Feedback

Over the past few days I have received several comments about my absence here in blogworld. On November 8^th I completed my sixty-day challenge. I am feeling good. Since then I have been practicing a lot, but not every day. I am joining a 101-day challenge starting January 1, 2010. But I have let other demands in my life pull me away from writing here on this site. I did not think there were many people reading it.

A few days after I completed the sixty-day challenge, I went to Brooklyn, my hometown, and took a great class at the new Bay Ridge studio. I purposely choose the Bay Ridge studio so I could take class with my friend Caroline Yu.

Caroline's class was fabulous, perfect dialog, high energy and fun. It turns out Caroline has been talking about her friend from Massachusetts who was doing a sixty day challenge ending on his sixtieth birthday.

"And here he is now! Charlie is former FDNY! Doesn't he look great"!

Caroline could not have been more gracious. By the time we got to standing bow, I was on the floor. I was nauseous, dizzy, weak, feeling as creepy as one can feel. But damn, after that build up I had to keep going.

I took the advice we always give our students: "do the best you can, rest if you need to".

The best I could do was not very good. I felt like I was letting Caroline down. Here she has been talking about this accomplished student and teacher, a tough Brooklyn born fireman, and there I am having difficulty standing up. I did struggle to keep going and after Camel my hands started to cramp. I got what we call claw hand.

Claw hand is a result of dehydration. It was actually a relief in a way. At least I knew what was wrong. The same thing happened to me once before when I was practicing in Acapulco as a visiting teacher in Bikram's teacher training. Gatorade, while loaded with sugar and other weird stuff, is very effective for relieving dehydration. After class Caroling gave me a Zico coconut water which helped. She had to open it for me.

Earlier I drove three hours to Brooklyn and went to the dentist. I had some crown work done which was a little uncomfortable. Something about all of that caused me to have depleted electrolytes. I crashed and burned.

Humility is an acquired skill. Sometimes we get opportunities to practice it involuntarily.

Next comment recently came from Upside Down Linda. Linda was more succinct. She left a message on facebook. But I could still hear her Worcester accent: "Charlie (long A) you left us hanging there".

Linda and I were in teacher training together where we fondly nicknamed her Upside Down Linda. She is another very accomplished Bikram instructor traveling around Massachusetts and Connecticut guiding students.

On Sunday I went to Quincy to take a class at Quincy Bikram Yoga. I wanted to say hello and good luck to Chris the owner. Chris has been one of the top finishers in the New England championships for two years now.

And I wanted to take class with Sherie. Sherie has been teaching Bikram Yoga for a few years and is from the Boston area. While I had met her only once, briefly, at an advanced class in West Roxbury, I have come to know Sherie from on-line activity like facebook. She has been traveling all over the world teaching and practicing. And Sherie recently placed third in the Texas regional championships. Sherie complemented the information on this blog.

The last person to comment did not actually comment, Juliana. Juliana, or dancingJ, is a good friend. She has been kind and has not pointed out my blogging short comings. What dancingJ had done is continue to post on her blog quite regularly.

Besides her blog, Juliana has been completing her master's thesis in some brain busting, math intensive engineering discipline at UC Santa Barbara. And in so doing she has totally taken away any stories I could muster up about being too busy.

Lock the Knee

In my last post I made an observation. In standing head to knee some constestants in the New England regional championships appeared to tighten their thigh muscles all the way up to and including the gluteal muscles. One of the people following this blog, Jennifer, commented on how she relaxes her gluteal muscles when standing on a locked leg. I have been focusing on that topic since.

When I am in the first part of the posture, before my elbows bend down, my butt is tight for sure. However, a little relaxing goes a long way when getting chest down, head down and touching forehead to the knee. Same applies in standing bow pulling pose. When I set up and lock my knee, the gluteal muscles are tight. However, getting the upper body down parallel to the floor produced a loosening of those muscles (I'm really resisting tight ass jokes here folks).

I have asked a four of my student with a good standing head to knee pose if they tighten the gluteal muscles. All said they had not even thought about it until I asked and then said they were relaxed after focusing on them.

There's a nice discussion in the comments section of the last post as well.

Let's go to the source. What does Bikram say?

Pretty much "lock your knee". Bikram does not get into long discussions about minutiae. As I recall, he doesn't much engage in banter. He will very quickly say something like, "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT LOCK YOUR KNEE MEANS"?

