Announcements

BYR Etiquette

First things first: Take your shoes off at the door. No shoes beyond the lobby area.
Leave ALL personal belongings in the locker room, no personal belongings in the yoga room.
Only water in the yoga room. No colored or sugar drinks. No glass.
Stay in line: The top of your mat should line up with a line in the carpet.
Be courteous: make sure the people behind you can see themselves in the mirror. If not, move.
SHH! No talking in the yoga room before, during or after class
Be clean: keep your sweat & your body over your mat as much as possible without turning, folding or rearranging your mat during class.
Germs? Eww. Keep your tissues, Q-tips, eye drops, and hand towels, etc on your mat not on the carpet. Still worried about germs? Take a shower immediately after class to rinse off. At a minimum, wash your face and hands.
Breathing: With the exception of the breathing exercises (beginning and end of class), the breath should always be normal-- in and out of the nose, no sound, no heavy breathing.
Feel Dizzy? If you need a break, sit. Take your time, don't rush it.: "Up and down" is distracting and much harder on your body. If you need a break take one that will help in the long run, not "up and down, up and down."

Company of the Month Program

What is the "Company of the Month?"

Employees with a valid company ID may take classes at either of BYR's two locations for a reduced rate:

$12 per session (Regular rate $20)
15% off any class package during the designated month
15% off any unlimited package moving forward (corporate discount)

If you are interested in registering your company for this program, please email or call and ask for Beth or Meredith.

How can Bikram Yoga help me in the Work Place?

Please read the testimonial below:

Bikram Yoga transformed my career. At the height of my profession, I was extremely burnt out physically and mentally. I was not eating well, was not consistently exercising, and was on several medications. A friend encouraged me to try Bikram Yoga, a 90 minute commitment! I soon realized that the focus and concentration on the physical aspects of the practice allowed for mental release of stress and anxiety. Over time, Bikram Yoga became my number one priority. Today I start each work day with my first stop at the Bikram Yoga studio for 6am class.

My transformation is evidence of the relationship between health and work productively. I am now a firm believer that work leadership is equally about demonstrating self-care, as this directly transcends into increased work productivity and improved work relationships. Good physical and mental health translates into life fulfillment and significant cost reductions related to health care and lost productivity. I believe so much in the benefits of Bikram Yoga that my life plan is to become a certified teacher of this practice, so that I can share with others what Bikram Yoga has done for me!

Caty Cook, Director Information Technology, Capital One

Discipline in the Classroom: The Importance of Stillness written by Joani Nunez-Winter: Co-Director Bikram Yoga College of India-Houston

How many times have your heard, "don't wiggle, don't wipe, hold still, look in the mirror, breathe"? That brief moment of stillness, after completing one posture and before moving into the next, has untold benefits when practiced consistently, day after day. By avoiding the temptation to move, whether it's to wipe your face, fidget with your clothes or hair, readjust your towel, or pick up your water, you pick up the reins and begin to control the chariot of your mind.

Bikram always says, "Your mind is your best friend or your worst enemy", which is absolutely true. Until the mind is under your control, you are at its' mercy. It will think whatever it wants and, depending on those thoughts, you will feel sad, or angry, or depressed or resentful, on and on. When the mind is under your control and you decide what to think, what to say, how to act or respond, life takes on an entirely different quality. You are in charge. You have become the charioteer.

Raja Yoga, the yoga of mental discipline, begins in the classroom by simply observing stillness. Before long, it follows you out into the world and into your life. Without even realizing it, you no longer react to the situations that used to upset you.

You control your temper. You control your response. You choose how you think about something, or someone, which results in a new sense of emotional wellbeing. So please, love yourself enough to "Hold still. Don't wiggle, don't wipe, look in the mirror, breathe." Why? The ultimate destination is peace of mind.

How Bikram prepared me for my deplayment in Iraq

As a student of Bikram Yoga for over a year I had already been feeling the benefits physically and mentally for a while. I had grown from someone that struggled to make it to the end of the class to finishing strong and improving almost all my postures.

In late October of last year I received word that the Navy was sending me to Iraq for a deployment in Baghdad working for a Multi-National Command helping set up Iraqi security forces, my position would be in the Public Affairs Office as editor of the command magazine.

In preparation for assignment in Iraq all Navy reservists are required to go through four weeks of combat training. It was at this early stage of my deployment that my time spent in the intense atmosphere of a Bikram class paid off the most.

The training put us in stressful positions that required us to maintain our concentration, does that sound familiar to any Bikram students?

