Bikram Yoga In The Woodlands

Ruby

2007-09-02T02:53:00.001-05:00

We mentioned on our first day in Honolulu that we saw our friends Mardy and Jeff. I will post a bit more about them later but I wanted to mention them again because we ran into them again on Kauai at a trail head on the North Shore. We made plans to meet the next day and we picked this cute coffee shop on the side of the road. We have found that we lean towards the locally owned shops because well we are a local shop owner kind ourselves. This coffee shop was an Internet cafe as well. You could see the locals coming in for coffee checking their email or just catching up on the local surf report. The buzz in the small cafe today was about the big bad ferry that is about to start running from the many islands. I could see their point, more cars allowed on the island, more visitors, more chaos to the perfect garden that secretly they do not want any New York investor to develop. As the soft conversations moved around the shop, we could not help but notice the shop owner's daughter fluttering around. She wore a silky kimono that as she danced to her own rhythm got unbuttoned to allow for air conditioning. It was time to prepare for a party, Ruby announced to every person in the shop. She would kindly and not so kindly approach your table and announce, you must move. We have a party to get ready for and your table is in the wrong spot. Table by table people would get up and let Ruby move their table to the "right" spot. (Usually only a few inches from the current placement) As Ruby approached our table we didn't move as fast as the other patrons. In the loudest voice she could muster, she roared, you and you get up NOW! Don't you know that we must get ready for the party! We helped her move our table as Dad kept taking orders and ignoring the imagination show that Ruby had so prepared for our entertainment. Jeff and Mardy met us there and they too got the privilege of having Ruby dance around our table and create drums on our backs to her pretend music. The world was hers to play in and we were brought in just to be a part of her play for the day. With our scratched backs and a few laughs later, we walked out and pondered the joy of freedom to create your own play. Although we wanted to be a little annoyed with Ruby, it was much more a reminder for us to learn to let go of our pretension and use our imagination and begin to create the world as we want it, one act at a time.

Living at the end of the rainbow.....

2007-09-02T02:39:00.000-05:00

I know we all grew up singing or have atleast heard of the song. It is always somewhere under the rainbow. Didn't you wonder where that was? I alway thought it was in the creek at the end of my street that my parents would never let me explore. Well, I was wrong. It truly is here in Hawaii. Almost every day we have seen atleast one rainbow and in the photo above we were blessed with two. It is the Disneyland of gardens that you have always wanted to explore and now get the chance to do so. We have spent time exploring the North Shore, the East Shore , the South Shore and tomorrow we will explore the West Shore better known as the Napli Coast. In "THE BOOK", there is only one that everyone uses call the Ultimate Kauiai Guidebook, this hike we are doing tomorrow is the must see of all hikes. It is about 11 miles so it will be an all day adventure. Until then, I will put a few highlights of the last week for your review.......

Blogger Shut Us Down

2007-08-29T12:37:00.000-05:00

Well, as it seems, we have been a popular read the last few weeks. Apparently so much that it appeared that we were a spam posting so they shut us down for a few days until they could prove we are real people. I am pretty sure when they saw our goofy photos on the plane that they not sure what to think.......I guess we are real folks because we are back up!

Teacher Training Flashback

2007-08-27T04:00:00.000-05:00

I know it has been four years but once you walk into a room full of atleast 200 people you kind of get lost it in all. I am sure you thought we fell in a puddle of sweat and lost all consciencousness and were worried sick? Not so bad as that but it seemed like the last few days in Honolulu were fast and furious. Just a few picutures to see how class went for some...

The last photo is of one of the students daughters being spun around like an airplane in floor bow posture. If we could all have her flexibility who would need a hot room! I guess some of the students here are that lucky....

Arnie and I are almost to these positions after just one week of advance training! With us teaching you when we get back you too can look like these guys! :)

At one point this week, I thought, why are we here when we could be in the comfort of our 105 degree studio? Well, Bikram was is a great mood most of the week and class ended up being a lot of fun. There were days when it would have been a bit difficult to follow if you had never taken advance before but there were a few "teaching" days that gave us all time to "try the right way".

