Death and Rebirth With Every Yoga Practice
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You can recreate yourself at any time.
Read More
A Yoga Pose for the Holidays: Savasana
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What is your favorite yoga pose these days?
With the busy holiday season here, it's so helpful to make time for yoga. Today on Alive in the Fire, sponsored yogini Yani shares about one of her favorite postures,
Savasana
(deep rest).
A favorite pose of mine is corpse pose, also known as Savasana. Not only is it a nice way to cool down from a flow, but it is a good way to ground yourself and let go.
To get into Savasana, find a quiet and comfortable space, a place where you can go undisturbed for some time. Lie down on your back.
Place your feet at hip-width apart, arms resting beside your body, palms facing up towards the skies. Feel your body on the mat, grounding yourself to the Earth below you, allowing your ankles to relax down toward the mat.
Mentally scan the entirety of your body, from the tip of your toes to the top of your head. Bring awareness to the natural rhythm of your breath. Inhale, and exhale. With each exhale, allow a little more of your weight to fall onto the mat. Allow your jaw to relax. Give yourself permission to sink deeper into your mat, deeper into rest.
If thoughts arise, allow them to float away—like a cloud passing through the sky—and draw your focus back into your breath.
If your thoughts continue to run wild, focus on syncing a mantra with your breath. For example, use the mantra
Sat Nam
, which means,
the essence of me is truth; I am true.
As you inhale, vibrate within, or think to yourself,
Sat
. As you exhale, vibrate within, or think to yourself,
Nam
.
You are safe to let go.
Namaste.
The 2015 Alive in the Fire Yogi Holiday Gift Guide, Part 2
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Photo by Felipe Silva of @the_lost_portraits.
We all know asana, or yoga postures, are only one part of the yogic path... and for those who are immersed in their physical practice and want to kick it up a notch, tools and resources can be helpful.
Calling all handstand-ers, scorpion lovers, and super bendy yogis! Part 2 of the Alive in the Fire 2015 Yogi Holiday Gift Guide is for you :)
Alive in the Fire Holiday Gift Guide: Part 2
Gift Ideas for Hardcore Asana Yogis
Photos via Dharma Yoga Wheel.
The World's First Yoga/Fitness Wheel designed to help stretch and release tension and muscular tightness in the back, chest, shoulders, abdomen and hip flexors. ®
This yoga prop will change your life! I've gained so much flexibility in my spine using my Dharma Yoga Wheel. Plus, being a part of their worldwide community brings so much love and inspiration. Follow @dharmayogawheel for ideas about how to use the wheel (you might just find a photo of yours truly if you look closely!!) and be sure to connect with the Dharma Yoga Wheel founders, Dov Vargas (@yogivaruna) and Raquel Vamos (@leela_om). They are some of the most incredible yogis with so much love and light to share.
Also check out my review of the wheel for more info.
Also check out my review of the wheel for more info.
Yoga Tune Up is an incredible resource for pain relief, body awareness and anatomy. They make all sorts of roller balls that you can use to massage areas of tightness in the body. I have a set and I use them allllll the time! I also highly recommend Jill Miller's book, The Roll Model: A Step-by-Step Guide to Erase Pain, Improve Mobility, and Live Better in Your Body. Life changing. Read my review of the book for more info.
Photos via Liforme.
The Liforme Yoga Mat
I've heard this one called the 'Rolls Royce of yoga mats.' :) It features a super grippy, non-slip surface, an AlignforMe system with markers that show you great alignment, and extra cushioning. Sounds divine! I have yet to try one and can't wait for the day when I get to :) Definitely a luxury yoga item.
Epsom Salts or a Massage Gift Certificate
Because, let's be honest, if you're doing a lot of yoga, you're really sore. ;)
Photo by Felipe Silva of @the_lost_portraits.
Did you miss part 1 of the holiday gift guide? Check out ideas for 'the yogi who has everything!'
And stay tuned for part 3... gift ideas for hungry yogis!
My Favorite Fall Books
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Photo via Pinterest. Book photos via Amazon and author websites.
