The 30-Day Challenge starts February 1st. Feel the love.Set your intention to join up, then turn that intention into action with your inspired will. You can do it!Just take one day at a time and embrace the adversity in your adventure. The rewards are staggering!For extra motivation, check out some teacher-training blogs which cover the trials of practicing 11 times per week, but please, don't try this at home.Paul McQuillan
http://bikramboogy.blogspot.com/2006_08_01_archive.html
Alicia Toner
http://bikramventure.blogspot.com/
Laarni Paras
http://piggypostings.tumblr.com/tagged/bytt
Your final impetus towards joining up could simply be the low cost. It's 15% lower than a regular monthly unlimited pass AND we'll put your current pass on hold. So don't sweat it...or DO!
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PRACTITIONER POW-WOW! SUNDAY, JANUARY 29th, 12pm!
Ever wonder about the interactive relationship between yoga, diet, massage, healing, physiotherapy, acupuncture, Chinese medicine and your overall well-being? Gain more knowledge of each by attending our FREE "Practitioner Pow-Wow" this Sunday at Noon, following the 10am class.
Join RMT Peter Johnston, Acupuncturist Jonathan Green, Raw-food Nutritionist Teshia Maher and RMT Jennifer Lamore as they graciously offer up their free time and expertise to present their knowledge on all of these subjects.
Feel free to ask questions of any kind. Just keep it health-related. No one really knows why the Leafs haven't made the playoffs in seven years!
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"BIKRAM BOOGIE" AUTOPAY
It's our current best-seller and given the price, it's not hard to see why. It's just $99 a month for unlimited yoga, with the option to cancel after just three months. It can be purchased online under "contracts" or at the studio.
Also wonderfully popular is our "Yearly Unlimited"!!!
It has been permanently lowered from $1400/year to just $999.00!!
Feeling the love yet?
INTRODUCTORY OFFER:
Our new introductory offer for first-timers to the studio is now just $25 for one week of unlimited yoga! Buy a package of 20 classes or more BEFORE your intro. period expires and receive 15% off.
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Last Word
I suppose as a yogi, being offended by an article in a newspaper might seem unevolved. Well, I guess that's my work, because I was more than slightly irked by an article in the ubiquitous New York Times at the beginning of this month.
Its generalizations regarding yoga were astoundingly unfounded and the research alarmingly weak. It was quite surprising that a newspaper of such supposed credibility was able to create mass assumptions based on a few extreme cases of yogis overdoing it in advanced postures and pushing themselves beyond what is recommended.
Anything done to the extreme, while being practiced improperly, will usually bring the same result: Chronic injury.
It has been increasingly documented over the last 5000 years that yoga is beneficial to our health and yet, it would seem that as the science behind this fact gets stronger and yoga becomes more popular, the doubters (most not having done any yoga to speak of) have found a new target for their sucker-punches.
It saddens me that while our collective consciousness towards health is improving dramatically, (and yoga is to be credited for much of this change) many continue to resist, rationalize and even laughably discredit that which is actually good for us.
But enough with generalizations. Unlike the NY Times, I'm going to provide some actual facts that steer clear of generalizations using just one example: Diabetes.
There is an unfortunate epidemic of diabetes and weight gain riddling North America. Here are some facts that are NOT sensationalized. Let's start with the analysis:
- Diabetes currently affects 246 million people worldwide and is expected to affect 380 million by 2025.
- More than 3 million Canadians have some form of diabetes
- According to Statistics Canada, two-thirds of Canadians are overweight
- The incidence rate of type 1 diabetes is rising by three to five per cent in Canada; the greatest rise occurs in five to nine year olds.
- Worldwide 70,000 children develop type 1 diabetes annually (almost 200 children a day).
- Globally, every ten seconds two people develop diabetes.
- Diabetes is the fourth leading cause of global death by disease.
Now, the prescription:
What do many studies conclude to be an inarguable way to control blood sugar levels and help with weight gain?
