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Member
Posts: 24
| Why isn't there a discussion heading for Hot Yoga (as opposed to Bikram Yoga)? |
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| What discussion would you like to read about Kathleen? Hot yoga is yoga in a hot room--what's left to say? |
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Member
Posts: 24
| All hot yoga isn't bikram. |
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| There isn't a forum for Katonah Yoga either. Is it difficult to ask questions about your format for hot yoga in different forums? Maybe the general yoga one? A forum for every style imagineable would be difficult to imagine. ;) |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 5098
 
Location: Somewhere in the Mountains of Western NC | Hey Kathleen,
Whenever you read my posts...just always know that I'm referring to both Hot and Bikram Yoga...to me they are one in the same. Although....I'm sure not everyone feels that way, but I do. The only exception to Hot Yoga IMO, is that most of the practictioners are well seasoned in Bikram, but have ventured off into a more balanced and safer practice focusing more on alignment and NOT over extending themselves during the practice. For what its worth, I am trained by a professional Bikram instuctor who has over 30 years of yoga experience, who studied with other yoga professionals and guru's, teaches safety and alignment techniques. I feel so fortunate and lucky to have this kind of training because not everyone has been able to have such a deep experience with this series of yoga. It's really wonderful and it can be a beautiful practice. Take care, |
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| I was having a discussion with a couple of non-bikram yoga instructors in another forum (non-yoga related) and they cautioned against the bikram cues to lock your knees in many asanas. Since I do a non-certified version as hot yoga, I don't think I have been cued to lock knees, merely straighten them which to me would still allow for a microbend if necessary. So with your experience with "safety and alignment techniques" from other yoga forms, what's your view on the apparently controversial bikram technique of "locking" your knees? |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 5098
Location: Somewhere in the Mountains of Western NC | Redrox,
My instructor always has this little grin on her face when you ask her questions such as this, here's mine, 
I don't believe in that term, Lock the Knee. However, I do like the term, "on a perfectly straight leg" - proceed the posture. I also like my instructors statements advise to beginning students when preparing for standing bow or standing head to knee, to simply stand on a perfectly straight leg, allow yourself to prepare and align yourself for this posture as it is the MOST important aspect of the posture, rather than trying to FORCE or COERCE the students into these extremely challenging postures when they are obviously not ready.
Anyway, I think most people who have ventured on their own, studied with other guru's/teachers and have more years of experience, really don't give a hoot what Bikram says...they just go about their teaching and be done with it. I think most people honor Bikram in the fact that Bikram is or is part of their foundation of this series. Yes, Bikram is the foundation of one of my hatha yoga practices, but like any foundation, you build onto that. I met 2 people this week that studied the Barkan method and were teachers. It was a nice refreshing conversation. Alignment and safety seemed to be two real important factors for them. For myself, I really like all the ideas, I like Bikram, I understand him...for my practice, I take what I like and what works for me. I also use my common sense. Speaking of sense, did that make sense??? 
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| Well as the old adage tells us, common sense isn't very common! But yes that made sense for the most part. Especially the part about "... for my practice, I take what I like and what works for me.". I tend to be anti-dogmatic in most things. As someone relatively new to all this I don't always get the differing "positions" on certain aspects of differing styles. At times it's a bit like trying to figure out the differences between catholics, lutherans and episcopalians!  So in a sense I too just try to learn as much as I can from differing sources and try to snythesize it into what works best for me.
Edited by redrox 2006-10-01 7:09 PM
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| redrox,
When you say no-certifed studio, do you mean your studio is not in good standing with Bikram? The teachers have been certified by someone correct?
Edited by yogabrian 2006-10-01 7:20 PM
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| The stuido itself is not a Bikram certified studio as they do not wish to pay his licensing fees, so they call it Hot Yoga. They teach other styles (power and "sculpt") also in the heated rooms which from what I understand Bikram does not allow if you want to use his name as well. Some of the instructors I have had have been certified through Bikram's teacher trainings and taught in Bikram studios previously, but now choose to teach in this network instead. Some have just been certified to teach "hot yoga" through this particular studio's teacher training classes which meet the 200 hr. YA standards. So yes, they are all certified and experienced instructors, but the studio is not a Bikram "approved" studio if certified is not exactly the correct word. |
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Hot Yoga
