Bikram Yoga El Paseo

My Bikram Yoga Teacher would say, “Put your feet together so that your heels and toes are touching.” If you replied that you cannot do this, he would shout at you, “Yes you can – just do it.” He believes that bone structure can change and if you continuously correct yourself and aim for proper alignment, it WILL happen.

My Yin Yoga Teacher would say, “Bring your feet together with heels and toes touching as close as possible for you.” He would then show you a series of bones with internally and externally rotated joints that would make it difficult if not impossible to bring your feet perfectly together…ever. So he would leave you alone and intentionally acknowledge the imperfection as a forever.

So who is right?

Well… BOTH…in a way.

There are these two opposing concepts and then there is the DAO. The DAO is the center; it’s the middle ground; it’s the balance that is always present regardless of how far to the right or to the left we are at any given moment of any given day.

Where there is Yin there is Yang and where there is Yang there is Yin. Hence, the Yin Yang symbol showing a circle of the opposition within itself.

One cannot argue with natural bone structure right? If you are born with bone formation that deviates from proper alignment, someone yelling at you to put your feet perfectly together is not going to make it happen, correct? If this is your thought process your answer to the above question would make you lean Yinward, but consider this:

Orthodontic Braces work because of the pressure over a period of time to force Osteoclastic Activity (a fancy technical term for bone breaking down) and Osteoblastic Activity (a fancy technical term for bone rebuilding) to work in tandem . Yes, I’m drawing from my Dental Hygiene memory bank 😉

These opposite forces cause the pressure of the bands/brackets to break down the Cancellous bone in the jaw in front of the tooth that is moving in order for the tooth to occupy the now empty space. Simultaneously bone regeneration occurs in the space that the moved tooth leaves behind.

I had an adolescent friend in grade school that wore a back brace to straighten her spine after being diagnosed with Idiopathic Scoliosis- a condition she was born with. That coupled with exercises to strengthen the muscles around her spine helped her to restore better alignment. It was never perfect but significantly improved, and to the naked eye almost unnoticeable . It could only be detected via x-ray.

So here’s my take:

While I agree one cannot ignore natural birth defects or naturally occurring unevenness of the bones in one’s body, I do believe one can definitely improve the situation. Improvement doesn’t mean perfection. I don’t agree the end result will always be perfect or that assuming this while brow beating someone is prudent. However, since I do believe one can improve and this improvement can additionally help their overall health, to ignore the situation and chalk it up to it being a life sentence is equally counterproductive.

When I was in Bikram Yoga training Bikram Choudhury used this analogy: “If I hand you an iron rod would you be able to bend it in half?” Not unless you are Hercules right? He would go on to say,” what if you heated it to a high enough temperature to make it malleable?” We all know the answer to that or welding wouldn’t be successful.

Let’s take that example into the hot room. If you instruct a person who has one or both ankles externally rotated and you ask them to put their feet together so their heels and toes are touching, they would be able to do so for a second and then guess what? Their heels would stay touching and their toes would spread right back out. Over a period of time, in a heated room and with concentrated effort I believe the distance between the toes would improve greatly and maybe completely depending on the severity of the rotation in the first place. So constantly reminding one – gentle encouragement if you will – to strive to close their toes is definitely a good thing. Constant, repetitive instruction given in an encouraging, educational way is key.

Shouting at someone to do something they can’t physically or physiologically do is not going to help the situation , nor is completely ignoring it and allowing the malalignment to continue as if it was hopeless.

If you take this thought process in the hot room, all the better. There is no question that heat (like the iron rod example) as well as continuous repeated pressure (like the orthodontic example) will have favorable results. Understanding that this will be a process and not an overnight fix is key.

Heat strengthens our cardiovascular system and accelerates all of our health benefits, so if you are looking to improve alignment , lose weight , improve balance, or a host of other benefits ……….. Meet me in the Hot Room!! Together we will heal or bodies and our minds as we center ourself for a balanced lifestyle.

Namaste`