Lately I've been lucky enough to try out some new books about healthy living and yoga. These are my top 4 favorites right now:
I love Jennifer's down-to-earth voice. Every recipe and story she shares is grounded in a genuine love for food and for eating and an extensive background in plant-based cooking. The hummus recipe and coconut bliss ball recipe are incredible!
by Amber Rose, Sadie Frost and Holly Davidson
This book is gorgeous! The amount of wisdom shared by Amber, Sadie, and Holly seems like it would be overwhelming, but the way they have organized this book makes it very accessible and appealing. I especially love the workout ideas and week-long plan for wellbeing. This book truly captures mind, body and spirit in one extensive guidebook written by real women.
by Yogrishi Vishvketu
Wow! That's what I can't stop thinking whenever I pick up this text and look through it. The book is filled with hundreds of photographs of different yoga poses, sequencing for beginner, intermediate and advanced students, as well as chakra-based practices that you can do. In this book we see Vishvketu's legacy, his devotion, and his truly incredible contribution to the yoga community. Highly recommend checking it out, and purchasing a copy for your local studio.
by Sean Vigue
With the colder temperatures settling in, now is a great time to turn up the heat in your practice and invite fiery tapas energy to burn off anything that is old or stagnant. I love that this book offers a practical, easy-to-read guide to doing that. Athletes of any sport can gain a lot of flexibility, body awareness and breath stamina by practicing yoga, and I'm grateful that books like this one encourage that! This book would make a great gift for someone who is new to yoga, but it's also great for seasoned practitioners. This book covers a lot of ground: whether you're looking to improve balance, focus, control, breathing, posture, or flexibility; strengthen your back, joints, or core; or reduce or heal from injury. A great read.
Photo via Pinterest.
What books are you reading these days, yogis? XO
Advanced Asana
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Photos by Jobi Otso.
Sometimes we need the tough practice to remind us that there is a physical limit, and if we continually push against it at the cost of everything else then we often have also lost sight of the energetic expansion and psychic development.
It's nice that there are so many different styles for different points in our lives. Besides, what's the rush? We have plenty of (life)time(s) to advance the poses.
Today's post comes from wise words of a friend who is a Dharma yoga teacher. Namaste.
Shavasana: Final Rest
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Photo by Justin Kral.
In shavasana all effort and all
determination fall away. The body lies in stillness.
We are not the body, which is subject to death, but rather
we are the unborn, the unchanging. The death of the body invites us to come
back to our true nature, which is consciousness.
This letting go of artificial identification with what is
impermanent is shavasana.
Shavasana, when done properly – as the letting go of everything –
shows us what we truly are. Both the Yoga
Sutra and the Bhagavad Gita state
that the pure existence, pure awareness, pure being that is left at the end of
the body is without beginning and end.
It cannot be cut by
knives,
It cannot be pierced
by thorns,
It cannot be burned by
fire,
It cannot be drowned
in water.
It is eternal, the
true self.
This post is an excerpt from Ashtanga Yoga: Practice & Philosophy by Gregor Maehle. Namaste.
Finding the Edge
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Photos by Justin Kral of Kral Studios.
There is this place of equilibrium in every pose.
Often we race past it, pushing harder than we need to, straining.
As a way of checking in, I like to ask myself, am I breathing fully, filling the lungs?
Often I'll say to my students, where can you soften?
At the edge, prana flows freely through the body, feeding all its layers-- from the muscles down to the tissues and organs, skin all the way to subtle energetic body.
Let the pose be an act of compassionate listening, not of exerting power or control.
There is nothing to achieve, no place to get to. At the edge, you've found a comfortable seat, a place where you can stay and breathe.
The Breath as Prayer
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Photo by Cait Loper Photography.
This morning I offered my practice as a prayer. Let every movement, every moment, come from devotion. This was my intention at the start of class.
I closed my eyes so as not to seek answers from the mirror before me.
Listening. Drawing inward. Stilling the mind.
I did not look for perfection.
If there was any to be found, I stumbled into it with my eyes closed and my heart open.
The teacher reminded us about Thanksgiving week. "I'm sure you've been doing a lot of classes centered around gratitude," he said. "But why not let gratitude be an every day, all day kind of thing?"
When I sat beside him with my djembe for the chanting, I closed down my eyes. I let my heartbeat be an offering. I let my hand on the drum be an offering, a drawing out of sound.
In yoga, my purpose is to draw out more love from my heart, my core, my very being. Today I was reminded of the power of prayer, of letting the body be a moving, singing prayer on the mat.
Om bolo shri sat guru bhagavan ki... jai! To my teacher within, the only teacher of truth... victory.
I Like Hugging You
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Photos via Pinterest.
