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The Bikram Yoga postures

The Bikram Yoga Series builds every posture on the previous one. Thanks to the combination and order of the exercises Bikram Yoga offers you great benefits. At the end of the lesson, oxygen-rich blood has been delivered to every cell in your body and you have moved your spine in all directions it was designed to move in order to strengthen your nervous system. Bikram Yoga heals and prevents injuries, strengthens body and mind and improves your overall health.

The order of the postures is partly based on a Western understanding of anatomy and also on the Eastern knowledge of postures (asanas), breathing (pranayama) and meditation. With this East-West combination Bikram Yoga has beneficial effects for all sorts of typical Western health problems caused by stress, overeating, poor posture and a hectic lifestyle.

Deep Breathing | Pranayama

This is the very first exercise that is done to start the lesson. It is meant to get you concentrating immediately. You are required to breathe in through your nose slowly for six counts and out through your mouth slowly for six counts.

Half Moon with Hands to Feet Pose | Ardha-Chandrasana with Padahastasana

The next posture has three parts; the half moon side bend and the half moon back bend and it is combined with the hands to feet pose. The side bend is the preparation for the back bend. The back bend is an essential part to any yoga sequence and we do a very deep one early on in class to prepare you for the rest of the class. Hands to feet pose is a forward bending stretch whereby the goal is to bend at the hips and stretch the entire length of the spine.

Awkward Pose | Utkatasana

The next posture, Awkward Pose, also consists of three parts. You work on your endurance by keeping yourself in the posture with the big muscles in your legs. In the first part you arch your lower back while keeping your feet flat on the floor. The second and third part your spine is straight and tall so you create a strong back and abdominal muscles to support this shape. This series opens your hips, strengthens your ankles, feet, calves and shins, and strengthens the muscles along your spine and abdominal wall.

Eagle Pose | Garurasana

Eagle Pose is the perfect posture to follow Awkward Pose! You have worked hard on the muscles in your arms by stretching the whole stance for you. Now you can stretch your shoulders, which at the end of the last posture probably shouted from the pain. Twisting your arms together not only will stretch your shoulders, but by pushing your elbows down as you stretch your chest, squeeze the lymph nodes in your armpits as well. This will boost your immune system. The same happens at the bottom of your body; your twisted legs will compress the lymph nodes in your lower body. Throughout the posture, you lift your chest up and arch backwards to strengthen your back and abdominal muscles. This is also the first posture where you balance on one foot!

Standing Head to Knee Pose | Dandayamana-Janushirasana

This posture has four distinct stages; the journey from stage to stage can take a lifetime, but it is the journey that counts. The key to this posture is do not move onto the next stage until you have enjoyed the success and completed the one before it. Also note you can be between stages, not fully arrived at the next one, but on your way! Each stage you are further enhancing a forward bending arc of your spine while supporting your lower back by always pulling your stomach in. Your standing leg is your foundation and must be solid before you move on. The standing leg must be straight and supported by muscle contraction of the butt and thigh.

Standing Bow Pose | Dandayamana-Dhanurasana

This is the third one-legged balancing posture and requires three different actions to be performed simultaneously; kicking your leg back and up to help with hip and thigh flexibility, stretching your arms in opposite directions to open your shoulders and chest and bring your upper body down level to the floor in order to change the blood circulation of the heart. It is a backward bend and spine twist posture at the same time.

Balancing Stick Pose | Tuladandasana

Balancing Stick is the last of the one-legged balancing postures. It is the shortest posture we do, but can be one of the most intense as it is meant to bring your heart rate up very quickly all the while maintaining slow calm breathing. This effect of quickly changing the heart rate while standing still has tremendous benefits for the heart muscle. You are stretching your fingers as far away from your toes as possible to create a continuous stretch on your entire nervous system. Just as the other balancing postures you are quickly building strength and flexibility in your ankles and feet.

Standing Separate leg Stretching Pose | Dandayamana-Bibhaktapada-Paschimotthanasana

Standing Separate Leg Stretching Pose is the first of the wide-legged series and is great for stretching the lower back and hamstrings. We bring the head lower than the heart to aid in lowering the heart rate after the quick increase we just did in the previous posture. Also, when we stretch the spine in an inverted position there is a change in blood flow to the brain and it has been shown to have a positive effect on mood and depression.

