January 2016

January 20, 2016

Yes, you can practice Bikram Yoga north of Seattle, in Everett. At Bikram Yoga Everett, traditional 90 minute Bikram Yoga, 75 minute Bikram Yoga and 60 minute Bikram Yoga classes as well as Power Vinyasa and Yin Yoga classes are offered throughout the week and on weekends.

Don’t let the location of this studio fool you. Yes, it’s located in a strip mall and shares the same parking lot as a grocery store, but this a legit Bikram Yoga studio. In fact, most, if not all of the Bikram Yoga studios I’ve practiced at have been located off the beaten path. Quirky locations seem to be a part of Bikram Yoga’s charm and it makes me love the practice even more because of it.

As soon as I walked into Bikram Yoga Everett for the first time, I couldn’t help but feel comforted by the décor. I know. It’s sounds pretty weird to be comforted by a yoga studio’s décor. When most people check out a new yoga studio for the first time, they notice things like class times, well-trained teachers, the size, heat and flooring inside the practice room, changing rooms, availability of showers and lockers and parking availability around the studio. I noticed all of these things too, but the décor gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling right away. As it turns out, Jeff Renfro, original owner and designer of the popular Funky Door Yoga studios in the Bay Area, designed this studio. Funky Door Yoga in San Francisco on Polk Street was the first studio I ever practiced Bikram Yoga at. As soon as I saw the brightly painted walls and the cartoon artwork of all the 26 postures hanging above the mirror in the practice room, I was instantly brought back to the time I first discovered Bikram Yoga, only without the stinky carpet. The practice room at Bikram Yoga Everett has a floor made up of Zebra Yoga Mats. Each mat is covered in a tatami textured vinyl and features an anti-skid bottom for stability. The floors are soft, very clean and super comfortable to lay on with your towel and mat.

My first class at Bikram Yoga Everett took place during the studio’s holiday party. Everyone in the studio was wearing some variation of a Santa hat. I walked into the studio and had “Yoga” Santa asking me what I wanted for Christmas and everyone getting his or her pictures taken. What a super fun vibe to walk into. During class, I instantly felt the studio’s community. It was strong. The rigidness of the practice was still present with the heat, humidity, breathing exercises and 26 postures, but everyone in class seemed to be having fun. There were all different shapes and sizes performing all different levels of the practice during class, yet it felt like one big happy family. The community vibe in the studio was infectious, even for a studio newbie like me. I never once felt like an outsider.

I’ve been taking the weekend morning classes here at Bikram Yoga Everett because I reside in Seattle during the workweek. The weekend classes are a lot of fun here and totally worth getting out of bed early for. The teachers are great! Bona taught my first class at the studio and had me laughing the entire time. I loved her commentary in-between the postures. There’s no reason why Bikram Yoga has to be serious all of the time. It’s a tough practice, but it’s totally okay to have fun with it too.

Word to the wise, the 8am Saturday and Sunday Bikram Yoga classes are very popular and fill up. If you don’t want to get stuck in the back row and risk not being able to see yourself in the mirror, get to class early to snag your favorite spot. It took me a couple of classes before I discovered a secret, hidden spot in the room. When walking into the practice room, look all the way to your right. There’s a great little pocket area of the room that’s surrounded by mirrors. It’s warmer because it’s further away from the doors and it’s completely shielded with a window covering from people walking by in the shopping center. If you see space open in this area, try to set up there. It’s a great spot!

Thinking of checking out Bikram Yoga Everett yourself? Here are a few more details about the studio you might be interested in:

Address:
520 128^th Street SW, A10 Everett, WA 98204

Located in South Everett, right off of I-5 at the 128^th Street exit. In the same parking lot as Albertsons, right by Starbucks.

November 24, 2015

Before you decide to start your own 30 Day Bikram Yoga Challenge, there are some things you should consider before going in for your first class. It’s exciting to think about doing a challenge like this. It’s even more exciting when you’ve completed it successfully. Here are ten tips for surviving a 30 Day Bikram Yoga Challenge like a boss.

November 5, 2015

One of the things I love about Bikram Yoga is that each class consists of the same sequence of 26 postures and two breathing exercises, performed in the same order for a full 90 minutes.

