23/11/2018
Your Bikram Yoga class is like a love festival for the world inside of you. It's like a peace conference between your muscles, bones, joints, ligaments, tissues, organs ... every single cell in your body rejoices and has fun during this internal social event.
Why?
1 ... because of 'Asana'
The 26 postures of Bikram Yoga are designed and sequenced in such a genius way that they first warm up the spine in the first 50-55 minutes of class with balancing, cardio and muscle toning. The muscles are stretched out in heat which reduces the risk of injuries and/or over-stretching, concentration and focus are challenged which enhance mental and physical balancing skills, the nervous system is activated which energizes the whole body, proper breathing techniques are taught and encouraged to help the sympathetic system work swiftly through the postures.
We all have some postures that we are not able to do some times, some we can do but fight with, some we believe we can be friends with and some we absolutely love. The 26 asanas compress and stretch and twist the spine in it's full range of motion, which results in activating the sympathetic nervous system. The reaction triggers a flight or fight response from the brain. This is where the breath plays a crucial part in keeping the energized nervous system calm and collected so you neither have to fight the asana nor run away from it but face it and focus on just staying present and in control.
2 ... because of 'Savasana'
In Savasana the body receives and absorbs the benefits of the Asana. Savasana is where the body gets maximum nutrition and nourishment. Fresh oxygenated blood circulates throughout the body with a free flow and high pressure, delivering oxygen, breaking scar tissue, providing prana (life) to every single part of the body, cleaning and cleansing at the same time.
It is the natural irrigation of the whole body. The circulatory system works directly with the respiratory system to irrigate and supply oxygen-rich blood to the tissues and cells. Savasana is where the body is supposed to be still to enjoy maximum relaxation so that the two systems can do their job perfectly.
In 90 minutes all your systems, all your organs and all your mental and physical capacities are forced to work together.
Bikram calls it the "marriage between the heart and lungs" for Triangle Pose or the "marriage between the pancreas and kidneys" in Standing Separate Leg Head to Knee Pose 😁
It is one big party where every one loves every one because every one is working together. Lots of hugs and kisses and love. When all that is happening on the inside, that amazing positive energy expands beyond your physical form.
Then ... you realize that Bikram Yoga is also an external social event 😁
Think about it ...
You go to your local Bikram school and meet people, see each other suffer and struggle, you develop compassion for your fellow yogis, you become a part of a small little community in your area, you also automatically become a part of a huge international community around the globe, you do 30 Day challenges with your buddies, you encourage each other to come back again tomorrow, you get to know your Bikram teachers and studio owners and so much more.
Despite the fact that you cannot physically do the asanas for anyone else but yourself, you still feel connected to the collective energy of that class. Yes! Bikram Yoga is a personal experience but it is also an interpersonal experience where different individuals are doing the same thing, that naturally establishes an unspoken bond of empathy, sympathy, compassion, and understanding between you and your fellow practitioners in that class. All those human qualities create a peaceful environment around you.
PEACE within will bring PEACE without ☮️
This is why Bikram Yoga is so important for our internal peace as well as external peace.
Bikram Yoga is the answer to Your Peace.
Bikram Yoga is the answer to My Peace.
Bikram Yoga is the answer to World Peace ☮️🌸❤️☺️🙏🏼🌏
P.S the image is called "Hugs Keep Us Alive" print by Lim Heng Swee. Humans Of Bikram Yoga created the post, not the drawing.
