Jane1

I could be wrong, but I think that if you want to be a Bikram instructor, and ADVERTISE AS SUCH, you MUST do Bikram Teaacher training. I’ve never done it so I cannot say anything about the training. I’ve had excellent teachers and what I also consider to be not so excellent teachers. But they have all done the Bikram training. How you will be as a teacher will depend on what YOU bring to the table.

I have found (maybe it’s just a coincidence) that those teachers who KNOW the dialogue but who do not just repeat it incessantly, who have their own comments to make, which vary (some start saying their own comments/jokes over and over again!)are the best. Those that have been the best for me use the dialogue to set you up, but they’re not fearful of letting you have a quiet savasana, they’re not fearful of interjecting with an observation they have made which is APPLICABLE at the moment they are making it. The dialogue repeaters seem TO ME to be less present, not all of them. BUt most of them. But again, this is not, I suppose, due soley to teacher training. How you teach will depend on who you are. (Perhaps all the people that go to teacher training shouldn’t be teachers in the first place!)

I’ve had excellent teachers who have made really good corrections and then others who just want to correct, and who get in the way of your practice. Again, Bikram, I suppose can’t necessarily teach a person good judgment! Some of the teachers have it; others definitely do not!

I have observed that reading Hot Doctor comments has already helped me, esp. regarding my shoulders and locking out the arms. They always tell you to lock out the arms, lock out the arms, at the expense of what might be going on with your shoulders. I read on the Hot Doctor about relaxing the shoulders and strenghtening the fingers, even if the elbows do not completely lock out (in time, they will: sometimes I find Bikram teachers talk a lot about patience, but many do not actually have patience: they want to SEE, RIGHT THEN AND THERE YOUR ARMS LOCK OUT BECAUSE THEY’VE TOLD YOU TO DO SO! AGAIN THIS DEPENDS ON THE STUDIO and the teacher, his/her personality, and his/her background–not just teacher training). By following Gabrielle’s recommendations and relaxing my shoulders, my elbows actually lock out much better!

I think that you’ll find that you pick up different information in different places, e.g. Standing Bow — I’ve been told by some Bikram teachers–and this does work for me–to kick up hard before ever even going down. Perhaps this is what is meant by the ‘the kick drives movement forward’. But some Bikram teachers do not emphasize this, instead saying that one go forward and kick at the same time, which is a different idea from the kick driving the movement forward. AS one Bikram teacher told me, by kicking first you get more of the bend in your back that you’re looking for. What I have found is that doing that, coupled with holding my extending arm straight, my hand reaching towards my middle eye, as one Bikram teacher put it to me, and my arms as locked out as I can, helps me to establish and maintain balance.

My main point here is that I don’t think you will go Teacher Training, get the answers to ‘the questions’, end of story. You will always get new questions. But more to my point, you will be learning different things from different places– some of the ‘places’ may be your own experience DOING the practice. I think another good place is at the Hot Yoga Doctor.

Namaste and good luck!

Jane

Actually, I wasn’t shocked reading these posts, because I have been fortunate to have been able to visit various Bikram studios. What is described in the original post is absolutely the way things are in some of the studios. The teacher is the boss! You’re supposed to do what s/he says, no questions asked. They will badger and even try to humiliate people, and not even seem aware of what they’re doing. Or if they are aware, they seem not to care. It’s really quite incredible.

However, I must say that all Bikram teachers, thankfully, are not like this and all studios are not such that they lend themselves to these behaviors. So, for example, I am pleased to say that I my experiences in the Santa Cruz studio were consistently wonderful. By ‘consistently wonderful’ I mean that every teacher — and they were all different — were respectful of both the practice (the times for poses were done correctly; the poses were done correctly) and of students: no one was bullied, humiliated; there was none of that drill-like military ‘discipline’ some studios I’ve gone to seem to thrive on. Further, the studio in Maui was also very good. All the teachers were good and two were absolutely excellent.

Everyone is different. I find it interesting how those drill masters never are the ones who motivate me to work harder. It’s those who keep calm, who are very present who stimulate me to work harder and harder. They might check out whether you are okay, if you go down, but they do not badger you. They do not lose count when correcting students. Their voices do not have rise in an overbearing crescendo just because they’re telling you to lift your leg! Yes, those are the teachers I personally liked. Perhaps other people do like drill sergeants. In fact, I imagine that that is the case.

I saw a post/reply here that suggests that the person providing the original post should just move on, chalk this up to experience, that maybe this isn’t for her… but it’s not that easy. There is no ONE Bikram experience. If one is lucky enough to live an area (say you live in San Franciso) where you can go to different studios,then you should really check out different places. I assure you, there really isn’t just one type of studio, one type of experience, one type of feeling. So, if you are in a position to do so, go look for that Bikram studio that matches your values. It ‘can’ really be such a lovely practice…

… but yes, it can be awful too. So sad when one leaves a studio feeling disappointed (because one is not getting what Bikram is supposed to offer) or mad (because one has had to hear the voices of bullies for 90 minutes in an overcrowded room).

Namaste
Jane