As always, with anything to do with Bikram, there are always something that happens. Since the training, is in the lobby of a hotel,yes, you can stand in the lobby and see through the windows as the students strut or show their stuff. (Let's just hope the stuff is a posture and not something else....) Yes, please wear short that cover all the basis! Anyway, strange as it is, the hotel has units that are individually owned and people live there. You can image what kind of scene we are in the midst of their "peaceful" Hawaiian lifestyle. Several residence wonder down during class to make sure the doors are not open. This is the worst for the students since the yoga room has NO ventalation and we rely on the days the Bikram allows the door to be cracked to let in some air. The lobby mind you is open to the outside so it is not airconditioned but it is much cooler than in the room. I kept wondering what was the big deal with the door opening, we are not waisting their electricity. I finally come to understand that the residence wanted the door shut due to the smell! Yes, and they would kick whatever was keeping the door propted open to make their point!

One thing for sure there was never a dull moment.....

Advanced Classes

2007-08-23T15:12:00.001-05:00

I know you are all wondering about yoga. That is why it has taken us a few days to post on the blog. We did miss the first couple of days due to some communication errors but that was resolved quite nicely and gave us some time for sightseeing. I really don't know what to say but HOT. Have you ever walked around with a wet towel covering your face and tried to breathe? Now take that same towel and tie tightly around your head and do 4 hours of yoga......enough said.

The "Other" side of the tracks......

2007-08-23T14:28:00.000-05:00

Monday we took a tour of the "Other side" of the Island. The west side. It is a very interesting change to the east side. The air is dry, the mountainside is dry, and it looks like the checkbook on this side is dry too. Many peoples homes consist of cardboard boxes, tents, and a fishing line. They all fish for food and live on a beachfront community. Fresh food and community sounds like a pretty great way to live.....maybe they are happier in life than many of us. As you drive north along the west coast, the pavement ends and a dirt road exists for much of the way to the point. We drove a ways down, parked and hiked the remaining 2 miles or so. The coastline breathtaking and quiet.

At the end of the road where Arnie performed the most amazing tasks, balancing on a rock doing tree pose sideways-- look above, amazing. Anyway, the rocks above Arnie are where the seals come to sunbath. We met up with a native that told us that there are only 1200 seals around Hawaii, they are all numbered and named. Only a little over 100 live on the Island of Oahu. We bouldered hopped around played in the ocean and returned back from the "Other Side".

Oh yeah, Dad on the way back we discovered the field of poles....Very interesting government experiment being done on this Island.

Nestled Safely Under the Canopy of Bamboo

2007-08-19T03:24:00.000-05:00

This morning we decided to drive around the entire Island to get a overview of what we would like to do for the week aside from any yoga. We started pretty early for the two of us, around 7 am but by the time we showered, packed, and studied our handy-dandy Insiders Guide it was around 9 am. We snuck by the yoga room, they were do a pre-training class to set out for breakfast. We ate under the trees at the edge of the beach. By the way, I forgot to mention, on the way here we drove through Rodeo Drive of Hawaii. I have never seen so many beautiful upscale stores in one street. Note to self, we must go back and walk the strip at some point of the trip. Anyway breakfast was ok but the scenery amazing....

We left Breakfast and climbed down a very steep lava rock to watch kids jump off a cliff into the ocean. My feet and hands (this is Jen) were beyond sweating!!! It was crazy to watch them fall and have to wait for the waves at just a perfect point to get to a place to climb back up. One of the girls did not have the strength to climb out and a friend had to help her. She was literally drug over a lava rock to safety. I guarantee Mom I will not be doing that!

The day was incredibly beautiful. We stopped by a cemetery that have a replica of a Buddhist temple. The grounds were perfectly manicured and once you entered it truly felt like you were away from it all. This is where we found the bamboo. There were a cluster of bamboo stalks around that created a path you could walk through. As you entered, the wind blowing the stalks against each other created a sound much like a wind chime. Here in the beauty you felt safe, protected and knowing that was music to our ears (literally)

Before Sunset we stopped over at the North Shore. You will be hearing a lot more about this side of the Island, it is somewhere we want to come back to again over the week.

Until then Aloha

Hawaii bound......

2007-08-19T02:58:00.001-05:00

We left Friday for our adventure travels to Hawaii, now know to us as the epic of Polynisian shopping and shrimp trucks. The eight hour flight filled us with movies, videos, food, and a few funny photos.

Although Hawaii is within the 50 nifty, you soon notice that it is an island and not part of the mainland. We discovered this early in our trip in the rental car line. After you check in for your car, you leave to go to the parking lot to pick the car of your choosing. NOT. You leave inside to a mob of interesting characters outside. All travelers must wait for a previous customer to drop their car off and then for the car to go through the car wash before you can get your car. If you happen to rent a SUV, as we did, then your wait is much longer than the wait for the Impala. A family of 6 waited for over 1 hour for a van, we were so lucky to only have to wait for 50 minutes.

