hot yoga

What is Toe Stand in the Bikram Series

  The Toe Stand in the Bikram Series or Padangusthasana in Sanskrit is the last pose in the standing series before you take your Savasana. The Sanskrit word Padangusthasana has the English translation of Big Toe Stand and is done in other yoga series besides Bikram Hot Yoga. The Toe Stand has a lot of similarities to the previous pose in the series, which is Tree Stand but is much more advanced. It is also the final pose in the balancing portion of the Hot Yoga Series. You will find that many students of Hot Yoga can not do the Toe Stand but will do a second set of Tree Stand in its place.

  You need to be very careful of going into the Toe Stand because it is easy to injure yourself, especially your knee. I personally know yoga instructors who, during teacher training, were forced by bad trainers to go into Toe Stand and seriously injure their knees, and it took them a long time to recover. You should never let any yoga instructor force you to do anything you cannot do, but that is a story and post for some other time. Let's now take a look at how you do the Toe Stand safely and correctly.

Tree Pose in the Bikram Series

  The Tree Pose in the Bikram Hot Yoga Series is the next to last standing pose. Vriksasana is the Sanskrit name of this posture and, of course, translates to the meaning in English of Tree Pose. It is a posture that you do not use as much effort while in it but focus more on letting the posture open you up and work on you. The one-hour version of this yoga series, Tree Pose or Toe Pose, which has some similarities, can be the last standing posture before you hit the floor and take your Savasana. We will focus on Tree Pose in this article and get to know Toe Pose in the next post.

Tuladandasana: Bikram Balancing Stick Pose

  The quickest posture in the  Hot Yoga Series is the Bikram Balancing Stick Pose, the Balancing Stick or another name for it is the Balancing Staff. The Sanskrit name is Tuladandasana which breaks down in English as follows: Tula has the translation into English of "Balance," Danda has the meaning of "Stick" or "Staff." Asana has the meaning in English of "Pose." Another name for this posture is Warrior 3 or Virabhadrasana 3. Vira means "Warrior" or "Hero," Bhadra has the meaning of "Friend," and of course, Asana has the meaning in English of "Pose." Balancing Stick is the final posture in the Balancing Series portion of Bikram Hot Yoga.

What is Bikram Standing Bow ?

    The Bikram  Standing Bow Pose in the Hot Yoga Series is a posture I have been struggling with lately, and I have been trying to get my head around it. Picking up your foot and bringing it back reverses the motion of the body that we do all day, and you can feel uncomfortable if you are not used to doing the pose. The Standing Bow Pose translates into Sanskrit as Dandayamana Dhanurasana. The word Dandayamana Dhanurasana is broken down as follows: Danda means "Stick" or "Staff," Yamana has the meaning of "Restraint," Dhanur translates into English as "Bow" and Asana means "Posture" or "Seat."

Standing Separate Leg Head To Knee

 The Standing Separate Leg Head To Knee pose in the Bikram Yoga Hot Yoga Series is a challenging posture that works the entire body, which can be intimidating when you first do it. I used to dread this posture when I first started my Bikram Practice until I understood it now; it is one of my favorite postures. The meaning of Dandayamana Bibhaktapada Janushirsasana goes as follows: Danda means either stick or staff, Yamana has the meaning in English of balancing. The posture can be as overwhelming as the Sanskrit name of the pose until you understand that you do not need to do the whole posture with any yoga pose to get the benefits. You just need to do small bits, and if you do it consistently, you will be amazed at how quickly it develops.  

Eagle pose in the Bikram Series  defined.

  The Eagle pose in the Bikram Series , which translates to Garudasana in Sanskrit, is a posture  that opens up each and every joint in the body. This can be a challenging posture to get into at first, so depending on the instructor you see, you may want to bring a towel or belt to help complete the grip of the pose. Some instructors will be ok with you using a prop to help you get into the posture, while other yoga instructors will give you some modifications, which I will go over shortly in this article. Do not stress about this; just understand, do what the instructor teaching the class you are in is asking and do the best you can to the best of your ability.

Pranayama Breathing in the Bikram Hot Yoga Series. What is it?

 The opening breathing exercise of the Bikram Hot Yoga series is the Pranayama Breathing exercise or Life Force Control ; it teaches you how to control your breathing better and helps unify your mind and the physical body. The breath is the only bodily process we have any conscious control over, making it a unique and vital function. In the world of yoga, the breath is what connects the mind, body, and spirit. The rest of our bodily functions operate from the subconscious and work on autopilot without putting too much thought into them

Awkward  Pose (Utkatasana)

 The Awkward Pose is a three-part pose in the Bikram Hot Yoga Series also  called Chair Pose. This postures name in Sanskrit is Utkatasana, translated into English meaning Powerful Pose. In the Bikram Series  the Awkward Pose is between the Half Moon Hands to feet and Eagles Poses. You really need to focus on your breath in this pose especially the third part or you will really struggle doing Awkward. If you do not breathe properly you will quickly find out why this posture is called Awkward. Lets go over each part of Awkward and do them in order.

Half Moon with Hands to Feet

( Ardha Chandrasana with Pada Hastasana)

   The opening posture of the Bikram Hot Yoga Series after Pranayama Breathing is Half Moon with Hands to Feet Posture. The Sanskrit name for the pose is Ardha Chandrasana with Pada Hastasana which is defined in English as Ardha meaning "half", Chandra meaning "moon", Asana translates to "seat" or "posture". Pada Hastasana translates from Sanskrit to English as Pada meaning "foot", Hasta means "hand" and once again Asana is "seat" or "posture". It is a four part posture which includes a side bend on each side of the body called Half Moon. Following doing both sides of the body in Half Moon you do a back bend and finally a forward fold  with hands to feet. The pose moves and stretches the whole body especially the spine in each direction. To simplify things we are going to break this post into three separate sections starting with Half Moon.