Continue reading »]]> Bikram Yoga’s 26 posture exercises systematically move fresh, oxygenated blood to one hundred percent of your body, to each organ and fiber, restoring all systems to healthy working order, just as Nature intended. Proper weight, muscle tone, vibrant good health, and a sense of well being will automatically follow.

Bikram’s Beginning Yoga Class is a 26 asana series designed to scientifically warm and stretch muscles, ligaments and tendons, in the order in which they should be stretched.

The class is 90 minutes. Beginner’s are welcome. Please dress lightly and come hydrated.

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Mindbody icon

You can now have our schedule at your fingertips! If you have a smartphone, andriod or iphone, you can download Mindbody 3.0, a free app, and have our schedule to both studios plus teacher profiles, right where you need it, on your phone. It’s free, it’s current and it’s what we are using to get away from old, printed schedules that might be obsolete after a season.

Download it today. Search for Studio Sangha, Queenstown after you install it.

]]> http://bikramyogaqueenstown.com/2011/10/mindbody-3-0-free-app-our-schedule-at-your-fingertips/feed/ 0 http://bikramyogaqueenstown.com/2011/10/morne-pienaar/ http://bikramyogaqueenstown.com/2011/10/morne-pienaar/#comments Sat, 01 Oct 2011 21:51:29 +0000 admin http://bikramyogaqueenstown.com/?p=1818

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After Spinal fusion age 12, twice under the knife for shoulder repair, and recently 2 x crushed vertebra, I was still not keen to give up Iron distance triathlons and multisport events.
Chronic back pain, a touch of sciatica and persistent unstable shoulder, replaced the enjoyment of exercise with disappointment and frustration. Even the occasional anti-inflammatory was not doing the job anymore.
I will never forget my first Bikram class – confirmation that my body aged a bit quicker than I ever anticipated. Years of demanding best from my body without investing in “healing time” has finally caught up with me.
Although I could not execute all the postures there always seemed to be another challenge in the following class. With each session, improvement was obvious.
During week 2-3 the morning back stiffness was quickly disappearing. I was surprised to notice increase shoulder strength and stability. I could run without back pain and swim without having the all familiar night time shoulder ache and riding my bike for longer was more comfortable. My training became FUN again!
I expected increase flexibility but got so much more… – Increased cardiovascular fitness, strength, and no more joint or back pain. I expected Bikram Yoga to compliment my triathlon training – but for me it’s now a core element of training and healthy living.
As a medical doctor with special interest in sports medicine it is obvious that flexibility prevents injury. But I was truly surprised at the potential to reverse chronic pain from old injuries and degenerative joint disease. And all of this whilst getting fit as well! Seems too good to be true? You up for the Challenge? You Will not be disappointed.
Dr Morne’ Pienaar
Senior Doctor Lakes District Hospital Queenstown
Doctor and Medical Director for Queenstown Regenerative Medicine
www.regenerativemedicine.co.nz

Continue reading »]]>    The benefits of yoga come from a consistent and persistent yoga practice.  Establishing a regular practice is often one of the most challenging elements when first begin Bikram yoga; the mind gets in the way, the body gets in the way, life gets in the way! 

     Bikram’s advice to those beginning their practice is doing a full Bikram class religiously every day for two months, or until you are performing all but the very difficult poses such as Standing Bow Pulling Pose and Stretching Pose 80% correctly. If this sounds daunting or even impossible, participating in our 30 Day Challenge will change your mind set. We all have other commitments that prevent us from doing something for ourselves each day, but if you can clear your schedule for just one month, to enable you to practice daily for 30 days you will live the benefits long after you have completed your Challenge. 

   Join a group of dedicated people on a yoga journey as you commit to 30 days of practice. You’ll see a complete change in the body and the mind. It is important to make sure you schedule yourself time to relax, eat and replenish with whole, fresh foods  as your body is building as well as detoxing. Look at the schedule and make a plan with a friend to ensure success and sign up today. 

$165 for a month unlimited pass and a friends pass is $300 for friends who sign up at the same time. Anyone who finishes the 30 Day Challenge will go in a draw to win a month unlimited pass!

