Online Yoga Q&A - November 18, 2023

[@brianalanreed5766]

Rajashree mentions “breaking the spine” as it relates to extreme flexibility relating to yoga as performance/sport/completion. Bikram Yoga is not only the best method for overall health but it’s the only method that transforms the entire musculoskeletal system from the inside-out bones to skin. The essence of breaking the spine in term of medical benefits is already complete in the half-moon with hands to feet pose that I like to call “ unzipping the spine” and then with the forward bend zipping it back up and only then can the real work happen during the rest of the series. This is why the pranayama at the start is so intense to fully prepare the student for that intense compression of every vertebrae first laterally and then backward bending in the very first sequence totally pulling apart any and every obstruction in the spine and mental obstruction. During the training my spine grew an incredible 1.5 inches as if I’d been in a weightless environment for years but this is the most extreme example and it led to intense sciatica that would have been cured by including one extra warm-up before the half-moon (a super gentle warrior 1) that Rajashtee confirmed is correct but since we cannot change anything suggested to do before the sequence but would then require a gentle warmup of its own whereas the deep breathing perfectly prepares the student for Warrior 1 and the Warrior 1 perfectly prepares the student for the half moon sequence and rest of the class. Below is the short unedited essay I’ve written on the above subject matter. It’s not to change anything. I’m one of the top proponents of the Bikram method. Furthermore the only student recognized by a realized master (the infamous Baba Hari Das) who recognized the opening of my crown chakra in a public gathering so this is not at all my claim). Later I became the first and only person to be fully redacted on National TV in late 2020 to free Leonard Peltier (longest serving political prisoner that is an innocent man and Native American Elder) and remove the nuclear codes (only the later they agreed to do which changes everything forever) preventing the US from starting WW3 Armageddon so yes yoga did save the world and you can all come to my class for the divine healing energy and incredible luminosity like Yogananda. I have a right to be here and gain your support and respect and have a child to support that I may never see again without your generous contributions:

[@brianalanreed5766]

