This posture, Eagle, is the third posture in the Bikram Yoga series. It is also considered a warm up pose and is the last posture before Party Time. The point of eagle in the series is to “wake up” or activate your skeletal system. Eagle is the only posture in the series that opens up the 14 largest joints in the skeletal system. Beyond improving flexibility in the hips, knees, ankles, wrists, elbows, scapula and deltoids, Eagle also supplies fresh blood to the reproductive system and sex organs, plus the kidneys, which increases sexual vitality and helps clear up reproductive problems.
To do Eagle start by standing still and focusing on one point in the mirror (remember this is a balancing posture so don’t move your eyes!). Bring your right arm under your left arm. Cross at the elbows, then again cross at the wrists, bringing your hands together in front of your face (thumbs toward your face, pinkies toward the mirror). When you do this you will feel compression in the wrists, elbows and shoulders. Increase this compression by pulling your elbows down so your fingertips go below your nose (looks like an Eagle’s beak).
Sit down in the chair, and without letting your hips come up at all, lift your right leg over the left leg and put your right foot under your calf muscle. If your foot isn’t wrapping yet (very normal) bend your knee and sit down more. If you lose the balance, arch your upper body back more. So you’re twisting like wet ropes, sitting down as low as possible and arching your upper body back as much as possible. Don’t forget to suck your stomach in!
If this posture makes you feel a little dizzy, don’t be alarmed. This is the tourniquet effect for your entire body and is a super charge of circulation to every cell. Remember if your thighs are burning, you’re doing the posture the right way! Enjoy!
Garurasana or Eagle Pose
60 Day Challege Week 3! Back hurt much?
Back hurt much? Neck hurt? Shoulder hurt? Hip hurt? Knee hurt? Head hurt? Hair hurt? Like Bikram would say, “Good for you!!!”
Most people that exercise regularly or do any type of training (like a Bikram Yoga Challenge) are likely to experience pain on a daily basis. This might not necessarily be a bad thing. Yoga teaches you to listen to your body on a deep level. It teaches you to differentiate between good pain and bad pain. When you’re in pain, listen carefully. Your body will tell you exactly what it needs.
Here are a few tips for you to minimize pain over the next 36 days.
Arrive to yoga early to “warm up” in the room. Just do some gentle stretches to relax yourself before class. Nothing rigorous. Not only will you feel more peaceful during your practice, but your muscles will be more relaxed and less sore.
Take a long Savasana after class. Savasana is where all the repair is done for your body and central nervous system. While you are relaxing in stillness, every cell in your body is being re-energized, reorganized, and revitalized. These moments after class are precious. A seven minute Savasana after class is recommended for optimum benefit.
Take Epson salt baths. Epson salt works so well because when you soak in one of these baths, it’s actually detoxifying your body of lactic acid. Lactic acid is often what makes you stiff and sore. Also, when you soak in Epson salt you are absorbing minerals into you body by way of your largest organ, the skin.
Choose an all natural anti-inflammatory. Arnica gel and pills (pellets) are great natural anti-inflammatories. Rub the gel in to sore muscles and take pellets several times daily to prevent pain. You can find these at Good Foods, Whole Foods, or Ellwood Thompson.
Eat the right foods. The right foods include raw foods, healthy fats, and nuts and beans. Diet plays a vital role in the recovery process of your cells. The more living enzymes you consume, the faster your body will heal. Drink the raw smoothie for breakfast instead of cereal. Have a salad for lunch, instead of the sandwich. After your yoga class, eat high protein foods like nuts and beans to repair muscles. Healthy fats, like avocado and raw cheese is essential to your bodies repair as well. Avoid anything processed or canned.
Another great way to treat yourself that helps with pain is massage. We have a great massage therapist, Michelle Pfeiffer, available for appointments at our Stony Point Studio. Please utilize her, she’s fabulous! Click on our “massage” tab for more information on Michelle.
This weeks Lucky Draw winner gets a free one hour massage with Michelle!!!
And the winner is…..
Christina Gibson :)
Congratulations Christina! Please pick up you prize certificate at your earliest convenience.
Thanks again for practicing yoga.
Have a great week and see you tomorrow in the hot room!
