
Of course, I do my best to stay with the teacher in terms of timing, coming in and out of positions, etc.
So what I’d like to discuss here with others is the fine balance between doing what you know is right for you in the moment and following every direction of the teacher. This isn’t an issue at my home studio where I feel very encouraged to manage that tension.
And I’ll add that this is really a slight tension, which is way out-weighed by the pleasure of the practice wherever I am at the moment.
Spring
Hey Spring!
Hope Gabrielle doesn’t mind if I chime in with my own experience here.
The general rule is that you always want to try to follow the instructions of the person teaching the class, unless you are in danger of actually hurting yourself by doing so. It is respectful to the teacher, and you might learn something new. Just smile and follow the instructions for that class, and then when you’re back home, you can go back to your old way if you really feel the need.
I’m just going to use one of your examples as an illustration: the sit-up! I know that Gabrielle likes the “pop-up” in the middle, so if you were practicing in her class, you would do it that way. That is actually the older version of the sit-up, that Bikram used to teach “back in the day.” The version that your teacher was trying to show you recently is the newer version of the sit-up (version 2.0, if you like!), which Bikram and Emmy Cleaves and the other teachers have been teaching for some time now. (Bikram likes to tweak the system from time to time in an effort to improve it.) So these are just two variations on the same theme, and both are equally good and beneficial when performed correctly. So… why not learn the sit-up the way your instructor of the day is teaching it, and see how it goes?
It may feel strange at first (and this applies to all of the differences that you mentioned), but changes always take some time to adjust to. So do an experiment: if you’re given a correction that you’ve never tried before, trying working honestly to do the posture that way every day for a couple weeks, and see what it does to your body. I always try to use a “30-day rule” in my practice. When I get a weird new adjustment, even if I don’t think I like it, I try using it for the next 30 days and see what happens. Sometimes when I do this, it turns out that something I HATED at first is just the thing that I needed to take my practice to the next level. And other times, the correction doesn’t work at ALL and then I just go back to my original way after 30 days, no harm done! But experimenting on your body is always a GREAT way to understand the yoga better!! That way you won’t have to take MY word for it, OR Gabrielle’s word, or ANY of these other wacky strangers on the internet… 😉 You can be your OWN teacher!
Best,
JulianaHi Spring
It is very frustrating isn’t it? To be told to do something that simply doesn’t make sense.
2. The sit-up. Today a teacher spent quite a bit of time telling us to exhale twice after we’d dived for the feet. Each sit-up he reiterated and then had someone demonstrate. I continue to exhale on the way up to “L-sit” and then again as I move forward. The teacher was very frustrated that we weren’t following his specific direction.
Let’s see. To do that the version 2.0 way 😉 you must inhale your arms up over your head while you are lying down and presumably you must have to sit up either
>> on your inhale and then ‘double exhale’. Or
>> inhale to position your arms and then hold your breath, sit up and then ‘double exhale’
>> inhale to position your arms exhale and quickly inhale so that you have time to ‘double exhale’ after you’ve sat up (or maybe that’s a triple exhale 😆 )>> OR maybe you could inhale and use one inhale to engage your core and get up off the ground safely and then second exhale to bring your body forward, again, safely.
It is empowering to do it in a way that works for the body. It is a challenge to do what’s right for your body when someone is dogmatically pushing for what you know is an inferior technique. As you say, it doesn’t usually matter. So … I would be curious about what you are feeling and needing at the moment when you think you should give in. That is your key! That is your meditation and where you will find your peace. We can explore that together if you like.
In my experience it doesn’t just feel strange Juliana, it feels wrong. Perhaps you can take your own advice and try it for 30 days. 😉 The truth is, that when students do it the way I teach they instantly feel it works. They don’t have to wait 30 days. It doesn’t just apply to the sit-up but it is a generalized principle that is useful in a number of poses.
I also don’t believe that there is room in your heart and mind for me and what I teach. I feel saddened by what I perceive to be public admonishments for me and what I do despite an overwhelming public response and acceptance and widespread acknowledgment from teachers and students who enjoy the addition I make to the hot yoga community.
I see your name on the forum and I know that I can look forward to an amusing attempt to take a dig at me personally. I have not done this to you and nor will I. There are others who don’t agree with me and who do so with an enquiring mind. I warmly accept their ideas and we debate them and work out what works. I will change my mind if given sound, reasonable, anatomical and functional reasons to do so. And yes I will try new and old techniques.
Your loyalty to Bikram is your business. Your opinion is yours too. Your opinion of me is also your business. As is famously said: What you think of me is none of my business.
What is it inside of your heart that wants to make sure that you share your poor opinion of me with everyone not just here but on other websites. At least here I can be grateful that your opinions here are toned down.
I have a request: I would like to allow people to be who they are, would you be willing to do the same for people here? If you want to contribute to this forum, please do so with respect and courtesy for everyone.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Replying privately…
I just hope that people who happen to read this forum can tell that my posts are 95% about TECHNIQUE. It’s not like I came on here with some kind of petty personal vendetta. I’m just here because I love Bikram yoga. Very sad that this is not welcome here, especially since it is such a successful and apparently influential forum. 🙁
Hi Juliana
My point exactly. A great proportion of this forum is about technique. And it IS open to discussion. It is about adults having courteous discussion without taking issue with others’ personalities or actions. I appreciate you love Bikram yoga. Will you kindly accept that I do too? I can also appreciate that you want to contribute. And you ARE welcome to. I would like to request some curiosity and some willingness to see things in a different light. Curiosity is a vital technique to living too, you know. Without curiosity we will accept what is and not move forward.
I do feel saddened that it seems you do take my words personally. One of the powerful sayings I quoted before is something I can certainly recommend to anyone: “What you think of me is none of my business”. If you felt at all upset by what I wrote then you are taking something personally and it is an area for examination. If you find yourself wanting to have the last word or feel angry about something then it is not my ‘stuff’ for want of a better phrase.
I have faith that we can move forward from here.
I leave you to enjoy your day!
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Oh my.
Well reality is, I’m never anywhere for a longer than a week, no less 30 days unless it’s my home studio. In the end I’d like to honor my practice and honor myself. That is the question I’d love to discuss with others who have had a similar experiences. And how they coped with it.
As to how I feel when I ‘give in’? On the things listed above, not great. On the other things, no sweat. Actually, I cannot even comprehend the breathing one. It’s inhale, then sit up and dive forward, and then breath out twice while bouncing.
I like your use of the word meditation. For me this is very much about moving meditation and being in my body in the moment, attentive to breathing and form are what’s important. In some instances, like the above, it becomes more difficult. But in the end I come to it for the meditation.
Thanks.
Spring
Hi Spring
Well I think that it sounds as if you are on the way to more comfortably organizing your thoughts and feelings on the issue.
Even though they can mean the same things, ‘giving in’ and ‘surrender’ have different resonance. In the context of your yoga practice: Giving in to me means against your will. Surrender is more about moving with the flow and doing what is asked of you safely and in a way that works with 100% trust, not just of yourself but of your environment (physical conditions of heat and humidity, position in the room, the teacher, the instructions etc).
It seems to me that for those 3 things listed above that you ‘cross the line’ from surrender to a position that compromises your values, not to mention your safety.
Does that sit well for you when I say it like that? Perhaps there is a better way to describe it.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂 -
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