Bikram does say "Contract the thigh muscle, whole kneecap lifts up".

My kneecap barley moves, oh well.

The original director of my studio, Bikram Yoga Northampton, was Karen. When I was a student there, I once asked Karen about some arcane details in a posture. I always remember her response. Karen replied that Yoga was preparation for meditation. If after class you felt quiet and more relaxed you did it right. Too much attention to too many details becomes a distraction to the meditative aspects.

Karen made a good point. However, like many in Bikram World, I like to examine details too, it's fun. But I am going to recommend that we do not over think the lock your knee thing. Play with it like I am doing. I have been waiting until I am in a locked knee position and the I bring attention to my glutes to see what's going on.

My next post will be about attention, focus and consciousness.

Standing Head to Knee

When I started my sixty day challenge I was hoping for improvement in Standing Head to Knee more than any other posture. I can, on a very good day, touch my head to my knee. But getting my elbows below my calf muscles, and keeping them there, eludes me.

The posture begins with feet together. With weight on the left foot, bend down and grab the right foot just below the toes ten fingers interlocked.

LOCK YOUR KNEE!

This is where we try to get students to start learning to balance on a locked out leg. Bikram talks quite a lot about how important this element is. Straighten out the standing leg and tighten up the thigh muscles completely. The quadricep muscles should remain tight and contracted throughout the posture.

This weekend I attended the New England regional asana championships. The first place women, Michelle, was a great example of how to lock your knee. Michelle's stance was solid as a rock all the way up to her hip, including the gluteal muscles. Very impressive, very difficult!

Michelle making it look easy.

There exists a relationship amongst muscle groups called an agonist/antagonist relationship. From an anatomical perspective, the purpose of muscle is to move bones. Muscles are attached to the bones in a way that for movement to happen, as one muscle or group of muscles contract, a muscle or muscles must relax.

When you lock your knee and tighten up your thigh muscles, the muscles in the back of the legs loosen making it easier to bend forward, which is what you are about to do. But not until you kick out.

Slowly, gently, right leg lifts up and stretches forward toward the mirror. Keeping the standing leg locked becomes a little more challenging and more important. When the kicking leg is exactly parallel to the floor, kick your heel forward and turn your toes back to your face. When you kick you heel forward, kick from the hip. Get your hips square to the front wall. As you pull and turn your toes back you should feel a nice deep stretch on the underside of the leg.

Now, bend your elbows down toward the calf muscles. Here, sucking your stomach in will engage that agonist/antagonist relationship I wrote about above allowing you to round your spine more. The tight thighs loosen up the back of the leg and tight stomach helps opens the lower back.

Elbow should graze the outside of the calf muscles.

Now here is the yet to achieve part of my practice: elbows below the calf muscle.

Bikram says one should bring the upper body down, tuck your chin to your chest and touch your forehead to your knee only when your elbows are below the calf muscles. I have had other teachers suggest that I try to touch my forehead to my knee when elbow are close to being below the knee. And that got me into a bad habit.

My good friend Terri, another contestant in this week's New England championships, gave me coaching at the beginning of my sixty day challenge.

"Do first things first" said Terri. She convinced me that I had to get my elbows below the leg and keep them there first. What has happened is I fall out less frequently because I am not going ahead of my ability.

Guess what?

My elbows are getting lower. When all else fails RFD: read the freakin directions.

Thanks Terri!

Play to win

Yesterday I went to the New England Yoga Asana Championships. Rajashree, Bikram's wife, is the energy behind bringing Yoga Asanas to championship competitions. Raj was at our New England regional event. It was an inspiring day.

Participants perform five compulsory postures, Standing Head to Knee; Standing Bow Pulling; Camel; Rabbit and Stretching. Then the participant performs two optional postures of their choice.

Three judges (five at the National and International level) score the postures based on how precisely the postures are executed. Grace in the postures is included in the score as well.

There is a men's division and a woman's. First, second and third place finishers are acknowledge and the first and second place finishers go to the national championship event in Los Angeles in February.

The real value of this endeavor is the benefit the participants receive from doing a lot of Yoga in preparation for the competition. I think a display of excellence inspires everybody as well.

