bunni

I was curious about this too awhile back, and looked into it. Jimmy Barkan trained under Bikram and was one of his senior pupils, from what I read. He apparently founded his own method based on the Bikram series–but I never could find any good details on the actual postures he does. Some photos on his site would suggest that they do other/additional postures, while some look identical to the ones in the Bikram series, so there does appear to be some overlap.

The Bikram series is the same 26 postures and breathing exercises done in 90 minutes. It is supposed to be the same class no matter which studio you attend (as long as the studio has “Bikram” in the name). There are other general hot yoga studios that don’t necessarily follow the sequence exactly and the classes may be different lengths–they don’t have to follow the script if their studio doesn’t have “Bikram” in the name. I don’t know if Barkan follows a similar regiment to Bikram (eg the same postures every time) or mixes it up more like other hot yoga studios…it would be great to hear from someone who has tried his method!

Back when my first son was still a baby and I was about a month away from defending my PhD, the stress was starting to getting to me. I found BYSJ online and saw the 10 days for $20 package for beginners and thought it was a good deal. I went to my first class and absolutely hated it while I was in the room–I struggled alot with the heat. I just kept telling myself that all I had to do was finish the class and then I would never have to go back. Then, while resting in my car after class, I noticed how deep and slow my breath was…I realized I hadn’t taken a proper breath in years…it was simultaneously scary and exhilarating, but mostly it just made me feel hopeful. So I came back the next day and stuck with it.

Hi,

I could be wrong, but I thought some of the postures (like tortoise) produce the same effect as inverted asanas without the risk of neck injury.

I am curious if your doctors thought the back bends were causing the thinning of the discs?

Re the numbness in your hand, sometimes I get tingling in my left hand like pins and needles. It happens on and off throughout the day, and especially at night while lying down/sleeping. I wondered if I wasn’t doing half locust incorrectly. I noticed that when I push against the floor, I actually put most of the weight into my wrists instead of my hands… For some reason the pose is much harder if I engage my hands. I have started trying to focus on doing it correctly, since I worry I may have been crushing the nerves in my wrist. Do you every have issues with that posture, or is it just the back bends?

I had a touch of that back pain when I started too–I had a sore almost pinching feeling right at the lower back during backward bending. A teacher told me the pain was from too much compression in the lower vertebrae of my back, and recommended to focus on lifting my rib cage up and back instead of collapsing into the back bend. Basically I think I was “hinging” at the lower back with a mostly straight upper back, whereas she recommended creating the arched half moon shape with the whole spine equally. So now I think of trying to stretch up first and then go back like I am arching over a tall railing or fence by extending all my vertebrae fully upward and then leaning up and back. I can’t go back nearly as far using this form though, but at least my back stopped bothering me. Hope this helps you!

hmmm, well I am definitely a doctor or an expert, but I would avoid anything that causes that much pain unless you have a doctor familiar with your individual injury tell you it is ok to do. I did follow one instructor’s advice about pushing through some neck pain while I was on the mend from an injury, and after that class it took another 1.5 months just to get back to where I was before that class! So I am pretty skeptical about “pushing through pain” now!

I went through a similar experience in my first few (~4) months going 3-4 times per week. One thing that helped was buying a foam roller to help massage my back and hamstrings between classes. You can get them at REI, and the one I got came with a DVD showing how to use it. I also agree with the person who suggested doing back to back days (if you can work it in your schedule). Take the second class really easy–don’t push much and be gentle. The postures may help clear out the soreness.

These are some great comments–the only thing I can add is to watch Gabrielle’s video on breathing techniques on the free video part of this webpage. She describes the “correct” way to control breathing rate during class by using your throat–basically you get the benefits of pranayama without the snoring sound 🙂 It truely transformed my practice and I am so glad I found it. It has really helped me work through the heart rate issue and also to keep my mind from wandering during savasana.

Also, my husband is in very good shape but has to sit out many sets or even whole postures most days. He has been going 3-5 time a week since august. So, I don’t necessarily think it has to do with being “out of shape”…more likely it is just about needing to learn how to avoid the heart rate raising so high, like you mentioned, by stopping early and breathing as Gabrielle describes in the video.

Gabrielle is right that a proper diet supersedes all else. I’ve been a vegetarian since I was 12 (I’m now 30), and had to give up dairy while nursing my baby–this forced me to start eating *a ton* of soy beans (edamame) to get the protein I needed. My hair grew several more inches and got stronger and thicker, which is strange since women usualy lose hair after giving birth. Now I make sure to get high protein and vitamins from natural food as well as multivitamin supplements.

So, now I have waist length hair and have had to play with my routine due to Bikram. Initially I wore it in a bun at the crown of my head, but I did notice breakage. Wet (including sweaty) hair breaks really easily, so to avoid any tugging I switched to a braid, and I noticed many women at my studio do the same.

On days with Bikram class I shampoo thoroughly (scalp to ends) to get all the salts from the sweat out of my hair. Salts can also lead to breakage by building up and over-drying the hair. I dilute and lather my shampoo before applying it to avoid putting full strength product on my hair. You can spend alot on shampoo (Redken “All Soft” is my favorite vice, available at beauty supply stores and hair salons), but I typically use a cheap “daily” formula shampoo most of the time. Suave makes a good one, about $2-3 per bottle. I then use a liberal amount of conditioner. I never comb my hair while wet. I towel dry and then blow dry my hair while it is still all knotty from washing and then comb it once it is mostly dry–surprisingly it works pretty well.

On days with no Bikram class, I sometimes do a “conditioner only” wash…just using water to massage my scalp clean and then put conditioner on the ends of the hair. Alternately, if your hair is too oily to skip shampooing, consider diluting and lathering a small amount of shampoo in your hands and use it to wash only the scalp, avoiding the ends of the hair. Then let the shampoo rinse through the ends when you rinse with water. This allows the ends of the hair to retain some of your natural oils. Follow with conditioner.

You can also play with jojoba oil, and Vo5 makes some really nice hot oil products that leave the hair so soft and silky and not at all oily–it’s well worth the cost (a few dollars once every week or two). I also use a wide tooth comb and a boar bristle brush; wire brushes (especially the kind with knobs at the end of the bristles) can snag and break long hair. Hope this helps 🙂

The most important thing to do is to mention this to your doctor because only s/he knows your individual physiology and can advise you on the safest course to follow. Having said that, a quick google search showed that it is not uncommon for diabetics to have slightly increased blood sugar levels after exercise. So my guess is that if you talk to your doctor s/he won’t necessarily advise you to stop taking yoga, but might be able to give you recommendations for a safer practice.