October 27, 2015

…getting out of bed in the morning. It’s only because I love taking the first Bikram Yoga class of the day. On the weekdays it’s 6am and on the weekends it’s 8am. There are so many reasons why I love doing Bikram first thing in the morning.

January 8, 2016

Once I started practicing Bikram Yoga consistently, I started to pay closer attention to what the other yogis in class were using. Some had fancy beach towels. Others had these long, towel-like mats that seemed to fit them perfectly and never bunched up during postures like my towels always did. Finally one day in class after being fed up with my crappy mat and towel, I got close enough to a fellow yogi’s mat to see what the name on it was. This was how I discovered Breathe Mats.

November 5, 2015

One of the things I love about Bikram Yoga is that each class consists of the same sequence of 26 postures and two breathing exercises, performed in the same order for a full 90 minutes. I never have to worry about what’s coming next during class. I don’t even have to look up to see how the teacher gets into the posture because the teacher doesn’t perform the postures during class. They only call out the dialogue of the series from the front of the studio to guide everyone in class into the postures. Eliminating the worry about “What comes next?” literally means I get to shut my brain off as soon as I walk into the studio. Those 90 minutes of class truly belong to me and tend to be worry-free.

This series of postures was selected and developed by Bikram Choudhury and is part of the Hatha Yoga family. According to the Bikram Yoga College of India’s website, all 26 postures along with the two breathing exercises are designed to work every part of the body, giving all of the internal organs, veins, ligaments and muscles everything they need in order to maintain optimum health and maximum function.

Each Bikram Yoga studio is heated to 105 degrees with 40% humidity. Bikram says yoga can change the construction of the body from the inside out, from bones to skin and from fingertips to toes. Before you can change the body, he insists that you must heat it up and soften it because a warm body is a flexible body. Once the body is heated, it can be reshaped any way you want. Hatha Yoga is known to naturally flush the body free of toxins. Bikram Yoga uses the heat to further this type of cleaning process. When your body sweats, all of the impurities come out of the body through the skin. So THIS explains why I was having some minor breakouts during the first week of my 30 day challenge!

A true Bikram Yoga class is practiced under the guidance of a certified Bikram Yoga teacher at one of the affiliated Bikram Yoga studios. This way you can ensure that you’re getting the proper heated environment, which will help you perform the postures optimally.

Click here to find a certified Bikram Yoga studio near you.

Image Source: yogawithpaul

January 11, 2016

Heat is a key element when it comes to Hot Yoga and Bikram Yoga. It’s also the thing people either love or dislike the most about this type of yoga. Whenever I talk to friends about Bikram Yoga, the first thing they mention is the heat. In fact, the number one excuse I hear from friends who refuse to try Bikram Yoga is their fear of not being able to handle the heat. Whether you love or hate the heat, there are benefits to practicing yoga in a heated studio. Heat makes the body more flexible and helps reduce the chance of injury. Adding heat to a yoga studio also encourages the body to sweat and improves circulation.

According to the official Bikram Yoga website, yoga can change the construction of the body from the inside out, from bones to skin and from fingertips to toes. Before the body is able to change, it has to be heated up. The reason why Bikram Yoga studios are heated to 105 degrees with 40% humidity is due to the belief that a warm body is a flexible body. Once the body has been heated, it can be reshaped any way you want.

The Bikram Yoga Sequence is a form of hot yoga consisting of 26 Hatha Yoga postures and two breathing exercises performed in a 90-minute series, inside a heated studio. Hatha Yoga enables the body to flush away waste products and toxins from the glands and organs of the body. This type of practice provides a natural irrigation for the body through the circulatory system and with the help of the respiratory system. It brings nourishment to every cell, organ and fiber in the body, enabling each system to perform its function optimally and helps keep the body healthy. The heat in a Bikram studio helps further this cleansing process. When the body sweats, impurities are flushed out of the body through the skin.

In addition to increasing flexibility, reducing injury, improving circulation throughout the body and acting as an irrigation system that eliminates toxins and waste from the body, practicing yoga can also help increase the body’s supply of oxygen and teaches us how to use the oxygen in our body properly. We learn to control the breath through Pranayama, breathing exercises that help create an essential and happy marriage between the heart and lungs.

