Fit is in: Bikram Yoga Alabang’s 30-Day and 4x4 Yoga Challenge

For the rainy season, dedicated yogis practicing at Bikram Yoga Alabang (BYA) opted to stay inside the studio to “get hot” instead of getting soaked from the downpour. Fifty-nine of them successfully finished the 30-Day and 4x4 BYA Yoga Challenge at the Bikram-certified studio.

Studio director Ginger Diaz, together with yoga teachers Frank Simek and Betty Khumtong as well as guest teacher from Argentina Gonzalo Veronesi, were present to personally congratulate each finisher. Most notable among them were Paolo Pacres and Eboy Bautista. Pacres, a taekwondo black-belter and businessman, pushed himself beyond what was required of him and practiced yoga for 60 days. He started even before the yoga challenge commenced because he gained weight after he stopped going to yoga class. Meanwhile, Bautista, who was one of the ‘heavyweights’ on the reality show “Biggest Loser Pinoy Edition,” completed the 4x4 Challenge and scored a fitness milestone for himself.

According to Bautista who blogs about his 4x4 Challenge experience, his yoga teachers were very supportive. “I like the way they would acknowledge when I would do a posture really well (for my size). I am glad that after every practice, I would get feedback from them especially from Frank, giving me tips and suggestions on how to ‘downscale’ on my postures. I like the challenge and how it encourages me to try to get the proper form,” he writes in his blog.

“What drives me? Watching my students doing triples, and even more so, quadruples (yes, all classes), just to finish their 30-day challenge,” says Ginger Diaz, who found her calling as a Bikram yoga teacher after searching for an effective way to lose weight.

The 30-Day Challenge involves yoga practice for 30 straight days while the 4x4 Challenge requires students to complete four classes per week for four weeks. These challenges aim to push yogis to step out of their comfort zone and overcome their limitations to achieve their personal fitness goals. By being part of these challenges, these passionate individuals make Bikram yoga a daily habit—and a lifestyle.

Bikram yoga is a scientifically designed 90-minute program to deliver total health through balancing and strengthening every system in the body to help prevent illness and injury, and limit the effects of aging.

Developed by Bikram Choudhury, Bikram yoga involves a series of 26 postures (asanas) and two breathing exercises (pranayamas) performed inside a heated studio, usually at 40 degrees Celsius. The Bikram method helps stimulates the organs, glands and nerves, moving fresh oxygenated blood to 100 percent of the body, restoring all systems to a healthy working order. The series of postures combine skills of concentration, patience, determination and self-control, which lead to increased mental clarity and reduced stress.

Regular Bikram yoga practice also improves body posture and spine alignment, relieves back pains and headaches, strengthens muscles, reduces symptoms of chronic diseases, gives better self confidence, improves body image, improves flexibility, balance and strength, and gives a general feeling of wellness and peace.

“I always tell my students that the class never really gets easy—you just learn to handle yourself better each time,” says Diaz.



Press release from TeamAsia
Photos courtesy of TeamAsia