A few years ago I was part of a company that did personal growth seminars, Momentum Education:

http://www.momentumeducation.com/cgi-bin/Testimonials.pl.

Momentum's motto is "Play to Win".

The owner of Momentum, Robin, is a good friend of mine. Sadly, Robin is sick, she has cancer. Robin is approaching her treatment with courage and an attitude consistent with her teaching. She is playing to win.

So yesterday's champions (all the participants are champs) plus Robin's courage gave me a big lift this morning.

My back and right elbow hurt today. Somehow, that was a minor point. I did discover that an elbow injury interferes with a lot of postures. I could not extend my right arm to full extension. The pain was present in Pranayama Breathing, Awkward, Standing Head to Knee, Standing Bow, big time in Locust and it interfered with Floor Bow and Spine Twist.

I took my own advice and did the best I could. I kept thinking: "Play to Win".

My back pain is gone. My elbow is better, much better.

Eagle Pose

When I first started practicing Bikram Yoga, Eagle Pose was beyond my ability to the point of thinking that I would never be able to do it. I could not balance on one foot very well and I certainly could not get my foot wrapped around my calf muscle. Twisting my arms to the point of getting my hands together in prayer was laughable.

So these days when I practice I always think back to seven years ago when I thought this posture was unattainable. Because now it is one of my better postures.

As you bring your arms up over your head it is not necessary to bring you palms together. Just bring arms up and "WHOOSH" use momentum to wrap your arms together crossing at the elbows and wrists. Eventually, when your shoulders open up, your hands fingertips on both hands will align. Until that happens, interlace your fingers to pull your palms closer together. Hands are in close to the face, almost touching, with thumbs in toward your face, edge of the hands or pinkie fingers towards the mirror.

When I pull my elbows down, the next instruction, I feel a wonderful stretch in my upper back and shoulders. Keep pulling your elbows down.

Sit down! Stay!

Most people pop up as they wrap the legs. Try not to pop up at all. Then, the higher you bring your leg up the more you will be able to twist your legs.


Another instruction that I see people not doing in Awkward is the correction for balancing: "if you are loosing the balance, lean back more". It does work. If you are a little shaky, leaning back just a bit seems to stabilize the posture.

Here on day forty three of my challenge, Eagle Pose has deepened for me a little more. I can sit down a little more and lean back a bit more too creating a little arch in my lower back.

Resistance/Breakthrough

I need a breakthrough in writing regularly, like no kidding.

If we are living with passion and commitment, we will come up against resistance. I have now completed day 39 of my sixty day challenge. Day 28 and day 29 were hard, really hard.

On day 29 I was nauseous (too big a lunch) my knees hurt, my back hurt. By the end of awkward pose I was struggling with breathing. It was going to be a difficult class. But there I was, in there doing the best I can. On day 30, I had a fabulous class, and every day since then has become stronger and stronger.


On Friday night a teacher training mate of mine, Maggie Carr, was visiting from Melbourne, Australia. Maggie was teaching a class near Boston, in North Andover MA.

(Maggie at our LA training)

I have been practicing Yoga for nearly ten years, Bikram Yoga for seven years. I can easily say my Friday night class was my best class ever. And I am still feeling strong and flexible.



Fabulous!

Breakthrough is always just on the other side of a breakdown, not just in Yoga, but in Life too. The way one finds and confronts their breakdowns is through committed action.

Commitment is a state of being. It starts with a declaration: "I AM COMMITTED"!

However, commitment without action is just a story. Action makes it real. What will committed action produce?

Breakdown! Count on it. If you do not produce a breakdown in your commitment, you commitments are too small. Get bigger.

So I started this post expressing my desire for a breakthrough with my writing. Step one is make a commitment.

I am committed to posting something meaningful at least three times a week for the remainder of my 60 day challenge.

Step two, let someone significant in your life know about the commitment.



I think that's handled.

Awkward Pose

After the opening breathing, and stretching in four directions, next is a posture where we will use our Bengal Tiger strength.

Setting up in Awkward, the teacher will remind everyone to focus. A one pointed focus and determination is fundamental to this posture.

Keep breathing!

Most students set up correctly, but as soon as they start to execute the posture, they move their feet. Get six inches between the feet and keep them parallel. Knees are six inches apart too. Shoulders, arms, hips, knees, feet and ankles should remain in one line in the front mirror.

