Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Preparation”
We are so happy and excited to be able to WELCOME YOU BACK to our little Yoga school. To help you feel prepared and confident we have loads of information for you! read on… BACKGROUND: On 10/3/20, based on information available at that moment in time, we started altering our studio policies and hygiene protocols and refining how we operated …
Dear Practitioners Having received a parking ticket at Langford Friday evening for forgetting to display ‘time arrived’ (ouch!) it got me thinking on the whole parking and driving to Yoga practice thing again. Soon we will be back at our home on Rue De Funchal and we would like to bring your kind attention to a couple of things in …
Excitement is starting to build… We will be starting back with our FULL SCHEDULE ~ YES! Bikram Yoga EVERYDAY! Sometimes TWICE! Because Bikram practitioners deserve to be able to practice on whatever day of the week suits YOU! We will post a date as soon as we know ourselves. Ormer/Aston/BSC have been working so hard to get us back home …
Remember from Part I & Part II we are focusing in on how you can apply Yoga ethics when you are at Yoga school and on your mat. The Niyamas are disciplines aimed at fostering positive qualities. Saucha ~ Purity, cleanliness of body and mind If you believe the expression ‘how you do anything is how you do everything’ you …
BY nature we are asymmetrical beings; parts of our anatomy are asymmetrical (e.g. contents of torso). Some muscles are highly active whilst others have been inhibited; a loop effect creates here and if you consistently fail to activate a muscle to its capacity it will inevitably stop working properly. Even in sports an individual will rely on one side predominantly …
WE SHOULD BE GRATEFUL if you’d factor this IN When you are next PLANNING your TRIP TO YM So you actually make it to CLASS ON TIME ‘Driving-Tips’ is so Yogis dodge making a crime! YM Yogis PLEASE ~ in your JOURNEY to class On the dark, wetter nights when cars travel en masse LEAVE HOME EARLY ~ no ‘speed …
Some very depressing things have happened in the Yoga world over the years including abuse of power and abuse of students; devastating blows to the sanctity of the teacher/student relationship; all trust destroyed. Bikram Yoga Teachers have perhaps been forced to fast track ‘self examine’ in ways beyond most Yoga teachers lately, like no other Yoga community perhaps? (because there …
THANK YOU to ALL who have kept us company this year. Our longer term practitioners hold glad space in our hearts but more have joined that space this year than ever. When we pause at this time of year to take stock we feel humbled by your contribution to our world and our happiness. WE ARE SO GLAD & GRATEFUL …
It is hard to know where to start on this point. Harder still to know where the stop!! AGNI The fire of digestion resides in the belly area. It is associated with the Guna ‘Rajas’ (a quality sometimes translated as passion). Its characteristics are energy and action. APANA VAYU (ONE OF THE PANCHA PRANAS (FIVE ENERGIES)) The Female energy Apana …
This post might help you when explaining to friends/family how a Bikram Yoga class works 🙂 A Bikram Yoga class is not the place for deep meaningful explanations about all elements of Yoga. We can only ever share ‘snapshot’ ‘nutshell’ insights within the 90 minutes instruction. There is a method in our teaching style. Bikram teachers are taught to teach …
After 2 posts about ‘seeing’ your Yoga I thought I better ‘Yin’ it out with a couple of ‘FEELING’ your Yoga post :). Its all about balance 🙂 : Sometimes practitioners find it very hard to let go of the visual measures even years into their practice; I think it’s the way we are conditioned outside of the Yoga room. …
Do you obey what your eyes show you or do you feel your Yoga? Some might say feeling your Yoga is King but as a beginner the reality can be different. Remember it is all relative 🙂 and I am teaching a beginning Yoga class. I will write about ‘feeling’ your Yoga, but right now I want to focus on …
This is another tricky but necessary post to write because some of the issues highlighted are completely avoidable if one preps for first class by reading the information on the website and observing the etiquettes. WE ARE SO GRATEFUL that the vast majority of practitioners observe them graciously. Aside from its obvious purpose 🙂 please also consider that a Yoga …
This is a TRICKY post to write because we know that the idea of ‘TERMS’ attaching to a Yoga practice for some appear to conflict with a fantasy of what a Yoga studio is (Yoga being a spiritual based practice). It is a NECESSARY post to write because the issues highlighted are completely avoidable but can be extremely unpleasant to …
PREAMBLE Oh Good Lord! there’s a ‘preamble’! this one is going to be a long one! 🙂 There is so much to write about in Yoga, I often don’t know where to start. Bearing in mind I teach a ‘beginning’ Yoga class I well remember all the questions I had when I was new to Yoga and particularly trying to …
We have recently put an order in for all new studio mats. We are always excited when we get new mats; it always feels so fresh. By end of this year we will have been open exactly 4.5 years and this is our 4th such order. We started with orange mats folks (wishful thinking 🙂 ) and we are currently …
