divineroots
by Liisa Robinson
Divine Roots Blog
On Yoga Styles and Sneaking Into Class
I am often asked about where else I teach yoga in the city and which styles I recommend for people (and also where I personally practice!). A student asked me the other day what I thought about a particular style of yoga and I realized it would take a LONG time to answer that question.
Right now, my counselling work fills most of my days. I wish I had a few more hours in a day to commit to teaching a public class regularly but currently I rely on the wonderful teachers of Victoria (who I sometimes sub for) when I am asked where people could practice the style of yoga I often find myself recommending. This style is usually restorative, honours each student, heals, and is steeped in compassion. When I meet people in a counselling setting (and actually it’s true for most human beings I meet!), what often emerges is a need for more introception (the ability to be deeply familiar with our internal state), a need for self care, time to listen to body and spirit, and a life that needs more gentleness. In my most recent post before this one, you will see that you can still make changes and grow in life, but it comes from a place of wholeness. Some of my favourite places in the city that embody these values are Moksana Yoga and Hemma. In particular, the teachings of Jenn Piercy and Misha Butot have been wonderful teachers in my own life and for many in our city.
I am often asked what I think about the Bikram style of yoga. This is a matter of much debate in the yoga world. I would want to start by saying that I thing every style of yoga has the capacity to have a wise, grounded, caring teacher and classes that offer the ability go inward and find peace, learning and grounding. I also think every style of yoga has the capacity to get a bit off track (even my dear restorative could have it’s moments!). We are all learning, we all trying to do our best.
One of the things that I love about yoga is the lineage of learning. I feel so much gratefulness for my teachers and their teachers. I love how the learnings have passed through the years, across borders and been shared. I have some tension with Bikram having trademarked his teachings.
One of the other things I love about yoga is that anyone can do it. You don’t need a particular space, outfit, body, or level of flexibility to practice. You need breath and to show up. That’s it. I have a longing for our community have more places where it’s financially do-able for more people to practice. (Watch for an upcoming post about a dreamy new studio in town that embodies these values!!!) I have some tension with how expensive Bikram’s is and how there is thought to be one way to do it.
I also love that yoga is about going inward. When I teach, I don’t see myself as someone who knows more about you than you do. My goal as a teacher (and actually this often mirrors my counselling practice) is to provide a space where each person can go inward and listen deeply to where their edges are (edge: the sweet spot where we are experiencing enough physical or mental sensation to learn but never ever moving into pain). I believe the teachings of yoga have much to offer, but that is always balanced with your internal knowing. Where I struggle with Bikrams is that I think it’s a style where one has to have a very robust sense of their own edges and a very strong capacity to stay internally grounded in order to benefit from the practice. The teachers have one way (and only one way) of doing each posture. In the other styles I’ve practiced, it would be just fine if your body / being craved something else to be doing your own thing in class. In Bikram if you tried to move in your own way, I think you might encounter some serious kick back from the teacher. It’s thought that this one series, this one way is the WAY to do it. Even things as subtle as closing your eyes are “moderated”.
I also see yoga as a whole practice. A physical practice can help inform our other learnings, but at it’s core yoga is (for me) about learning how to BE in the world. Yoga is about learning to tolerate life and ourselves, learning how to let go, and deep connection. The Bikram’s practice is probably one of the ones where the pull of the “physical body only” mentality is it’s most strong. I don’t think it’s the intention of the instructors, but in our western world, the mirrors, small outfits and overt physicality of it can make it a very slippery slope into being a “body only” practice.
That being said, there are some things I do find to be quite wonderful about the practice. I do go to Bikram’s classes. I know a lot of really great teachers in this city, and sometimes when I practice at Bikram’s I feel like I’m sneaking into the studio hoping no one will see me. When a student asked me the other day what I thought of the practice, I felt like it was such a complex answer because for people who might be in a place in life where they don’t have a deep well of compassion and strong internal compass (and a high dose of assertiveness), I don’t think it’s a great practice. It might be a beginners practice from a physical stand point, because you can do it without any previous experience but I don’t believe it’s an ideal ractice for people in a beginners mind (or a less grounded place? not sure on the right language for this!). People often think that restorative classes are “easier”. This is not my experience; for many of us, slowing down and paying attention is so very difficult. I have witnessed the energy in Bikram’s become sort of “purge”- like for some people and it can have a bit of a dogmatic approach that can become a bit obsessive and it can play a role in interacting with the ego in a way that, for me, doesn’t fit. If you are in a place that feels solid and grounded, the challenging aspects of the class can be motivating or help stoke the fire, but I get nervous for people who listen to all the instructions without paying attention to their own being.
Oh yes…I was saying what I liked about it. When I met with an ayurvedic practitioner, it was suggested to me that having some solid routine and predictability to my life would be helpful. The Bikram practice is the same series every single time. There is much room to grow in the postures and refine your movements but the repetition can become quite meditative and an opportunity to stop thinking. For me, with my constitution (especially in winter), I LOVE being warm. I could live in that heat. The Bikram studio is heated to 104 degrees. For some bodies, this is very lovely and for others it would not be very balancing.
I do like that the Bikram’s tradition asks a lot of you as a student. Again, if you are in a grounded place and feeling solid in this world, a challenge can be a great place to grow. For me, I do find the practice of tuning everything out (voices, dogma, sweat, etc.) and showing up for a 90 minute class to be a lovely challenge. My restorative practice has informed my ability to be in this place and I don’t know that my other practices would be as nourishing without a base of restoration.
The other factor you may want to consider, in choosing a practice, is knowing what you can commit to. There is no other studio that offers group classes at 6am, and I love mornings. I practice restorative at home in the mornings, but sometimes I really need a community of other practitioners. Living where I am, in Westshore, it is the best yoga community I have found out here (ahhh Moksana…when will you open a Moksana2 in the Westshore?). Also, I should say, that the studio I practice at is one of the most lovely I have tried in the Bikram’s tradition. The teachers are gracious and warm and the owners of the studio show their humanity.
So yes, I’m out of the closet as a Bikram’s yogini with very strong leanings to many other ways of practicing and a deep deep caution in recommending it as a practice.
If yoga is a life practice (not just a body practice) then we can expect that our practices may shift with us through our lives. I share pieces of my own process and learning here with you with a bit of caution, because I wouldn’t want you to think that my path is your path. You will know what feels best in your being. Try lots of teachers, listen deeply, be careful that you aren’t losing your own knowing in ANY practice, and see where your own edges are.