You guessed it. YOGA! Here is just one article with documented evidence.
http://www.yogapoint.com/therapy/diabetes_yoga.htm
Notice at the end of the article, the only complaint is the lack of funds to further enhance their findings. It would seem that the billion-dollar pharmaceutical industries do not want this truth to be leaked!
More yoga-science is available and concludes that yoga is helpful for: Controlling blood pressure, back pain, stress, insomnia, cancer, depression, chronic pain, osteoporosis, weight gain, eating disorders...and the list goes on. Here is another article from the Mayo Clinic Website which champions yoga for many ailements:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/yoga/CM00004
If celebrity endorsement is something that speaks to you, the ubiquitous Dr. Oz was recently interviewed prefacing his upcoming visit to Toronto, and when asked about his personal choice for alternative medicines and therapies, his answer: "I do a ton of yoga."
Let's be honest: It would seem that the "Yoga is Good for You" articles have ceased to sell papers. It's been done and it ain't news.
So now, journalism feeds the epidemic of poor health by ironically targeting healthy ways of living; after all, why embark upon the difficult journey of change when you can have a newspaper article give you a bogus out?
I'm also alarmed by the incessant bashing of one type of yoga over another. It's petty and when I hear it, I sigh deeply, because it means we've taken a small step back in our quest to put yoga (any yoga) at the forefront of a healthy lifestyle, along with diet and alternative medicine.
Try it all. Most yoga is simply the difference between an apple and an orange. Both are good for you. Just see how you feel after eating each one.
I can confidently say that Bikram yoga bears fruit...with labour. If you want to breeze through a yoga class with a minimal amount of commitment and accountability, Bikram yoga is not for you; however, if you are ready to open yourself up to change through hard work in postures that are accessible to everyone, get on it. It is Beginner's Yoga. We are all beginners. Every class.
Using Bikrams's profound words, ask yourself: "Is it better to suffer for ninety years, or suffer for ninety minutes?"
The purpose of yoga is to create a union of mind, body and spirit, and the first step is working the body mindfully, safely, with proper form and without pain. Yoga is about healing, not pain. Is it difficult? Of course! Again, no rewards come without some adversity -- a simple truth that is also well-documented!
If you, a friend, or a family member are on the fence about starting a yoga practice, don't make your decision based on ANY junk-ish journalism or bloated rhetoric; make it on how you feel after you actually try it. Let the yoga speak for itself as you embark on a journey that could change your life.
After a while, you won't have to lose any bad habits. Your bad habits will lose you!
Your move, New York Times!
Paul McQuillan (Owner/Director, Bikram Yoga Centre)
"When you live for a strong purpose, then hard work isn't an option. It's a necessity."
~ Steve Pavlina
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FAMILY DAY HOURS
Families like to sleep in together, do yoga together during the day and then take the night off to watch movies after a healthy dinner. This may not be true for all families, but it's the science behind our schedule for Family Day. It took many yoga-scheduling specialists to create the following data. Best not argue with it. No one was hurt in the making of this schedule...and we want to keep it that way.
FAMILY DAY -- Monday, February 20th:
12pm, 4:30pm, 6:30pm (no 6:30am or 8:30pm class)
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SIGN UP?
Peter Johnston, one of our RMTs is doing a research study through the University of Toronto. If you have a consistent pattern of menstrual pain, your help would be appreciated for a study examining the effect of two separate massage therapy treatments on menstrual pain. Our study is looking for women who have not been pregnant, between the ages of 18-35 who have a regular pattern of pain associated with their period.
We will be asking you to fill out pain questionnaires, and receive 3 Massage Therapy treatments from a Registered Massage Therapist free of charge over the course of 3 months.
If you are interested in participating in this study, please contact the primary investigator, Peter Johnston at 416-220-8463 or pete.johnston@utoronto.ca .
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"What's for ya, won't go by ya!"
~ My dear Scottish father