You came over for yoga class yesterday. When you got to my apartment,
I gave you a big hug. I could feel you smiling as I pulled you close.
I looked at you in class and I wanted to squeeze you again. I
just felt so proud of you for being present in your practice, for being so
strong. I wanted to hold you as a way of saying you are beautiful. Maybe to be held by you a little bit, too.
Sometimes a hug is like saying thank you.
In savasana, I massaged your feet for a few moments; this
was its own way of hugging.
After class, I was saying farewell and gave you a big hug on
your way out. We kept talking for a second and then had to have another one. I
didn’t mind.
Mantra and Manifestation with Steve Gold
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Last weekend I had the pleasure of practicing a vinyasa flow class with live music from Steve Gold, and then attending his workshop on Mantra and Manifestation. Both were incredible yoga experiences!
It was so powerful to sing during class, to be freely
encouraged to make noise and to express from the heart. The studio was
jam-packed, yogis lined up like little sardines. There’s always something
exciting about a full room and I was inspired by the energy created by all of
us moving and breathing together.
And I have to say it was pretty magical singing So Much Magnificence and feeling the
voices resonate in the room during savasana. If you haven’t heard that song,
you should definitely check it out.
During the workshop, Steve dove into an exploration of
mantra.
We sang om namah
shivaya, a mantra close to my heart. You may remember, I have it tattooed
on my right ankle :)
Though the Sanskrit words are hard to translate, some
interpret the phrase as “I am that I am.” The breakdown of each word can be explained
with various definitions:
- Om: the universal sound; an exuberant roar of joy; “yes!”; verily; so be it; amen
- Namah: to bow; “I invite this energy into my heart”
- Shiva: that which contains all things; all possibility; maximum expansion; the destroyer of ignorance
When chanting om namah
shivaya, I acknowledge my higher Self. I acknowledge all aspects of my
being, and all possibilities for what may come. I ground myself, considering
the path I walk. I see the path clearly before me. Om namah shivaya. I am that I am.
The words have such power, and for me personally, they
conjure up a lot of memories of the past year when I chanted as a way to invite
strength into my life. When we sang the first time during Steve’s workshop, I couldn’t
help but tear up.
Om namah shivaya, Om shanti
Om namah shivaya, Om shanty
The words felt like such a relief, and the collective sound
of the chant brought me into a space of light, peace, and comfort.
After explaining the meaning of the mantra and letting us
experience it firsthand, Steve launched into a compelling story about moving to
Hawaii in his 20s. His goal was to cast aside physical and material
attachments, to detach from society in pursuit of enlightenment. He encountered
several wise mentors and spiritual texts along the way, and was surprised to
find that while the adventure was initially very appealing, he couldn’t sustain
this simple life of living in a hut, spending days by a waterfall with his
guitar, and doing yoga and meditation.
Perhaps most surprising was finding confirmation that his
path toward enlightenment didn’t have
to look like that of a monk.
He was struck by the words in the Gospel of Sri Rama Krishna that stood in stark contrast to the
lifestyle of his spiritual quest:
As long as you have desires, you must exhaust them.
Later, another teacher put it in this way: All
of us seek something to do, and someone to love.
Why not discover what it is you seek, and run after it
exuberantly?
So often in yoga and spiritual circles, we hear about the
ancient masters who sacrificed a so-called “normal” life and retreated to the
caves to do the “real” yoga, meditation, praying, fasting, and other sacred
practices.
I found it refreshing to be reminded that we each have
spiritual gifts, and many of them involve worldly connections. For Steve Gold,
fulfilling his dharma means being a conduit for spontaneous spiritual connection
and transformation through musical gatherings. He travels, connects with people
up close, and shares his music in a very visceral, immediate way.
He’s had to overcome fears and self-doubt in order to do so.
Again and again, he returns to his heart’s truest desire in order to find the
motivation and inspiration to keep playing his songs and speaking his truth.
I am grateful to Steve for sharing his wisdom and his
powerful music, and for challenging me to be clear about my desires – to be
conscious of them, and active physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually
in pursuing them.
Om namah shivaya om!
Steve has a new track called Golden Om. I highly recommend his albums Let Your Heart Be Known and So Much Magnificence.
He's also on Facebook.
Being Open to Challenges
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Photo via FYeahYoga.
