Bikram Hot Yoga Houston Blog

good luck to everyone embarking on the challenge today - day 1 on the journey towards your new body, new mind, and new life! bon voyage.... what a great journey it's going to be!

i'd like to suggest you keep a journal as the journey unfolds. so much happens along the way that it's easy to overlook or forget if you're not paying attention. keeping a daily journal of your challenge makes the process that much more profound. have someone take a picture of you today and put it on the first page of your journal.... "before" and "after" photos are incredibly powerful!

Do we expect everyone to be able to touch their forehead to their knee? No. Do we expect everyone to TRY to touch their forehead to their knee? Yes, absolutely, because the healing energy of the posture is released by the effort made to express the posture. That's the beauty of this yoga. In order to get 100% of the benefits you don't have to be able to do it perfectly, or even very well.... All you need do is give it your best effort, try to the best of your ability, and voila! The medicine is released and the magic happens.

I've received a number of emails these past couple of days from students who have the flu, wondering if they should come in and take class. Bikram Yoga is famous for it's healing powers and many folks have a couple of B Y miracles under their belts, so this is a very natural question to ask. 

It's important to understand that the flu or a really bad cold or respiratory infection is not like high blood pressure or heart disease. Unlike heart disease, things like the flu are highly contagious and put others at risk. So, a good rule of thumb is, if you are sneezing, hacking, blowing or wheezing, please stay home. Wait for the infectious stage of the illness to pass. Rest, soak in a hot bath, drink hot herbal tea, eat chicken soup, sleep. Then, when you're no longer infectious, return to class.

And if you've managed to avoid catching the flu thus far, there are several things you can do to keep it that way. Take class often, wash your hands regularly, increase your daily dose of vitamin C, use your neti pot morning and evening, be sure to get enough rest. At times like this, even the strongest immune systems can use this kind of additional support.