Continue reading »]]> Hi Yogis,

Hello from Las Vegas!  I went to my first class at 4am your time Saturday morning, stiff and barely awake. I got to have a class with Raj, Bikram’s beautiful and inspiring wife. Like she said, it was a “light” class. I felt I could just move my spine again, it took me until rabbit to feel mobile after the plane flight.  I spent the rest of the day at the pool. The US is funny, it seems people are really in shape or obese, not so much in between. I think all the really in shape one’s were all the Bikram Yogis there for their teacher training! Bikram has a lot of saving to do if he is going to save this country from fast food and huge portions!

I went back at 5pm for the last class of the teachers trainers. They just finished 98 classes in 9 weeks. There was a lot of anticipation in that room. Yes, it was hot. Picture a huge white tent with over 400 students and studio owners. I didn’t have to be there for that class, but I’ll never miss a chance to practice with my teacher, Bikram. I had a great class. My body finally opened and went to it’s depth of strength and flexibility. I killed myself. It wasn’t the hardest class I have ever had with Bikram, maybe he is softening a bit, but it was the real Bikram, compassionate and funny. I laughed and almost cried, I felt everything, so alive, so hot, so tired, so clean, so good and happy. But it was the end that really got me.

After the class, after all the hooting and clapping, the lights went down. Bikram was up front on his podium, with his thumbs going up, more up, more sound. On the speakers was one of his best songs, an Indian techno song that he sings. The music goes louder, louder…everyone jumps up and starts to dance! My legs could hardly hold me up! 400 sweaty bodies moving and jyrating and Bikram himself up on stage with some fantastic moves. He loves to dance, and sing, and laugh. All the great yoga teachers I have met love to laugh!

This is my teacher, our founder of Bikram Yoga, laughing, dancing, working the crowd like a superstar, talking about love, and the Laker’s game, about opening your heart and helping people, about never giving up, ever, on someone. Here is a man a lot of people talk about, not all good, he doesn’t care, good or bad. He just keeps teaching. He doesn’t turn down the heat, make it easy, give in to out weaknesses. He makes us get stronger.  He has a huge heart and never gives up on us. He makes our practice so hard to prove that we can build confidence, we can change the world, we can be successful and compassionate, we can help other people. We can change ourselves and be the person we aspire to be. Never give up.

“Never too sick, never to poor, never too old, to start yoga and begin again.”

I start the advanced training tomorrow. I am a bit scarred and really excited. I have trained for this, given up coffee, sugar and alcohol for a few months now to get my body more supple. I never knew, 12 years ago when I went to my first class that my journey would take me to Queenstown, to a studio, to where I am today.

I give thanks first to myself for staying on this path, I give thanks to my teachers giving me their knowledge, and I give thanks to having a home studio to return to and share what I have learned. I am deeply grateful for being able to help other people find their strength and health. More daily updates coming on facebook. Become a friend and stay tuned…..and practice!

Namaste, Peggy

PS. Huge clothing sale on now! Get in there for the best selection! 1 piece is 10% off, 2 is 20% off, 3 is 30% off, 4 is 40% off and 5 or more is 50% off! Everything on sale, soft hoodies, long and short capris, all hot yoga gear, all clothes!

Continue reading »]]> On the journey of life, we all come across our own obstacles.

It is when a hand comes out for support, that we can creatively and actively work around the obstacle, and continue on a stronger path.

Bikram Yoga has held out the hand for me.

I am 51 years now and have led a 100% physical life. I work as a heli-ski guide and landscape designer.

I have run races.

I have skied, and skied, and skied.

I have danced all night.

I have climbed mountains.

I have planted thousands of trees.

I have taken risks with my body.

My challenge now is to continue my active life. I have noticed a switch in both health and body in the last couple of years.

I have recurring herpes simplex which comes in the form of hip, back, thigh pain and headaches. Recently, I fractured my fibula (8 weeks in plaster).

I was able to continue Bikram, and 3 weeks after the plaster was off, I was skiing. While in that situation, Bikram helped me to recover.

Last year, I had a fall on to my neck and I believe “rabbit posture” prevented me from a fracture.

