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Osteopath no more! |
I thought I still had the letter that I wrote to my osteopath explaining why I would not seen him any more even though I used to swear by him and see him regularly for years.
But hélas, I have to spell out again what changed since I began with Bikram in March last year. You may remember that I had a car accident 32 years ago when my hip was dislocated and the spine crushed due to a fall of 25 feet causing a whiplash. Hence I’ve been in chronic pain, trying all sorts of complementary approaches all the time and not being able to stand for any length of time, let alone bend backwards, while my left knee got worse and worse as I approached 60.
Here’s what I’ve observed since I began:
- For weeks I would cry during or after every session – remembering so many sad / bad / painful experiences relating to the accident as a major turning point in my life
- The looseness in my shoulder and arm joints seemed to be proof that my lymphatic system was touched as otherwise only by certain massages
- The strength with which I began to walk became an ever increasing delight
- The left knee that had given me more and more troubles began to make slowly progress
- The left hip re-experienced all sorts of pains – but eventually, just before Christmas, the big tendon gave up its ‘ancient pain’
- I feel confident that my left side will feel as the right one eventually and am curious as to when that will be. I am also curious about the changes that I shall continue to make from class to class:
- During the breathing exercise, my left arm has become leveled with my right one which is ‘nice’
- My half moon has become extraordinary, as far as I am concerned, but there is still soooo much scope for flexibility for the arms to go backwards, the back bend and, above all, the smiles
- The real measure of success will be when I can sit Japanese style and can do fixed firm, separate leg stretching and the final twist without the knee making funny noises
- Camel and the two bows will be my permanent challenge for my ‘poor inflexible spine’ but I shall keep trying
- The redness of my face will continue to act as a thermometer but my complexion has improved as much as my general pudginess: Anna thought I had come carrying heavy burdens but am more upright now!
And thus I cherish every class, no matter who teaches it.
At first I thought I’d keep a blog to report the progress I’m making. But this is a good summary for now. Once I feel my left hip and knee are ‘normal’ again, I shall let you know again. For I am sure that Bikram WILL get me there, and only Bikram CAN get me there.
With all my commitment, perseverance and joy over continuous progress,
Happy Yoga Greetings!
Sabine |
A Student’s Insights |
It has taken almost three years of constant practice to gain these insights into my Bikram Yoga practice.
1. Everyone's yoga practice is different and it is impossible to say what journey each yogi is on. We may all be doing to the same 26 postures but we are all at different stages of different journeys.
2. When I made a New Year's resolution in 2005 that I would never leave the studio before the class was over, it was more of a macho thing than anything else.
I haven't left the room before the class was over since then but my reason for staying in the room has changed.
I never leave the room because you literally can't exit your life.
3. The 90 minute Yoga session is both a microcosm and a metaphor for life.
If you imagine the session to be a slice of life to which you respond, its possible to take the practice to a deeper level.
4. I never request that the temperature be either lowered or raised because you cannot in real life control your environment - if it rains, it rains.
5. I never ask for the doors to be opened because no such doors exist in real life.
6. I have no particular preference as to teacher because in real life, life chooses the teachers for you, whether you like it or not.
7. How I perform the practice is a reflection of my state of being at any given time. I accept when I am low and I accept when I am high.
8. I realize now that I have been slowly honing my body and mind into the equivalent of a steel spring - strong and supple at the same time.
9. There is a long way yet to go and the journey is sometimes very hard but that's hardly news is it?
10. The insights once gained can never be lost.
Norman Cho
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Diabetes
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I am a thirty nine year old insulin dependent diabetic who experienced an
early menopause at twenty-four. I have been practicing bikram yoga for a year now and the experience has changed my life on every level.