And here is another detail easy to forget. Shoulder are relaxed down away from the ears. But stretch your arms forward like you will touch the mirror with your fingertips.

Elbows locked!



The fabulous Yogini above is Tereza. Tereza is one of my training mates and currently the owner and director of Bikram Yoga Prague, in The Czech Republic. I like her web site.

www.BikramYoga.cz

Next, suck your stomach in, hold it, and sit down without moving your feet. There is a big tendency to turn your toes out. If you keep your feet parallel, when you adjust your knees to six inches, you will open your hips.

The technique you want to copy from the above posture, is the happy smiling face. No kidding, it helps. But get your hips down as if you are about to sit on a chair. Once you are sitting in the chair, bring your chest up to create a curve in your back.

Now the next part of Awkward Pose is fun. Think of yourself in a big room with lights, camera, sound equipment and an audience of about three hundred.

This is Rowena. Rowena is one of the most accomplished Yogis in the world. I captured her here before she had her hips all the way down to where her she would be sitting in a chair. But notice her straight spine, shoulders over her hips. There were a lot a cool kids in my teacher training:)

Rowena has made Bikram's dream of having a studio in India happen. Rowena runs Bikram Yoga Mumbai. She has run it from its inception and Bikram tells me it is prospering.

A real challenge in the third part of Awkward is to keep the spine straight as you go down very slowly. Keep a little gap between your hips and heels, squeeze your knees and thighs together. And smile!

Context

There are several students from Bikram Yoga Northampton participating in my challenge with me. Some are doing a 30 day challenge, a few have committed to the whole 60 days with me.

There are some rules. We allow doubles to count toward the result only twice in 30 days. In other words, if a participant missed a day, they can do two classes in one day to make it up. Only two such doubles can count in a 30 day challenge, four in the 60 day. One has to take class on at least 28 days during the 30 with a total of at least 30 classes.

So I decided that I could take advantage of the double rule too.

Remember Yasmin, my friend from Washington DC?

I actually never made it to her class. We were ten minutes late for Yasmin's 4:00PM class. Rather than wait two hours for the next class and start driving home at 9:00PM, I decided to get going, arrive home early the next day and take two classes at home.

I have not done a double since teacher training. However, the two classes would be number 19 and 20. I have been feeling really good, so I did not think a double would be too difficult.

I have told students who do doubles that a good approach is to take it easy in the first class, kind of use it as a warm up. Then, go deep in the second class; you'll be ready.

"Take my advice, I'm not using it".

I was having a good class in the early class so I went all out. I do not know how to take it easy. When the teacher says: "push and push and push" that is almost always what I do. I am very suggestible.

Also, Jen and I had spent the entire weekend walking around the Nation's Capital, a lot of walking. And then spent about eight hours in the car. There were a lot of underused muscles making their recent stresses know to me. I had a little trepidation about the second class.

Just before the beginning of class, in breezes Carol. Carol is the woman I bought Bikram Yoga Northampton from a little over four years ago. Carol has been teaching in the Philippines for about a year now and is back home visiting.

Carol came in about one minute before class started and was rushing to get changed.

"I'll set up your mat" said I.

I was thinking I would put myself next to Carol for inspiration. Carol has a fabulous practice. When I put down the mat, I did not realize I had immersed myself in amongst some of the most dedicated students in my studio.

On my left was Carol, my former mentor, studio owner and the person who signed my teacher training recommendation.



To my right was Marina. Marina is amazing. She has been practicing at Northampton for over four years. Marina has overcome physical injuries that would have had most people staying at home watching Opra. Marina does doubles like they were easy and is participating in the full sixty day challenge with me.

Over my left shoulder was Bob. Like Marina, Bob has been practicing since before I owned the studio. Bob is steady. There is a strength and steadfastness to Bob's practice. And like most folks who practice Bikram Yoga, their practice reflects who they are in their lives. Bob exudes a quiet excellence and he is steady as a rock.


Over my right shoulder was Kendal. Kendal is a new student to Bikram Yoga Northampton. Kendal has been practicing Bikram Yoga only a short time. But she has already achieved a level of physical proficiency beyond what most achieve in years. More impressively, Kendal has already developed an acuity for some of the more subtle benefits of Yoga, a stillness and focus rare for someone so new to Yoga.

