Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor)

Hi Kayzee

I was wondering how it affects you and your practice to have the doors opened or to have to choose your mat position.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the studio was heated so that
a) nobody (teacher) had to act as the thermostat or heat monitor themselves? And
b) you didn’t have to consider ad hoc temperature ‘regulation’ when setting yourself up in the room?

I once went on holidays and the studio I went to had a similar system to the one you describe. I can’t tell you how distracting it was to have doors opened and closed, fans switched on and off, windows opened and closed and even the lights switched on and off.

I really did not like one bit having cold air rushing in over my body several times per class. One of the wonderful things about the class is the way you can have total focus on yourself (or at least try wink ):
@ and the way that the conditions are the same every class
@ and in effect the only thing that changes from class to class is YOU.
@ In that way you really get a sense of how your body and mind and senses are responding or reacting at the time.
To me it just seems that introducing the differences in an uncontrolled manner robs you of so many of the meditative benefits. Anyway I think you know where I am headed with that one.

These activities have nothing to do with running a yoga class and provide a distraction for the teacher and potentially to the yoga students (as you have already indicated).

Can a teacher really monitor the students to the best of their ability when they have to constantly work out if and when they should open a door to change the temperature? What a shame that there are not fully automated systems to provide the safest conditions plus the best outcomes (including providing fresh air – or make up air) for everyone involved.

Re fainting: No I don’t think it is very common at all. And I couldn’t even say whether it happened due to the heat. Are you aware of the temps that your studio heats the room? Would you say it is too high? Would you think that it warrants having the doors opened or do you really think that the room lacks oxygen? (btw I have been in a room where there REALLY was not enough oxygen but that is another story! and not a funny one [involving ambulances too.]).

I would love to know your thoughts!
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Absolutely, anything that can help you can save money gets my vote.

Just remember that when selecting a heater, you want to find one that doesn’t have a built-in thermostat that cuts the heater out at about 90 degrees. It can be very annoying when you can’t raise the temp enough to get your muscles really warm (and get the sweat too of course).

The other big thing is insulation or confining the space to be heated.

Happy hunting!
Gabrielle 🙂

Hello Penny

I got in touch with my friend and he recommends a radiant heater. He said that you can try getting in touch with him yourself if you need any help.

His website is http://www.hotyogastudiodesign.com. I hope Chad can advise you on something affordable.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Thanks Jared

I will enjoy investigating your suggestions. I have been a subscriber to raw food sites before and have never gone exclusively raw. I have however (prior to yoga – when I had weight to lose) simplified my diet to one food per meal and used ‘food combining’ principles as I built up the complexity of the meals over time to create a functional plan, and that was excellent. It never felt like a ‘diet’.

Getting conscious about food choice is what eating plans are good for. And if you use them long enough with the right mentality, they become your way of life. I love the idea of eating (the right stuff) until you are satisfied and not denying yourself. No guilt. Create balance. Plus you retrain your palate in the meantime.

Enjoy life!!!

Cheers!
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Donna

I recommend going to a studio first to familiarize yourself with the series before taking it on at home, alone.

Still, you have the forum to ask questions…

Kind regards
Gabrielle 🙂

Hello again

I would strongly recommend that you seek local advice or from someone in a capitol city in your own country. Perhaps you can approach a teaching hospital or a university with a reputable medical school. There is really no substitute for ‘being there’.

On the yoga front I would really recommend doing your poses with breath as your primary focus.

After that comes alignment. Take all care possible to keep your body in good position. Expect that you won’t go in as deeply as you did in the past. And make sure you DON’T care about how deep you go. 😉

If you feel more than a discomfort type of pain – one that approaches excruciating pain, then stop, back out and re-approach the pose with correct alignment (while breathing).

Any sign of struggle, back out. Work on length in the spine and surrender into your stretches.

Thanks for your patience.

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

Hi Johnny

Some will never get beyond this point. It doesn’t matter.
Alignment before depth. Always. Work the pose so you can give yourself the best benefits possible.