60 Day Challenge Week 2 and Delicious Raw Smoothie Recipe!
First of all, thank you for an inspiring 17 days. You guys are truly amazing. All the smiling, happy faces at the studios reconfirms how essential yoga is to having a happy, healthy and long life.
Bikram always says that as humans we come up with all the excuses in the world not to take care of ourselves. “Too old, too bad, too sick, too tired, too busy, too poor, too fat, too skinny.” By doing the yoga challenge, you are living examples that it is possible for people with busy lives, families, jobs, stress, unemployment, illness, injury and other obstacles, to take time everyday to put health and happiness first. You’ve turned obstacles in to opportunities. This is a Karmic dead that you are doing, and it is promised to you that if you continue to do your yoga, you know longer have to chase money, people, love, work, or the Gods; these things will chase you!
The first couple weeks of the challenge we like to talk a lot about nutrition. This is because nutrition is an equal player, along with yoga, for a healthy and balanced life. If you have the proper nutrition you not only feel great, but you also can do yoga ALL DAY LONG!!! Wouldn’t that be nice :) Proper nutrition includes things like fresh fruits and vegetables, healthy fats, fresh made juices, E3 Live, beans, and sprouted seeds. The more raw, whole, organic foods you eat the better you will feel. The more energy you put in to your healthy diet, the more you will crave healthy foods. Below is a recipe for a delicious, raw, organic smoothie that is pack full of vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, and natural proteins. Not to mention it’s very hydrating.
Recipe for Banana/Avocado Smoothie
1 organic banana
1 organic avocado
1 organic apple
2 tablespoons organic Chia Seeds
2 onces organic Aloevera juice
1/2 cup raw milk (or almond milk or whole milk)
1 large handful of ice (5-7 cubes)
Blend these ingredients.
(makes 1 large smoothie or two smaller)
Enjoy for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a snack.
In the morning drink this smoothie, a cup of green tea, and a shot of E3 Live and you’re guaranteed to feel great in yoga and all throughout the day.
This weeks Lucky Draw winner is…..
Emily Ahern :)
Congratulations Emily. For your prize, we’ve gone to Whole Foods and done your grocery shopping for you. We’ve purchased all your ingredients you need to make this delicious smoothie. Pick up your prize at your earliest convenience (some items perishable).
Thanks everyone!!! Have a great week!
60 Day Challenge Week One and How to Stay Healthy!
We have kicked off the first week (or first 10 days) with a bang!!! Over a hundred and twenty crazy Yogis and Yoginis giving 110% for the next 60 days. You guys are awesome.
A frequent question that new students ask is…
“Is it safe to practice Bikram Yoga every day?”
The answer, as you may be discovering, is YES! In fact you should be practicing every day. A very important objective of the challenge is to do more yoga, so that when it’s over, you DO MORE YOGA! The bar has been raised and it feels good!
The reason people ask this question might be because of the fact that Bikram Yoga is done in the heat and there is a lot of sweating involved. Sweating is very healthy and good for you. However, when you are doing exercise and you sweat a lot you must take extra care of yourself by way of nutrition. People that practice Bikram Yoga often report that they crave healthier foods. This is because your body needs healthy and natural foods to replace lost vitamins and minerals. Fresh fruits and vegetables, fresh made juice, sea salt, celtic salt, and coconut water are some healthy and natural ways to replace lost vitamins and minerals (or electrolytes). Another great product for overall health and balance, that we are now carrying at the studios, is E3 Live.
We started carrying this product because we want to you guys to have every opportunity to be the best, healthiest, and happiest you can be. We are currently the only distributor of E3 Live in the Richmond area.
Physiologically, E3 Live helps restore overall body and mind balance in numerous ways. It’s field of action simultaneously includes the immune, endocrine, nervous, gastro-intestinal and cardio-vascular systems.
Nutritionally, E3Live provides 64 easily absorbed vitamins, minerals and enzymes and has more biologically active chlorophyll than any known food. It is the most nutrient dense food known to mankind.