My teacher shared a profound idea in savasana today. He didn't say, "Let go of all your thoughts and concerns. Detach from them and rest in stillness."
He said, "Consider whatever it is that's challenging you in life right now, whether that's a relationship or a situation or an unfulfilled desire. Embrace that.
"What are you turning away from? Look at how you can learn to embrace those challenges as they come up for you."
Photo via Pinterest.
I think so often we come to yoga hoping to get away from the stresses of daily life, or the obstacles in our path. We are searching for relief from sadness and turmoil, or for a reprieve from apathy, a sense of deeper meaning and of belonging.
What we have to remember, though, is that yoga challenges us, too. The practice is meant to.
Yoga is not necessarily a break from challenges, but an experience in practicing how to embrace them and work through them one breath at a time.
Photo via Dudes Doing Yoga.
Inevitably, at some point in class we reach a moment when we can choose to give up, or to trust the teacher's words and our own bodies... and that's when amazing things happen. We stretch farther into the pose than we did yesterday, or we lift off the floor in an arm balance six months after trying it over and over again.
We look in the mirror and see ourselves differently, or perhaps for the first time, we see ourselves for who we truly are.
And we leave the mat feeling lighthearted and energized, ready to face the challenges waiting outside the studio, more open to them than before.
Yoga Asana
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Photos via Dharma Yoga NYC's blog.
Here's some inspiration for you:
The postures are good for keeping the physical body healthy and for cultivating mental powers.
The postures are good for keeping the physical body healthy and for cultivating mental powers.
-Sri Dharma Mittra
Two essentials for posture: Yoga has been defined as the mastery of the thought patterns of mind field (1.2), so that Self-realization can be experienced (1.3). To be able to do the meditation practices that allow this, it is essential that the posture be (2.46): steady and comfortable.
-The Yoga Sutras
Hatha Yoga teaches us to use the body as the bow, asana as the arrow, and the soul the target.
- B.K.S. Iyengar
Yoga can take you to a deeper place, a spiritual center, if you are open to the possibility. Be receptive as you practice today. Namaste.
Prepare to Come Back
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Photo above by Pure Souls Photo.
Where have I gone?
Where am I coming back to?
Deep Meditation: Yoga Nidra
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Above photo via Lululemon. Below photo via Lisa Morson on Flickr.
Next up in this week's posts on meditation, let's talk about yoga nidra. This a deep form of yogic meditation involving sleep-like relaxation in savasana. By withdrawing from the senses, and placing the brain in a state between waking and sleep, this practice can allow you to explore your subconscious, and the link between your body and mind.
Yoga nidra has many benefits:
- It invites deep relaxation on all levels – physical, mental and emotional.
- Yoga nidra can help you sleep better, work more effectively, and remove stress.
- Yoga nidra can be used to promote positive thinking in your life.
- Yoga nidra can help lessen symptoms of insomnia, hypertension, depression, asthma, digestive disorders, migraine headaches and ulcers.
Here are some resources where you can learn more about yoga nidra:
- Reflections on Kripalu's website from Richard Miller on the positive effects of a regular yoga nidra practice on active duty soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. The results are amazing!
- Wonderful yoga nidra CDs from iRest which you can use for an at-home practice.
- Richard Miller's book, Yoga Nidra: A Meditative Practice for Deep Relaxation and Healing, for a full understanding of finding deep relaxation. I'm definitely going to purchase this book in the near future (keep an eye out for a review on Alive in the Fire!)
Finally, a little poem by yours truly about the wonder of yoga nidra. Enjoy!
Above photo via Lululemon.
also known as yogic sleep.
Welcome to the body.
Attention, a call to the small delicate parts
contemplative energy
thumb-index finger joined energy circuiting in the body
Where is the index finger of my right hand?
abounding energy comes falling
into the room
How can I experience it?
The voice moves quickly on
to other areas
deserving rest
right side of the chest
waist
hip,
lower leg.
Following is not the object falling is
here, we arrive at the center
The whole body
Sense the whole body.
Bright sound surfaces
in the background of this space,
time energy light
arriving into the limbs the right side the left side
of the body
a deep sense of falling
into the self, core being
the center between the eyebrows,
soles of the feet,
heart center
awake with clarity, pure light.
Hover above
your own body
you are the stream of awareness luminosity
within the stillness
no body
you are only your own mind.
