by Ann Chrapkiewicz
For those of us who have been raised in civilizations of extractive capitalism, tools for healing and reconnection are needed. Badly. By all of us.
Disconnection, alienation, and estrangement from the earth (including our living, breathing bodies) is pretty much par for the course.
So on this Earth Day 2021 and all going forward, I want to include our human bodies as part of the earth that we celebrate, connect with, protect, love, and heal.
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.
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.
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?”
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.
by Ann Chrapkiewicz
Over a decade ago, one of my most influential yoga teachers at the time presented me with a quote:
It made sense to me on some levels, and I thought I could relate to not caring about the status quo. I had a history of peacefully withdrawing from certain social circles and finding my own way.
by Ann Chrapkiewicz
Would I rather feel Pain? Or Nothingness?
This is the broad choice I have been given, the dominant set of options I was born into. Not just me, personally, but I, the human of 20th and 21st century North America, and probably many other places and times.
Whether I am experiencing emotional pain and choosing alcohol…
In the process of childbirth and being pressured to get an epidural….
by Ann Chrapkiewicz
A few Sunday mornings ago, I was teaching* class.
It was one of those lovely classes where everyone spaced themselves so beautifully in the three rows of our practice room; people hardly took their eyes off of their focus points for the entire warm-up portion of class.
We were finishing up the standing series, on the second side of Toe Stand, when one of the great yoga lessons emerged.
by Marini Lee, Ph.D.
I’ve been practicing bikram yoga for almost 12 years now. According to the Western world (and my recovering internal body critic), I should look differently. I should be thin by now!!!! Shouldn’t I?
Well, I’m not.
First of all, being and/or getting “thin” is not (nor should be) the goal of yoga. Yoga means “union.” It is my understanding that this union is about optimal health – mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically.
As inclusive as North American yoga wants to be, yoga in its deeper dimensions demands certain qualities.
Well, I have a yoga mat and I hydrated well. So yes, I think so.
The yoga clothing companies would like you to think you are.
by Ann Chrapkiewicz
I started practicing Bikram Yoga in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 2003 – shortly after returning to the United States after 2 years of living in rural Japan. I was working in the kitchen of the People’s Food Coop at the time and attended on the invitation of one of my coworkers. I do not think that either of us “liked” the first class – she did not ever return for a second class (that was hard!).
by Lindsay Gray
I started practicing Bikram Yoga six years ago and have had the pleasure of practicing in many different places. Having started in Honolulu, and then in Houston, Austin, Boston, and Berlin before ending up here at my most favorite of studios. (Aren’t we lucky!!)
I am forever indebted to a close friend of mine, a former dancer like myself, who introduced me to Bikram yoga.
Bikram Yoga is often referred to as a “90-minute moving meditation”.
Lately I have started to prefer the term “physical meditation” over “moving meditation”. It is true that we move our bodies, but the emphasis of class is always on stillness.
Physical Meditation is a term that makes sense for me because it describes the heart of how anyone can practice, just by stepping in the room, and regardless of any flexibility or ability.
In my 14th year of practice in this amazing yoga lineage, I continue to love and appreciate the steadiness and auditory meditation that comes from the near-constant instruction from the teacher. I enjoy the rhythm of the “dialogue” – which truly is a two-way exchange of information between student and teacher! – and its phrases, or the flow of an expert teacher using his or her own tremendous experience and unique instructions to guide us.
The weekday morning classes here are indescribably special. I love every single class I teach and practice – evenings and weekends included – but the 9:30 am classes have this special energy that dedicated, regular, curious students create. The average age is probably 55, with many of my 70+ students attending regularly at that time.
This past Tuesday’s “warm” 9:30 class – practiced about 10 degrees cooler than the usual 105F – was an all-front-row class with the kind of calm, deep focus that leaves you floating the rest of the day.