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New User
Posts: 3
| Hi there - so I've been attending Bikram yoga classes for a little over a year and find that I reached a certain point in my practice about 3 months ago and haven't moved forward since. I still have a very difficult time hanging in there during the 2nd set of triangle (sometimes I can barely stay with the first set). I still can't raise myself back up after 2nd and 3rd parts of awkward, and standing head to knee... FORGET IT! As hard as I concentrate on that standing leg I still am nowhere near being able to kick out. Anyone else experiencing this problem? Am I being impatient? Any advice for how to improve my upper thigh strength? |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 399
 
Location: Oregon | You said how long you've been practicing, but you didn't mention your frequency.
Rather than jump to conclusions I'll ask, how many days a week are you averaging? |
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| I think that you may be being impatient. How many years did you not use or abuse your body before you started yoga? You need to re-build your body and that takes time because it happens one cell at a time. Take your time. The Bikram folks are no longer giving out cash prizes for those who get there first. Stop judging yourself about how you compare to other people or some ideal on the poses. Do the poses as best you can and enjoy what you are doing. Yoga poses are not prizes that you win or attain, they are ways of moving and holding your body to increase your health and happiness. They are a means, not an end.
You improve your upper thigh strength by working your upper thigh. Both the human mind and body are "use it or lose it" things. Keep using them and be nice to yourself. Beating yourself up does not make things go any faster.
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New User
Posts: 3
| Thanks for the responses. I try to go at least 3-5 times per week and on my off days I work on my elliptical, weights, etc. which is something I have done for many years so surprised at my lack of thigh strength with this one. But, you're right... it's all about the journey and going is always such a cleansing experience for me. Not once have I gone and not had an "aaaahhhhhhh moment" when class is finished and I'm laying there in savasana. Thanks again. |
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Regular
Posts: 69
| At my studio they have the words Faith, Self-control, Determination, Concentration and Patience painted high on the wall above the mirror in the front of the classroom. A few weeks ago the USA Champion was there giving a class. He was very inspiring and very hardcore with the heat and intensity. He was kicking our ass as all great Bikram teachers do!!! I was doing a double and was really pooped in the middle of his class. He was talking to the class during a posture - I forget which - and he said something like "When things get really tough in here use this." I looked up to see what he was talking about and he was pointing at the word "Faith". And I thought "Gawd that is great. Turn away from the mind which will always be there to give you an excuse to quit or be negative and put your faith in the practice and the teachers. Surrender to the sequence and dialogue; have faith in it." It was very inspiring. I did what he said and finished class strong. Later of course I was on top of the world, buzzing with health.
Anyway - just a story. Jim is right - don't judge yourself. Work on form over depth and have faith in the class.
ps - I can't kick my leg out either. I feel what you're saying. Seems like it's going to take centuries! |
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Member
Posts: 7
| I had the same issue a couple years ago, so I decided to try other styles of yoga - Power, Anusara, and Flow. I was able to get out of my stagnant practice and discovered a whole new world of yoga asana. The other forms of yoga really helped my Bikram practice. Now I find myself doing Bikram less often and Anusara has grasped my interest. If you are willing to step outside your comfort zone (if you can call a hot, sweaty room comfortable  ) You may find new horizons open to you in your journey. |
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| Always a good idea to ask your teachers for pointers, too! They are the ones who see you in class and know your practice. There might always be a puzzle piece missing from your posture. Sometimes improvement is just a matter of strength and practice, but often it's also a matter of technique. If you have any favorite teachers at your studio, ask them for advice. If any of the teachers at your studio offer private lessons, maybe even consider doing that. That's often a GREAT way to figure out what your missing and get your practice moving forwards again.
And as for the kicking... Bikram says JUST KICK! Don't wait for it to be perfect. That's gonna take forever. Just lock your knee, then lift up, and then if the standing leg starts to bend, lock it AGAIN!! There are a lot of common mistakes that get made in that posture, and most people are more ready than they think. Hopefully there is someone in your area who can help show you how to do it correctly... |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 399
Location: Oregon | bikrambeginner, as for your original post, and feeling like you've reached a plateau or struggling with poses... that has happened with me. I pushed myself very hard for the first 2 years. The rest of my life was falling apart, but I made amazing progress in the Bikram’s practice. Then, when it plateaued, I kept pushing and hurt myself.
I now do not push so hard and “results” in that manner are not important. But, I still have postures I struggle with, or cycle in and out of favorite postures. Yoga is a process and things change. |
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| I love the responses so far, but I think Andre an especially cool insight. I think sometimes the physical practice just stagnates. It's normal. We go through phases where it's clear we're getting stronger or more flexible, and then we just plateau.
I'm definitely there right now. I go to class, and while I try hard while I'm there, it's just not about looking for physical gains right now. But a consistent practice benefits my life in SO many ways, that's what I try to notice. I notice, for example, that after a 6:30 a.m. class, during those first few hours of work I'm just... free. My neurotic stuff is evened out (kinda) and I can just *be* there. I have no upper back pain and I move with ease.
I'll take that over being able to kick my leg out more straight any day! Just my $.02 :-)
Edited by Randomfemale 2010-11-05 12:37 AM
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Veteran
Posts: 243
| Sometimes when you think you are in a plateau you are not really- your body is still changing throughout. I find I can go for months with that feeling: is anything going to change??!! And then one day something does, maybe not even a big change- like in the final half-spinal twisting pose, my knee stays on the floor now when I grab it- and it never did before. For me it's always a "huh! look at that!" moment. But it wouldn't have happened without going to class day in and day out! |
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| There are several parts to change, improvement, growth, learning or whatever you want to call it. One part is your perception of that change. (We often do not notice things that are gradual.) Often, there needs to be a period of germination before the change suddenly manifests itself. Change or growth usually happens in spurts, rather than continuously. (This is very obvious with both children and plants.)
I think that it is often like the subduction of tectonic plates on the earth's surface. The pressure is constant, but at some point, it becomes enough to cause a large movement or shift. We only notice the large movement, not the constant pressure that caused that sudden movement.
This is why it is important to just keep working and focus on the work, instead of the result. If you focus only on the result, it is very easy to become discouraged and it can lead to bad habits. If you focus on the work, the result will happen when it is ready.
Your body is constantly dying and at the same time re-building itself. Once you have reached the needed critical mass of new cells that are needed to perform the new task, it will happen. This is why it is so important to focus on the alignment and not how deeply you go into a pose. With time, repetition and proper alignment, the pose will happen. You are building new neural pathways and new muscle tissue, and that takes time.
Your pose may look different than that pose as performed by another mind/body, but it will be your unique version of that pose.
Practice makes perfect!
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| how about just cruising a bit?
it's a funny thing, this yoga. i've been doing it a long time, and my practice is seriously adaptable. sometimes, i like a good bikram class, other times, just about anything is torture. it's in the mind, really.
in this instance, the mind is striving for something, the ego. i find when i just let go and say "ok, see what happens" then i get to really play and have fun.
also, it's not all growth all the time. in watching my little guy (he's now two) grow, he does this funny thing. He regresses before he progresses. He gets very fat and pudgey, wants to sleep a nurse a lot, and then ZIP! shoots right up and is taller, doesn't want to nurse as much, sleeps far less, and then something else kicks in (like speaking in full sentences which happened with his last little growth spurt).
i think that as adults, we are the same. sometimes, we regress a bit--loose balance in that pose that was easy, or whatever--and if we just take it easy (nurse and nap--but not literally, like, just cruise a bit in the practice), then ZIP progress happens before we know it.
anyway, that's just random stuff. |
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Feeling stagnant in my practice...
