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BYC will put the Spring
into your step this April.
Let's talk about Spring at BYC,
Let's talk about you and yoga,
Let's talk about all the good things
and more good things, that your back will see.
Let's talk about YOGA!
Well let's do more than talk about it, let's do!
This April we are offering you, our awesome BYCers.....
3 months of UNLIMITED yoga for just �300.
Valid at all classes.
And here's the maths.... 3 x One Month Unlimited = �420 (Total saving �120).
If you practise 3 times a week = �8.34/class .
The (not so) small print:
Ts & Cs apply.
One purchase per student.
Offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offers,
discounts or concessions.
Offer available online and at the studio until 30th April 2016.
This card will activate on day of purchase.
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Marathon Man or Woman? 
Are you running the London Marathon this year, well you might want to read on?
As our way of saying 'you are insanely awesome',
we would like to offer you �50 OFF your next class card*.
This money, that you would have spent on your class card,
can now be a donation in your charity collection tin!
Just bring proof that you participated with you,
next time you wish to purchase a class card to claim your money off.
Good Luck! &/or Well Done!
(depending on if you read this before or after)
*not redeemable against Drop In classes,
Introductory Offers or Autopay Contracts. Only usable once per BYC student.
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Posture Clinic
Standing Head to Knee Pose
You may think party time (our little water break) is over,
but the real party has just started!
Standing Head to knee is a wonderful, challenging pose, every yogi/ini from the most advance practitioner to the first-timer are challenged and,
in this, we are all united and focused.
I was tempted to write 'LOCK THE KNEE' here and leave it at that, but this posture is so much more! Nevertheless, in most of your classes, the teacher will start this posture with a 'Lock The Knee' lecture. The reason for this and the repetition time and time again, is not because we are a group bonded by our obssesion with knees. There is a potential for injury, when kicking out on a bent knee: you put undue pressure on the lower back and you leave the knee open to injury, if it twists. So, guys and galls, let's learn the hows, wheres and whys to that locked knee.
There is a lot more to this posture than just locking the knee, but it's where we start. This posture can be broken down into 4 stages. It is integral to master each stage, before moving to the next:
Stage 1: - Locking the Knee!
Stand straight, feet together, stomach muscles contracted. Eyes focused on one point in-front of you.
Shift all your weight into your left leg, equally distributed into the left foot. Contract the quadriceps muscles on the front side of the leg, this lifts the patella, creating space in the knee-joint, in turn strengthening the soft tissues around the knee-joint to help protect the joint. This is 'locking the knee'. If you look at this action in the mirror your knee actually will lift up. As well as the quad you need to engage the glute muscle on this balancing leg.
NEVER jam your knee back, this is about muscle strength. Don't worry, if at first you don't succeed, keep trying, keep engaging, you will build the strength in your muscles and eventually one whole minute of quad contraction will be yours!
You should never feel a pain in the back of the knee. If you do, you could be hyper-extending your knee. A hyper-extended knee has an almost bow like look in the mirror from the side. If this is you, try moving the weight forwards into the front of your foot and big toe. If you think you might be hyper-extending your knees, always speak to your teacher, they will be able to advise you.
Interlock your fingers and thumb tightly together and lift up your right foot.
With those stomach mucles still engaged, hinge forward at the waist and pick up ball of the right foot, never loosening your grip. If you are unable to pick up the foot, then start simply by bring the leg up and extending the arms out, hovering the palms along the sides of the knee. NEVER GRAB THE KNEE. Every class see, if you can move the arms/palms lower down, closer to the foot. Eventually, as your flexibility improves, the foot will be yours. Always challenge yourself and you will make it.
Stage 2: - Kicking out.
Once you have mastered contracting your quadricep muscle to lock your knee for a full minute. No bending, no buckling, no wobbling, one full minute of a solid, contracted, non-moving quad. It is very tough and can take a long time to build up the strength to do this, but it is worth it. Do not cheat yourself or your body, by jumping forward before you have built this strength. You are doing yourself no favours and can undermine all the good work you are putting in. Be honest with yourself: that knee must be 'locked, solid, concrete, one piece, lamp-post, unbroken, no knee.....'
Knee locked, inhale, slowly, gently lift your right leg and stretch the heel forward towards the mirror. Keep your hips in one line. It is common here for our hips to fall backwards throwing our weight into the back of the legs or the lower back: if this is happening, focus on kicking the heel out further and, if necessary, move your weight forward in the foot, to bring yourself back in to alignment.
Keep kicking till the right leg is straight, no bend in the knee and it is parallel to the floor, hips in one line, heel facing the mirror and toes turned in facing you, all the time keeping the left knee locked out.
Once this is achieved, you have successfully completed stage 2.
Stage 3: - Elbows down.
