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Bikram Philadelphia Newsletter
October 2009
In this second edition, we have information about our 30-Day Challenge, possible babysitting during Bikram class, and the PA regional yoga competition, as well as our "Posture of the Month", Part 1 of the Half-Moon Series.
30-Day Challenge
Bikram's 30-Day Challenge is off to a great start!
Last month we challenged our students and teachers to do a class a day for 30 days. To our pleasant surprise, our expectations were blown away! We've had almost 30 participants!
Congratulations to the participants who have completed their challenges!
Ready to jump into your own 30-Day Challenge? Just let us know at the desk so we can get you signed up today! Students must declare participation on the first day of their challenge in order for us to recognize this accomplishment with a special commemorative stainless steel bottle.
Not quite ready?... Get inspired by following and encouraging your fellow yogis on the challenge board (located on the wall opposite the women's changing room on the 3rd floor).
Babysitting during class?
Contact varuni@bikramphiladelphia.com
There are a few parents who would like to arrange for babysitting so they can take Bikram class. Please contact Varuni to express interest and discuss further.
PA Regional Yoga Championship
Bishnu Charan Ghosh Cup
Although yoga asana championships did not begin in the west until recently, they are an old tradition in India. In fact, Bikram himself at the age of thirteen (in 1959) won the National India Yoga Championship - he was undefeated for the following three years and retired as the undisputed All-India National Yoga Champion. Rajashree, his wife, won the All-India Championship five times!
In 2003, Bikram revived this tradition from India, establishing the Bishnu Charan Ghosh Cup, an internation yoga championship, in honor of his guru. In this event, each participant has 3 minutes to demonstrate
7 yoga asanas before a panel of judges. There are 5 compulsory asanas (Standing Head-To-Knee, Standing Bow Pulling, Floor Bow, Rabbit, and Stretching); the remaining 2 asanas of the participant's choosing. Participants are judged on their poise, flexibility, strength, execution of the stated asanas, and overall presentation.
While we still do not have an exact date for the PA Regional Yoga Championship (it will be in December or January), it is time to start thinking about participating. You don't have to be the most flexible, rocking yogi around to participate - especially for the regional yoga championships, all that is required is a good attitude, a willingness to work hard and improve, and good sense of fun!
The first and second place winners of each division (Women's, Men's, and Youth) are eligible to advance to the U.S. Regional Championship held in Los Angeles, CA February 2010.
To read more about the Bishnu Charan Ghosh Cup, please visit International Yoga Asana Championship.
If you are interested in participating, ask any of the teachers for more information. We are also looking for volunteers and sponsors - please see Martina or Katelyn.
Half-Moon Series Part 1: Half-Moon Pose (Ardha Chandrasana)
Posture of the Month
This month, our featured posture is Part 1 of the Half-Moon Series, Ardha-Chandrasana with Pada-Hastasana - Half-Moon Pose with Hands-To-Feet Pose. For Part 1, we will limit our discussion to the side-bending parts of the Half-Moon pose.
Directions:
- Set-up: Stand feet together. Raise your arms over your head sideways, and interlace your fingers, palms together, index fingers up, thumbs crossed. Stretch up, making sure you have a tight grip and your arms are strong - elbows locked, arms straight, touching with your ears. Chin off the chest, arms back more with your ears. Legs and hips strong, body weight in the heels, push your hips a little bit forward. Upperbody leaning back a little bit, bring your chin up more and your arms back more. Take a deep breath, stretch up one more time....
- Right Side: In one straight line, push your hips to the left and stretch to the right. You are trying to create a tremendous stretching feeling all over the left side of your body, so push your hips to the left beyond their flexibility and reach out to the right as much as you can. Make sure to keep everything from the setup - legs/hips strong, body weight in the heels, hips forward, upper body back, chin up, arms back, grip tight, arms strong. Keep your hips and shoulders square to the mirror, so if the body twists, push your right (bottom) shoulder forward more and push your left (outer) hip forward more.
- Left Side: In one straight line, push your hips to the right and stretch to the left. You are trying to create a tremendous stretching feeling all over the right side of your body, so push your hips to the right beyond their flexibility and reach out to the left as much as you can. Again, make sure to keep everything from the setup - legs/hips strong, body weight in the heels, hips forward, upper body back, chin up, arms back, grip tight, arms strong. Keep your hips and shoulders square to the mirror, so if the body twists, push your left (bottom) shoulder forward more and push your right (outer) hip forward more.
- Come up, and stop in the middle. Keep stretching your arms up, and get ready for the backbend (Part 2)!
Tips:
- Keep your breathing normal.
- Keep the legs and hips strong, body weight in the heels (no crunched toes!).
- Keep the grip tight, all the way up to the wrists, arms straight (elbows locked), and arms back.
- At the same time as keeping the arms back, you have to learn to keep your chin away from the chest. Arms back and chin up will help to open up the middle and upper spine as well as the shoulders, areas which can be difficult to get into, so you really have to try!
- Stomach in and upper body lifted - lengthen through the spine.
- One of the most common mistakes is to rely on the natural backward-bending flexibility of the lower spine to make a posture look deep. A student will push their hips very far forward and sway their upper body way far back, really twisting their body - when this happens the outer hip is twisted back a lot. Come back to the base - body weight in the heels, legs and hips strong, hips a little forward, and lengthen up thru the spine. Remember, you want to come down to the side "in one straight line" as if you were pressed between two panes of glass.
- Another common mistake is to collapse forward, bending the elbows, tucking the chin, and bending the knees a little bit. Again, just come back to the base - body weight in the heels, legs and hips strong, hips a little forward, lengthen thru the spine, chin up, and stretch up with the arms.
- Remember, it is better to keep a strong foundation with good alignment and extension and only go over a little bit than to get sloppy and go over a lot. Its not how much you do, or how far you go - remember, just by doing 1% of the posture, 100% correct with 100% effort, you will still get all of the benefit - then you come back tomorrow, and do a little more. In other words, try the right way, and little by little, day by day, you'll do better and better! More importantly, you'll feel better and better!
Benefits:
- Gives you quick energy and vitality, and heats up the body
- Improves and lengthens spine, corrects bad posture
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Works into the whole skeletal and circulatory systems
- Opens shoulder joints. Good for frozen shoulder.
- Helps tennis elbow
- Helps liver, spleen, and kidneys. Helps cure dyspepsia (indigestion), constipation, and bronchio distress.
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Reduces or eliminates pain in the lower back
- Good for abdominal obesity
- Improves and strengthens every muscle in the central part of the body
- Increases flexibility of the spine
- Tones the spinal nerves and abdominal organs, improving the working of the bowels
-Increases flexibility and strength of rectus abdominis, gluteus maximus, oblique, deltoid, and trapezius muscles
- Helps with sciatic problems
- Alleviates anxiety and reduces mental stress
- Stimulates the pituitary gland
- Exercises colon, pancreas, kidneys, muscular, skeletal, respiratory, and glandular systems
- Firms and trims waistline, hips, abdomen, buttocks, and thighs
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