Bikram Yoga El Paseo

When I started Bikram Yoga  10+ years ago the name of the yoga college back then was actually  “Third Eye Yoga.”    I never really understood what that meant because  I was too busy struggling  though the heat and the torture of the class to ask.

TODAY,   I use the term regularly in my teaching.  I’m always telling students to come back to their stillness, regulate their breath, and focus on their “third eye”.  I’ve been repeating this comment over and over in my teaching for the past 3 years.  The other day a student came up to me and asked me what that meant.  She was the FIRST student in three years to question that.

What IS  the THIRD EYE???

In simplistic terms:   The third eye is the ability to see WHAT MIGHT BE.  In other words (as Bikram Choudhury would say) the third eye is our ability to see POTENTIAL!!!

Potential in ourselves.  Potential in others.

The physical point of focus for the “ third eye” is between our real eyes just slightly above on our foreheads. If you would like a deeper understanding of the power of the third eye, read the link below.

http://personaltao.com/taoism-library/shamanic-teachings/about-visions/what-is-the-third-eye/

For the purpose of this blog however, I bring it up to focus on the Bikram Yoga student. Not the one who asked the question, but one who is on a path of a personal growth  and enlightenment,   and who truly represents our greater yoga community in her journey.

Enter Mary Beth Mittleman.   Mary Beth decided to complete her own 30 day challenge. Thirty days of consecutive Bikram Yoga practice and thirty days of a greater personal self realization path.

The first couple of days I was not aware of her commitment.  I half watched her taking pictures around our Bikram Yoga School before and after class with little presence. She began tagging me daily in her facebook posts with these pictures.

As the days passed, I realized the magnitude of her commitment.   I watch her intent and focus grow in her daily practice when I’m her teacher.

Mary Beth is an amazing example of one truly utilizing their “third eye”.   The third eye can be very powerful  if it is developed and cultivated.

Mary Beth is becoming extremely in tune with her body.  She is sensitive to how she is feeling each day, each class, each teacher,  and the differences in her own eating patterns.   She understands the  control of the use of caffeine and alcohol and how it affects her each day.  She has a big heart and is truly a giver in many ways. Every day she  shares her pictures and new found awareness with our greater yoga community.

Thank you Mary Beth Mittleman  for including us in your personal journey!!  You are truly an inspiration to us all!!!!

If you haven’t tried Bikram Yoga yet you are really missing out.  If you have without true presence and awareness you have not developed your third eye.

There is   SO MUCH POTENTIAL   and    SO MUCH GROWTH to be explored that goes beyond an individual posture.

Bikram Yoga is not about how many times you can wrap your leg around your neck or how accomplished you are in any given posture.  It’s  about   LIFE!!

How you live, how you treat people, how you allow people to treat you, what you give, what you share, WHO YOU ARE!!

Hope to see you in the hot room soon,  sweating it out and learning life’s lessons!!

I’ll be there and so will Mary Beth Mittleman.

Namaste`