How Bikram Yoga can help with New Year Resolutions!

The tradition of New Year’s Resolutions goes all the way back to 153 B.C. Janus, a mythical king of early Rome was placed at the head of the calendar.

Every year there are top 10 New Year’s resolutions that usually look the same. Why the same? Because they’re just so hard to keep.  But you are 10 times more likely to succeed if you do make those resolutions.  We want to help you to stick with the resolutions with a help of Bikram Yoga. The list of changes can be as little as: TOP 1 – Join a Bikram Yoga class – all other resolutions will be so much easier to accomplish! We promise!

1) Quitting smoking

"I decided once and for all to quit smoking on July 10, 2006 and walked into my first Bikram class the following day. I have not had one cigarette since, and only experienced one craving all year, which passed rather quickly. I had tried to quit so many times, and Bikram Yoga was my answer” .Research says that quitting smoking is about small, successive steps instead of one huge, giant leap. Getting into routine and replacing unhealthy habits with healthy ones will help you put out those cigarettes for good. Planning for how to handle obstacles is one of the biggest hurdles. Instead of going out for drinks / smokes with friends, bring them into yoga. Once you build your life around improving your yoga practice, little changes will come naturally and the small, successive decision to quit smoking will become easier.

Not only will adding yoga to your routine leave less time in the day for a smoke, it will show you the state of your lungs in the breathing exercises. As you regularly practice Bikram Yoga your lung capacity will improve, helping to flush out the toxins in your body from years of abuse! A yogi from Bikram Yoga White Rock testified, “Bikram Yoga has changed my life, I would recommend it for anyone struggling to quit smoking because once you step into the heated room and realize how sick your lungs really are, you will not touch another cigarette again.”

2) Get into a habit of being Fit

If you have tried all kinds of exercises – running, aerobics, weight lifting – and you can’t seem to get back there. Try Bikram Yoga! Some people think Yoga will tone you a little but nothing major.  Bikram Yoga is a full body workout – it works your body from bones to your skin. There are people in our studio who come here 5 times a week every week for years and they say it’s a addiction for them. Well,  isn’ t that great – You get addicted to a workout that makes you healthier, more fit, helps to lose bad habits. Bikram Yoga is a slow medicine according to Dr. Divi Chadna. He says, “It is slow medicine but it is the best medicine.”

Not only will you experience physical change while practicing Bikram Yoga but you will also experience positive mental and emotional changes as well.  So if you want a fit body and a fit mind then we recommend a higher intensity at first - 5 times a week for 3 months - and then you can continue from that point on at 3 times per week to maintain the improvements you have made in your body.

3) Lose Weight – The Battle of the Bulge

It is so easy to stop paying attention to how you eat, have too many beers, extra lattes every day. You want to lose weight – here are 5 steps from Bikram Yoga studio in Vancouver!

*Find your BMI and your ideal caloric intake per day.

*Go to the doctor and have your vitals checked. Get your weight, cholesterol, blood pressure, and have some blood work done to check if you have any other low vitamin/mineral levels in your diet like iron or vitamin D.

*Fill out your Bikram Yoga Progress Chart to begin to keep track of the state of your body and mind. Get control of your meals and add any missing vitamins and minerals to your diet.

*After you've taken all the initial steps, start and fully commit to coming to Bikram Yoga class 5 times a week for 3 months no matter what is going on in your life.

*Make sure you maintain proper eating habits and help track what you eat via mobile apps such as Lose it! or websites like the LIVESTRONG calorie counter.

*Visit the doctor every 30 days to check your vitals and update your progress chart.

According to The Biggest Loser, people undergoing vigorous workout while controlling diet portions should lose an average of 2 lbs per week. Start with this as your goal and don't get discouraged if you body takes longer - just be honest with yourself and commit to doing the best you can.

