raysantopietro

Gabrielle,

I just finished reading your downloadable about lung capacity expansion and the “fight or flight” response. That is pretty much the same premise I was speaking about with regards to the water. Not that I am a proponent for physical deprivation or abuse for some silly reason like “just to see if you can do it…” but instead finding the actual physical limit instead of the point where fear or hesitation kicks in. Just because it is hot in the room and people are not accustomed to working out in such conditions, their immediate way to deal with it is to say “I cannot breathe in there…or I am going to pass out because of the heat.” In reality this is the brain telling you that your physical breaking point is nowhere near where it really is. Same difference with the water….I wasn’t saying anyone should hurt themselves, but was instead talking about the promotion (by the teachers themselves) of the notion that there is a point in the class where it is encouraged to break concentration….and have a “party time.” This is the exact same principal as a cigarette break….you don’t really need it at that point but you do it because it is a little celebration in the middle of pain. This type of thinking trains you to look at the yoga series negatively, and reinforce that it is unpleasant. You are so looking forward to the break and the party that you define the yoga as negative in comparison to it. Instead, wouldn’t it be interesting if you were forced to drink water constantly for 90 minutes, but at one little point in the series you were encouraged to have a “party time” and not drink! I think your body can go through far more than the Bikram beginner series before you are actually “dehydrated” to the point of danger. People just need to let go and trust the process with regards to the concept. Its funny, I always bring water with me….I just dont drink it. I keep it there in case I need it, so that I wouldnt have to leave the room. Funny thing is I have never NEEDED it since I have been trying to do this.

Namaste
Ray

Hi Gabrielle and Robert (and everyone else involved in the topic,)

Wow, I actually never really expected anyone to listen to my opinion long enough to debate it, but we seem to be involved in a really good one here, so I will attempt to clarify my position.

A couple of things that should probably be mentioned before I even continue is that I have always been a very extremist person, which may or may not compromise my validity of opinion in people’s minds. I always find it very difficult to “just be” as zen philosophy would dictate. I have never been able to seperate from the moment very effectively to that level, which would actually allow you to even go beyond the concentration on relaxation itself. The true master who can “just be” is not concentrating on “just being” if you see what I mean…he has gone beyond the point of recognizing that he is recognizing. Anyway, I feel as though you need to ascend one mountain at a time, so I figure to try to at least concentrate on “just being” first, then try to go beyond after you have mastered that state.

As far as yoga, philosophy, physical vs. mental and everything else, first let me state this. I truely believe that yoga represents the true union between mind and body, especially in its extreme forms like Bikram. There is a point when even if the person who created the system did have certain aspects in mind when they did so, someone utilizing the knowledge therein can learn things that even the teacher wasn’t thinking about. I believe this with Bikram….even if he was not origionally thinking about certain physical vs. mental states…he created something that plays into lessons that can be learned. However maybe he did realize all this stuff anyway….the interviews I have seen with him lean towards that being the case.

Bikram talks about the fact that he does not respect peoples excuses for not being able to do this….even real medical conditions that seem really scary when you are as steadfast as he is in his opinion. He basically states that all of your excuses are mental…and the mind is the biggest ailment in your practice. He talks about people criticizing his yoga series as “not the way yoga is…” and his answers are all pointing to the statement that Bikram Yoga is “not what YOU WANT yoga to be.” He talks about extreme heat in India, pushing through pain, learning from not allowing yourself excuses. I am not saying that this is for everyone, because yoga is a personal journey not a competitive one, however I believe it is a valid lesson to be learned. All that said, here is my point with respect to water and Bikram Yoga.

In the standing series, you go into a deep backbend posture where the dialog continually tells you to “push and try to fall down backward.” This dialog and mantra is repeated over and over because Bikram was trying to push you past your mental limits in order to truely test your physical ones. Bikram Yoga is truely a physical practice, but one that draws from mental weakness being the hinderance. He is basically telling you that the point of “falling down backward” is actually not where your brain has been trained to believe it is….it is actually another physical place. You must test your boundries physically without the mental complication in order to actually find out where that place is…that is the only time when you truely begin to physically practice. The same is true for pain, wiping sweat, drinking water, etc.

Bikram puts you into compression postures that close off your air passageway partially and asks you to hold the posture. This is to prove to you that the point your brain believes you need to gasp for air in order to not pass out is very different than the point your body actually needs to. It is mastery over the fight or flight reflex…to go beyond where you THINK you can go.

I completely disagree with the specific point in class when everyone takes a “party break” and drinks happily. The drinking of water for me is to replenish necessary fluids when necessary. You should be able to empty the glass then refill it, but nobody can tell you where that place is except your own body….not even the teacher. I believe the “water break” is the place the teachers decided it was ok to allow everyone to come out of the mediattion so as not to have individual distractions happening to the group as each individual person says to themselves “I need a drink here…or here…or here.” The calss would constantly have at least one person drinking at all times! Bikram is illustrating that the point of “mental dehydration” may not be the same place as the physical. I have learned through my own practice that by keeping my mouth shut through the entire class, my mouth doesnt get dry. I never would have believed this without doing it because I believed that immediate thirst was where you needed to drink. My fight or flight reflex told me I must cater to my every whim and keep the discomfort of a little thirst away. The teachers at my studio complain that the owner keeps telling them to leave the fans on too long….he is balancing the true practice heat levels with what he believes will drive away customers because this is just “too hard.” My point is that you should welcome the “too hard” and oddly enough you would find your true physical limitations if you actually “fall down backward.” I am absolutely not saying this is for everyone, and yoga is not supposed to be a horrible experience. However I learned a long time ago that for me there was a huge difference between what I thought would kill me and what actually would. What I was actually doing was avoiding any discomfort in order to make my life better. I used to smoke heavily. I tried quitting many times using every method available to “ween off.” The only method that worke dfor me was one day mentally saying “my body does not need this….

I have transitioned over to not using water during class, and have noticed many benefits to doing so. As a rule, I keep a bottle of frozen water near my mat in case I am having one of those days that I cannot make it without a small drink, however this has only happened once, and there was a good chance I was not fully strong in the class anyway.

I have found that it is far easier to continually breathe through my nose and remain calm without water. As a matter of fact, provided you keep your mouth closed through-out class, you have far less “dry-mouth” without drinking water than if you do. I find that drinking sips of water not only breaks concentration but also is counter-productive because it makes you more thirsty. It is far more difficult to pass up the sips of water later in the exercise if you took the “aqua-asana” because your body is creating a mental state that is feeling panicked and dehydrated. I really believe this is a mental addiction, much like the craving of a cigarette if you are a smoker. You don’t really need it, but instead you have trained yourself to treat it as a small celebration or break. Bikram is about achieving a combined physical and mental state that defeats the “fight or flight” response….it trains you to not panic in a situation that seems as though you should. Think about the “throat fully choaked” when you cannot breathe correctly and begin to panic due to the lack of breath. In reality, you are training yourself to go past that panic and realize the actual physical limitations of your body….not the mental ones. The two are actually far different, and the place that you believe your body cannot go past is actually not even close to the place it actually can go once you defeat pain and panic. Water is the same….you are not going to die without it.

As a side note….when you allow yourself to drink that cool water after your final savasana, it tastes like champagne! 🙂