Some other benefits include:
Increase endurance and stamina
Lift and balance mood to reduce stress
Increase mental focus and concentration
Balance blood-sugar levels
Speed up recovery time
Restore overall biochemical balance
Enjoy long-lasting energy boost
Grow healthier skin, nails and hair
Truly enhance overall well-being
You can practice yoga all day long if you have the right nutritional balance and this will help! Please try this product and let us know what you think.
Every week we will be doing a Prize Drawing or as Pavida calls it, a “Lucky Draw!” Yay, lucky draw! This weeks winner is…..
Caroline Stokes :)
Caroline wins a bottle of E3 Live!!! Please enjoy this product and let us know if you have any questions.
We’ll see you this week in the Hot Room! Thank you for practicing Bikram Yoga! Have a great week.
Utkatasana
Utkatasana or Awkward Pose
July Posture of the Month
In various styles of martial arts the legs and abdominal area are considered the powerhouse of the human body. Even a movement using your arms is powered by the thighs and abdominal core. Same principals can be applied in Yoga.
Awkward Pose is the third posture in the Bikram series. Every muscle in your body gets activated with this posture! Awkward prepares the muscular system for the entire class. Your arms and legs may burn like crazy for a while, but over time, the more you practice you find an inner strength, and you gain the ability to sustain this posture for long periods of time.
There are three parts in Awkward Post. The first is when you sit in the chair (no bar stools), with your feet flat and the weight in your heels. Like Mary Jarvis says, “Your fingers
are reaching forward and you hips backward, but I can’t see it!” Make sure your hips are in the chair and your spine is backward bending. Try not to let your knees go farther forward then your heels. This posture is great for body alignment, so keep you toes, heels, knees, and hands at a six inch gap.
For the second part of Awkward, the first thing’s first! That is to focus one point. Don’t move your eyes!! This is the key to balance. Then stand on your toes as high as possible and sit down. Hips and head are touching the wall. Again, sit in to the chair (thighs parallel to the floor). Bikram says, “don’t lean forward!” Imagine your hips and head are leaning against the Great Wall of China. Think very deeply of the strength in your lower abdominal area and let the posture be sustained from there.
For the third part, stand on you toes a little, bring your knees together, and sit down with your hips and head leaning against the Great Wall of China. This is the easiest posture in the world if you have the technique. Keep your knees down, arms stretching forward, and spine straight. The momentum of the spine is moving continuously upward and your hips are a half inch off you heals.
There is no need to dread or fear this posture. It’s very good for your knees, your coordination and balance, and it will bring you tremendous strength from the inside out. Good luck!
In various styles of martial arts the legs and abdominal area are considered the powerhouse of the human body. Even a movement using your arms is powered by the thighs and abdominal core. Same principals can be applied in Yoga.
Awkward Pose is the third posture in the Bikram series. Every muscle in your body gets activated with this posture! Awkward prepares the muscular system for the entire class. Your arms and legs may burn like crazy for a while, but over time, the more you practice you find an inner strength, and you gain the ability to sustain this posture for long periods of time.
There are three parts in Awkward Post. The first is when you sit in the chair (no bar stools), with your feet flat and the weight in your heels. Like Mary Jarvis says, “Your fingers are reaching forward and you hips backward, but I can’t see it!” Make sure your hips are in the chair and your spine is backward bending. Try not to let your knees go farther forward then your heels. This posture is great for body alignment, so keep you toes, heels, knees, and hands at a six inch gap.
For the second part of Awkward, the first thing’s first! That is to focus one point. Don’t move your eyes!! This is the key to balance. Then stand on your toes as high as possible and sit down. Hips and head are touching the wall. Again, sit in to the chair (thighs parallel to the floor). Bikram says, “don’t lean forward!” Imagine your hips and head are leaning against the Great Wall of China. Think very deeply of the strength in your lower abdominal area and let the posture be sustained from there.
For the third part, stand on you toes a little, bring your knees together, and sit down with your hips and head leaning against the Great Wall of China. This is the easiest posture in the world if you have the technique. Keep your knees down, arms stretching forward, and spine straight. The momentum of the spine is moving continuously upward and your hips are a half inch off you heals.
There is no need to dread or fear this posture. It’s very good for your knees, your coordination and balance, and it will bring you tremendous strength from the inside out. Good luck!