January 14, 2016

I practice yoga at a Bikram Yoga studio on a regular basis so I typically wear next to nothing in class. My yoga costume consists of a pair of boy shorts, a sports bra and a headband to keep the hair out of my face. That’s it. It may not sound like much, but when I’m sweating my bootie off in a studio heated to 105 degrees for an hour and a half, the last thing I want to deal with is having wet clothes weigh me down during the duration of class.

I recently had a free pass for CorePower Yoga where they offer a couple different variations of yoga classes including a 60-minute hot yoga class. I’ve never taken anything other than a Bikram Yoga class and was curious to see what hot yoga was all about. I heard the hot yoga class at CorePower was similar to Bikram – in a heated studio and with similar postures, but class was only 60 minutes instead of 90 minutes. I was game to check out a few classes to get out of my Bikram routine.

Ever walk into a room and get the feeling everyone is looking at you? This is how I felt when I walked into my first Hot Power Fusion class. As I set up my mat in the front, left-hand corner of the studio, I noticed I was the only one in boy shorts and a sports bra. I instantly felt out of place. All of the other women in class were wearing a form of yoga pant, either capris or a full legging. None of the ladies were wearing just a sports bra either. They were wearing a long, form-fitted tank top that covered their mid section. It shouldn’t have been a big deal. I should’ve just let it go, but I couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable and awkward all throughout class. I felt especially uncomfortable in my small boy shorts and sports bra doing all of the leg splits, countless Downward Facing Dogs and then getting on my back and putting my legs up in the air for the “core workout” portion that took place halfway through class. OMG!

In some studios, it’s perfectly normal to rock a pair of boy shorts and a sports bra. Other studios, a majority of the yogis practicing there might dress more on the conservative side…and rightfully so! I would’ve felt much more comfortable hanging out in Downward Dog wearing a pair of leggings or capris rather than a pair of short boy shorts.

January 15, 2016

I came across an interesting Yoga Journal article today. Fourteen members of Yoga Journal’s editorial, publishing and digital teams started a 200-hour yoga teacher training (YTT) together recently. In the article, the magazine’s editor-in-chief talks about her personal experience with the teacher training so far. Guess what? Even though she’s excited about the project, she’s also a bit nervous about it too. Her honesty is what I loved most about this article. Funny because just today I was thinking about how I was excited, but also nervous about my own upcoming YTT starting at the end of February.

The article talks about four different, common fears people should get over when they start YTT. The four fears are, “I’m not advanced enough”, “I don’t want to share super personal information”, “As a teacher, I won’t know the answers to students’ questions and will feel like an idiot” and “What if I don’t see bad alignment?” The first fear, “I’m not advanced enough” really hit home with me. No matter how excited I am about my own upcoming YTT, I can’t help but wonder if my own practice isn’t good enough to help me be a great yoga teacher. I see a lot of amazing images on Instagram of super fit women putting their beautiful bodies into some pretty awesome postures. These online yoginis have a ton of followers who like their pictures 1,000s of times and are probably swarmed by their followers flooding the classes they teach. Then I look at pictures of myself doing some of these yoga postures. My body doesn’t look like these bodies, not even close. I don’t think my body can even move in the same way as some of these women. How in the hell am I suppose to be a successful yoga teacher if I don’t have a yoga body and can’t do all of these postures perfectly?

My YTT insecurities stem from not having a consistent practice over a long period of time. Even though I took my first Bikram Yoga class back in February 2010, I haven’t been able to practice consistently over the last six years. I’ve been able to practice for three months here and three months there, but school, work, moving and life have always seemed to get in the way of being able to have a regular practice.

Three months ago, I made a commitment to get myself into a regular Bikram Yoga practice. I managed to complete my second 30-Day Challenge and broke out of my Bikram shell and gave Hot Yoga a try. Now that I’m able to practice yoga consistently, I’m so much happier. I feel amazing! Yoga makes me a better person both mentally and physically. I sleep better, my flexibility has improved and I sit straighter at my desk during the day. I find myself being much more productive both at work and in my personal life. Practicing yoga on a regular basis makes me want to do yoga every damn day!