We arrived to Jamba Juice after the drop of blood sugar from the car rental line wait, only to see our friends Mardy and Jeff walking down the street! How fun to be in a different city and see a familar face. We arrived to the Hotel to find the most spectacular view from our room. Breakfast on the balcony will be a favorite spot for the week.

Exhausted, since it is 5 hours behind, we crawled into bead at 3 am Houston time.

Advanced in Honolulu

2007-08-16T10:44:00.000-05:00

Jen and Arnie, the studio owners at BYTW will be packing up and heading to Honolulu, Hawaii to participate in yet another round of Advanced Posture Training. They will be taking over the blog while in HI to give us a stretch by stretch account of their experience.

Advanced Recovery

2007-08-15T16:00:00.000-05:00

Not to this point yet, but something to strive for in the future. I believe they'll be back next spring for another week long adventure in flex. It makes the beginning class seem so easy and when you feel like you can't do another second in floor bow, thinking of this will help you push through to the end.

Photo: Cynthia Wehr

Advanced Postures

2007-08-02T10:31:00.000-05:00

I really need to post here a bit more frequently.

Looking back at the few posts I see it was in the early part of May that I went to Austin, Texas to take and Advanced series workshop with Jason Winn. Now three months later I find myself going again. This week at BYTW the studio owners Jen and Arnie brought in Cynthia Wehr and Ky Ha the female and male 2007 Yoga Champions to teach those interested in competing or just taking their practice to the next level. To re-iterate, this is seven days of the Bikram's beginning class followed by the advanced series, not just a double.

Cynthia and Ky are wonderful teachers and have such a good attitude towards the students who are trying to make a go of these advanced postures. So with a lot of laughs, praise and exhaustion we're pushing forward to day five this evening.

Memorial Day Weekend

2007-05-29T18:33:00.000-05:00

I love the big class and since the studio only had one class on Monday (the 9:30am) it was HUGE. So much energy in a big class, everyone moving together not that I have time to look around, you know trying to stay focused. Arnie taught the Memorial day class and as usual it was great. Later in the week last week (is that how you would put it) I was able to get a class in with the visiting teacher Ulricha (I've butchered her name) the basics are she went to training with one of our teachers in the fall of 2006. She's if from Germany and she does an awesome job, plus the change and the accent are marvelous.

Getting psyched up to do a Memorial day to Labor day challenge, unofficial of course but none the less a challenge. Need to dig up some pics as well, eveyone likes to see pics.

Poses or asanas

2007-05-21T10:27:00.000-05:00

While I realize that Bikram yoga comprises of only 26 postures. Some are easier than others and to make it to the floor postures is goal unto itself on certain days. I hear that some students would rather avoid the breathing exercise which is how it all gets going, if I'm going to avoid a posture I'm going to pick something with a bit more bite. I find myself laughing (in my mind) when I do eagle, I think it should be a rather easy posture but I cannot seem to get that one down. I feel I have at least an average standing bow, balancing stick and even a decent camel but eagle ranks up there with rabbit as far as being able to progress to some sort of point where I feel that I'm at least doing it correctly. Yeah I know, no judgement, but that's like telling the parent of little leaguers not to keep score.

Back in class

2007-05-10T17:00:00.000-05:00

After this weekends advanced series clinic/workshop I went to class on Monday but that was all. Back today after a few days rest and catching up on few website designs and getting some much needed programming done on a project I've been working on for the past few weeks.

I did get notified that Bikram Yoga the Woodlands is up for vote in the Best of Citysearch, so I've been getting the word out to anyone I know that can take few moments to click a button. Good stuff.

What was I thinking?

2007-05-07T09:26:00.000-05:00

This past Sunday, a few of us from the studio traveled to Austin to attend an Advanced Series Clinic at the Davenport Bikram Yoga studio taught by Jason Winn. I was not prepared for the 6 plus hours of "extreme" yoga. We drove in Sunday morning which meant getting up around 4am to be in class at 9am for the "normal" class followed by 4 and half hours of advanced postures. An extreamly humbling experience overall but definently worth it, even though my mind and body will be paying for over the next few days.

On the positive side, today's regular class at BYTW should be a piece of cake. See ya on the mat.

Rajashree Choudhury

2007-05-03T19:10:00.000-05:00

Rajashree Choudhury taught the Bikram's Beginning Workshop this past Saturday and Sunday at Bikram Yoga The Woodlands. It was an amazing two days, hearing what she had to say on the benefits of each of the 26 poses really helps put the method with action.