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Bikram yoga — lots of posturing
Young and old train in triple-digit heat to increase flexibility for lengthy workouts
By
January 16, 2011
Practice 90 minutes, five days a week in a room heated to 105 degrees, and you might be able to imitate what Quinn Morrissey pulled off Saturday: a yoga posture called "The Scorpion."
On a carpeted stage with 300 people observing in silence, 13-year-old Morrissey kneeled with her face toward the ground and her palms flat. She then hoisted her legs up and over her body until her feet rested on the back of her own head.
In short, she was bent over like the stinger of a long-tailed African arthropod.
Quinn righted herself, clasped her hands, bowed, and the crowd applauded.
She was one of four Stockton girls - and dozens more men and women - to show off their Bikram yoga skills during a regional competition at University of the Pacific.
"We don't have as much focus as adults, but we're flexible," Quinn said backstage after sharing hugs with her competitors.
Bikram yoga is a variation of traditional yoga best known for intense heat. While the theater in which contestants performed Saturday was kept at room temperature, Bikram workouts are typically held in 105-degree heat to aid in flexibility and oxygen delivery to the body.
Bikram is also more structured than "regular" yoga, with 26 set postures to be performed during those workouts.
Helena Monica, 45, opened Stockton's first Bikram yoga studio on Pacific Avenue nearly three years ago.
She used to run six miles a day, until her knees were shot. She found yoga, and later learned about Bikram.
"I never left," she said.
Instructor Kaci Reed works with Morrissey and the other girls.
"They're very dedicated," she said. "We're asking a lot of these young girls."
Asking a lot, indeed. They've been molded into human rubber bands, practically able to kiss their own toes when they stretch. Stockton's Brooke Stevenson, 13, leaned the top half of her body backward to a 90 degree angle. Jade White, 13, sat down and maneuvered one leg up and over the back of her head.
"When I first came to the class I couldn't move 2 inches," she said later.
"I just stood there," added her friend, 12-year-old Atea Stefani of Petaluma.
Hannah White-Dobbs, 13, performed one posture that requires no description: the splits. She hopes other young people will be attracted to yoga, which supporters are lobbying for inclusion as an Olympic sport.
"I'm thinking about teaching yoga," White-Dobbs, who lives in Stockton, said. "There's no way to explain it. It's like a second family."
Contact reporter Alex Breitler at (209) 546-8295 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (209) 546-8295 end_of_the_skype_highlighting or abreitler@recordnet.com. Visit his blog at recordnet.com/breitlerblog.
What is Bikram yoga?
• Variation of traditional yoga
• Series of 26 poses performed in a room heated to 105 degrees
• Heat allows for more flexibility
• Poses strengthen muscles and joints
• Stockton Bikram studio owner Helena Monica calls the 90-minute workouts an "internal cleansing" of the body.
To learn more, visit bikramyoga
stockton.com
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