Mmmm... I am soooo yogafied right now. (That's yoga-fied, not yoga fried. Small but distinct difference. Yogafied is blissed out. Yoga fried is, Stick a fork in me, I'm done!!) Did a few good hours of yoga this morning with some visiting friends, took my body for a spin through some of the advanced postures at the end of it. Hadn't done that in quite a while, and it went better than I had any reason to expect it would. Fabulous.
I keep thinking about the spine this week.
(Ok, that doesn't make that week very different from any other week, but bear with me, I'm trying to make a point here.)
Between my work-study position as front desk girl at the yoga studio (I am the welcoming committee) and my (mild!) evangelizing to friends, co-workers, and family, I've spent a decent amount of time trying to describe Bikram yoga to other people. You guys know the spiel. First the basics. It's 90 minutes. It's the same 26 postures every time. It's for beginners. It's how hot?!? But then what do you say, after you've laid down the basics? There are a few things that make the Bikram series unique in my view. First is its effectiveness as a healing tool. Next is its completeness - the fact that it somehow manages to work virtually your entire body, including muscles and organs that you didn't even know you had. (To be honest, I'm still not sure where my pancreas are or what they do, but I know that I am working on them!) And then there's the spine. I've been in plenty of other physical disciplines in my time - ballet, pilates, other yoga - and I've encountered nothing that zeroes in on the spine the way this series does.
The thing that's become transparent to me about the series is that every posture is a spine posture. Every single one. Just try to prove me wrong! (Any takers...?) I like to picture what a spine would look like as it goes through a Bikram class. Take off all those extra moving parts - feet, hands, legs, elbows, brain - and just visualize your spine, from coccyx to neck, as it goes through 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises. Picture it lengthening, stretching, bending from side to side, from front to back, lengthening and twisting, until it comes out all healthy and happy at the end, wrung out and scrubbed clean, as shiny and new as your car when you pull it out from the car wash.
It's funny how there are so many other body parts that we fixate on in our culture. Everybody wants those great legs, that flat stomach, those high cheekbones. It's always, check out her boobs, check out his ass! Nice high heels, baby... But we're missing it! We're missing the most important one!
The online Bikram yogis crack me up. Someone will post a picture of themselves arched backwards in a killer floor bow, and there will immediately be a dozen comments saying, "Wow, great spine!" and "OMG your spine is soooooo sexy." I love us. We are the only people I know who do this.
I knew I was in deep when one day, before class, I was checking out a boy who was warming up a few mats down from me. Gorgeous boy, blonde California kid, super toned body. He was practicing rabbit pose. The only thought that came into my head - and I am not making this up, I swear to you - was, "whoooooaaa.... that is a NICE spine!!"
I wish that Cosmo and GQ would get on board with this idea, because if our society collectively started fixating on the health of our spines instead of the size of our asses, I suspect we would live in a much different world...
11 comments:
I love it. I want to see a whole marketing campaign around this idea. Like some models doing backbends on a catwalk while techno music plays in the background. Or a whole spread in Vogue. You could make millions...
HAHAHA
I've never thought of a sexy spine, but it is sure great to see a healthy spine in work.
Your too funny. Thanks for the smiles on a dreary monday morning! And of course your right. After years and years of back pain, today, because of Bikram, my back is healthy and nearly pain free. Healthy spine = happy people!
hahaha YES! it'd be REALLY interesting if magazines focused on spines.
on a more serious note, there is definitely value in considering focusing on the health of one's spine rather than outside appearances (like you said, flat stomach, etc), because the spine plays such a significant physiological role. The other day, I was planning to make my focus in class my spine, and focusing on its role in each of the postures! What a coincidence that you mention it in this post.
ps--I started practicing again! I'll message you about the details later. :)
I have spine envy....I want someone to tell me I have a beautiful spine! :)
Glad I made you guys smile. :)
lz - Fantastic! And how cool that we were on the same wavelength this week.
bikramyogachick - Okay! Come closer... *sketchy leer*
I basically agree with all of what you say, and I love the way you put it. But:
The first two parts of Wind Relieving come as close as any pose to not working on the spine. Third part of course is a spine pose.
If you got injured more often, like some of us, you would realize that the same thing can be said for other parts of the body. I had no idea how many poses work on the elbows, or on the knees, until I hurt them. Basically every pose is an elbow pose, every pose is a knee pose, every pose is a spine pose. That's what really blows me away about the series.
hahaha, I love it!! It's true. There is nothing like a beautiful straight spine. This is why I started Bikram Yoga. I wanted to improve my bad posture. I sit at least 10 hours a day in front of my computer :(
Hahahaha - That is me in a nut shell!!!!!!!!
I mean thinking about peoples spines like that - Such spine nerds...
Yoga nerds are the BEST nerds, Sara! Being a nerd is really cool these days... ;)
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