“Hot (Bikram) yoga is like a puzzle that cannot be changed or it looses its benefits. Often called 26/2. Before the series of pastures begins after the pranayama breathing at the begging (20-30sec rest) we need only one warmup. The series is designed to work every single muscle-cell ligament and joint in the body and is simply missing the Warrior I for beginners mirroring the start of the advanced series with the God’s salute (Warrior I) for advanced practice. This beginner Warrior is a comfortable stride and those with difficulty walking can simply spread their feet apart outer hip bone distance to shoulder width and step one foot back providing the hip opening. Hands can remain at hips for balance unit one’s comfort level allows for a longer stride. Naturally the feet come closer together the longer the step but the back foot/heal down approx. 45 degrees. Front knee never comes forward. No lunging forward or bouncing on the knee. In fact the beginner doesn’t even have to try to bend it it will be bent in exactly the right position automatically depending on the stride. Knee must never pass the Anke. This helps warm up the knees as well and prevent injury in awkward pose and eagle. The main benefit is for the lower back sliding the hips into exactly the right position for half moon pose. “The spine is not yet warmed up.” It’s not ready to bend 360 degrees like a pearl string in any direction until a gentle extension/compression is achieved focusing on maximum traction. We are not trying to put the head back or work hard. This is the only “fluff” before the fold. I promise you that only after one set and only one set of Warrior I is the student ready to perform the rest of the series. This will prevent endless long term damage due to going to the extremes too soon. It is again the only true warm-up pose. It must be placed right before the sequence after the deep breathing to bring hips and whole spine into position. Also opens the chest and shoulders. Those who are completely resistant can simply spread the legs apart and do some nice hip circles or just stand there hips forward upper body back (everything in one line). Finally the transition of Warrior between the deep breathing and the beginning of the series allows the student to catch their breath while continuing to increase heat. It’s the only time one is not working to the extreme and allows one to not only bring the body into exact alignment in preparation of the half moon and then awkward series but separates feet together compression between breathing and half-moon into two long sets (of 2 sets of breathing separated off the line through Warrior I to two sets of half moon and hands to feet pose). This doubles the benefits of the feet together compression in terms of more blood circulation affecting the benefits of each pose rather than forcing the lower back to overcompensate. The Warrior I is the only pose off the line and it’s the only time it’s needed due to the feet together compression to focus insanely on warming up the whole spine. Also note that the lower back is not as vulnerable with the additional warm up in hands to feet pose. Again awkward pose and the rest of the series is also strengthened. Nothing is changed and again the one extreme set of feet together compression between breathing and the first sequence of poses is broken into two to synchronize even more perfectly with the whole series. The actual series has not yet started after breathing. There needs to be a proper transition between the intense deep breathing for all the above that warms.on up perfectly for the whole series. Everything is done exactly the same following the Warrior I. Feet are brought back together on the line and suddenly and quite universally the student in each and every case feels ten times more buoyant. When they raise their arms up they float. The feet are more comfortable together. The center of gravity has become more stable and one does not struggle in the least to stretch up towards the ceiling taking all stress off the lumber vertebrae. Those who wish to add additional sets of Warrior I can do so but more than two sets will require the additional forward fold. This is when a Downward Dog can be performed and a few sets of vinyasa with Upward dog is acceptable. Some students may with to do 20 pushups and then come back into position otherwise the back is a little over extended. This is why one set of Warrior I is universal and there is no stress on the wrists and shoulders which cannot be practiced universally in class but it can be an option when the teachers wishes to do more than two sets or after the second set if they want to take their time. One set however is perfect and makes the sequence even more correct. One set of twisting at the end of the series and one set of Warrior I in the beginning, mother of all standing posture. Thank you for taking your time to read this and considering the long term health and well-being of your clients in auditing this missing step since we’ve become like Cyborgs and now more collapsed than ever and sick from every kind of radiation and chemical poison. I hope you appreciate this unedited treatise. Again the series cannot be change or altered and although one can flow through some transitions there is already significant loss of benefit. By adding one set of Warrior I everything works better and only two minutes are added (one minute each side) to the sequence including transition. One can push up to their forearms or hands between the transition after spinal strengthening to seated poses and hold plank as long as you’d like. Some may want to hold it the rest of the sequence. If you can do that I suppose it’s okay every once is a while but don’t miss at least one set of head to knee pose before the end! Mostly I’m just kidding but I did have one student who healed her whole body doing such a practice. I couldn’t convince her to stop. She occasionally finishes the sequence and has even been known to hold plank throughout the spinal strengthening and final seated postures but she’s been doing this yoga forever. In general we should not confuse the students but there is a natural transition to a push-up here. Plank pose should be practiced on ones own. One can practice the Warrior I as well before class but of course one has to find a way to warm-up gently before the Warrior and the deep breathing sets one up perfectly for a Warrior I practiced in exactly this way. This will allow Bikram Yoga to last forever otherwise there is too much long term damage including to my own body working the spine so deeply without this simple warm-up that would have solved just about everything. Practicing it before the deep breathing is helpful but again requires the additional warm-up that will not be discussed here such as cat/cow to quadruped although there are many ways to prepare oneself for this gentle beginner variation of Warrior I. One can again plank and vinyasa around only after the second set of Warrior I making the class over 90 minutes. If the Warrior I is not placed before the half moon after the deep breathing the hips are not in the right position and lower back must overcompensate even if done before the deep breathing and not at all between the pranayama and half-moon to hands to feet pose. However doing it before the whole close at least provides perhaps up to half of the benefit. Before unzipping the whole spine with half-moon side bending and backward bending this must be done! Your clients will be a lot healthier and happier in the long run and you will have more people winning competitions and having longer more productive happier lives. The students that is angered may even claim to know how to do a Warrior I and do the deep variation bouncing into the front knee to lunge more deeply like in high school as a ego trip but this can harm the knee if it even slightly passes the ankle. This is not a reason not to do it. Where are your feet? Ankle? Knees? Hips? Also your shoulders and whole spine? Where is your body in space-time. Can you even balance with your feet wide apart? X marks the spot! And that’s what we’re doing, breaking the line and making the big X with our legs and hips with our spine in the center like a spider. It feels so good and no other practice can more perfectly prepare oneself for this all powerful yoga. If your’e able to waltz onto your mat today you can certainly take the same stride walking here after the deep breathing for a minute each side. Step back or just separate the feet however is easies. Do not step forward like in the Advanced Class. Do not lunge forward even if you do step forward! Keep the wait centered down the back heel back foot down 45 degrees back leg totally straight in extended position. Up to one minute hold like half moon could be half a minute (around 5 breaths). One can calm down in the posture after the Pranayama and take nice big long deep breaths recharging your battery whereas in the rest of the class only natural breathing is permitted. This is almost like a continuation of the deep breathing with the chest open and holding in one feel good position. Again we’re not trying to really do anteing here just get the hips, shoulders and back ready for half moon. It’s adding lots of extra traction and getting the fronts of those hips open preparing for the deep backward bending coming right up. Also the sides of the hips are opened. The hip flexor and extensors are all activated criss crossing the hip joint and spine is freed up before coming tack together on the line. The student can rest with the feet apart between the two sides of Warrior I or all the way back together on the line just step back to feet parallel between sides.

