Bikram Yoga El Paseo

Bikram Yoga teaches us a lot of things. It teaches us Discipline , Concentration and Patience among other things.

Most importantly it teaches us Balance!

In light of some recent tragic events that our community has experienced over the past few months, it’s the BALANCE benefit that I choose to focus on in this blog, because without balance in your life the rest may just be moot!

Several sudden deaths of community members have given us pause. Pause to reflect on our own lives and our own pace in life. We race around physically to get through our day accomplishing tasks. Our minds are racing too- – on to the next thought, on to the next task and even the next day or week. Sometimes we are in such a chaotic state we don’t even stop for one moment.

Planning ahead isn’t a bad thing but when you are racing through life missing the obvious because your mind is several steps ahead of your body its time to sloooooooow down.

We are all guilty of this to some extent.

They are all cliches, but boy are they right: “Take Time out to Smell the Roses,” “Rome wasn’t built in a day so pace yourself, “ and “ Slow down and savor the moment” just to name a few………

I lost a Dear Friend/Dental co-worker suddenly and then months later another Dear Friend/Yogini passed away just as quickly. Then I heard of a suicide followed by a death of another battling an illness. When someone is sick for a long period of time you have time to prepare for the loss, but when a death is sudden it is so shocking that it takes awhile to become adjusted (if you ever really do) to that loss.

What I have learned most from these sudden, recent deaths is the importance of BALANCE. I focus on this essential element in my yoga teachings now more than ever. It has really always been the basis of my training but somehow gets overshadowed from time to time.

You cannot fault one for being overly driven or priding themselves in going above and beyond to achieve goals, but self care should be most important. If you are not taking care of yourself properly, not only are you putting your own life in jeopardy but you are not going to be helpful to others.

Think of this simple example. When you are on an airplane traveling with a small child  they always tell you that in case of an emergency to put your OWN oxygen mask on first and then on the child. If you are in distress you are helpless to another.

Bikram Choudhury taught us that TRUE HATHA YOGA – HA-TA is all about balance. You can’t have light without dark, sun without moon, or Yin without Yang. After EVERY Asana we take a SAVASANA in Bikram Yoga. Work Hard / Play Hard. That rest period is critical. It’s essential to truly living a life practicing self care.

I just had a student apologize to me for taking a knee during one of the balancing postures.  She stated she started to feel dizzy and felt bad because every other student was in pose without struggling.  My comment to her was, “No apology necessary .  Quite the opposite – Kudos for you for listening to your body and giving it  a break.”   We can be so hard on ourselves and lets face it there are a lot of variables that affect our practice – diet, sleep cycles, hydration……the list is endless so pay attention to the signs.

What you eat and how you exercise are important in everyday life, but we are discovering that stress levels and sleep cycles are just as important if not more , and if left unprotected can be devastating. Illnesses that normally can be cured might not have a chance if ones immune system is compromised due to lack of sleep and extreme stress.

Dealing with a devastating loss is a tough pill to swallow but learning from tragedy as we move forward in our journey of life is key!

Take time out to smell the roses, pace yourself , be kind to yourself and stay present. Live in the moment . You cant change the past but you can protect yourself in the future by finding the balance.

Hope to see you in the hot room , working hard in Asana AND relaxing completely and deeply in Savasana!

Namaste`