There was a man that went to the Department of Agriculture to find out how to cope with crabgrass that was spoiling his lawn. The department responded with a number of suggestions. The man tried them all, but he could not completely eliminate this crabgrass. Exasperated, he wrote the department again, noting that every method they had suggested had failed. His yard was riddled with crab grass. He got back a short reply: “We suggest you learn to love it.”
This is one of my most favorite stories. Ponder it for a while and you can come up with many great lessons. Our initial reaction may turn inward considering something about ourselves that we just need to accept. Or consider a work situation or circumstance that is undesirable. Perhaps now is the time to stop resisting and begin to manage more positively what is in front of you. Even as parents, we may not like what our kids like, but if it’s not harmful, maybe embracing their passion is a better next step.

A very good friend of mine is a scientologist. She has been for decades and we’ve had several discussions over the years on different subjects at hand and the point of view from scientology. I am a curious monster. Always have been. I absolutely enjoy different perspectives on anything. You could say it is my passion. My friend looks at this story from a very unique point of view. Scientology or Dianetics uses specific language to break down an issue. I am not a scientologist so I can’t recite these words verbatim, but I will summarize. In any situation where there is a break in your reality, where there is a break in your affinity (love of something no matter what degree) or where there is a break in your communication, you must go back to when that first break occurred and label that which you felt. For instance, “I felt violated”, “I felt my integrity being compromised”, “I felt submissive”, or “I felt abandoned” and the list goes on. As we all can agree, when we give a feeling a name, the energy it once had over us is diffused. It doesn’t mean it goes away, but our ability to work with it increases because it does not have the same control over us as it once had.

But, yogis, here is what’s so interesting, According to my friend and scientologist, the discovery of this “break” when unraveled now becomes part of your past and no longer takes the energy away from the moment. And, when we are in the moment we can see and act from that “higher point of view”. Ok, stay with me. As yogis we advance in our evolution of thinking. We are not confined to just the limited views of the mind. Remember, we practice, every day in class, staying present, staying with the breath and over riding the fluctuations of the mind. Advancing yogis are ones with heightened awareness and catch those traps of when we sift information strictly through our own filters of thinking (another term used is ego). Our job as practicing yogis is to align with the higher laws of nature, not the ego. (Wayne Dyer, best-selling author, motivational speaker and student to Bikram Yoga calls the ego, Edging God Out).

So, in deciphering your own disturbing situations (crabgrass) at hand, go back and play detective and notice where the “break” occurred and with no judgment seek to know your raw feeling about it. See if that gives you not just clarity but release. Now take it further, if and when the situation occurs again, you’ll see it for what it is (a part of your past) and without the same reaction see if it enables you to stay in the present moment. In essence, you’ve replaced that stuck energy with consciousness and isn’t that what we want more of! You are in a pure state of being and the harmonious flow of life can come and move through you!

T. Harv Eker, author, Secrets of a Millionaire Mind, uses a great phrase, “if a hundred-foot oak tree had the mind of a human, it would only grow to be ten feet tall.”

The power of the present moment and living with higher consciousness is where greatness lies. Watching the great leaders of our time and quite honestly, studying the personal mentors that I’ve had in my life, I’ve noticed they all have one thing in common – they listen. It is only through detaching from our own narrow patterns of thinking and becoming more present that we can attract to a higher frequency of listening. We become more open and available to information that aids in a higher expression of who we are. We can then do greater things with our lives and for humanity.

As the studio expands to three times its current size in less than 10 weeks, I can’t help but think that it’s really our collective consciousness that has outgrown the size of our current container. Bikram’s gift in the yoga is to wake up and self-realize. Your countless stories have expressed your discovery in how the power of yoga is the very tool needed to “love the crabgrass.” You’ve grown from the inside out. Your work over the last decade has raised a level of consciousness both individually and collectively. And it’s spreading. It’s only fitting that BYSJ follows you and grows in a similar proportion. It’s here where greatness lies!

Michele

For about 10 years, I owned a Saturn SL2, midnight blue, tan leather interior, with those automatic seat belts that they don’t make anymore.  I drove that car for more than 152,000 miles.  I really loved “her” as she gave me no problems at all.  But when it came time to get a new car I was very excited to be getting a brand new BMW! 