I began as a person who existed only from the neck up i.e. in my own head. The first radical effect of bikram yoga was to bring me out of that darkness into a fuller awareness of my physical self. Early on in my practice my hormone and insulin levels calmed down with the result that I needed to inject less insulin. Before I started the yoga I was on 6 units of actrapid insulin three times a day before meals and 36 units of a slow-acting insulin at nighttime. Within three weeks this reduced to 4 units of actrapid and 30 of the slow acting. After about three months the dose settled to 3 units of actrapid and 20 of the slow acting. The hypo-glycaemic attacks (low blood sugar levels) that I used to experience often have disappeared and I have now settled down on half the insulin dose I was on a year ago. At a recent hospital check up I was told that my thyroid gland, which is also threatened by my illness, is now working more efficiently than it has done for years. I have experienced a radical weight loss and my body has changed shaped completely. I have muscles where I never knew muscles existed and have a range of movement I never realized was possible. I need less sleep and feel properly refreshed when I do rest rather than always feeling under energized. My appetite has returned full throttle - a wonderful gift for a diabetic as we have to eat regularly and often and there is nothing worse than having to eat when you do not feel hungry. Although I had been a vegetarian for years, therefore on a fairly healthy diet, bikram has led to me wanting to eat only fresh, simple foods. A real gift, when your body craves what is good for it, not what is bad.
These dramatic physical transformations have more recently begun to change and affect other areas of my life. Because I feel released from the burden
of being a "sick" person, I do, for the first time, feel strong and confident enough to explore my own mental and spiritual world. I sense that this "second stage" of development has only just begun and don't, as yet, know where it is going to lead. To date, this has given me the strength to get away and stay away from an abusive and violent relationship and to stop blaming myself for everything that goes wrong. From the start I noticed that my focus and mental balance were improving but it is only in recent months that the really profound possibilities of mental change have become apparent to me. One of the many, many things I love about bikram is that the dialogue does not prescribe or dictate a spiritual response to the practice in anyway. It leaves a crucial space for each person to discover their own God within them. So, despite the fact that consciously one concentrates on the breath and the body, at some very powerful level it touches the mind and therefore changes your perception of reality.
Bikram yoga has given me my freedom. There is no greater gift.
Catherine Wearing
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| Chronic Shoulder Pain |
Two months before I started Bikram Yoga, I was seeing a physiotherapist twice a week for chronic shoulder pain. But it wasn't working - if anything, the pain was escalating and I didn't have the power to change it. It was devastating. Then I met a massage therapist who thought Bikram yoga might help. I was nervous about starting because I don't like being hot and I couldn't touch my toes. I came anyway. After the first class, the pain in my shoulder was so much better I couldn't believe it. The postures and the heat are like total body therapy.
By the end of the first week, I didn't think about my shoulder anymore and I have never been back to the physiotherapist. If Bikram only eliminated pain, that would be more than enough. But it does much more than that. Physically, it builds amazing muscles exactly where you need them to stand up straight and live your life. It gives form and strength to your posture, which for me is like a miracle. The world is a different place when you can stand strongly and without pain.
Mentally, it cultivates your focus and pulls your mind down out its circles of worry, or wherever it might be flying around. Bikram yoga literally lays your mind down into your body, because you must pay total attention to the postures in order to hold them. You can't think about anything else. It teaches you to breathe, stretch, stand and balance. It makes you physically strong, fit, focused and calm. And by stretching, strengthening and opening your body, you actually open up your point of view and your life. I've done lots of different forms of exercise - swimming, pilates, running, gym- but now I just do Bikram, because it gives you everything.
Nina |
| Traumatic Accident Recovery |
I was on my bicycle commuting to work and was hit by a truck on the left side of my body. I sustained a dislocated shoulder, 3 broken vertebrae, a fractured pelvis, 5 broken ribs, and internal injuries which included an abdominal wall hernia and repair of internal organs. My accident occurred on July 7, 1999. I have been practicing Bikram yoga since several weeks after this. I practice daily and am presently at age 37, almost back to my pre-accident condition and better. I thank Bikram yoga for allowing me to walk again and to return to my love of life and movement.