Peggy and her team are fantastic instructors. Thery give 150% and expect the same from us.

To better ourselves requires work.

The studio in Queenstown is a retreat for us in our busy lives.

It is spiritual, comfortable, compassionate, social and clean.

We feel spoilt that Peggy and Bikram have come into our lives.

I love the heat as I stretch better, and my metabolism and skin love the sweat. The routine flows and awakens every part of the body.

I have lots to work on, but my expectation and judgement are always reminded to mellow. The belief of just being there makes each practice a good practice.

wriiten by Katie Deans, skier and landscape designer extordinaire

Continue reading »]]> Scott Kennedy is a freelance writer, photographer and adventurer. He regularly writes for Lonely Planet Guidebooks and blog’s about his adventures on: http://adventureskope.blogspot.com/.

For the past three years yoga has been an extremely important part of my life. As an athlete, I was first drawn to the physical side of yoga – through yoga I was able to take 30minutes off of my best marathon time and prepare for the Kepler Challenge mountain run. For the last 18months I’ve been practicing Bikram yoga and have successfully integrated it into my training program. In January I’m headed to Africa to participate in an event called the Tour d’Afrique – it’s a long distance cycle tour that starts in Cairo, Egypt and finishes in Cape Town, South Africa some 10,000km away. I’m riding as part of a relay team; my leg starts in Cairo and finishes in Khartoum, Sudan. I’ll ride for 2000km down the Nile and through the Nubian Desert.

For this expedition my training has consisted of many hours on the bike but also a regular dose of Bikram yoga. Bikram is the perfect preparation for this adventure for a variety of reasons. First off, it gets you strong. My legs are stronger then ever, and that’s thanks to Bikram. The second thing Bikram Yoga is great for is heat preparation – during my ride I’ll likely encounter temperatures in the 40c range. I’ll have to bike up to 130km a day in that heat – Bikram has taught me how to handle that heat and has helped prove to myself that I can actually exercise in it. The third aspect that Bikram has brought to my training is endurance. By endurance I’m referring to the root word – endure. Through Bikram I’ve learned that I can push myself to the very limit, and at that edge of supreme effort there is a moment of calm and clarity. A crystalline moment of thought that can only be achieved when you’ve pushed yourself to the limit. Yoga may have started as a physical element to my training regime, but now more then ever it has evolved into training for the mind. The mind is after all the strongest muscle in the body.

I am full of gratitude towards Peggy and the whole Studio Sangha crew – it’s really felt like a team effort to get ready for this adventure. It’s going to be an amazing experience, and thanks to my Yoga practice, it’s going to be an achievable dream. I look forward to sharing my journey with you both while I’m on the road and once I return home to Queenstown!

~Namaste

Scott

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Standing Bow

I took my first class from Bikram in LA in 1999. It didn’t take me long to love Bikram Yoga. I applied for and attended teacher training that fall. The training was an intense 10 week training that started at 6am and often finished well over midnight. Bikram doesn’t sleep and didn’t expect us to as well. It was a seemingly total deconstruction of my body and as I was to find out, my mind. The aches and pains were very intense and the suffering seemed unbearable. We practiced asana over 4 hours a day in a very hot, sweaty room, then had classes all day in between. I became stiffer and every injury I had ever suffered came to the surface and quite honestly, scared me to death. I had one thing that saved me, total faith in the yoga and Bikram.

I returned home to my very small and cold town in Colorado. I advertised for students to come to my house for practice. Pretty soon I had lots of us practicing in my attic. There I met Adria Ellis who was just off to training. She returned to CB and opened The Bikram Yoga College of India in Crested Butte. We shared the teaching at that studio for the next 5 years.

In 2004, I ended up in Queenstown visiting a good friend of mine. I saw a tremendous need for a hot studio I town.  It took me three yers to get it all organized and opened but since opening have had a fantastic response and a steadily growing group of avid students. I have been blessed to have the teachers, students and support from the community.

I will keep striving to offer the highest standards of yoga and continue to help make our community a better place with yoga. May we all take a good look in the mirror and see the truth of who we are and why we are on this planet. The beginning of self realization…

Love, peace and practice