I recall the day that I traded in my Saturn.  I was, not surprisingly, still quite sad to be letting her go, as I had a lot of great memories with her.  One of which was especially meaningful as it was the last car I drove in with my mom.  Even now, thinking about her sitting in that car chokes me up.  Corny as it may seem, even a car can stir up important moments of reflection.  And homes, even more so. Think of old homes you used to live in.  The kitchen so tiny with no room to sit, but it was there that you made numerous birthday cakes for your kids when they were young.  Homes can especially hit the heartstrings as we remember several events spent in a single house:  proms; holidays; birthdays; graduations; etc. Bikram Yoga San Jose, as we’ve known it for almost nine years, has been a home to many of us.  And that, too, will soon become a loving memory as we move on.  Don’t get me wrong, our new home next door will be absolutely amazing.   We’ve been ready for a new house for a long time.  As yogis, we know how to constantly evolve.  But like a special Buddha that has cradled our joys and suffering, we can also acknowledge that BYSJ as an entity has held a space for each of us to work through struggle in the pursuit of becoming our best selves.  

I must admit, even as I write this, that I am choking up a bit, as I will miss our BYSJ as we know it today.  I can feel the compassion that flows through that physical container much the same as you would feel it from a best friend of nine years.  Ok, again, perhaps a bit corny here, but at the very least, the studio which is a breathing spirit, is worthy of a newsletter – a gratitude newsletter.  Just before we opened, there were huge thunderstorms with power outages and our studio was robbed.  All the computers and stereo equipment was taken, we failed the plumbing inspection three times, and our yoga room mirrors were installed by a Mick Jagger look-a-like who was incredibly hard to get a hold of during some critical phases of construction, as he only worked after midnight!  But despite the chaos, which was probably a good omen, BYSJ opened beautifully.

My intention from day one was to always keep the yoga room itself free of any words.  No literal pictures; no pieces of information; no distractions.  Just you.  Just all of us in whatever shape, size, color.  Breathing. Together.  It’s been almost nine years now and still today the energy of the room allows freedom for the energy in each of us to move and change.  Lately, my practice has included a strongly humble appreciation for what the room has given to me and to thousands – more likely tens of thousands.  You might know now why we’ve worked so hard to stay here in this shopping complex.  And you might see the obvious reasons of convenience, but an additional reason is to continue growing from the same soil that we started from.  In fact, perhaps our long wait to expand was due in part to the timing of getting access to this perfect space next door.

Thank you teachers, 80, 90, 100, or so of you with your different personalities that throughout the years have led and supported our daily practice.  Do you remember Stephanie Robinson and her one minute backbends in half-moon?  Curt Patton and his “feel the mojo rise?”  Barry Peterson and his contagious smile?  And, who can forget beautiful Lalena and her guided meditation after each class – the best!  And all the guest teachers we’ve had from Mary Jarvis, Lynn Whitlow, Juan Manuel Martin and Michael Harris.  Oh gosh, how blessed we are to have had humorous and educational seminars with both Ren Soriano and Jason Winn, both of whom, sadly, passed away last year.  Thank you to Rick Stevens, Darius LeGalle, Steve Pollock, Chacho Mariscal and of course Chris Canevaro for holding BYSJ together.  Thank you to hundreds of volunteers for giving the studio its daily “TLC”.   And, Mark, Jose, Todd, Min, Linda, for doing the behind the scenes work that keeps BYSJ humming.  I’m certain to have missed many here but trust that as I finish my time within these four walls, I will have encountered you in my thoughts that gave to our growth and success.

It’s impossible to become a healthy business without a village of good people.  Yet, the true measure of BYSJ’s success has more to do with our own personal moments of transformation within the bricks and mortar.  There is where the secret truly lies.  Over the nine years, our individual stories have woven us into a tapestry of collective hearts.  It’s the very reason we get to expand.  As Bikram explains it, “you will grow to the size of your container.”  Well, folks, our container can’t hold us anymore.

So, while we are still here, let’s put together a BYSJ scrapbook of some sort collecting your moments of transformation.  You know, that one moment that gave you an “aha”, or the one that convinced you that you had to keep doing this, or the one that had you feeling bliss after class, fleeting as it may have been.  For me, as the owner, I have so many moments.   I’ve been here for the most part, every day.  I remember a time when I was feeling overwhelmed and meditated on bringing in someone to help me with the studio.  Shortly after, I met BYSJ Manager, Chris Canevaro and knew that he was going to be someone special to me and BYSJ.  I remember being in class knowing that something was very wrong with my health and in cobra pose decided that right after class I would drive to the Urgent Care unit in Palo Alto. Six hours later I had my appendix removed.

