Whether you need more "zen" in your life, or just feel kinda lazy... joining a Zoom class can be the motivation you need to keep doing the yoga you need!

Don't take our word for it though, here are HHY yogis Judy and Alex on why they have kept up their Bikram Yoga practice during a pandemic:

1. Alleviate anxiety. Studies have shown that practicing yoga can reduce anxiety and lower your levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Check out this blog post for the story of one student who has stopped taking anxiety meds since starting her yoga practice! 
2. Decrease depression. There is a large body of research finding yoga to be an effective intervention for the treatment of depression. Bikram Yoga specifically has been found beneficial in improving depression and several other mental health symptoms.
3. Sleep better. Studies have found practices like yoga and meditation have positive effects on melatonin and helps alleviate common causes of sleep problems like stress and anxiety. This is super relevant right now because many of us need better Zs! According to a PiplSay poll, 31% of Americans say they’re sleeping less due to coronavirus-related anxiety. And you know it's hard to be your best self when you're tired.
4. Reduce inflammation. You've probably heard a lot about the popular physical benefits of yoga: flexibility, strength and balance. Of course, there are other activities you can do to keep your muscles strong, your joints healthy, and even be able to stand on one foot. Hatha yoga (practice of physical yoga postures) is unique in that it improves the function of every single system of your body, from the bones to the skin. One of the main ways hatha yoga helps all your organs function better is by helping to reduce inflammation, which researchers are finding more and more to be the root of all kinds of trouble. Know what increases inflammation? Chronic stress and anxiety. Lack of sleep and lack of movement. Poor nutrition.

There is no time like today to start creating benefits like these for your mind and body. And thanks to technology, accessing yoga instruction from the comfort of your home is easy. There are many options out there, many levels and many styles.

Home Hot Yoga's online classes are open to everyone, no experience necessary. Heat is not even necessary (though it helps!)

The hot environment of Bikram Yoga is meant to be stressful on your body. By putting your body under stress, you create change in your body. (Note: stressful does not mean dangerous. 105 degrees is not a dangerous temperature for a person to be in for 90 minutes.)

Doing yoga in a hot room is like looking in a mirror through a magnifying glass: your experience in the hot room shows you (in BIG size) what you have been doing- or not doing- to care for yourself throughout the previous hours, days, weeks or even years.

For example: if you are a smoker, you may have trouble with breathing in class. Guess what? That does not mean Bikram Yoga is bad for breathing. Bikram Yoga is just showing you the effects of you being a smoker. (For this reason, many of our regulars credit Bikram Yoga with helping them quit smoking.)

After your first class, I'll bet you'd never done anything like it before! (You might have even exclaimed exactly that to your teacher or a friend: "I've never done anything like that before!")

Another factor in feeling awful after yoga could be the clothes you wore to class. Check out this video we made about which clothes are just plain wrong for Bikram Yoga.

If you felt so, SO hot in your sweatpants, try wearing shorts next time. Trapping your body heat in layers of baggy clothes is just a totally bad idea in 105 degrees. You wouldn't wear a bikini out snowshoeing, would you?

Students often tell me when I say this, "oh, I know I will feel cooler- but I don't like to see my [thighs/ cankles/ gut) in the mirror.") I get it. I was that girl in a sports bra, tank top, tee shirt AND a long-sleeved shirt in class.

I thought I was fat and ugly, and I thought I could hide.

Over time I learned I was wrong about all those things. It turns out I was not fat, I was not ugly- and I could not hide under the bright lights of Bikram Yoga class. Little by little, I shed my layers. I began to feel cooler and better. More importantly, I began to love and appreciate the body I saw in the mirror.

What I want to leave you with is this: give this life-saving yoga system an honest try. Try to do 10 classes in 1 month.  (The studiowide yoga challenge starts on Monday!!) 

Or if that even seems like too far in advance to plan, just make up your mind to do 3 classes this week. If after that you totally hate it and don't see any reason to continue? Don't continue. At least you really gave it a shot.

Use the tips from this post: hydrate, dress in small close-fiting clothing, and make sure you are breathing calmly through your nose throughout the class. I bet you will feel so much better, and I bet you will start loving your life more too. Let us know if you do!

I started practicing at BYSJ in fall of 2016 because I felt like my body and I were at odds. I needed a practice that allowed me to reconnect with myself. Since December 2015, I've been pregnant 4 times. The first three pregnancies have all ended with miscarriages. I was grieving the loss of those babies in unhealthy ways and I sought out yoga as a way to find my way back to peace. ​

Like I mentioned, when I began practicing I felt at odds with myself. I was really self conscious and critical of my physical appearance, being overly critical of every lump and bump.

