This is a post from our lovely Bikram teacher Ivanka...

Garurasana or Eagle pose is the 3rd in the Bikram yoga series. If you can do the 4 postures to this point, the rest of your class will be strong and balanced.

Eagle pose is about compression. It will affect your reproductive organs, adrenal glands, and major joints. Twisting and flexing leg and hip muscles will increase fertility , libido, and intensify the pleasure involved with these 'acts'.

Garurasana begins the cardio part of the class, so pay attention to your breathing; slowing down your exhales will keep you calm.

This compression opens up the 14 major joints in your body: ankles, knees, hips, deltoids, scapula, elbows and wrists - 7 on each side.

Eagle pose alignment

The correct alignment for this Bikram pose can be difficult for beginners, people who have suffered physical trauma, and those who have more muscle bulk.

1. First, to correct arm alignment, relax your arms and cross elbows high. Bring your palms together, and pull your elbows down. The idea is to one day have your hands in prayer. This opens deltoid, scapula, elbows and wrists.
2. Second, you have to sit down DEEP! The lower you can bend the knees and bring down the hips, the better, keeping the upper body leaning back (picture yourself sitting in a chair). Keep the standing leg bent as deeply as possible to bring the other leg over as high as possible - the higher, the better. This also will help bring the foot behind the ankle. When it feels 'easy', you have to sit down and squeeze legs tight to create compression, especially if you are flexible. Once your knees are in line, your hips will go down more - don't push your knees down or forward because you will create too much pressure in the knees. Instead, sit back the hips, upper body back more (still in a chair).

In Eagle pose, as with any other Bikram yoga pose, it is important to visualize the ideal while working within your own body.

If you move with precision and intent, you will gain all the healthy and the 'fun' benefits Garurasana has to offer!

~Ivanka

Remember, dear students, positive energy and positive thoughts are very powerful!  

When you and others in the room decide to emit positive energy, you all attract benevolent feelings, healing and abundance.

If you find yourself feeling negative, or your thoughts are on repeat negatively about you or anyone else in the room (including the teacher!) then YOU are creating that, YOU always have the choice to turn it around.

Funny thing is, especially you challengers will notice, as you DO more yoga, feeling good will start to become what you are all the time!!!

Practicing Bikram Hatha yoga clears you and helps you deflect any negative energies that can weigh you down. Some things in life you cannot figure out and aren’t meant to (at least not right this second), so instead, use the power of your CONCENTRATION in class to get you through the toughest times. 

If the person next to you is somehow unnerving you or annoying you, concentrate more on your locked knee, or your eyes in the mirror, or, always, practice breathing more slowly!

Remember, “if you let anyone steal your happiness or peace away from you, you are the loser.”  ~ Bikram

Go with the flow, nothing is perfect, everything is just as it is meant to be!!! 

 xox Amanda

Image source: Grant Cochrane / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image source: Bikram's Yoga College of IndiaThe awkward pose in the Bikram yoga set is great for toning and shaping the legs, while stimulating the liver, spleen, intestines and pancreas. It helps to relieve rheumatism and arthritis in the legs, cure slipped discs and tackle other problems in the lower spine by re-aligning the legs.

Our visiting teacher from Montreal, Miranda, shares her tips for making the most of this Bikram pose.

First part

Make sure your heels stay behind your toes invisible in the front mirror for the entire duration of the posture. There's a tendency for the heels to try to turn in or out so pay attention. Think of it! Keep your feet in alignment.

Start with a straight spine and sit down like your sitting in a chair too far behind you. This takes pressure off the knees.

Then begin to backward bend, your entire spine weight always on the heels. Keep your abdominal muscles nice and tight - this contraction supports and protects the spine.

Second part

Heels invisible behind the toes! You are leaning against the wall!

In the set up pay close attention and really stretch your whole spine, chest, and head up towards the ceiling. You align yourself for the posture in the set up. This is how you get proper form.

With spine straight, sit down on the chair. Lift the knees up. Sitting down with the hips while simultaneously lifting the spine, chest, head and knees up creates balance in this posture.

Third part

The key to all the Bikram asanas is the breath. You must breathe going down and coming up from this posture.

Make sure you start with your heels invisible behind your toes! Suck your stomach in the whole time to support your spine. Same principle as the second part -  the stretching up with the spine and chest creates the counter balance for sitting down. Go as far as you can keeping your knees together.

On the way up try to keep your spine straight and maintain control, looking only at one point. Take a deep breath on the way up. This extends and opens the ribcage, supporting the chest, straightening the spine.

Enjoy! ~ Miranda (visiting Bikram teacher extraordinaire)

Half Moon Pose Tip

This Bikram posture will change your life!  Your shoulders are likely to burn when you work hard, this will help to eliminate frozen shoulder, heal asthma, but you need to put the work in! Keep your thighs and hips (butt) contracted -  squeeze it! Keep always trying to put your arms behind your ears, and extend first up to the ceiling. Chin up, focus one point in the mirror, and always feel EXTENSION as you bring your body down and push your hips to the side...be patient, keep working, feel the changes. What an amazing posture!

Backbending in Half Moon

Make sure to INHALE (which lifts your chest/heart towards the ceiling) and then look back, stretch back, go back, (always pushing your hips forward towards the mirror) way back and try to touch the wall behind you!  As you are progressing in this posture, you will continuously be INHALING short breaths as you gain more back bending flexibility...The inhale is what helps you to lift the chest/heart...This awareness prevents too much compression and improves the opening of the spine and lungs!

There are always layers to work through in your Bikram yoga practice.

Physical, emotional and spiritual.

When you practice, something important to remember is that you are working towards creating balance in all of these parts of you. This yoga practice is a type of healing exercise, but it can be overdone or under done like anything else in your life.

I have noticed some of you may be either feeling stuck...

• like you have hit a plateauor
• or you are cramping too often
• or your practice simply does not seem to be improving as fast as you would like or expect

Let us offer words of advice.

Go back to the breath

In every Bikram posture, concentrate on breathing in slow and exhaling slow so you continuosly develop a connection to your life force, your lungs, as you move in and out of posture. This is a process of mastery, and over time with practice, you will feel tremendous results in all levels of your practice.

If you are consistently having trouble with a certain posture, applying more breath awareness will help you to overcome. We as people have a hard time believing that it can be that simple. We have been conditioned that life is difficult, hard work, push harder. The tricky part is that you and your mind are constantly fighting, and surrendering to working on breath may seem like not doing enough. Little do we know that is what it is all about.

Your breath is the link, the power that connects all of your system's intelligence together. Just think of it -  if you stop breathing, you die. How powerful is that! How we have underestimated the power of breath.

By focusing on your breath, you will learn to quiet the mind. By quieting the mind, you will hear the answers you seek.

Concentration, determination, self- discipline, faith and trust. All of these levels of self-realization will develop within you, if you simply, apply the breath:)

namaste,
Amanda

Image source: federico stevanin / FreeDigitalPhotos.net