Yet, the most inspiring and influential moments are the ones that many of you have generously shared with me:  climbing back to health from recent back surgery, healing from the recent loss of a loved one, attempting to lose the weight gained due to years of work related stress, coping with a divorce and no money, coming back from treatments in chemotherapy, attacking a sudden discovery of cancer.  The list goes on. 

BYSJ has helped all of us keep in perspective that we are not our problems, but instead we are something far beyond the ailments of a frail or aging body.  As that discovery grows with frequent practice, our vibrant spirit over-rides the broken pieces and we begin to feel a lift in energy and a connection to each other.  By sharing your moments of transformation, we can create a uniquely different but yet a collective model for others to read and follow.  Writing really validates our ability to change.  When we say it in a tangible way, it becomes an empowering tool for us to keep going.  We have confidence to do more and we inspire others with our stories of what’s possible. 

Thank you for taking the time to write anything you feel illustrating your moment of transformation at BYSJ:  short or long; joy or sorrow.  It’s a great way to bring BYSJ with us carrying the momentum of what that small studio largely stood for in each of us.

-Michele
email your stories to – michele@bikramyogasanjose.com

It was an afternoon class at Yoga Ladera in Portola Valley, Bill Graham’s studio at the time. I was less than 6 months out of teacher training, living in Walnut Creek, and doing my best to teach as much as I could around the Bay Area while making plans to open BYSJ. After a second set of Halfmoon Pose, this woman from the back row came walking up to me as everyone was waiting for instruction on the next posture, and asked me if I wouldn’t mind keeping my voice down as I was giving her a headache. I’m not kidding. It’s one of those classes, or rather one of those moments, in my life that I will never forget. I recall just saying “Thank you” and then watching her walk back to her mat. I continued without much change and she continued doing the yoga and remained in class.

Not long ago, I was teaching a fairly large class when this couple came in late and stood in the back row by the door directly in front of me. They caught up and blended in with everyone else until I began to make some Bikram comments. Nothing that members such as yourselves haven’t heard, like “mind over the matter,” “having means nothing unless you know how to use it,” or, use your “bull dog determination”, etc… As I scanned the room continuing the commentary, I was shocked to see a now angry face on the woman who arrived late, as she aggressively mouthed the words “that’s not true” to me over and over again, making sure that I was getting what she said. Oh dear. Of course, my role is to not fall into any debates, especially during a class. My role is to teach a Bikram class and hope that the yoga just might diffuse some of that defensiveness any student may be feeling and thus allow “possibility” to slip in. I sent this woman a silent prayer and carried on.

Teachers, you know what I am talking about. Are you remembering your own stories right now? With giggles, I hope. Members, you too, I bet, have been in class and witnessed some of this behavior. Who knows, maybe some of you reading this have at one point either behaved this way or at the least thought about it.

I was at an advanced seminar with Bikram a few years ago. It is an amazing time filled with yoga, yoga, and more yoga, and you get such a big dose of Bikram. It is usually a few hundred people, mostly teachers from all over the globe, that take the regular class in the morning followed by a small 30 minute break which is then followed directly by a two hour advanced class. This happens every day for about 7 days. Bikram usually teaches both classes, although he might have Rajashree or Emmy or another senior Instructor teach a few of the classes during the course of the week, as his voice can get tired. This particular day, Bikram was teaching the regular series and you could see and hear in his voice his discontent with a student not far from where he was teaching on the podium. I don’t remember what he said, but it wasn’t nice. If you’ve been around Bikram, then you know that when he starts to get upset, we all suffer. The class gets a little longer. The class gets a little harder. My mind was going “oh no.”