Your left leg is locked out, quad engaged, leg is unmoving, your right leg is out straight (quad also engaged), the heel continuously kicking towards the mirror and your toes are turning in towards your face. Hips are in one line and you are solid.
Now bend your elbows and move them down till they are hugging the calf muscle, with the tips of your elbows below the calf.
Stage 4: - Head to knee.
Now you are ready for the final stage of the posture. First, shift your gaze downwards. Tuck your chin to your chest and come down till your forehead is touching your knee. All the time keeping your stomach muscles engaged, both legs engaged and quadriceps contracted, heel continuously kicking towards the mirror and toes turning in towards your face, with the fingers and thumb tightly interlaced around the ball of your foot. You are AWESOME! Look at what you have achieved. Slow and steady really does it with the Head to Knee race.
Now come out the way you came in, stage by graceful stage: curl up and untuck the chin, bring the elbows back up, bend the right leg at the knee, release your grip and return the foot to the floor.
Now that you have climbed Mount Everest, let's do the other side!
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BYC Hot Yoga For Runners
BYC Hot Yoga can be a wonderful addition to many training routines from runners to martial arts, dancers to body builders. From keeping you flexible to warding off and assisting the healing of injuries*. It is an awesome addition to your training regime. As this month is Marathon month, let's look into more details how BYC Hot Yoga can help you runners.
'I have not had any overuse injuries, since I began practicing (Bikram) Yoga. The nagging running injuries that sidelined me years ago, like IT band tightness, lower back pain, and runner's knee are just distant memories. If I feel anything in my body that amounts to a possible running injury, I visit the studio and get my 90 minutes of practice. On almost every occasion, the pain subsides within 24 hours of my session and I regain my regular training as if it never happened. ' ' One of the most common conditions runners are prone to is called 'Runner's Knee'. This is the irritation of the cartilage on the underside of the patella, aka kneecap. BYC Hot Yoga can help strengthen your quadriceps, improving patellar tracking, as well as stretching your hamstrings and calves, preventing over-pronation.
Our body works as a unit, so as well as strengthening and stretching all the muscles around the knee, it is important to also strengthen weak hip and glute muscles, to help ward off runner's knee. Awkward, Triangle, Camel, Standing Separate Leg Stretching and Tree Pose (to name but a few) are all great postures to help with this. If you have already been struck down, then, initially, some post run PRICE (Protection, Rest, Ice, Compression & Elevation) should help with the early stage of pain relief. If symptoms persist, always consult your GP. The BYC heat and stretching come into play as the injury starts to heal. We have plenty of postures to flush that knee with fresh oxygenated blood, helping to heal and repair, ready to pound those pavements again in no time! However, it is important to always listen to the feedback of your own body. Never push into anything that is painful. Just because everyone else is doing something and it looks fun, doesn't mean you have to! Sometimes our yoga is as much about what we don't do as what we do. There is almost always a degree of the posture that we can do, be it 1% or 100%, find that place, give it your all and the magic will happen. Runner's knee is unfortunately just the first of a long list of injuries runners are prone to, such as Achilles Tendinitis, Hamstring Issues, Plantar Fasciitis, Shinsplints and Iliotibial Band Syndrome (ITBS). However never fear, BYC is here! The 26 postures of a BYC hot yoga class, systematically strengthen and stretch your entire body. The yoga improves your alignment, therefore, when running, any imbalances won't be exacerbated, or cause injury. Injuries are often a result of our body compensating for our misalignment, at BYC we aim to correct these misalignments, hopefully, before the damage is done.
BYC Hot Yoga is not just great at keeping you together physically, it also offers a host of mental benefits. From de-stressing and decompressing, to improving mental focus and determination.
Laura Turner, Ex GB sprinter & Olympic Athlete said: "I have noticed a big improvement in my focus. I had no idea how easily distracted I was, especially when sweat was dripping into my ears! It's definitely helped me focus on my race:
'.....BYC Hot Yoga has been a fantastic tool in my training and competition, allowing me to be at my best and compete against the best. I strongly recommend Bikram Yoga to all runners as an excellent cross-training and recovery tool. I will certainly never be without Bikram Yoga in my life, even after I hang up my running shoes and retire from international athletics.' Laura Turner
Whatever your sport of choice, BYC Hot Yoga is here to keep you going mentally and physically. So we will see you on the mat!! *If you have an injury we would always recommend consulting your doctor.
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Teeki supports you with your active lifestyle and adventures: yoga, gym, workout, surf, sports, dance, flow and constantly moving forward with your body,
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Capris from: �36
Leggings from: �50
And a new range of Men's shorts from Onzie with a compression lining - �40.
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"It is not your history, but your presence on your mat that matters."
Sri K Pattabhi Jois.
So we will see you in class very soon.
and the entire Team at BYC
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