My training was in January and we spent many hours outside in the cold wearing over 80 lbs of gear. We were required to move quickly and maintain focus in preparation for the next task, order or movement. Being able to remove myself from my body’s discomfort was a skill I had developed in our Bikram classes. To me it was the same drill. Getting through a class or getting through combat training I used the same mental process.

Another coping skill I have used both in training and in my every day existence here is moving to the next thing no matter what. Often I’m tired, hot and worried for my safety but I have to go on to my next task without hesitation. In class, when I got to the point that I could move all the way through the spine strengthening series and still keep going, I knew I had experienced a breakthrough; it’s the same thing here.

The most obvious thing someone might think when writing about the way Bikram yoga prepared t hem for duty in a hot place like the Middle East is preparing for dealing with the heat and that is what I thought as well. The truth is the intense heat we deal with in a Bikram class ends in a little less than 2 hours. The heat here in Iraq ends in October or when you go home, whichever comes first. It’s actually a little hotter here. Every day since mid-May has been over 110 here in Baghdad with 118 the hottest I’ve seen.

I am coming to the end of my deployment and I’m looking forward to my first Bikram class in a long time. I’m asking my instructors who I love and miss to be patient with me, it may take some time but I will eventually get back to a pretty good level of practice for an old Navy Chief.

Namaste

Jim Bane

Neck Hurt a Little Bit? by Meredith Kirchner

During Pranayama breathing, does your neck feel stiff? Like it won’t go back all the way?
During the backward bending in Half Moon Pose do your arms “just stop” at a certain point when you pull them back towards your head?
When practicing any backward bend, do you feel like your neck is bone-on-bone at the base?
During the spine series, is it a strain to turn your head all the way to the side in savasana or is one side more flexible than the other?

If any of these scenarios sound familiar, you may have poor neck posture. Working on the computer, driving a car, and leaning down to care for children are just a few of the actions that, over time, can cause cervical vertebrae to lose their natural curve. The supporting muscles will then re-train themselves to hold this incorrect posture. The Bikram Yoga series of postures serves as a diagnostic tool for your entire body; and chronic resistance to certain yoga postures may be a clue to an underlying problem. One of our students, Deanna Cook, has had success correcting her postural misalignments by following a chiropractic care regime and maintaining a regular (3-4 classes/week) Bikram Yoga practice.

Deanna first started Bikram Yoga in January 2007, when the West End studio opened. After more than a year of practice, a hip issue prompted a visit to Dr. Bryant Snyder DC who revealed a loss of curvature of the neck. To deal with the issue, Deanna committed to regular spinal adjustments combined with low-tech rehab neck exercises (physical therapy) to strengthen and stabilize the muscles in the neck. Deanna’s regular practice of the Bikram Yoga series reinforced the neck muscle exercises and allowed her to feel more rapid results. “The chiropractic care and rehab would yield results alone, but the yoga allowed her to see better results in a quicker amount of time” explains Dr. Bryant. “This yoga series incorporates postures that support proper neck curvature, while also detoxifying the area which directly supports the office rehab.” Deanna’s before and after x-ray measurements prove that her discipline and commitment to her yoga practice paid off. Her initial measurements showed a 19 degree curve (45 degrees is normal). A follow up photo measured 31 degrees, an 11 degree improvement! For facts regarding the importance of healthy neck curvature, click here http://stanford.wellsphere.com/back-neck-pain-article/why-is-the-c-curve-so-important-in-your-neck/326863

This success story proves that yoga and chiropractic care together can yield rapid and tangible results improving spinal curvature and overall posture. About 6 months ago, Deanna was excited to report that she finally looked forward to and enjoyed class. This timing is no coincidence: as she improves her spine and central nervous system, she feels better and enjoys the postures more. Here’s what Deanna has to say:

“I definitely believe in the power of Bikram Yoga. When Bikram talks about being able to change your skeletal system and other systems slowly, over time and that a healthy spine is a healthy life… I am living proof of that. Over the three years that I have been practicing, I have experienced enormous changes in my physical and mental well-being. Not only have I improved the curvature in my neck, which has helped with so many other issues, but I have quit smoking (something I was never able to do before finding Bikram), and I am better able to deal with stress and every day challenges. Like so many of us, I struggled with the classes for so long (it was initially a love/hate relationship – and my heart and lungs had divorced years earlier, so any pose that required such a marriage was not for me), but as my health started to improve, I began to enjoy the classes and about a year ago, I turned a corner and actually started looking forward to class and I now enjoy being in class… most of the time, anyway. On the days that I am struggling, I get through by knowing regardless of what my poses may look like, big changes are happening, slowly, with every breath and with every class! “ – Deanna Cook, BYR student

Dr. Bryant Snyder, DC and Bikram Yoga Richmond student
www.westendchiro.com