[@brianalanreed5766]

And hey don’t sue me if the teacher and whole class wants an optional one minute Abbs workout after the wind relieving pose because those with injured lower back or whatever can just rest in corpse pose the one extra minute either way getting more circulation and abdominal compression. I like bycicles but anything on the back like viparini Karani mudra (legs raised) will do! Again we’re not changing a single thing and anything put in those critical transitions between breathing and standing, back to stomach and from stomach spinal strengthening to seated postures is not only totally safe but designed to perfect augment the series and not in any way interrupt the medical benefits that come not from the postures themselves but through their release.

[@brianalanreed5766]

1. Bikram Yoga Pranayama is a very specific variation of deep yogic breathing. In the later Ashtanga seated practice the stomach expands on the first part of inhale naturally then automatically draws in as chest expands to reach maximum capacity top of the lungs making more room in diaphragm then on exhalation chest drops as belly goes out then belly back to spine at the end of exhalation so there is both stomach and chest involved. Bikram variation is primarily chest breathing and belly is drawn in from the start and even more so at the top of the lungs while noticing belly tends to expand at the start of the inhale as this is how the lungs work with the diaphragm but we are trying to draw stomach in whole time allowing for full expansion of the lungs and chest/rib cage (again abdominal muscles draw further in in both variations as one reaches maximum lung capacity as this is how the lungs work with diaphragm although it can seem counterintuitive and confused with a meditative breath that is shallow only using bottom of the lungs = belly breath). In meditation we are not exercising the lungs and it is not a pranayama although most people don’t know how to breath either way actively or passively causing enormous troubles as one’s diaphragm hold enormous subconscious life trauma. Diaphragm muscles work this way that is why they come in specifically to expand the lungs. One can also try to expand just the stomach and that is just half of the ashtanga full yogic deep breathing taught as a preliminary in a seat but in meditation we don’t try to expand the belly we just let it go in and out with natural breathing. Unfortunately in English we confuse two different processes and subjects. In a meditation practice we don’t perform any pranayama - we don’t try to expand the lungs although all of life can be described as a moving meditation along with whole class. What is meditation really? Meditation is not a practice.

[@brianalanreed5766]

Inhalation is lifting drawing in and exhalation is squeezing belly to spine

[@brianalanreed5766]

Here we are also confusing diaphragm with abdominal muscles such as when mentioning here that diaphragm draws in or out. It depends on the context of how each word is used. Are we literally talking about the diaphragm (muscle) or diaphragm (area) often associated with the stomach. Now we have at least four confusing narratives getting lost in English and a mind that is wholly disconnected.

[@brianalanreed5766]

Diaphragm itself does not expand or contract it descends on the inhale and lifts on the exhale and all the muscles associated with the diaphragm such upper and lower torso all work together to assist reaching maximum lung capacity which is what Bikram Yoga is doing. And here we’re referring to Ashtanga as the entire 8-limbers of yoga not to be confused with the Ashtanga (vinyasa) Yoga.

[@brianalanreed5766]

Limbs not limbers!

[@brianalanreed5766]

Then we confuse a shallow breath with a-rhythmic stressed out chest breathing where stomach does not relax and a deep breath with a stomach Buddha breath that is actually using bottom of the lungs. Then we confuse active and passive breathing. Then during postures we get caught in a technique and during resting we refuse to relax. Chest breathing is used as a practice to expand rage lungs. Belly breathing is for relaxation. In other words chest breathing practice helps asthma only when you’re not having an asthma attack but when you are you use belly breath but of course if your panicking and not getting enough oxygen naturally the body uses a chest breath to expand more of the surface of the lungs where the oxygen is absorbed into the blood although this can lead to hyperventilation.