(Kendal's Pic coming soon)

In front of me was the mirror. Surrounded by such excellence, how could I do any less than 100% and still be happy looking into the eyes of my real teacher in the reflection of myself in the mirror?

There's no business like......

I took off for a few days; went to DC for some sightseeing. It's always good to get away. But sixty day challenges become more challenging when on the road. One must plan around at least one class a day.

On Saturday, I took class at Bikram Yoga DuPont Circle. I practiced there about a year ago. I knew it was a nice area so I got a hotel room near the studio for my stay.

Good class!

A guy named Lucas taught. He was clearly experienced and did a nice job. But what was really fun is he sang show tunes in the floor series between a couple of postures. Now it wasn't like lame singing. He was really good. Sang us a bit of a tune from "Fame" before Full Locust. Very appropriate, learning about how to fly and all.

The next day Jen and I went off to see the sights. On the way to the Smithsonian I noticed a few parked trailers that are the kind used for movie crews. So I stopped and talked with a guy sitting nearby. He said they were filming a segment of "Big Love" near the Lincoln Memorial.

Jen is a big fan of Big Love. So we diverted. If nothing we want to be flexible.

Hey! It's Bill Paxton walking and talking. How exciting!

And then there are polygamists with big hair and mimes.

We did get to see the Lincoln Memorial too.

Actually, DC is a nice place to visit. It is like the whole town is a museum. We did get to see a lot of cool stuff. Well, okay, cool if you are a history buff like me. Most have a totally different idea of what cool might be like.

Now onto Sunday afternoon. My friend and teacher training mate Yasmin was going to be teaching the 4:00PM class at the DuPont studio on Sunday.

Perfect!

Yasmin is an actor as well. She performs regularly in different DC venues. And being a graduate of TT Spring 05, she is totally one of the cool kids.

Okay, it's not a Yoga pose. But one must admit it's creative.

Off I go to DC for a few days of museums and Yoga and all of a sudden I have show biz happening all around me.

Yoga?

It's all Yoga. I love this stuff.

Stillness of mind

Hatha Yoga is preparation for meditation. According to some sources, there are seven paths of Yoga. One path, Hatha Yoga, is physical Yoga. Regular practice produces physical, mental and emotional feelings of well being. It is quite extraordinary.

So what's going on here?

It's hard to say. Fitness levels increase from regular practice. Exercise stimulates the production of endorphins creating a feeling of well being. And in Yoga, compression of internal organs stimulate metabolism affecting, amongst other things, the endocrine system. The endocrine system regulates mood. There are many more physical dynamics as well.

But there is more.

In Bikram Yoga the teacher leads the class using verbal commands. Students can use the instructions, the commands as kind of a mantra, a focus point. When I practice I try to replace the chatter of my mind, my internal dialog, with the instructor's words turning them into physical responses. I do not have to think, just do.

When it all works well, I experience a connection with the teacher and the other students in the room. The connection, for lack of a better word, is a bit ethereal. But it is none the less powerful.

I was surprised and elated when I discovered as a new teacher that this connection with the others in the room was still present when teaching too. My consciousness of this connection varies from class to class. But when I am teaching, I am very aware that my state of being facilitates the group's experience.
Early in my teaching experience, I was teaching a 7AM class, and an amazing event occurred. There were only five students in the room. The light in the studio was beautiful with the rising sunlight creating a patchwork of shadows and morning light. In one of the final postures, Head to Knee with Stretching, the five students, all lined up in the front of the room, moved in unison from right to left in perfect timing with my instructions.

From my vantage point in the back of the room I suddenly felt as if I were dancing with all five of them. The experience was as if we were all part of a larger whole, like we were different elements of a larger organism. It was a breathtaking experience.

I used to associate a stillness of mind with attempting to quiet my thoughts. I do not know if it is possible to stop thinking all together. But focus facilitates quiet. One pointed focus stills the chatter.

Christine, a regular at Noho, is a rock climber. This past weekend Christine was climbing in Arcadia National Park. When I was talking with Christine about the subject of this post, focus, she described her experience repelling down and climbing back up a narrow space between two rock walls.

"All men die, some men never really live"

Despite the gender incorrectness, the quote conveys a certain truth. Climbing a cliff face wall will produce an awareness of life while demanding total attention and focus. One will not be thinking about what color the new curtains should be while choosing the next hand hold.

