Bikram Yoga Decatur

All Hatha Yoga is, in a sense, a form of meditation. Our approach is very basic with an initial emphasis on the body but our teaching recognizes the importance of the connection between mind and body. In fact, Bikram has described what we do as a kind of forced meditation -- what he means is that the mental efforts required to hold the physical postures requires a natural meditation, which is really just a strong and disciplined focus of the mind.

We don't stare at candles or chant and much of the class time is spent on physical challenges of flexibility, balance and strength but the benefits of our practice are as much in our mental capacity as in the physical. Increased concentration, a reduction of stress levels and an improved sense of well being are some of the many rewards you will discover through Bikram Yoga.

Someone recently used the contact page to send me an email that began like this:

My name is Maura, I am trying to get to the teacher training in April. I am contacting different Bikram studios to ask for words of wisdom, encouragement and advice.

I'd be happy to share some of my experiences with you and even give you some advice but my email response to you was returned as undeliverable after three tries.

Good luck to you.

More Choices for Donating to Haiti

Americares

Hope for Haiti

I sometimes think our class pricing is overly complicated. The easiest way to simplify would be to eliminate the least popular class cards but when I do a review of sales there aren't any cards that don't sell as well as any of the others. Clearly people like having a wide range of class cards to choose from but we often have to help people figure out what their best purchase option is due to there being so many choices.

I wonder if it would be feasible to do something as simple as this:

$XX for an introductory trial period
$XX per single class
$XX per class if you buy 10 at a time
$XX per month for unlimited attendance
XX% discount for students, seniors, members

Please use the comment feature to tell us what you think.

Effective immediately, we now offer an 8:15 pm class on Wednesdays in addition to Mondays. See the Schedule page for a complete listing of class times.

Still no cancellations. In fact, what better way to stay warm than with hot yoga?

Come on in and enjoy the heat.

Despite the fact I'm in Viet Nam as I type this, I'm originally from Massachusetts. I learned to drive in Massachusetts. I spent a lot of time driving in the snow in Massachusetts. It's gonna take a whole lot of snow for me to consider canceling classes.

The real problem is, I'm flying to LA tomorrow with a stop in Tapei. I probably won't have internet access from 8 pm Wednesday until 7 pm Thursday and I hadn't anticipated that we might actually experience real winter weather in my absence. I can have one of the other instructors update our studio answering machine but I haven't shown any of them how to update the web site and our email announcements list will only accept outgoing messages from my personal account.

So, let's just assume all classes are happening.

Effective January 13 we will be offering an 8:15 pm class on Mondays AND Wednesdays.

We support many charitable organizations on an ongoing basis. These are a few we've sent checks to this month. All of them could use your support.

American Indian College Fund

CHRIS Kids

Eyedrum

Atlanta Community Food Bank

One reason to register an account with this site is so that you can participate in our Discussion Forums which have just ben activated.

Yes, but...

It's fine for you to practice with a cold and you will probably feel better after class. The practice can help reduce symptoms and boost your immune system.

On the other hand, you have to think about your fellow practitioners. Colds and other viruses can spread easily so it may be a good idea to stay home during the first couple of days and/or when your symptoms are at their worst.

If you do come to the studio with a cold make sure to wash your hands frequently and cover your mouth when sneezing (it's best to sneeze into the crook of your elbow if you don't have a hanky). Cold viruses can be transmitted by air but they are more often transmitted through the hands.

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Bikram Choudhury has always said the ideal temperature for a Bikram Yoga class is 105 degrees and his web site confirms that with this statement: "The recommended temperature is minimum 105F degrees and about 40% humidity." Bikram's wife and partner, Rajashree, once told a group of teacher trainees that a range of 100 to 105 is sufficient. So why do so many studios consistently crank the heat up to 110 or higher?

Eating well should be part of your overall yogic lifestyle. Here is a link to a local food guide for Atlanta produced by Georgia Organics.

http://www.georgiaorganics.org/Files/LFG2007.pdf

(Thanks Greenie!)

Dandayamana Bibhaktapada Paschimothanasana is the sanskrit name for the posture we call Standing Separate Leg Stretching Pose, but there are other possible translations that come to mind: Slip Sliding Away Pose; Wishbone Pose; The Split. You know what I'm talking about... "take a BIG step to the right, four feet minimum."

One of the challenges for many beginners is that the four foot step quickly becomes four and a half feet, five feet, five and half, oh no, almost six feet apart and still sliding! Adding to the frustration is the insistence of the instructor that what you're experiencing is intentional and that it offers an opportunity to work on developing inner thigh strength (don't they realize that telling you they're called "adductor muscles" doesn't make it any easier?). Oh, right, making it easier isn't in their job description...

Obviously the main reason for the sliding feet is a lack of inner thigh strength but there's another reason and you're standing on it. Chances are you're standing on a freshly washed and dried towel (or mat, if you use the cloth variety). That's great but it's also a major cause of your struggle in this pose. The drier and fluffier your towel is the more slippery it's surface will be. You want it to be clean, of course, but if you take it out of the dryer before it's completely dry -- or better still, air dry it -- it's surface will be a little more coarse and much less slippery.