STANDING. Simple in itself but more to it in a practicing Yoga scenario than you might think. I remember having conversations with fellow Bikram Yogi’s on my training and over the years on the best way to stand in between the standing asanas. It wasn’t formally dealt with on the TTC in 2001. It was just taken as a ‘given’ …
~BACK PAIN CONSIDERATIONS for your Bikram Yoga practice~ DIAGNOSIS: Firstly, the instructors at YM are Yoga instructors and are not qualified to assess your pain. If pain is severe or keeps you from doing daily activities or does not go away after a few days it is a good idea to visit your health professional or back specialist to have …
We work on the 26/2 diligently, a group of people in our unique bodies. We regulars know it is clearly not one size fits all. In this post I am focusing on the bony skeletal and its variations (not mis-alignments, just the bare bones 🙂 ) to present regular practitioners with food for thought on how this may affect YOUR …
You are barely breathing your still alive! It’s amazing. It is possible to live and to function whilst scarcely breathing at all. Breathing enough to keep you from keeling over whilst going about your business. We all walk around, functioning to a greater or lesser extent breathing as we do. This is how I was when I took up Yoga. …
I bet you thought I had run out of things to say to you about Bikram Yoga and hydration? HAHAHAheeheehee you ARE funny! So in this post I’m talking MichaelMoseley, dehydration, coffee, hyponatraemia, the WHO, bottled water industry, BIG sweaters, hydration (and chocolate?). The FINAL water focus post ~ read on… Now I think Mike is great and always listen …
mmm I am sure many thousands of hours have been spent contemplating this one around the globe 🙂 For Bikram Yoga keep it simple; less is more. MODESTY PREVAILING of course! ALL the essential bits must be covered. Yes the more area of flesh that you can expose the better for the cooling down process (this is dealt with in other …
“YOU HAVE A VERY STRONG OPINION FOR SOMEONE WHO DOESN’T KNOW WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT.” A little man in a sharp suit walked into my reception at 5.40 this evening! (a little later than we like first timers to arrive, but it happens). Here’s how it went (not verbatim except the bits in quotes but you will get …
Have you time to take a Bikram journey to explore the unknown Self and discover untapped possibilities within? A VITAL HEALTHY BODY is a prerequisite for the journey of life. Health is your body’s natural state. Your body craves it. Yoga re-establishes a primal relationship between body and mind and restores the body’s balance. Efficient muscles are long, free of stored …
The Bikram method’s unchanging FEATURES are: > 26 postures TWICE > unique unchanging ‘sequence’ of asana > ‘dialogue’ present in instruction > Bikram certified teachers only > heat and humidity > 90 minutes > being uber hydrated > no water before Eagle 😉 > wall of mirrors > verbal adjustments > lock the knee Bikram Yoga has been around a LONG …
These tips are written with the ‘new to Bikram’ Yogi in mind. For those more experienced? no harm to refresh your memory but you will probably have already integrated these tips to your practice so you can visit our website to find lots of other articles/learn/tips to enhance your experience. 1~ THE FUNDAMENTAL. Never force or strain. Be patient. You’re …
I set out hereafter a very brief description of ‘How To’ do the prescribed poses. I also list briefly what is happening in each pose. By no means are these ALL the benefits to be had from a class, as it is the sequence performed as a whole that maximises benefits. Practicing the sequence nourishes and invigorates the entire body …
{This article first posted January 2012; We have become even more efficient over the years and Revised this March 2020} Hello. From time to time people have asked WHO IS MY CLEANER in the studio (‘cos it looks so good!) 🙂 and WHAT IS THE BEST METHOD OF CLEANING THEIR YOGA MATS! Answers to such questions can take some time …
My observations since Yoga Matters has opened (and the mullings of a Yoga student on the other side of the world) has led me to write a few pages that might be of benefit to my students (the focus in these tips is mostly external and relates to practice within our little Yoga school environment). The intention behind writing these …
Unless you are in a ‘high risk pregnancy’ category then YES, indeed you can practice Rajashree’s Pregnancy Yoga (modified Bikram) when you are pregnant. It was developed with maternal health and fetus wellbeing at its core. Rajashree’s is also designed so that it can be practiced at home without heat (you can order dvd online) and even if you have …
PRIVATE & CONFIDENTIAL PLEASE COPY TEXT AND PASTE THIS TO A SHEET so you can print, sign and return this page to Yoga Matters (“YM”) CONSIDER your personal history of medical conditions which may affect you and may have a bearing on your Yoga practice and state condition(s) which may include but are not limited to recent surgery, cardiovascular, pulmonary, neurological, …