We can, with practice, find that same degree of focus safely in our Yoga practice. Just ask Christine.

Christine on solid ground doing a fine triangle.

Half Moon, Hands to Feet Pose

The last two days of my 60 day challenge, day 9 and day 10, were days where I had to get behind myself and push. It is only my commitment that got me into the hot room yesterday.

Goethe on commitment:

"Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation) there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way."

The universal opening resulting from commitment one experiences in a Bikram Yoga class usually happens after the first set of Half Moon Hands to Feet Pose. Usually by then my body, my mind relax and start flowing with the class, instead of resisting.

A common problem in Half Moon is when students collapse, or fail to stretch their upper body up as the bring the body down. Maintaining an upward stretch helps create a nice symmetric arc on the side of the body opposite the compression. Elbows and knees should always be locked, arms against the ears. In the picture above I could give several students corrections to the form of the postures.

They could probably comment on my black and red plaid board shorts.

The first forward bend of the series comes next:



Well, okay, most of us have to bend our knees to grab the heels. Actually, it is important to keep the upper body against the legs throughout the posture. Here on day 11 of my 60 day challenge, I have noticed that my face is touching just a bit lower on my shins. Things are starting to open a bit.

Next is our first back bend; back is going to hurt, don't be scared.



Notice above the varying depths of back bending. And the picture is of some of the most accomplished Yogis in the world demonstrating at teacher training in 2005.

Do not compare yourself with others. Just do the postures the right way, as best you can.

Try to keep your knees straight, hips forward. If you can go deep enough to see the floor, it's time to bring attention to keeping your chest up too.

So eleven days done for me, I am feeling results already. There are several Noho Yoga students joining in on 30 and 60 day challenges too. I'll start profiling them here soon.

Yoga for You!

I took the sixth class of my sixty day challenge in West Roxbury, MA. What is special about the studio in West Roxbury is the director, Diane.

When I completed my teacher training and wanted to buy an existing studio, Bikram instructed me to go and meet Diane. He actually made it a requirement for my affiliation. I was a little annoyed at the time. West Roxbury, a sub division of Boston, is nearly two hours away from my studio in Northampton, MA. But I went.

I have pretty much been going every Tuesday ever since!

Diane is a very special instructor. She has been teaching Yoga for over twenty years, and is quite good at it. But beyond that, Diane has a special quality. It is a difficult quality to define. She gets people.

On Tuesdays, teachers from around New England come and take class with Diane. It is a special class for teachers. And we learn from each other. What I appreciate most is Diane's dedication to teaching Yoga the right way, her consistency, her integrity and her leadership. If you take a Bikram Yoga class anywhere near Boston, you will get a good class. I am proud to be part of the New England area network of studios. And one of the reasons you will get a high quality instructions in this region is due in large part to Diane's leadership.

I'm a fan!

Inspiration

I am quite frequently thinking about what I will post next here. My loose plan for today was to write about Half Moon and Hands to Feet pose, the opening sequence of postures.

There is an old Jewish saying I like: "man plans God laughs".

Just as I was about to go into class to put my mat down, the teacher called me to the front desk. The teacher was concerned about a new student, a young woman who attends one of the several colleges nearby. On our registration form I ask if there are any physical problems we should know about. The new student had entered "cerebral palsy" on the form.

Cerebral palsy is a disease caused by a pathology in the cerebral cortex of the brain. It can be a very disabling condition. Most who have it are born with it. There is no known cause or cure. Fortunately this young woman was not too severe. She did, however, have difficulty with motor skills. She had poor physical coordination.

The new Yogi was an absolute charmer. I could see right away she tries to make the people she is talking with feel comfortable. She had a kind of don't- worry-I'm-okay way about her.

So today in the fourth class of my sixty day challenge I was often looking over my shoulder in the mirror to be certain our newest student was doing okay. The only real modification she needed was to use the ballet bar for balance. She worked hard and did the best she could. It was so inspiring.

My hips have been a little sore from a lot of practicing lately. The new Yogi stole the thunder from that excuse for sure.

After class I was sitting on my big blue exercise ball in the lobby. It's my favorite place to cool down and watch the sweaty Yogis come out of the hot room. When the new student came out I introduced myself and talked with her a little.

