The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › General Hot Yoga Discussion › Hot Yoga *faq* › What do you do when the tears come???
The Hot Yoga Doctor – Free Bikram and Hot Yoga Resources › Hot Yoga Doctor Forum › General Hot Yoga Discussion › Hot Yoga *faq* › What do you do when the tears come???
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I live rurally (the boondocks), and have set myself up to do a 60 day challenge at home,(no fancy Yoga studios round these parts). I’ve been off to the library and borrowed 2 Bikram Choudhary books, got myself a heater, mat & towel and am up to day 6 tomorrow. Love it. Can someone please explain exactly what you do, when the tears and emotions start coming out. Today in triangle pose, when coming up to standing straight after the first set, I had a profoundly good, yet,…hard to really say, moment?? My question is though, do I just keep going, or rest, or go into it, or stand there crying, or continue crying whilst trying to maintain the next pose???? What happens in the hot yoga studio classes, when people have a release of sorts?
Hello Peta
Firstly I have to say WOW! What an incredible commitment to yourself. To undertake a 60 day challenge by yourself at home is, well… a real challenge.:cheese:
Allowing yourself to feel, without judgment, with plain and simple observation can be one of the hardest aspects of a yoga journey. Couple that with the use of the mirror and class can be really confronting and lots of ‘stuff’ can come up.
To answer one part of your question: when you came up from Triangle you were standing there in Savasana (or not!). The difficulty would be to look at yourself and deal with the intense emotions while maintaining your breathing. It would be ideal if you could do that (for the standing poses if you find yourself standing or doing a pose looking directly forward). To look away from yourself may make it a lot easier to deal with the confrontation but it may not help you to release it or work through it! Many times students have a cry in the floor poses. You just try to connect with yourself at some level and that may or not include looking in the mirror.
It seems that you don’t have anything other than the books to lead you through a class. This could indeed be making it more difficult for you. Normally at class, there is a momentum that takes care of these things. The movement of the class from one moment to the next allows you to make the observations and move on. This happens too because there are usually a number of yogis in a class so unless it is an emergency the class doesn’t actually stop.
People look after themselves, the teacher can compassionately remain detached but aware and allow the student to manage the intensity. If someone breaks down, support and compassion is usually silent and may only need a reminder to breathe. These events usually just run their own course.
The studio is a beautiful and allowing space where everyone is working on profound self-acceptance and love, and through that an acceptance of others. I think you can see that practicing at home you need to have that ability to create that by yourself, and for yourself.
So really, if you happen to have an audio class going, see what you can do to keep the class moving regardless of your ability to continue with that particular pose or set or side. Your experience will be different every time you practice so your mission will be to simply notice.
Let me offer you my support right now so that you feel that you can use this forum for whatever you need. There are some wonderful people who regularly post some amazing insights: I adore reading their words and I am sure there will be some who read your post who will be more than willing to share their stories and provide encouragement.
Embrace your feelings, let them go and enjoy being in the moment. With that your heart will open and soar with a new freedom.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Thanks so much!! I have only actually found the books for ‘teaching’, you mention an audio class – is the Bikram teachings available in an audio format? Or one just as good?
I was standing savasana when I’d figured it was all about to come, but the actual moment began as I was focusing on myself coming up, arms parallel, then down with legs together. Which brings me to another thing I’m a bit all over the place on.
Where can I find clear instructions on which way to move through the poses so I am always facing forward to the mirror? It’s actually harder than it sounds – for example, in camel, I do the pose so that I am eventually looking at myself in the mirror, fabulous for concentration, but then to lie down in savasana, then come up in sit up facing the mirror, it is all a bit like a contortionist sequence, and I can’t imagine it taking this long in a class. Maybe I am just missing the flow of things, being so new and excited about it all, but I seem to be getting up, moving around, and lots of twisting and turning out of sit ups and into the floor poses. Hmmmm….
I’d also like to say that I might not have been so keen to actually commit to this 60 day business if it wasn’t for your site here. It is such a good thing to want to share all that you know with people who are just learning. And you have so much knowledge, and such a solid way of delivery. My nearest ‘yoga’ studio is 30ks away, and I found it not for me, and the nearest Bikram or hot yoga studio 500ks away!!!(minimum) Just thankyou, I am just so impressed.
Thank you Peta!
I am blushing from your lovely compliments. :cheese: And so happy that you have inspired yourself to such depths…
What you need is a lot of what has been asked for in the survey. So that is good news because there is stuff I have to work on. I really want to do that for you and everyone. I will definitely keep you posted.
Peta, PM (private message) me because I may have something I can help you with.
Now for your home practiceIn order for me to help you I need to know the following things about your space:
What kind of surface are you practicing on? (carpet/tiles/timber/?)
How wide is your mirror?
Do you have 1 or 2 mats?
And just for curiosity: to what temperature can you heat your room?That is just housekeeping I know, but is relevant. Once I have your answers I can help you STREAMLINE your energies so that you effortlessly (well, practically) move from one position to another. Practicing at home, generally because space is more limited, can make the experience physically different – and sometimes we have to get creative.
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂Thanks Gabrielle.
My floor is timber boards, my mirror is roughly 40cm wide and floor length, I have 1 mat, and my not so accurate temp guage says between 30-32c when I start, and 34-36c when I finish. I do practice with more room than I need, I can stretch out all over the place freely.
Day 7 today…yay!! I’m finding as I go along, to remember and adapt my positioning to face toward the mirror. Since you questioned it’s width, I’ve thought that maybe I should get a bigger one?? Or maybe just several more!!!
Cheers for your help
Hello Peta
I changed my practice twice this week in an attempt to better able to help you with your practice at home.
1) I had a class in front of a mirror that is only 30cm or 12 inches wide!
2) Robert and I practiced in 30 degree (85F) temperature.Yikes!
So this is what I can report:
* With a narrow mirror I find it extremely difficult to see my whole body. You have no doubt an appreciation for that already.
* What I particularly found is that the ability to self-connect, look at myself in the mirror, and deepen my meditation to make to match the intensity and satisfaction of practice that I have with a large mirror, was much harder to capture.
* In the 30 degree room (85F) both of us remarked that although we felt we couldn’t go as deeply into the poses (and this is understandable) the class itself also lost for us a sense of intensity that we look forward to.So I would really suggest that you manage some way to get a wider expanse of mirrors. Probably 3-4 feet across if you can (about a meter).
As for positioning yourself:
* All standing poses start facing the mirror square on.
* Stand to the left of your mat to straddle it widely for the warrior poses (Standing Intense Stretch and Triangle) and allowing your feet to be just to each side of the mat in Standing Sep Leg Head to Knee.
* Lie down with your head to the mirror for your Savasanas. Sit-ups face the back wall.
* Then you start every other floor pose facing the mirror except for the final twist.Frankly at home these are just guidelines. For example you may have a very slippery floor that may or may not be carpeted, and stepping out to the side in your warrior poses either causes you to slip or you end up sweating all over the floor so that it is dangerous or your flooring starts to stink up your house. Neither of these are good outcomes. So I would recommend in these cases to turn side on to the mirror and step out along the mat.
The other way to handle the sweat or smell is to make sure you position your towel 90 degrees across the mat during the standing series for home hygiene. Lie it along your mat for the floor poses.
Peta, I am looking forward to hearing how you are going now…
thanks for the PM too…Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂 -
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