on bikram yoga, 26 & 2, “Original” hot yoga, etc…

I regularly get asked if Second Circle is a Bikram Yoga studio, or if our Foundations class is the same as a traditional Bikram class. We are not. It is not. While many studios no longer use the Bikram name because of the myriad scandals involving Bikram Choudhury, the actual practice itself is rarely changed. At Second Circle we believe that Bikram Yoga’s shortcomings do not end with the association to its creator, they extend to the physical practice as well. If you are a student (or teacher) of Bikram we would absolutely love to introduce you to our practice. You will discover Foundations gets you the same magical sensation a good Bikram class does, while incorporating improved bio-mechanics and anatomical understanding.

how foundations happened

After years of teaching Bikram, I felt a deep desire to provide more benefit for my students, to become a more knowledgeable teacher with more to offer. However, I couldn’t find anything inside of the Bikram world that would truly enhance my education. So I started to branch out. I took multiple trainings and immersions and workshops, studied with master teachers from non-Bikram styles, and read a whole bunch of books. And this weird thing happened. I eventually discovered that Bikram Yoga - the method I had taught for years - was filled with obvious and egregious physical problems.

what’s bad

Certain core components of the Bikram Yoga practice have the potential to harm students over the long term. An incomplete list includes:

• Knee locking (this is widely understood to be a bad command and can cause degeneration/maladaptation in the knee and surrounding joints)

• Effort-oriented teaching (“push and push”)

• Prohibitions on props and modifications (human bodies are structurally unique and will not meet all poses identically)

• Arbitrary physical landmarks that do not account for unique body structures (“exactly forehead on exactly knee”)

• Militant style (emotional tension effects the physical practice fundamentally)

• Emphasis on hyper-mobility (“go back, way back, more back,” “go up, way up, more up”)

what’s missing

Bikram Yoga lacks some crucial components of a healthy practice, including:

• Rotational stability (engaged rotations strengthen the core muscles and help stabilize the spine)

• Opening of feet and hands

• Healthy core work (sit ups - particularly when done quickly while tired - are often ineffective as functional core exercises)

• Dedicated shoulder opening/shoulder hunch correction

• Dedicated work on neck and head position

• Dedicated work on foot placement and weight bearing

• Quad stretch of any kind

• Dedicated glute activation

After a long time trying to pigeon-hole these benefits into my Bikram teaching, I realized the only way to do a fully functional, healthy, safe version of the Bikram class was to not do the Bikram class at all. And so Foundations was created. We incorporate all of the good stuff that Bikram provides and toss out what should be improved.

what Foundations incorporated from bikram yoga

• Heat at 105

• Mirrors

• Basic sequence: Breathing, warm-up, balancing, wide-legged, tree, savasana, spine strength, kneeling, closing sequence.

• Limited work on the wrists (we do only a few brief down dog poses)

• Two sets of most poses, particularly standing

• One pose at a time (mostly)

• 90 minute classes available

Foundations has been assessed and informed and revised with the help of numerous physical therapists. We are constantly integrating new information and updating the method to meet the needs of people in the 21st century. It is both a ritual and an evolving practice. In a way, we believe Foundations is what Bikram Yoga could have been if it remained in conversation with the broader world of yoga and body work.

If you’re not convinced, come try it out. If you’re a Bikram Yoga teacher, your first class is on us. It’s offered with love, we’re excited share what we’ve found.

-K