I have a little knowledge of brain anatomy and I know her condition is not yet something that can be cured. I told her neuronal growth (brain cells) is not something that will happen. But axons (what brain cells are connected with) do grow and form ever expanding networks. Yoga promotes axonal growth.

I told her to keep coming and expect miracles. She gave me a big smile and said that's why she was here.

September 11th

I talk with a few folks about what is appropriate to be posting on a blog. And I had decided that I was not going to say much about the significance of September 11th in a blog about Yoga. But emotions have a funny way of changing things. Besides, it is about Yoga.

I spent the early part of today in a bad mood. It was not until nearly 3:00PM that I began to think about some of my friends, brothers we would call ourselves in the FDNY, who died eight years ago today.

I took the second of my sixty classes in my studio tonight. Jennifer taught, she is such a good teacher. By the end of class, I felt much better. This Yoga heals so many things. I remembered why I chose this path.

In 2005, after I completed teacher training, I wrote this testimonial for Bikram:

http://www.bikramyoga.com/testimonials/Tranquility-PeaceoftheMind.htm

On the morning of September 11, 2001, I was on an airplane with my brother Jim. We were grounded in Dayton, OH. When I finally got through to my firehouse back in NYC I learned my friend, Captain Jay Jonas of Ladder 6, survived the collapse because he and his men were helping an injured woman named Josephine.

My brother Jim, a musician, wrote this amazing song:

http://www.jimhubbardband.com/music-1.html

Day One!

First, a little bit about how I became involved in Yoga. I have been athletic for most of my life. Prior to owning Noho Yoga I was a Lieutenant in the New York City Fire Department. As group of guys go, we were a fairly fit bunch. I liked running, swimming and cycling, with a little weight lifting thrown in.

Then in 1998, I met a woman who introduced me to Yoga. At first, Yoga was a way to improve my running and swimming. But over the years, I did more Yoga and less of the other stuff.

In January, 2002, while vacationing in Maui, I discovered the Bikram method of 26 postures and two breathing exercises practiced in a very hot room. The series was physically demanding and produced results.

I simply loved the series. As time went on, I did more and more Yoga eventually letting go of the other exercise forms I had done for so many years. The physical, mental and emotional results I was getting from my Yoga practice were just amazing.

In 2005 I became a Bikram Yoga instructor and bought my studio in the scenic Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts.

Today is the first day of my sixty day challenge. Given we are at the begining, I'll talk a litte about the beginning of the series: pranayama breathing.

Pranayama is a breathing exercise where you inhale and exhale deeply. The purpose is to bring fresh oxygen into the deepest part of the lungs, expanding lung capacity. When teaching, it's fascinating to see how the student's skin color changes during pranayama breathing. They get pink.

Like all yoga postures, the first breathing exercise is dynamic. In addition to improving lung capacity you will work your shoulders and warm up your cervical (upper) spine. The snoring sound the students make, done properly, stimulates the vagus nerve. The nucleus of the vagus nerve is under the brain. The vagus nerve innervates many major organs and affects digestion.

My first class of my sixty day challenge took place in Norman O'Neil's studio in Nashua bikramyoganashua.com, New Hampshire . I practiced with Norman and two other teachers. Then we had lunch at a vegetarian restaurant where the veggie wrap was too small and overpriced. But the company was good.

Sixty in sixty at sixty!

Hi, I'm Charlie Hubbard, the owner and director of Bikram Yoga Northampton in Massachusetts: Noho Yoga. http://bikramyoganorthampton.com

Starting on September 10, 2009, I will begin a sixty day challenge.

What's that?

I will do a ninety-minute Bikram Yoga class every day for sixty days ending on my sixtieth birthday: November 8, 2009.

Bikram Yoga is a form of Hatha Yoga promoted by Bikram Choudhury bikramyoga.com.
The series of 26 postures and two breathing exercises take place in a room heated to over 105 degrees. The series is designed to stretch, stimulate and strengthen every muscle, joint and organ leaving the participant feeling serene and fit.

Done frequently and vigorously , the 26 posture series enhances strength, flexibility and balance. Hatha Yoga, of which this series is a part, is a healing experience facilitating fitness of the mind and body. The series promotes healing of many conditions.

Starting Thursday, September 10, 2009 you can follow my progress here.