There's something a bit magical that happens when you stare at yourself for 90 minutes. Over the course of practicing I began to marvel at all the ways my body could move and how it carried me through the poses. ​

I have always suffered from pain in my right shoulder. This practice has really opened/loosened those muscles that were always so tight. Eagle pose works wonders.
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But really, I practice for the mental benefits. It's the most important thing I do that keeps my mind peaceful; reduces my anxiety. I used to have crazy anxiety, I would need medication at times to manage it. ​

I practiced through my miscarriages. I would set up my mat in the back of the room and cry through most of the class. I was able to grieve my losses and let go of the pain through the yoga. It helped me get to a place where I could accept that perhaps motherhood was not going to be a part of my journey. Like I said, I could do hard things. 

When I found out I was pregnant for the fourth time, I didn't want to live in the fear. I also didn't want to live in the hope. I just wanted to live in every moment. Fear represented the past. Hope represented the future. I really didn't want to place any of my energy in either of those places. I thought a lot about the impermanence of a situation. The only experience I wanted was the one I was currently in.

Dandayamana bibhaktapada paschimottanasana! This posture is not only the most fun posture to say the name in Sanskrit, but also a phenomenal stretch for your hamstrings, hips and spine.

Because of the upside-down position, this pose provides increased circulation to the brain, nasal cavities and adrenal glands. It decompresses the spine, relieving pressure on the intervertebral discs and the spinal nerves (including the sciatic nerve) as well as having a pretty incredible effect on your cardiovascular system (see below...) 

Check out our video about how adjusting the size of your step can help you get the most out of this one:

Have you heard of a baroreflex? "Baro" comes from the Greek baros, meaning pressure or weight. So the baroreflex is one of your body's mechanisms which helps maintain blood pressure at nearly constant levels. When you hang upside down in Standing Separate Leg Stretching, baroreceptors in your arteries sense that blood pressure to the head is elevated, and this starts a rapid feedback loop which causes the heart rate to lower and blood pressure to decrease to a more normal level.

Lower heart rate and lower blood pressure is associated with a calming sensation in the body, amirite? Which, if you think about it, means the placement of this pose in our series is simply genius! I mean, you just completed Balancing Stick pose, which got your heart beating out of your chest. And you're just about to do Triangle pose... But first, you get to do Standing Separate Leg Stretching, to bring your blood pressure and heart rate down, so by the time you hit Triangle you're operating on a much more even keel. Wow!

What if you have sciatica?
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In this pose, a special consideration for those with active sciatica is that the feet should not be "slightly pigeon-toed." They should be parallel to one another, or even a little turned out. This takes pressure off the sciatic nerve during the pose.

Last December, I bumped into Natalie (who I later found out is a longtime Karma Yogi at BYSJ) at a Garcia Birthday Band show. She stuck a buddy pass in my hand and told me I should go to yoga. It was a wild night and Natalie seemed like a cool lady, so I decided to check it out. I had no idea what I was getting into! At 65 I had never been to a yoga class. Now I do Bikram yoga every day...

In 7 months of daily practice, here is what Bikram yoga has done for me:

• My fibromyalgia symptoms of pain and fatigue have been significantly reduced. I used to be in pain just walking up the stairs for class. I didn't even realize I was in so much pain until I realized the stairs weren't hurting anymore. My knees are well on their way to pain-free. This absence of pain where I've become so used to it feels like euphoria to me.
  
• My mood is improved.
  
• Carpel tunnel syndrome is gone.
  
• The shoulder I fractured and dislocated in 2017 has regained almost full range of motion. I had tried physical therapy for this injury and it was just too painful. The heat and the stretching really did it!
  
• My balance and posture have vastly improved.
• I've lost body fat and gained muscle tone.
  
• I enjoy deeper, more refreshing sleep. I'm able to fall asleep faster and when I sleep have vivid dreams.
  
• For the first time in my life, I feel able to breathe myself into a state of relaxation.
• Food tastes better. Water even tastes better. All my senses are heightened, in a good way. I have a feeling of general well-being all the time.
  
• My empathy and compassion for others is stronger, too.
  
• I've made many interesting, warm and loving yoga friends in the BYSJ community. This place is so much my home away from home that I commute over 1 hour from across town every day to come to class.
  
