A Weekend to Remember – Special Events Sat, Apr 28th (with Ida!) & Sun, Apr 29th

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to bring you a special day with Ida Ripley, Saturday, April 28th!

The 3 pm class is cancelled to make room for Ida’s best FAQ session Workshop...more details to come.

Plus, Ume's Kitchen will be open all day providing amazing fresh, energizing foods to supplement your day with the lovely and inspiring yoga champ.

Everyone is welcome!

Please also note that the 3pm and 5 pm classes will be cancelled on Sunday, April 29th for the Hatha yoga competition. Get out there and support your local Winnipeg yogis!

How to Rock Triangle Pose (Trikanasana) Courtesy of Alexis

This Bikram yoga posture is exactly half way through the class; every posture up to this point has been preparation to do the Triangle Pose. It’s the only posture in the world which uses 100% of your body: every muscle, joint, organ, and major gland! It's a marriage between your heart and lungs. I like to refer to it as the peak of the mountain!

Health Benefits

• It improves every single bone, muscle, joint, tendon and internal organ, and it revitalizes nerves, veins and tissues.

• Flexing and strengthening the last five vertebrae in this posture can alleviate crooked spines, as well as rheumatism and lower back pain.

• Triangle Pose also benefits the heart and lungs by forcing them to work together.

Alexis' Tips for Rocking this Bikram pose:

• Make sure you take a very big step; you should be clearing your towel and mat.

• Your heels are in exactly the same line, so take advantage of those blue lines!!

• Arms are far back; OPEN YOUR CHEST like a flower petal is blooming.

• The lower you sit, the better. When you move both arms at exactly the same time, the elbow should be EXACTLY in front of the knee. That way you don’t have to move your upper body so much to get your fingertips in between the big toe and second toe. This creates a triangle in between your chest and right thigh.

• It's very important to engage your thigh opposite to the side you’re doing the posture on. Contract your inner thigh muscle and keep your toes on the ground, gripping the carpet, preventing slipping.

For Hot Yoga Beginners and Tight Hippers:

• Don’t worry, you’ll get there : ). This yoga pose takes tremendous patience and never ending determination.  If you imagine it, you’ll do it!

• If you can’t sit so low that your femur bone is not parallel to the floor, that’s ok! Just sit as low as you can go and still move your both arms at the same time. Don’t expect your elbow to be in front of the knee; it will get there eventually in the future when your hips open up! But try not to compensate by moving your body down lower. Keep a triangle, between your chest and the right thigh.

Amanda's Tips for Standing Separate Leg Stretching Pose

Bikram Yoga Pose: Standing Separate Leg Stretching (Dandayamana Bibhaktapada Paschimotthanasana)

Our teacher Jodi rockin' this Bikram pose!Who has trouble with this pose? Just about everybody. So first, know the benefits so you can be excited about doing it!

•    Prevents sciatica by stretching and strengthening the sciatic nerves and leg tendons
•    Improves abdominal organ function, especially in the small and large intestine
•    Improves muscle tone
•    Improves flexibility in thighs, calves, pelvis, ankles, hips, and last five vertebrae of the spine

I don’t think there is another posture in the whole Bikram series that is so totally dependent on relaxation as the separate leg stretching pose. First you are going to feel your legs stretching, then your hips, then your spine.

Beginners Start Here:

When you are new, and stiff, simply hanging upside down, letting your spine lengthen is excellent.
If you have trouble grabbing your feet, try grabbing the backs of your calves or your ankles, trying to pull your forehead closer to the floor. You can also try moving your feet in or out, more or less, and then trying to grab your feet, even if it is just the tip of your finger under your foot. You can always at first open your legs more and more, get your hands on the floor in front of you to get your legs stretching.

You’ve got your heels and you want more?

If you can step on all five fingers under your heels, you really must pull to help bring your spine straight down towards the floor.  As you exhale, make sure your knees are locked throughout the posture and roll forward like a wheel, body weight on the toes and try to touch your forehead to the floor between your feet.

Enjoy where you are at with every Bikram pose as the struggles you are experiencing are making you stronger, smarter, and healthier in the process. Enjoy the journey, see you on the mat!

xo Amanda

Vicky's Tips for Balancing Stick Pose

Balancing Stick Bikram Pose or Tuladandasana

This is a post by one of our fab Bikram teachers Vicky...

Photo by Cory AronecThis posture is one of the most exhilarating, yet challenging postures in the Bikram Series. Just like Standing Head-to-Knee Pose and Standing Bow Pulling Pose, bringing the chest parallel to the floor helps to stimulate and bring strength to the heart, which is exactly why it is also known as “heart attack on a stick posture”! Stimulating and increasing blood flow through the arteries, strengthening the heart and preventing any future cardiac problems. Just like Bikram says, “It’s a heart attack in the hot room, so you never, ever have one outside on the street!”

Bikram’s Tip:

“Come down absolutely straight, and use your strength immediately”.

Craig’s Tip:

“Use your eyes to continue the stretch of the spine, the spine stays straight but the eyes look forward”.

Craig Villani says that your set up will determine how well you will perform your posture. Lean back slightly in the set up to stretch up toward the ceiling. Lifting your chest and as you step into the posture lock and contract everything even before you start, this will improve stability in the posture.

~Stretch your arms forward, lifting your shoulders up above your ears.

~Lock your elbows, lock your knees

~Bring your chest down, chin forward, pumping fresh nutrient rich blood all throughout the body.

Tuladandasana stretches the spine, relieving stress from the total spine, top to bottom. It also builds strength in the upper thighs, glutes, shoulders, abdomen, deltoids and ankles, and at the same time stretches the hip joints and the shoulders.

Rajashree Choudhury says that 300 calories are burned in this 10 second posture. That’s how much internal work your body is doing!

Tips to help improve your Balancing Stick

Breathe slow and even! Because this posture is only 10 seconds long, people often try to hold their breath here.

Stomach, stomach, stomach! Stabilizing your core is key in this posture and will help you balance. Remember dead weight is heavy weight, so keep everything contracted and you’ll feel light as a feather.

Imagine like your body is being used in a game of tug-of-war. Your arms and legs should be stretching each other apart in opposite directions!

Benefits of the Balancing Stick Bikram Pose:

This particular Bikram yoga pose improves balance, increases endurance, increases lung capacity, stimulates the heart and arteries (strengthens the heart), helps to clear blockages from arteries helping to prevent future cardiac issues, helps varicose veins, burns fat, relieves tension spine, improves concentration. Physiologically, this posture stimulates the pancreas, liver, spleen, kidneys, and nervous system.

Xo Vicky