Bikram yoga and me. And you?

By Nadene Neale | | Heal with Dr. Neale

These radiographs were taken 4 months apart. THE “intervention” in between radiographs for this patient was – wait for it – Bikram Yoga! 
Exhibit A: Picture it. A crowded room thick with heat, your body dripping and slippery with sweat, your face beet red, other people sweating, breathing and bending next to you, your heart beating out of your chest, your breath barely contained, your reflection in the mirror starring back at you as you silently struggle to hold your body against gravity in more – and yet more – creative ways.
One of my yoga instructors, Kay, often coaches as she guides us through the postures. She says “if you try and give 1% effort the RIGHT way you get 100% of the benefit.” And she goes further to say, “that can probably apply to your life off the mat as well.”
Yes. Yes. Yes. Sometimes you hear people say things and it doesn’t click until it CLICKS!
Side bar. I heard this quote once, “knowledge is a rumor until it lives in the muscle.” My interpretation of this quote is as such: our physical body holds knowledge our mind does not yet appreciate.
When your mind YELLS “no, no more, I’m leaving this room, this is not for me” reference Exhibit A aforementioned, yet your body softly replies “yes, yes you can,” you have a choice to say yes to one. When you say yes to your body, magical things happen. Your body takes over, the resistance of the mind melts away, and you find new physical territory for your mind to expand into.
The knowledge is actually pulled from the body and integrated into the mind. This is – in my humble comprehension – the true soulful playground of mental and physical progress.
But I digress.
So 1% effort… the RIGHT way. Postures take years of practice to master. The truth might be that there is no moment when you say, “Okay, I’ve mastered it. It’s a finished posture.” The trick is to master each step of each posture in sequential order. If you give 1% effort at mastering the exact step of the posture you are on, you get 100% of the benefit of that posture. IT works off the mat too! IF you take 1% effort today towards a goal the RIGHT way. Pow. Boom! CLICK. CLICK. CLICK.
Join me on the mat! February Only! If you hit the mat at home, at a studio, at your gym, at all – send Oksana an email. She will mail you a magnet for each effort you make. Redeem your magnets for a follow up visit with me, Dr. Neale.
Each magnet is valued at $2.50 of a service provided at nuHealth Clinic!
You can also earn magnets from these studios directly!

Point of Balance

Vancouver Wellness Studio
800 Franklin 98660
360-798-0026
Special deal: name drop “nuHealth” and get $10 off any pass purchase! Feb. Only!

Bikram Yoga St. John’s

7025 N. Lombard Street, #200
Portland, OR 97203
(503)505-9805
Special deal: name drop “nuHealth” and get the New Student Special (normally $39) using a “nuHealth Buddy Pass” at $29.*
*For new students only.