My doctors first performed surgery and then recommended physical therapy. They also, without hesitation, prescribed an unending amount of pain medication along with anti-inflammatory meds. I presently take nothing except vitamin and herb supplements. My doctors would not predict my recovery, but insinuated I would not return to my pre-accident state again. They were not certain about walking, running or any other movement. My last doctor recommended and encouraged my practice of yoga.
Specific Improvements:
Within days I saw small improvements in movement, range of motion and in particular in my level of pain. I also experienced major improvements in my spiritual and mental attention and awakening within weeks. Eventually, (within weeks) I was able to move about, sleep, sit-up without assistance, walk, run, and presently am in the same condition I was prior to my accident.
solarz3@aol.com
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| Hip Injury |
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I fell on my hip while riding my bicycle about six years ago. It took a while for the scrape to heal, and from then until just a few weeks ago I had this lump in my left hip. Didn't really hurt, but my hips were definitely different shapes. About the beginning of March I started to have these severe pains in my left hip and leg during yoga, which felt more like a muscle tear or stretched ligament. This went on for about three weeks, and then suddenly cleared up. Now that my leg feels normal again, my hips are the same shape again. The tissue mass in my left hip is gone! |
| Ankle Injury |
I severely sprained my left ankle a couple years ago. Took more than a month for me to start walking nearly normally again, but there was always a feeling of weakness in my left ankle. I started yoga in October of last year and one of the things yoga brought to my attention was that I carried a lot of my weight with my right leg, still favoured my left leg.
Then in December I again sprained the left ankle. Could barely walk, really limped severely. Went to a doctor who said I had four choices - Limp through it, a brace, a cast for four weeks to immobilize it or cortizone shots. I chose to limp through it and continued to do yoga (I could put weight on it, it hurt when I took weight off of it). It affected some of my postures, especially the balancing series, because there were certain points in my balance that my body tried to avoid to keep from experiencing pain. Asa suggested being right next to the wall and leaning my left side against the wall when necessary.
Over the course of several weeks my ankle healed to the point where it is as solid as it was before I sprained it originally! Now I'm working through re-balancing my weight so that I don't carry more with my right side anymore. It is starting to happen and I feel so much more even and strong and balanced. There are days when I have so much energy I don't know what to do with it all!!
Specific Improvements:
I initially noticed how I was carrying more of my weight with my right side versus my left, and then I resprained my ankle again. So in my case, the condition actually got worse before it started getting better. The improvements were gradual over several weeks, and then I went through reusing atrophied muscles in new ways which was painful in a different way, but now the ankle is back to original strength and I am starting to feel balanced again.
donb@isomedia.com
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The testimonials below are taken with permission from www.bikramyoga.com
You will find many more testimonials on this site. |
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| Hepatitis C |
I have Hepatitis C antibodies. Although I am asymptomatic, since beginning Bikram study 2 years ago, I have found that I have an amazing new energy and vitality. While antibodies are still present in my blood, my liver functions are above normal. I have great skin, flexiblity and a youthfulness not found even in normal folks in my age group. I rarely get colds or flu. My sleep improved. I attribute it to good genes & my practice.
The antibodies were found 9/2000. I first sought treatment 9/2000.
The doctors recommended interferon therapy which I decided against. I've been practicing 2 years. |
| Skin conditions |
Chronic atopic dermatitis. Multiple allergies. Asthma, bronchitis. They were treated with weekly injections, steroid prescriptions, steroid creams & ointments, inhalants, anxiety medications. My Doctor was Chief of Dermatology with Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, MA. I saw improvements after my first class. My instructor informed me I must heal myself by following Bikram dialogue and do the best I can.
Tinkkatrina@hotmail.com
I have had eczema since I was an adolescent. Bikram's has totally controlled the symptoms. Through sweating and detoxification, the yoga helps my organs to cleanse my body, which prevents the toxins from building up and trying to escape through my skin.
grussj@hotmail.com |
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