Triangle Pose | Trikonasana

Triangle posture. This is the second wide-legged posture and just like the previous is great for hip flexibility. It is a hip opener, shoulder and chest opener and spine twist at the same time. Many styles of yoga have a triangle posture; this one is unique because you use a lot of core strength to hold your upper body in the correct position of twisting while stretching up, resisting the urge to rest a hand on the floor or an elbow on a knee.

Standing Separate Leg Head to Knee Pose | Dandayamana-Bibhaktapada-Janushirasana

Standing Separated Leg Head to Knee. This is the last of the wide-legged postures all of which help to tone and strengthen all major leg muscles while also improving flexibility. It is a forward bending compression posture where by you compress the front side of the spine and stretch the back. When we squeeze the front side of the body while stretching the backside it has a positive effect on the immune system. Also when we tuck the chin to the chest we create pressure on the front side of the throat, which is beneficial for good functioning of the thyroid and parathyroid glands.

Tree Pose | Tadasana

Tree Pose and Toe Stand are the last standing positions before we start the floor series and they are the last opportunity to work on balancing on one foot. First you do Tree Pose, where you work on the flexibility of the hip, knee and ankle of the leg that you hold up.

Toe Stand Pose | Padangustasana

The toe stand should only be done when; you are able to keep your heel higher than the level of your pubic bone, you can easily maintain a straight solid standing leg, your hips are level with the floor and you can keep the vertical stretch on your spine. When the teacher sees you doing all of these things, they will let you know you are ready to begin the toe stand.

Dead Body Pose | Savasana

Savasana. This might not seem like a posture, but it is one of the most important postures we do and you will do it between almost every posture throughout the floor series, at least the ones where we are lying on the back. This is a relaxing posture. You are meant to hold absolutely still to allow the blood circulation to have as little resistance as possible and work to relax and slow your breathing. You keep your eyes open in order to stay focused and present with what you are doing. This pause and stillness is where we can maximize the benefits we get from the yoga practice. Be still, be aware and breathe (in and out through your nose).

Wind Removing Pose | Pavanamuktasana

Wind removing pose. This is a forward bend from the hips, which promotes blood circulation to the hip joint, flexibility for the hip joint and also provides a gentle lower-back stretch. We perform the posture by first bending the right knee, then the left and then both. By doing it in this particular order you create pressure on different parts of your abdomen, which improves the health of your digestive system. This posture also prepares you for all the next postures, which are done on your belly.

Sit-up

This is a transition posture and you will do it again 13 more times before the end of the series. Each time you do the sit-up there is a sharp double exhale, through the mouth, at the very end of the sit-up when you to touch your forehead to your knees. The exhale at the end of the sit-up, when you are folded in half, has the benefit of sucking your abdomen in further to massage your internal organs. Be sure to pay special attention to the use of your legs in the sit-up; they must always be straight, from contracting muscles (locking the knees) and squeezing together to use the inner thighs to help support the lower back in this movement.

Cobra | Bhujangasana

Cobra posture. This is the first of the back strengthening series, where by you compress different parts of your spine by muscle contraction. The cobra pose is meant to compress the lower back and squeeze your kidneys. The better you are at stretching your legs, locking your knees and squeezing your legs together, the more effective you are at contracting the muscles along your spine and creating the pressure in the right place.

Locust Pose | Salabhasana

Locust pose. This can be a confusing one for many in the beginning. Stretch your arms as far as you can under your body in a volleyball position so you have a large platform to push with. When you are able to push with your arms acting as one straight piece you can more effectively push your chest and shoulders into the floor and lift your leg(s). We first do the right leg and left leg separately to prepare for lifting both legs off the floor. When done properly this posture can eliminate symptoms of RSI of the hands, wrists and elbows. You learn to create the bend in the upper part of your spine and therefore strengthen the surrounding muscles.