With my own yoga practice stronger than ever, I thought this would be the perfect time to dive deeper into my practice with YTT. I have to admit, I’ve had a few doubts circling around in the back of my head such as not having a yoga body and not being able to do all of the postures perfectly. I constantly wonder if my own practice is good enough to help me be a great yoga teacher.

After reading this article though, I realized all of these doubts are complete nonsense. Apparently I’m not the only one who’s had these same doubts either. Thank you Carin for being so honest in this article and sharing your feelings about your YTT experience so far! This article has helped me realize the whole point of teacher training is not to be a master yogi. It’s about enjoying the journey instead of focusing on getting to the destination. It’s a yoga practice and isn’t designed to be perfect. So why should I waste my time worrying about not being perfect or not being good enough to teach my own yoga class one day? Everyone has off days, even the pretty ladies on Instagram.

Now more than ever, I’m really excited to get started on this next chapter of my life. Yoga Teacher Training, here I come!

To read the article mentioned in the post above, check out “Inside Yoga Journal’s YTT (Yoga Teacher Training): 4 Yoga Teacher Training Fears You Should Get Over” by Carin Gorrell

January 15, 2016

I came across an interesting Yoga Journal article today that helped me face some of my own fears about Yoga Teacher Training.

January 14, 2016

Ever walk into a room and get the feeling everyone is looking at you? This is how I felt when I walked into my first Hot Power Fusion class. As I set up my mat in the front, left-hand corner of the studio, I noticed I was the only one in boy shorts and a sports bra. I instantly felt out of place.

December 27, 2015

Tis the season to be jolly or maybe a little extra crazy. This “OMG Class Moment!” happened on my way to yoga class the other night.

December 21, 2015

So what is it about Bikram Yoga that keeps me wanting to come back every day? Stress relief and learning how to tune into my intuition to make good decisions about my life during class are a couple of reasons that come to mind. These reasons are much different than the ones that led me to take my first Bikram Yoga class over five years ago.

December 20, 2015

Yoga is the ultimate stress reliever from my life that’s filled with work, deadlines, meetings, projects, excessive to-do lists and a never-ending list of errands I need to run. There are, however, rare occasions when going to yoga has created stress instead of getting rid of it. I like to call these, “OMG Class Moments!” In life, we always need to remind ourselves that nothing and no one is perfect, even one’s yoga’s practice. Here’s a great example of how I was ripped out of my normal yoga blissful state after attending class recently.

January 15, 2016

I came across an interesting Yoga Journal article today that helped me face some of my own fears about Yoga Teacher Training.

January 14, 2016

Ever walk into a room and get the feeling everyone is looking at you? This is how I felt when I walked into my first Hot Power Fusion class. As I set up my mat in the front, left-hand corner of the studio, I noticed I was the only one in boy shorts and a sports bra. I instantly felt out of place.

January 8, 2016

January 1, 2016

If you find yourself having a hard time getting out of bed to go class or are trying to talk yourself out of going to class after work, just remember this quote. Trust me, getting into the studio is half the battle. Once you get yourself there, you’ll be so happy you did because no one I’ve known has ever regretted going to a yoga class.

December 29, 2015

The more Bikram Yoga classes I go to, the more I start to really listen to the dialogue and hear what the instructors say during class.

January 14, 2016

Ever walk into a room and get the feeling everyone is looking at you? This is how I felt when I walked into my first Hot Power Fusion class. As I set up my mat in the front, left-hand corner of the studio, I noticed I was the only one in boy shorts and a sports bra. I instantly felt out of place.

December 27, 2015

Tis the season to be jolly or maybe a little extra crazy. This “OMG Class Moment!” happened on my way to yoga class the other night.

December 20, 2015

Yoga is the ultimate stress reliever from my life that’s filled with work, deadlines, meetings, projects, excessive to-do lists and a never-ending list of errands I need to run. There are, however, rare occasions when going to yoga has created stress instead of getting rid of it. I like to call these, “OMG Class Moments!” In life, we always need to remind ourselves that nothing and no one is perfect, even one’s yoga’s practice. Here’s a great example of how I was ripped out of my normal yoga blissful state after attending class recently.