It got sort of quiet, and then Bikram started talking about his friend Quincy Jones. Quincy Jones is a famous musician, composer, and producer, especially in the 1980’s. He also takes Bikram Yoga. Over the years, he and Bikram developed a friendship, and Quincy introduced Bikram and the yoga to many of his musical friends. Bikram recalled a dilemma that Quincy was in. Quincy had this idea of writing a global song incorporating many musical celebrities like Lionel Richie, Michael Jackson, Dionne Warwick, Bruce Springsteen and others. But, each time they got together, they could never agree. Each had their own idea of how the song should go and it was hard to work with all these strong and successful personalities. He asked Bikram what he should do. Bikram says, “I told him to tell them to take off their shoes when they come into his house.” Quincy at first did not understand but followed through on this gesture. As Bikram tells the story, it was this act that helped to write and produce one of the best songs of all time, “We are the World.”

Bikram’s voice got a little more intense as he wrapped up the story. He then looked straight at this student that he was upset with and said if you don’t leave your shoes at the door then you are wasting my time and your money to be here.

Some of you reading this may have been there. Do you remember? It was another moment of gratitude for me as that is the Bikram we know and love to hear. It’s those golden nuggets of wisdom (as I call them) that we can get directly from Bikram, a man with amazing lineage. It’s not necessary to believe every morsel of this story, but the message in it is the gift to take away.

Rajashree, Bikram’s wife, just recently sent out a newsletter updating teachers of her activities, her family and her life. She is as compassionate as they come and always has some insight to share. “I’m sure your studios are heating up with new comers, new challenges, and new ideas. The best way to guide beginners is to accept them the way they are. Teach them to approach yoga without expectations. Do not guide them too much, but allow them to follow the practice. Just ask them to keep an open mind.”

There it is: Keep an open mind!

I love how many new people we get each month at BYSJ. Whether you started from the “10 for $20 Challenge”; Groupon; Living Social; or dropping in, welcome. Welcome to Bikram Yoga San Jose. Welcome to Bikram Yoga. Rajashree has a message for you. “Practicing as a beginner is just like experiencing anything new in life; everything unfolds with time and devotion. You will find a new way in your own time and everything around you will change. You will find the right way and the wrong way or maybe you will find that nothing is wrong but that everything is right. The realization that all experience is positive should be the purpose of yoga for beginners.”

For those of us that have been doing the yoga for a long time now, it’s even more important for us to catch our moments of resistance. The yoga is constantly surfacing our “stuff”. Like anything, when we do something for a while it can fall into a category; it can become habitual and our insights can become muted. We may believe in the yoga, have great discipline and etiquette, but we stand in the same spot; we sip our water at the same time each class; our final savasana is shorter and shorter with each practice. The list goes on. Having a variety of teachers (BTW – we have 27 different teachers on our schedule this month) is so helpful because each of us offers a slightly different context in delivering the same content. It’s highly likely that you will “hear” something different from each of the teachers. This helps to break up routine thinking. And routine thinking is a symptom of a closed mind.

Last weekend, I drove to San Francisco to have dinner with some friends. We were in heavy evening traffic all the way up 101 and even more so when we hit Market Street as there was a crime scene being investigated on the corner of Market and Montgomery where we had to turn. It took about two hours but we finally parked my car at The Palace garage. I put it in reverse to simply straighten out when all of a sudden my radiator burst. Yep. Right there in the parking garage in SAN FRANCISCO. The attendant at the garage walked over and said, “Oh yeah, that’s your radiator fluid. This car isn’t going anywhere.” Really? Is this happening?

I’ve never been good with “shit happens.” Those of you who know me know that I am not big on surprises, struggle with being spontaneous, and prefer the world to work according to my plan (big smiles here, please!) However, through the years with yoga as my teacher, I’ve acquired acceptance in all things due to an open mind. It turns out that we met up with our friends and had a “full of laughs” great dinner and dealt with my car the next day. In fact, I went so far as being able to feel gratitude that my car died in the garage and not on Market Street….or the highway!
Years ago an astrologer friend of mind, Angelica, told me during a reading of my chart that there was something the Universe was trying to tell me. That perhaps a plan I was contemplating going with needed revising. She compared it to a heavy snowstorm in which all the airports are closed. And now the only way to my destination is by car, over and through side roads that I would never usually take. She added, “Keep an open mind as there is something for you to see.” I often reflect on this passage as it reminds me to stop the routine thinking whenever I become aware of it and be present to something new.

Having an open mind is the first step asked of you when embarking upon a new journey, like yoga. Without it, you’ll never stop judging, you can’t live in the present moment, and you’ll sabotage your chances of feeling more joy, more happiness, and ultimately, more you.