Cheers
Gabrielle 🙂

when i do tree pose i push the raised foot into inner thigh to keep it there and from slipping off, once you do it hopefully you will find it easier to do.

Posted by hennafire on 01/21 at 03:19 PM

Here is a reply from a woman who gives a helpful hint to you. I would like to point out that it appears that this may not be the classic Bikram Tree pose, where the foot lies high up on the leg in front of the hip.
If I understand the response above, the sole of the foot is placed up on the inner thigh near the crotch. This hint would appear to belong to a different pose.

That of course doesn’t stop us discussing the hint: :cheese:
Some people find in the Hot Yoga Tree pose that the knee twisting element is too severe so they may actually modify the pose to the one referred to above.

If this becomes necessary for you, then I would like to raise a caution: please don’t ever place your foot at the knee joint. Place it above or below it to minimize joint trauma.

Thank you hennafire.

Gabrielle 🙂

Hello again hennafire

Your life is full! You have brought up your family. You take care of your husband. You have put your family before yourself for a very long time.

Is it time to take care of yourself? When we do that we have more time for the ones we love.

But what can you do? (and by the way, what’s up with Iowa, no Hot Yoga studios at all! In fact, I have just spent 15 mins on the web searching for Bikram studios or even a local teacher. Not much choice and certainly nothing in the heat, I am sorry to say.)

Have you ever found someone who can relieve your pain with some massage? It seems highly unlikely that your muscles are still torn from injury 37 or 5 years ago. I assume that your back is in spasm and would welcome relief.

I would not go for deep massage originally but perhaps get a referral from your doctor for a proper body worker or sports physiotherapist. The other thoughts I had was to work with a Feldenkrais (which is gentle and restorative) or a Pilates practitioner. Swimming is also a great exercise and least one you don’t have to travel hours for!

You see, I think your body is protecting itself from creating more pain and has become misaligned. Your habitual movements over the years (which are trying to protect you) have helped maintain this misalignment. Your new patterns of movement are now ‘comfortable’ making your condition bearable or at least manageable to some degree. You do mention in your message about trying to balance out the pull to the right with a movement to the left! This can’t be helping you functionally although body awareness is a very useful recovery tool.

When I have spoken or corresponded with students who can’t make it to a studio, I find out if it would be possible to go and have a ‘yoga holiday’ in a place where there are Bikram Yoga studios. I suggest that they go for a week and go to at least 5 classes. I suggest getting in touch with the studio first on the phone and talking with someone who can not only empathize with you and your issues but be there to guide you along. If they know you are there for a limited time then HOPEFULLY they can give you hints and tips in class that you can take home with you, ready for practice at home without a teacher. Practicing at home without some good grounding may make it difficult for you to properly self-assess correct alignment (hence the reason for the holiday).

This may be way out of the question for you. But at least I thought I would flag it. Knowing that you have attended class certainly makes discussing the poses much easier for me in this forum (but is not a prerequisite 😉 ).

Let me know your thoughts. I will be here. 🙂

Kind regards
Gabrielle 🙂

Gabrielle,

I have found a great calculator that lets you know according to your gender, height and weight exactly how many calories you burn during 90 minutes of bikram yoga. It is http://www.my-calorie-counter.com (you do have to sign up but it’s free!), under the tools is an activity/exercise list and if you search “bikram” – click on conditioning exercise – Bikram Yoga, enter your details and change it from 1 hour to 1.5 hours and calculate it will give you an estimation! I think it’s the most accurate calculator I’ve found!

There is another site but only has “gentle” or “vigorous” yoga as options – no Bikram. This one is good for figuring out other types of exercising. http://www.self.com/fitness/calculators/

I have to say that I LOVE my Bikram Yoga! Thanks for all of the great information and keep up the great work!! :o)

-Heidi. :cheese:
Posted by Heidi on 01/22 at 11:53 AM

Thank you Heidi for doing the research!
Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