Inflammation and Our Health

I am especially grateful for the connection with those of you who take classes regularly.

We seem to be on a pretty magical healing journey together.

Themes emerge spontaneously.  Questions come up.  Connections are made.  We all grow together.

One of the themes from the last week or two (or three?) has been the topic of inflammation.

This is not a brand new idea for us; our book Hope for Autoimmune Disease danced with the topic through the 15 health narratives that we documented.

Bikram Yoga: What Happens If You DON’T Practice

What Happens When You DON'T Do Bikram Yoga

by Ann Chrapkiewicz

For almost 20 years now, I have been sharing a certain topic with anyone and everyone who might want to listen.

Just a few minutes on this website will tell you what that topic has been.
An hour spent with our book on Bikram Yoga and Autoimmune Disease will also give you a clue.

Any guesses?


Answer: “What happens to humans when they do Bikram Yoga.”

Yep, that’s it. 

Healthy Choices for a Health Practice | Indoor Yoga during COVID |

camel pose yoga men bikram

October 1, 2022 UPDATE: Masks are no longer required in our facilities but are welcome and invited for anyone who chooses to wear one.

Additional air purifiers have been added to our yoga room, and we are continuing to maintain a room capacity of 21 as well as a 6-7 foot spacing between everyone in the room.

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Original Post from July 22, 2022:

I am one of those people who pondered, even during the first weeks of COVID shutdowns,  whether there would ever be an “end” to the pandemic.

New Vision: WE Will Be the Ones to Save Bikram Yoga | Becoming a Community-Supported Yoga Collective |

save bikram yoga patreon page

–by Ann Chrapkiewicz

21 months into the pandemic, it is time for me to speak up.  Well over 50% of Bikram Yoga studios in the U.S. have closed since spring 2020, and that wave of closures is not over.  I have been doing everything I can to not be one of those who close, and I will continue to do everything I can.  But at this point a broader base of support is required, and I am asking YOU to be a part of this.

How to Set Up Your Mind for Bikram Yoga Online

bikram yoga original hot yoga mindset triangle pose east lansing michigan

How to Set Up Your Mind for Bikram Yoga Online


Back in the summer of 2020, I shared some tips on our blog here for How to Set Up Your Hot Room (or not-so-hot room) for practicing Bikram Yoga at home.

Since then, many of my (seriously amazing) students have given me very helpful feedback.  They have shared the best tools for the job: which space heater is best, which humidifier the most efficient, and other great little tips to help our home practices be nice and sweaty.

“Required” Reading! | First BYCA Book Club Meeting | Breath by James Nestor

breath the new science of a lost art, book by james nestor

How to Breathe: Announcing our first BYCA Book Club Meeting!

You are invited!!

I have recommended and shared with you many book suggestions over the years.  But never have I felt that a book should be required reading for anyone involved in a traditional yoga practice.

This one is SO good, so relevant, and so immediately practical for your daily life!

side note: I actually think it should be required for all physicians, teachers, and health practitioners of any kind. 

Hope for Autoimmune Disease | Book Release |

Co-Authors of Hope for Autoimmune Disease: 15 Personal Stories of Living Better with Bikram Yoga

BYCA BOOK RELEASE

Hope for Autoimmune Disease: 15 Personal Stories of Living Better with Bikram Yoga


We could not be more excited to tell you about the completion of our book project, a global work-in-progress for the past 2.5 years.

Hope for Autoimmune Disease: 15 Personal Stories of Living Better with Bikram Yoga is the world’s FIRST publication that narrates the effects of Bikram Yoga on a family of related diseases. 

How to Set Up Your “Hot Room” for Bikram Yoga Online

bikram yoga online cobra pose

How to Set Up Your Hot Room (or not-so-hot-room) for Bikram Yoga


Can you do Bikram Yoga at home?  Can you do Bikram Yoga without the heat?  The answer is yes, absolutely.

For many years of practicing, we could not have imagined Bikram Yoga without the traditional “hot room”! However, thanks to our practice of adapting to the hot room, we have learned to adapt to many other challenges since 2020 began…including practicing Bikram Yoga anywhere and everywhere! 

Bikram Yoga Online | 90-Minute Original Hot Yoga | Attentive Instruction |

all ages full locust bikram yoga

Bikram Yoga Online / Outstanding Live-Streaming Instruction


Looking for the traditional, 90-minute Bikram Yoga class….taught every time with personal attention, detailed corrections, and daily inspiration?  You are in the right place!

All of our classes listed on the SCHEDULE (click here) are available to current and new members.  All are welcome; beginners and experienced Bikram Yoga practitioners LOVE our classes.

For New Students: You may try out our online classes for one month (31 consecutive days from your date of purchase).

20 Years of Bikram Yoga | Hip Dysplasia | Bikram’s Compassion & Love |

standing head to knee bikram yoga original hot yoga

We are so happy to welcome Angela Moulin Sinclair to Bikram Yoga Capital Area!  Her passion for this yoga as well as her nearly two decades of experience make her such a wonderful and positive part of our yoga community. 

Angela and I first met at a Mary Jarvis Lake Michigan Shapeshifting retreat in the summer of 2018, but our shared history goes back to many similar experiences in the early 2000s at Bikram Yoga Teacher Training (at La Cienega Headquarters, Los Angeles). 

MSU Spartans Football Coach Ron Burton on Development of the Athlete | “Coaching the Coach” | Bikram Yoga

bikram yoga student spartans football coach ron burton Michigan state university

Just over three years ago, Michigan State University Assistant Football Coach Ron Burton started practicing Bikram Yoga with us.  Since then, he has been telling every coach and athlete he knows about this practice, encouraging them to come to class, and bringing his kids to class whenever they are in town.

They call each other “coach”, so if you ever hear Ann say that in class, you know who she is talking to! 

Yoga is Better than Surgery, Part 1 | Athletics, Injuries, and Knee Recovery | Briona Jones |

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Meet Briona Jones, 29, doctoral candidate in English at Michigan State University and former Division I basketball player.

Briona’s story is so moving and her reflections so articulate, we decided to share them in multiple blog posts!  Here is Part I, which focuses mostly on the physical benefits Briona has created with her practice.


Childhood

I was born with rickets, so as a child I was able to walk, but I wasn’t able to run.  

How to Get Kids on a Therapeutic Yoga Path

youth kids free yoga bikram hot yoga

At BYCA we have a very strong youth program, with many youth attending weekly now for several years!  You can read about some of our long-term regular youth practitioners here.

At the same time, we have a lot of parents who would like their kids to take up yoga, but who feel stuck.  Lately I had a few people ask me directly ,”How do I get my kids to do yoga?”

Framing “Yoga” Differently

In over 15 years of practice, I have found that the answer lies almost entirely found in how the parent views yoga, how the parent speaks about yoga, and how the parent uses yoga.   

Herding Cats, Billy Ocean, and Rollercoasters: Why I keep coming back to Bikram Yoga

bikram yoga east lansing michigan

Meet Melissa, 40, of Williamston, Michigan!  Melissa started practicing with us at Bikram Yoga Capital Area in March of 2014 and to date has practiced over 725 classes!  Melissa wrote this super thoughtful blog as part of 2017’s Spring Yoga Buddy Challenge.  I am so grateful for Melissa’s insights, her quiet strength and presence at the yoga school, her patience with my backlog of stories needing to be shared (!), and her wonderful writing.