Full Locust Pose | Poorna-Salabhasana

Full locust pose. This is the third of the back strengthening series and is meant to create pressure in the middle part of the spine. Just like the posture before the degree to which you can keep your arms and legs straight and muscles contracted the more effective you’ll be at getting your back muscles to contract and you’ll effortlessly fly into the air!

Bow Pose | Dhanurasana

Bow pulling pose. This is the last of the back strengthening postures and is meant to create pressure in the whole spine, top to bottom. This is a big stretch for the front side of the body while strengthening the muscles along your spine. All you have to do is kick as hard as you can, look back as far as you can and remember to breath. Don’t be tempted to pull on your feet, just kick and be sure not to let your legs go too wide.

Fixed Firm Pose | Supta-Vajrasana

Fixed firm. This posture is really good for working on knee and/or ankle injuries and giving a good stretch to the front side of the body, which prepares you for the last and deepest backward bend we do in class. Don’t worry if you cannot reach the full expression of this posture, it’s the journey that counts; just be patient, listen to your body and don’t force anything. If you do have knee or ankle injuries you just take the steps much slower and over time things will improve.

Half Tortoise Pose| Ardha-Kurmasana

Half tortoise. This posture is deceptive because it looks as though it could be a very passive and easy posture. However, there is the constant stretching forward of your arms, squeezing together of your legs and feet in order to create an active stretch along the entire spine. Also the head is slightly lower than the heart so we flood the brain with fresh oxygen rich blood, which has been shown to help with sleep disorders or jet-lag.

Camel Pose | Ustrasana

Camel. This is the last and deepest backward bend we do in class, also known as ‘the healer of the spine’. In this posture we are trying to create an even backward bend in all parts of the spine, not just the easy parts to bend backward, like the lower back or the neck. Instead you work to create space between all of the vertebrae and then back bend. This posture does have the tendency to make some feel dizzy, just go slow, keep your eyes focused on one point and remember to breathe.

Rabbit Pose | Sasangasana

Rabbit. After doing the deepest back bending compression we move the spine in exactly the opposite direction with a top to bottom forward bending compression. The goal is to create an even stretch along the entire back side of the spine from the head to the tailbone. You also create a deep compression on the front side of the body, which massages all of the internal organs and promotes better functioning of the digestive system.

Head to Knee with Stretching Pose | Janushirasana with Paschimotthanasana

Separated Leg Head to Knee with Stretching Pose. These postures are performed directly one after another before completing the second set of both. When performing the right side and the left side of separated leg head to knee; you are creating again a deep forward bending compression, same as you just did in the previous posture, with the rabbit. However, you do so with the outstretched leg, which is a good hip opener, but the emphasis of the posture is the rounding of the spine.

The Stretching Pose is exactly what it’s name is; stretching. You stretch the entire back-side of your legs and the full length of your spine. This posture works best if you can get your legs straight and from there stretch your spine and remember getting your legs one millimeter straighter each class is still progress, keep trying. Also this is the second to last posture in class and you are very warmed up so don’t be afraid to try to get your legs straight.

Spine Twisting Pose | Ardha-Matsyendrasana

Spine Twist. This is the last posture of the sequence and acts as a chiropractic adjustment on your spine. It is a good hip opener while at the same time when you stretch up as tall as you can and twist you get a nice compression and stretch on the front of your abdomen. When done properly this posture can help relieve lower back pain.

Blowing in Firm | Kapalbhati in Vajrasana

Kapalbhati breathing. You started with a breathing exercise and now you finish with one. This is meant to be a last final cleansing breath, the chance to push out any last toxins that still remain in your body. Sit up as tall and straight as possible. Make your arms straight and strong pushing down into your legs. Then pretend you are sharply blowing out a candle over and over again. When you do this your belly will snap in with each exhale and you will have the right effect.

Dead Body Pose | Savasana

Final Savasana. This is the very last thing you do in class and it is essential to getting the benefits from your yoga practice. It is the same as the one you do between the floor series postures on your back. However, the difference is that your eyes are closed. Give yourself at least 2 minutes in this position to fully relax and if possible allow your heart rate and breathing to slow down. This moment is when your body (and mind) processes what you did for the entire lesson. Your muscles have a memory and they will remember what to do the next time you come to class, just make sure it is as soon as possible!