4) Enjoy Life More

“My Bikram Practice opened my eyes to enjoy life more. It works like magic. Sometimes I have some questions I don’ t have the answers yet. I walk into the class with the questions in my head and by the end of the class, without even thinking about them – I have the answers. I see more colors, know what I want to do in life, know who matters in my life. I know not to sweat the small things. Just Enjoy life and people around you will start to wonder what is your secret? And you can tell them, it is Bikram Yoga”

5) Healthier diet

Bikram yoga will help your body to crave for the right things!  . If you are practicing Bikram regularly, the two-hour no food requirement before class will help you regulate meal times. The compressions of the thyroid throughout the series will also help regulate your metabolism.

If you are planning to make positive changes to your diet we can guarantee Bikram Yoga will help you stick to your regimen. You will choose better foods because your body will crave better foods. You will begin to look at the food you eat as a source of energy (you will need all of your energy some days just to drag yourself back to class). Choosing foods that are packed with energy will mean getting more benefit out of eating less food.

6) Remove stress from your life!

Bikram Yoga Vancouver tells us how Bikram Yoga helps with stress: “Suffer for 90 minutes not a lifetime.” Bikram firmly believes that if you push yourself to 100% of your ability in class then you will prevent a life of suffering from major illnesses, depression/anxiety, and common aches and pain – especially in the spine. Many people think that when life becomes stressful they have no way out. Well, you can’t leave your own life but you can make an effort to be present in it for 90 minutes a day. During this 90 minutes you will have nowhere to go, no one to help you, and no changes can be made other than the way you see yourself and the world. The room will always be hot and your body will always experience some amount of discomfort so the only choice you have is to change the way you think about it.

Once you learn how to relax, accept the moment, and release your expectations in the yoga room these new found insights will spill over into your everyday life. You won't get so riled up by the little problems and anxieties of everyday life and you will find the ability to truly relax in a moment. We recommend Bikram Yoga as a buffer to stress if you commit to a regular practice of 3 times per week after the time of day you feel most stressed out - your mind will be bouncing around with a million different thoughts but the moment you step on your mat the world will become quiet.

7) Learn Something new

If Bikram Yoga is new to you – this will be a simple step to take, just walk into the closest studio. And after doing the yoga it will open your eyes to all kinds of activities you have wanted to do. An in order to learn them all, Bikram yoga builds your patience, determination and concentration. You will be a great snowboarder! You can become or do anything you want and succeed in it!

8) Get out of debt

You will have to spend some money to come take a class. But it is not more expensive than a regular gym membership. Plus if you pay attention to deals, there are always good ones out there. In our studio it is only 30$ for 2 weeks  of unlimited yoga for beginners. You can come every single day and really get to know the yoga.  Also you will have less free time in your day to spend on restaurants, alcohol/bars, and shopping. We are completely aware (and can sympathize) those 90 minutes is a huge time commitment - especially considering the commute to/from the studio and showering/post-yoga coma.

But, if you spend $99/month on a yoga membership and come 5 times a week then each yoga class works out to being $4.95 per class and that is covering about 120 minutes of your day, 50 hours of your week, improving your health, and changing your life! Not to mention the amount of money you will save from your new need to avoid alcohol, caffeine, and eating out at restaurants.

9) Spend more time with family

Doing yoga will help you realize how important your family is! You can bring them to yoga with you and talk about all the amazing benefits after the class. You can all pick up a healthy workout!

At least one day a week sit down to dinner with your family. Eating together, talking together, you can share your successes, and create an atmosphere safe enough to share worries too.

10) Help people

By introducing Bikram Yoga to them you might have given them the new best thing in their life!  And while taking yoga on your own you might become more compassionate and willing to help others. There is many volunteer possibilities in every town. From Snow Angels (cleaning drive-ways from snow) to bringing food to older people! By helping them you are helping yourself develop and become happier!

Here is a list of New Year’s resolutions and how Bikram yoga can help to get through them. Your list might be different from us. Share us in the comments how Bikram Yoga has helped you in everyday life and what problems have you solved. Have a amazing 2012 year, filled with laughter and love!