Countdown to the First of 60 Classes
The 60 day Fall Challenge is just getting started and over 110 challengers are taking the plunge. There are few things in life better then getting to do yoga every day (and sometimes twice a day) for 60 days straight. Whatever your reasons are for signing up, one thing is for sure; after your challenge is completed, you will have a new life. Your new life does not mean that you are a different person. It means that your true self will really shine even more and in ways you never thought possible. Like Bikram says, “Yoga makes you, YOU!”
And by the way, we want to hear more from YOU! So please keep us posted on your progress. Email us with questions, concerns, advice, or testemonials. We love to hear from you.
Thanks to “Jay” for sending us these words of motivation below. We love her advice of putting yoga on your calendar first, then working everything else around class. Thanks Jay!
Countdown to the First of 60 Classes
Okay, so for various reasons, it’s been about a year since my last yoga class. Even though I haven’t been in a long while, I still consider yoga to be my favorite form of exercise for mind and body.
I found an email in my inbox late last night announcing this 60 day challenge – It starts today so there wasn’t much time to think about it. Nobody loves a challenge more than I and so, being a Bengal Tiger (30 day challenge) and having completed the 40 day challenge, or was that 45, how could I possibly ignore the opportunity to go for Gold with this Fall 2010 Challenge. 60 Classes in 60 days. Here goes.
My yoga mat is ready at the door and my clothes are neatly folded. The schedules for both studios have been printed and are on my notice board. I’ve also printed the details for the studio in Minneapolis where I will be for a few days during week 2. Am I ready. Uh oh… That was meant to read… I am ready! A typo worth leaving just the way it is.
Two hours to my first class and I feel nervous and excited all at the same time. Just as I settled to channel my nervous energy into writing or perhaps rambling, my husband walked in with a few articles I printed from the Bikram website. I thought the big smile was for me but it turns out he pulled the articles I printed from the printer and loved the title of “Do Thumbs Sweat?” I love it too.
If I had written an article after my class, it would probably have been titled “Do Eyeballs Sweat?” Whenever anyone asked how my first class went, I told them it was so hot my eyeballs sweated. I know, really attractive thought.
I think the reason Bikram yoga works so well for me is that my thoughts can only move between posture and heat. As unfocussed as I am generally, my thoughts do not leave the calm of the yoga room. An observation that still fascinates me.
About my first ever class: If you know that feeling lightness you get when you walk into a room that you’ve organized, well that’s how I felt about life the morning following my first class. It gets even better. I drove to work expecting the usual million-thoughts-a-minute experience and found I was having one clear thought at a time. Wow, to think there are people who live like that. I want to be one of them.
One hour and forty five minutes to go. The anticipation of a yoga class is coming back to me. I know why I’m going back. Yoga makes everything just right.
One hour and ten minutes to go. I’m dressed now and my yoga mat is still at the door waiting for me. I froze some water last night as my one little comfort during the class today. I hear they have cold lavenders towels at the end of class. Guess I’ll have two comforts today then.
Oh Joy ! Things just got a whole lot more interesting. I have been trying to talk my husband into going to a Bikram class for years and have tried many devious means to lure him to a class. As if one can lure someone into sticking their head in an oven, I tried anyway.
One more attempt today, it worked. I asked him to make a bet with me that, if he lost, he would have to come to a Bikram class. The deal is, if I lose 25 pounds, he will come to a class with me. Poor thing, I think they would call that double jeopardy for him – Yoga makes you lose weight and I would love to see him sweat it out. And oh yeah, it’s the first day of a 60 day challenge. Turns out we have two challenges on the table.
One hour to go. Do you think the ladies at the Y are blogging about waiting for a step or cycle class to start? If they are, I haven’t seen it. Yet, when it comes to Bikram yoga, there are so many blogs by Bikram victors and victims. Be they former or latter, each are equally proud of their achievements. I’m proud to be a little of each.
Signing off for now so that I can…
Actually, I don’t know what I’ll do with the next hour. I just know I’m ready. Should I eat something? Did I drink enough? Had a good lunch and have been hydrating – I should be okay.
Here’s to 60 days of getting to know myself… and you. Good Luck fellow contenders/challengers!
You can do it!
A tip: Put yoga on your calendar first and work around it.