Going inward, letting
go
relax the heart
lungs, esophagus
night rustling outside the window
belly, endocrine system,
digestive organs, reproductive organs
softness
moving inward creates the
freedom relaxation
you used to know fear and can no longer name it,
possession, anger, sensation, knowing,
you have lost
the very essence of suffering.
You are not replaced.
You are not replaced.
But here
body flat heart beating lungs breathing
a voice will walk you through yourself,
retracing steps
until spacious presence
all that you are in this room
faraway, mysterious problems
looking back at you
Savasanas for a Reason
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How's your savasana? Photo via Bikram Women's Retreat on Facebook.
Ever wonder why the second half of a Bikram class involves what can sometimes feel like about a million savasansas?
Today, I realized why.
And it's not just because Bikram designed the floor series so your body can rest in between every posture, and receive all of the physical benefits that are meant for you.
It's also because switching between 100% exertion and 100% relaxation is a skill we all need-- not just in the hot yoga room.
Life's a blur. Photo via FYeahYoga on Tumblr.
Sometimes we need that ability to let go in an instant. We need to be able to switch off our stress in a single moment. Sounds tough to do (and often it is!), but once you know you are capable of letting go here and now, things change. Things get easier.
I guess it's been on my mind lately because I seem to be posting a lot about it... but sometimes yoga teaches you more about how to live your life than how to make your body flexible. Lately, it's been teaching me more about how to handle situations than how to get my forehead to the floor in Standing Separate Leg Stretching pose.
I'm learning more about how to love myself for who I am than how to come up higher on the toes in Awkward pose.
More and more, I find myself relying on what I've learned in the hot room to get through the day. And not just to "get through" the stressful moments, but also to savor and enjoy the beautiful ones. To commit to memory those details I never want to lose. To build love into my daily experience, my hourly experience, my reality.
Let me explain. :)
Letting go makes all the difference. Photo via Lululemon.
Know that feeling you sometimes get when you wake up feeling flustered, or in the middle of a dream? You feel sluggish before your day has even started. You wish you could hit "refresh" on the computer that is your brain, but you can't find the button.
Or maybe you're more familiar with the kind of day at work where you hardly feel like you get a chance to rest or think since you're moving between so many projects and conversations and worries. You leave the office feeling a little worn down, rush home, start dinner, and hardly even give yourself time to decompress from the day.
I've been there, done that; perhaps, too, I am there, am doing that. And I'm learning how to use what I know about savasana to make things work and be happy.
In a sense, I'm re-learning (as I have before in my life) that it's possible to do both. We need both.
And I'll bet you've experienced the ins-and-outs of a modern, busy life, too, and sometimes you wish you could just make it all stop. If only for a moment.
Well, because of savasana -- that pose we so often cast aside as nap time, or that we forget to take seriously -- you can.
Yoga comes in the everyday. Photo via Lululemon.
In the room, savasana means: the standing series is done. Over. Not something you need to worry about again today.
It means you can let every muscle relax so deeply that you aren't holding any tension.
In the world, savasana means: no more texts buzzing in your pocket; no more emails piling up in your inbox.
No more to-do list a mile long. No more procrastinating on what really makes you happy in order to fulfill the basic survival elements: food on the table, roof over your head, plans in line to ensure a successful future.
Savasana means you are in the here and now, giving yourself the rest you need.
Letting go of whatever came before, and whatever you know (or think you know) is coming up next in your day.
Ask others to help you let go. Photo via FYeahYoga on Tumblr.
Once you can train your brain to let go in an instant, the world is yours. Because that means no matter how stressful a day has been -- or a week, a month, a year -- you can let it go. Right now. And you can relax, revive, move on.
You can move forward.
Only by soaking in the relaxation that you've earned can you move forward.
That, my dear yogis, is savasana: a pose we do for many reasons, a pose that helps us survive. A pose that helps us live.
Funny how we don't even have to lift a finger... in fact, doing the posture right means not even the fingers or toes twitch. Nothing moves.
Note: I realize that reading this post may lend itself to a couple of perplexing questions. You might find yourself thinking, "So how do I actually do that? How do I let go in an instant?! I've tried that before, but it doesn't work. What do I actually do?"
If those questions are something you've wrestled with, my challenge to you is this: try again. Keep practicing. Let every yoga class you take stand as its own experience.
Let yourself be OK with the fact that every day is different, and even if you rocked your Bikram series yesterday, you might find yourself feeling winded, dizzy, and defeated today. Accept that the body changes over time, and so does the mind.