It won't stop us from driving you crazy with our "it's supposed to be hard" admonitions but you might find yourself being able to focus on other parts of this posture instead of simply struggling to keep from sliding into a full split.

Please note these schedule changes for Thanksgiving week.

• Wed, Nov 25, 6:30 pm canceled (6 am, 10 am, 4:30 pm are happening)
• Thu, Nov 26, 10 am only
• Fri, Nov 27, 10 am & 4:30 pm only
• Sat, Nov 28, 10 am & 4 pm only
• Sun, Nov 29, 10 am & 4 pm only

Sorry, we have sold out of these.

Between now and the end of the year we are offering a limited number of Yearly Unlimited Attendance Class Cards for $1,000 — a $200 savings. If you already have an active class card you can make the purchase now and put the Yearly Card on hold to be activated later. For someone who attends, on average, two classes per week the cost works out to about $9.60 per class. Three times a week comes to approximately $6.40 per class. The hard core addicts among you can save even more.

For the rest of this year we are selling all Class Card Gift Certificates at a 20% discount… hmm, is there anything else I can say about this? Nope. That’s it. Get ‘em while they’re cheap.

update - Please note that Gift Certificates are meant to be just that: gifts! Please don't ask if you can buy one for yourself (but you are worthy of gifts from your loved ones, I'm sure) and know that we do not combine discounts (meaning these aren't meant for Members, Students or Seniors).

As I do some site maintenance I noticed that our Giving Back section is pretty sparse. We actually support many more organizations than listed here. I'm going to rectify that soon as I continue to update the site. It's not so much bragging as it is letting our clients know that BYD is dedicated and committed to giving back as much as possible to our communities -- local and global.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009 marks the start of our 8th year. In honor of the occasion and as a token of our appreciation for your continuing support we invite you to participate in a brief Easter Egg hunt.

This message will self destruct at Midnight tonight.

update - hmmm, still reading? I guess it didn't self destruct. Alas, the hunt is closed.

Sometimes I am hard put to describe exactly what it is that I value most about my yoga practice. The abundant psycho-physical benefits ought to be enough but there is clearly something more to it. I suppose it's what many refer to as the spiritual benefits but, as someone who doesn't subscribe to a literal spiritual belief system, that seems vague. Spirit, to me, speaks to the whole of human life including all the ways in which we relate to the world and each other. Spirituality suggests an infinite web of connections between beings, an energetic map of the whole of experience and awareness which extends beyond the self. On a more practical level my spiritual life is the reflection of my personal life as defined by my relationships with the other people in my family, community, society and the world at large (or vice versa). In that sense I get plenty of spiritual fulfillment in my life outside the yoga studio. Certainly it is expanded and enhanced by the community that exists in the studio. My life is greatly enriched by the relationships and connections that are constantly developing and evolving here. Still, there's something more immediately satisfying in my personal practice -- something tangible yet much greater than the obvious and numerous health benefits.

In Urban Cavemen (Living Life out of Balance) Mickey Z., writing for Dissident Voice, puts his finger on something. In it he writes,

We each possess a physiology that evolved to negotiate the Stone Age. Unfortunately, we live in the Space Age. There’s the rub. We are urban cavemen — overmatched in our daily battle to navigate an artificial reality because we have lost contact with our instincts [emphasis added].

Like most (if not all) of you, I spend a lot of my day in front of a computer (as now) or in my car, or on my phone and otherwise living in a virtual world of abstractions and ideas. I live more and more online and in my head. How can I not? It's how things work these days. I was born when things were different, when a child's life was still lived outdoors. The smells from my childhood are memories of moss and rocks, earth, rain and mud. I would walk for miles and hours and it was joyful travel. The toys and games I played with didn't have to be plugged in or re-charged. Everything has changed since then and mostly for the better. Computers and the internet have vastly increased our ability to communicate and learn. Technology is bringing people all over the globe into closer contact with each other. It's an exciting and fascinating time to be alive. But as we move more and more into this brave new virtual world, something is being left behind. Muscles unused atrophy and become unusable. Lack of exercise results in decreased bone density and muscle strength. "Use it or lose" isn't a cliche -- it's a recipe for good health. Astronauts can't do yoga in space -- they can exercise with machines but yoga requires gravity. Gravity (our local version) comes from the Earth.

When I practice yoga I feel like I'm re-establishing lost connections with primal elemental forces: air, gravity, energy, momentum. The feel of my heart pounding in my chest, the passionate drawing in of oxygen to the lungs, the rivers of sweat pouring out of me, the heavy pull of gravity, all these things make me feel more alive, more present in my body and in that time and space. In short, yoga brings me back to the Earth. As Michael Glabicki sings,

Hey yo' hey mama

Back to the Earth I feel it

Back to the Earth I'm fallin'