• I've learned an incredibly valuable lesson about moderation. I'm the kind of person where I throw myself "full throttle" into everything I do. So when I started I was coming to yoga twice a day. I would push myself so hard in class that I was repeatedly getting severe muscle cramps that would knock me to the floor. I was drinking gallons of water before, during and after class. I would have to sit in my car for a long time after a session, waiting to feel normal enough to drive. It took one especially bad day and a lot of guidance from my yoga teachers, but I now practice in a more sustainable way. I come to class once a day and I'm much more moderate with my water intake during class. I rest when I need to and I also try to do the postures with less strain. These days I can stand up after my final savasana, shower and drive off right away feeling fine. I am now applying the same moderation and respect for my body in my daily activities outside of yoga. This is huge!
  

I wanted to share my story especially for other people with fibromyalgia who think there is no answer besides expensive medications with tons of terrible side effects. For me, Bikram yoga gives me relief of my symptoms without all of that other stuff, and it makes my life better in so many other ways too. You've got to give it a try!

Before I moved to Portland in June 2016, a friend in Albuquerque introduced me to hot yoga. It wasn’t Bikram yoga and I didn’t understand the postures, but I was determined to keep trying. When I got to Portland, I was pleased to find Bikram Yoga St. Johns in my neighborhood and, although I knew nothing about Bikram yoga, I bought a year membership.

I didn’t get my money’s worth that year. I didn’t attend class regularly, rarely drank enough water, and every pose was "awkward pose." Classes were hard because I would lose my balance and even fall sometimes. I would leave bewildered, embarrassed and dehydrated. But something kept me coming back, and I always felt welcomed with open arms no matter how long I had been away.

This New Year's Eve, I came to the studio for a late night yoga class. I rang in the New Year with Kay, Orlo and the rest of the Bikram St. Johns family, under the blacklight with kombucha. I decided to do the 30-day challenge shortly after that. I came up with a yoga schedule that fit around my work schedule, and I set a goal to do 20 classes in 30 days. I loved seeing the stars by my name accumulate.

I did 18 classes in 30 days and I began to see first-hand the benefits of regular Bikram practice: my balance and eye- hand coordination improved, my chronic back pain and stiffness lessened, and my mood improved. I've been practicing about 10-12 times a month ever since.

I am a Registered Nurse and my job is demanding physically, mentally and emotionally. I also have scoliosis and a leg length difference.  I could barely move my shoulder at one point. With regular practice I can now move my shoulder without pain. I didn’t think that was going to be possible.

I didn’t think a lot of things were possible when first started my Bikram practice. I didn’t think I would ever get into Fixed Firm pose (check out my photo above!) or stand on one leg. Now Fixed Firm pose is a favorite of mine and I’m getting closer to Standing Head to Knee every day. I have conquered many challenges in my life and Bikram yoga is a very worthwhile challenge. And I’ve learned a lot about myself in the process.

Once all major joints of the body have been warmed up by practicing Pranayama breathing and the first few postures, you are ready for Eagle pose, garudasana! This pose opens up the joints of the ankles, knees, hips, shoulders, elbows and wrists.

By twisting your limbs "like ropes" Eagle pose creates compression of blood and lymph flow headed to spots like your legs, kidneys and the lymph nodes in your armpits. Hold the posture very still while breathing calmly, so that when you release it your elevated heart rate will send a boost of high-speed circulation to those areas. Notice a white mark on your thigh after you come out of Eagle? That's a good indicator that you’ve been maintaining a strong compression.

What's that you say? Your arms won't twist like ropes? Here's a quick video on what to do for this (very common) "issue"...

Now that we've cleared up what to do with those pesky arms, here are a couple key aspects of Eagle pose and more tips to help you get the most out of your efforts:

Using leverage to promote good alignment and open joints.
When you move your knees to the right and upper body to the left to get your feet, knees, elbows and hands in one line, you are using the leverage of one limb against to create the compression effect I mentioned above and open up your major joints. The key to not falling over while you make these adjustment is keeping your (especially lower) abdominal muscles tight and your upper body lifted away from your thighs.

It's a backbending pose!
Many beginners tend to lean or even hunch their bodies forward while they're setting up their Eagle, in an effort to pull their elbows down. Don't let this happen to you! Keep your upper body (when you hear the cue "upper body" in class, think mainly lower ribs upward) leaning back throughout the posture, which means (although you'll end up looking straight ahead) your spine is actually in a backward bending position. This position strengthens back and core muscles, releases tension in your lumbar spine, and compresses the kidneys.

Pro Tips:

• If you can't move your knees right and upper body left, you might be sitting down too low. Try coming up a little bit and try again!
• Turning your thumbs toward your face and little fingers toward the mirror will help you straighten out the wrists.
• Don't fret if your elbows don't ever go below your nose. It's the intention of pulling your elbows down that gives you that amazing stretch in the shoulders, which is the whole point to this instruction.