Give yourself permission to try again -- no expectations -- and see if you can let go. Sometimes trying again can mean all the difference. And don't get me wrong, sometimes I don't let go of what's bothering me until the end of class; sometimes I'm never able to let go during class at all. But I can guarantee when you find that moment and you do let go of whatever internal monologue is holding you back -- whatever doubt, whatever fear, whatever negative thought -- once you're free of it, things will be easier. The postures, the relationships you build, the life you live.
A final note to consider: yoga is a mind game. Especially Bikram yoga.
The mirrors in the room, the dialogue, the sweating, the heat, the smells and sounds, the teacher yelling at you... it's all built in to mess with your head. Because guess what? Once you let it go, you realize you can let go of anything. And just get your butt into savasana because you need it.
Way more than you need the wiping, the fidgeting, the resisting. :)
I'd love your thoughts on this, yogis. Please share your stories below in the comments section or feel free to send me an email at aliveinthefire@gmail.com! There's nothing I enjoy more than connecting with you and hearing about your yoga. Namaste!
A Bikram Poem: Savasana
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Here we are, feeling
like letting gosubmerged in the submerged
layer of the dream
which we don’t realize is strange
until we wake. Multiplicity
forms in waves, pausing
and unpausing the life.
Can you hold open
your eyes? Can you hold,
open, or situate time?
Letting it rest in the way
your body sinks,
and is held,
the floor,
you are held
by your own mind
above the wide pool,
the widening ocean
of thoughts, constant
threat looming.
Leave what isn't meant
Leave what isn't meant
for here. Leave what isn't yours alone.
Be here, alone,
where you cannot hold,
open, or situate time,
though you try.
What is meant to be right now
is nothing, is perfect,
is simply you.
Drift Away with a New Sleepy Tuesday Afternoon Bikram Poem
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this one's about the experience of floating into deep, deep space during the break between the standing and floor series...Filament
arms arch upward fingers interlace
of course
I’m stretching of course it’s early morning
summer here upon us
arriving
curved upward haze behind a building
announces
the day coming. of course
I haven’t got my mind yet
haven’t quite found where it’s hiding.
this is supposed to be a day,
a beautiful life,
a wild and precious life,
a centered, kept, contained
moment held.
I’m floating elsewhere
away for now, back in five minutes
that little hand-drawn sign swinging from a string
pastel and ink, dream-like messaging inescapable
if not caught and held, perhaps gone to the wind’s
carefree moving mind-path: the breeze.
surely a life is not a day,
a day is not a moment of course
it can all boil down to just the one
split second,
one big break,
one forgetting,
slip,
breath,
one long fall toward failure.
Enter the room.
Set down your old mat,
bones, songs, fidgets, fears,
expectations, set your old life down
and unravel your very life-threads, your five minute signs, strings,
etched maps for knowing where you are.
Unroll your mind you can’t even find
and be somewhere: only here
is where you are
a corpse, body breathing in place
a two-minute savasana
floating filament thoughts out
the twisting of an untied cord,
rivets disentangling, notion-rope come undone
working loose our own bodies,
lives, days, pulling out the stitches
so that we are in fact of course
nowhere at all.
Never Too Late
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Photo Via Bikram Yoga San Jose
Last night at class I was reminded of the power of remembering to stay open-minded in the hot room. Even on days when we feel our practice is strong, there is more we can be doing to deepen the experience of Bikram, whether it means focusing forward, remaining patient with a posture, or letting go of frustrations from inside or outside the studio's walls.
Just think: how seriously do your consider your savasana? With a gentle reminder from my instructor last night -- "Dead body pose, Rachel!" -- I realized (with some shock and a bit of embarrassment) that I needed to rethink my dedication to stillness in between postures. So often we are apt to respond to distractions (squirmy neighbors or the tickle of sweat dripping) or the temptation of gulping water instead of getting right to the goodness of savasana.
Make your new power nap time 20 seconds. See what it can do for your energy level.
And one other thing: stay the full two minutes (or more) after class! There's nothing worse than the disruption of fellow yogis rolling up their mats, clomping around the room, and opening and closing the studio door when everyone should be enjoying final relaxation together. Bikram designed the end of the class with our best interests in mind, so be sure to let your body, mind and spirit receive the rest they deserve after your 90-minute meditation.
