There are no quick fixes … or are there?
Usually when something claims to be a “quick fix” you eye it suspiciously, very hesitant to believe its claims.
Like diet pills.
Or late night infomercials for ab exercise machines that claim to give you a six-pack while you lounge around, watching TV.
And if you’ve found yourself as a beginner in a Bikram Yoga class, you think yeah right and maybe next lifetime as you watch the yogis around you kick their legs high up to the ceiling in Standing Bow Pulling Pose.
I’ll never be able to that, you say to yourself.
But what I want you to know loud and clear, right here right now, is this:
Even though it may take you months, years, or even decades to improve in a posture, the posture is giving you benefits and healing from DAY 1.
Let’s break this down.
We want to really understand the difference between two things:
- How much of a posture you do
and - How much benefit you get
The benefit from a yoga posture lies not in its depth but rather in its technique. Meaning that you can be overweight, out of shape, unable to touch your toes, barely able to keep your arms up for more than a few seconds and you can still receive 100% benefit from your yoga class.
All you have to do is try, to the best of your ability, with correct form.
See, your muscles contract and relax and the blood circulation increases and your spine moves when you try.
You sweat and you focus just by showing up.
And little by little your body starts to be able to do more and more, and you’ve been benefiting since your very first class.
That’s a pretty sweet deal!
Do you ever hear those people at yoga talking about how after their first class their backs felt immediately better? Or how about those that have knee pain, and how after one class they’ve been able to bend their knees a whole lot more. And of course there are the yogis who tell you that they slept soundly for the first time in years the night after they took their first Bikram Yoga class.
That’s the “quick fix” that’s possible in yoga.
The “quick fix” happens because the the postures have a therapeutic and healing effect on your body from the beginning. You feel better right away, after one class.
No matter who you are. No matter how much you can do.
Really!
All that matters is that you try the postures with the correct technique and you’re going to get all the benefits from them.
You’re going to be one of those people who sleeps amazingly well after one class. Or who feels back pain relief for the first time in a decade. Or who thinks clearly, isn’t stressed, and relaxes more simply from working through the class the best you can.
As far as actually improving in the physical poses, that depends on what you have going on to begin with. If you haven’t stretched in two decades it might take a few months before you can touch your toes. If you’re recovering from knee surgery you might not be able to sit down in a kneeling position until next month. If you just tweaked your neck last night you likely be able to turn your head without any pain after 8 classes or so.
What I want you to remember about Bikram Yoga, especially as you’re first starting out, is that you don’t have to be perfect at the postures. You definitely don’t have to be experienced either. You’ll receive that quick fix in how you feel, even though the postures themselves may take some time to improve.
But that’s ok, because you’re not just a yoga posture – you’re you!
Maybe you’re a parent.
Or a wife or a husband.
You’re a friend.
You’re a son or a daughter … a cousin, a sibling, a grandparent.
Don’t define yourself by how much of a yoga pose you can do. Your yoga practice is available to you to help you live your life outside the studio to its fullest.
The trade off is that you just have to show up a few times a week to take class 😅
Want more tips on Bikram Yoga? Here you go: here, here, and here ☺
