1. Come in and cool off! Desert living in the summer makes the hot room more tolerable, especially since it's often hotter outside.
2. There are so many activities in the summer - from swimming, golfing, traveling and keeping up with the kids. So don't forget that regular practice at BYPV will keep your physical level at it's best.
3. Summer practice is a great time to improve your postures. The desert heat has you already warmed up by the time you hit the yoga mat. With your muscles heated up, flexibility is achieved faster and you can go into postures more deeply.
4. Every time you take class you re-fill your "gas tank" by hyper-oxygenating the nerves and blood vessels. This helps fight off summer heat sluggishness.
5. You always feel better when you leave, not matter how hot it is outside!
6. Above all, your yoga buddies miss you when you don't practice regularly.

With summer here and temperatures rising, you are at a higher risk of dehydration. Please make sure to hydrate very well before and after class, and replenish your electrolytes!

School's out for summer! So channel your kid's energy into Bikram Yoga. It's something fun and healthy you can do together.

Children ages 12 and older can normally take the full class. At this age, kids tolerate the heat pretty well, varying on their level of physical activity and endurance. And of course the youngsters may take it easy.

BYPV offers 25% off on all packages for kids and currently offer a 5-class package just for kids, 12-years or older, for $60. Please contact us with any questions or concerns regarding bringing your children to yoga.

The more you practice, the more you get to know people. The more you get to know people, the more you chat and catch up on each other's lives. This is a wonderful thing - but not if you are talking in the hot room.

Notice that many practitioners set up their mats and immediately assume Savasana, start stretching or otherwise arrange themselves on their mats. They are meditating, clearing their minds and otherwise getting themselves focused and ready for class.

So remember to show respect to fellow practitioners by taking conversations out into the lobby, locker rooms or outside. Thank you!

Don't forget about Pop on Sunday, June 21. In celebration of Father's Day, BYPV invites practitioners, who currently are on a package plan, to bring any male in their lives to enjoy free classes on Sunday, which will follow the normal class schedule.

If you've missed seeing Stella Zagori around practicing, then you don't know that she has been in Palm Desert for Bikram Yoga Teacher Training. Stella will be home soon, bullet-proof, with bright shining eyes and ready to take to the podium with her style presenting the dialogue as she instructs our classes.

She'll also be welcomed by a big, fat debt, because becoming a Bikram Yoga instructor takes more than desire - it requires several thousand dollars and is quite expensive. That's why this month's Karma Classes will go towards Stella's teacher training costs.

BYPV is proud to have encouraged so many new teachers and helping out with Karma Classes is a way for students to acknowledge their support as well. Monthly Karma Classes are held each Friday, at 6:30 p.m. A $10 (or more) donation to the monthly cause is encouraged.

Bikram Yoga is a form of exercise that is often described as rehabilitative therapy and falls into the preventative care area of physical activity. Because of this you may qualify for tax and insurance deductions.

Depending on your employer and/or health insurance provider, you may be eligible for reimbursement of some costs you spend on yoga. You should also contact your tax accountant to see if you can save money on federal and state income taxes.

This is because Bikram Yoga saves on the costs of doctor, emergency and hospital fees. It also helps practitioners have an active, healthy and youthful lifestyle.

Contact your health care provider, insurance agent and employer to learn if you qualify for a reduction in their fees. If there are questions about the healthful benefits of Bikram Yoga, have the provider call the front office at 602-971-6999 and visit both www.bikramyogaaz.com and the official Bikram Yoga site at www.bikramyoga.com.

All you have to do is make a telephone call to learn if Bikram Yoga can save you money, while giving you the peace, balance and exercise you need and love.

Laima has practiced Bikram Yoga for more than two and a half years. Her daughter was already practicing and brought her to a class.

She continued practicing because she wanted to improve her body, have a happy soul, get rid of pain in my knees, back, and neck and increase overall flexibility.

As a result, she lost 38 pounds, in addition to getting a tight butt and abs and increasing flexibility. Laima says her practice has increased her body tone, eliminated most body pain, lowered her blood pressure and got rid of her asthma symptoms.

The Klaipeda, Lithuania native says the Eagle Pose is her favorite because it releases tension.

"It changed my lifestyle," Laima says about Bikram Yoga.

Your spines are so happy now after the spine-strengthening series, "and so, like the Phoenix rising from its own ashes, come up from your face-down relaxation and begin please..."

Kneel down "Japanese-style" with your knees and feet together. Keeping the knees together, separate your feet, and sit your hips on the floor in between your heels. As a beginner, you may need to separate the knees at first, and start to bring them back together once you are into the posture. For many people, especially men, this posture can be so difficult in the beginning, even to get the hips on the heels. But if you persist in trying the right way, a day will come when you can, and you will feel like you have conquered Mount Everest!

Once your hips touch the floor between the heels, make sure the heels STAY touching the hips as you go down. Put your hands onto your toes, thumbs inside, fingers outside of the foot. Slowly bend the right elbow down to touch the floor, then the left elbow. Once both elbows touch the floor, drop your head back all the way, and when the head touches the floor, bring the back of the head to touch the floor, then the neck, shoulders, eventually whole upper body relaxed on the floor.

When your upper body is relaxed on the floor, bring your arms over your head, grab the opposite elbows over the head, and pull them down towards the floor. Your arms are framing the face. Tuck your chin into your chest to get your neck flat on the floor, and then lift your chest and abdomen up towards the ceiling. The higher you lift your chest- the more medical benefit you receive to the spleen.

Make sure that your knees are never coming up off of the floor. If they do, it is typically a sign that you are doing too much too soon. Be patient - remember the right way is the hard way. If your knees have separated, begin to bring the knees back together, eventually touching each other. Hold for 20 seconds, and then come up slowly, using the elbows and the hands for support. Turn around and lay on your back for Savasana.

Common Mistakes and Tips

• Often students with "bad knees" or past knee injuries will avoid this posture because it hurts like hell. If this is you, this is the posture you NEED THE MOST!
• It is common to get "stuck" at the point when the elbows are both touching the floor. For the first few classes this is legitimate because you are stretching all the muscles from the chest, abdomen, hips, thighs, calves, and feet. But after a few days, freezing in this position is just plain FEAR. Summon your courage and begin to go more deeply into the posture.
• Once you drop the head back, it is common to tense up or become afraid of going any deeper. Just RELAX, and begin to put the shoulders on the floor.
• It is easy to become desperate to get out of this pose, but you MUST come up slowly, exactly the opposite the way you went down. Protect your body: it's the only one you get!

Benefits

• Helps cure sciatica, gout, rheumatism in the legs, lower back pain, and varicose veins.
• Slims the thighs, firms the calf muscles, and strengthens the abdomen.
• Strengthens and improves flexibility of lower spine, knees, and ankle joints.
• Beneficial for the spleen- a filter for the lymphatic system- helping the liver as well as strengthening the entire immune system.

email: info@bikramyogaaz.com

phone: 602.971.6999

web: http://www.bikramyogaaz.com