The Yoga Is Supposed To Hurt: An Inspiring Teacher-in-Training

Video interview via Bikram Yoga Manhattan on YouTube.

"The only way out is through."

So says Bikram Yoga Manhattan's Jeanne Heaton, a yogi with an inspiring story that's about to get even more inspiring. And yes, she was talking about the experience of pushing through the pain that Bikram yoga can bring our bodies and minds, and the fact that the only way we can relieve that pain is to undergo it. As my teachers often say during Locust Pose: "Experience pain in the elbows now, so you don't have to outside this room."

It may be surprising at first to discover that sometimes Bikram yoga is supposed to hurt, but it's true. It's not all candles and bubble bath, like some other yoga practices.

Sometimes it hurts, and that hurt makes us stronger, tougher, better.

Anyway, back to a lady I've never met but who I admire already... Jeanne was interviewed during a series done by BYM's studio where they chat with local teachers about their practice, what it's like to the life of a yogi, and the experience of training with Boss himself.

"If it hurts, do it more," she says, smiling and gesturing. "Until it goes away. I didn't believe that was true until I experienced that myself."

What honest, beautiful words. No doubt, this can surely be a challenge, as Jeanne is ready to admit in the video. She talks about the way Western medicine generally prefers that patients who are suffering stop doing whatever it is that's bringing the pain. But in the East, and in our yoga, we learn that in order to get over the hurt, we must endure it first.

During her interview, Jeanne also spoke about her motivation to become a teacher once she received a scholarship for the Fall San Diego Teacher Training session.

"In order to keep what you have, you have to give it away. So that's what I see happening around the studio. In order to stay here and be healthy, I believe that I have to teach it so that I can help others...I totally identify with others' struggles. This yoga is about service."

I couldn't have said it better myself! The yoga inspires us to give, compassionately, and share it with those around us. This is a huge part of why I want to complete the training, too: it's not just about my own practice, but about encouraging passion in others to stick with the yoga.

"Health and love and service. That kind of complete change is what people do in here," as Jeanne said.

Since the beginning of my Bikram experience, I've been amazed at the solid community of practioners that come together. Whether we're chatting or laughing in the studio lobby before and after class, or sweating it out like crazy on our mats, moving as one, we learn and benefit from the presence of each other.

And that "Namaste" that we utter at the end of class truly starts to mean something, to take on true value.

The good in me sees the good in you.

As they say in Avatar, "I see you." I get who you are, where you're coming from, and I wholly accept who you are and what your purpose is in this world. I'm glad for you. That's the real kind of namaste.

Jeanne put it this way: "This is the right place to have community and love." Have you considered the weight of a statement like that lately?

What if you actively pursued community and love at your yoga studio? What if you gave up a little bit of yourself -- your personality, gifts, time -- to benefit those who practice beside you in the Hot Room? What would change?

My guess: your whole life, your whole practice.

I can picture Jeanne here in the Teacher Training tent where she's rockin' out on her mat and learning to deliver the dialogue like a true master. Hope it's going well, Jeanne, and best of luck in your beautiful life! Photo via The Missus on her BKTT blog.