Emmy Cleaves
Bikram's Yoga College Of India
Principal: Teacher Training Program
Senior Teacher
Senior Teacher
From the book "American Yoga."
Emmy Cleaves took her first yoga class in 1950 from a Hindu in Beverly Hills, California. As a young war refugee from Latvia, her trajectory to that tiny locale had been at least as unlikely as his.So when she later studied under another Hindu, Bikram Chouhdury, the universality of the teachings remained clear to her.“There’s only one kind of yoga,” she says.“There are just different paths to it because we are such a myriad of people.We are all God’s experiment of one.
Emmy was a young girl when she and her mother fled their hometown of Riga, Latvia, during the Stalinist army’s second advance on the tiny country during the second world war.When the Eastern front advanced on Danzig, the camp disintegrated and Emmy separated from her mother, was shipped off to Denmark, then back to Germany, and finally to the United States.She learned the language and eventually moved to California.Emmy was a successful businesswoman in Los Angeles by the time she attended that first yoga class.She had been pestering her jazz dance teacher for more of the slow stretching exercises he taught as warm-ups she told her to do yoga—the first time she heard the word.“I became completely fascinated with the subject,” she says.For her, as for most practioners, the initial attraction was physical.“But when I started learning the philosophy, it seemed like yes, that’s exactly it; that the truth,” she recalls,”the ethics and morality that my mother had taught me.I had always sensed that we’re not just a quantum mechanical body, that we’re multidimensional beings, and that the body is just a denser form of the many interactive energy fields.So it resonated completely with my state of mind.”
Emmy began reading books and practicing on her own.For the next two decades she sampled the relatively limited smorgasbord of yoga offerings then available in Los Angeles.“I would try a class here and there, but I was never impelled to stay because internally I never connected with anyone,”she says.The teacher has to resonate on some other level than just ‘Put your legs here’ and ‘do this’ and ‘stretch that.’”
Then at thirty five, Emmy almost died from a brain hemorrhage, which is how her father died in Latvia.With the odds against her, Emmy survived and recovered.But the experience changed her forever.“A life threatening event like that makes you wonder what the purpose is of your survival.Why are you alive?Why didn’t you die?Emmy’s search for answers created cataclysmic upheavals in her life.She gave being a businesswoman, divorced her first husband and began exploring meditation and yoga more seriously.
In 1973 Emmy attended a demonstration by a 26 year old yogi by the name of Bikram Choudhury.“His group consisted of maybe ten people—all ages and shapes, including a couple of kids.I was fascinated by the energy and precision of his demonstration.”At the end of the presentation Bikram jumped off the stage, walked across the room, and stuck a card in her hand.“Tommorrow.You come my school,”he said.She did.
As chance had it, in the preceding weeks Emmy had been reading Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramanhansa Yogananda, whose brother Bishnu Ghosh had been Bikram’s guru throughout his childhood in Calcutta.Ghosh, a master of yoga’s physical practices, trained young Bikram to compete in the National India Yoga Competition, which Bikram won at the age of eleven and for next three years.At Ghosh’s behest Bikram set off for the West, eventually ending up in Beverly Hills where he began reteaching Emmy Cleaves everything she had ever learned.
“We argued.We really argued,” Emmy says.“I had done yoga for a long time, none of it the way he demanded it be done.”Bikram’s methodology involves a basic series twenty six poses practiced in a 42C studio.His studio and teaching methods were different from Emmy had previously learned.“I would go into a Cobra pose doing everything right,” Emmy says, “ and he would say, ‘No, that’s not the way.The posture’s not the object; your body is the object.’I began getting very frustrated.And that heat!I said, ‘Bikram, if you’d turn down the stupid heat this room would be much more full.’He said, ‘An empty barn is better than a barn full of naughty cows.”
Emmy had had enough.It was upsetting my whole equilibrium,” she says.Her friend Barbara Brown, a pioneer in the development of biofeedback, was taking a trip to India to tour research centers and Emmy joined her.Among the facilities she visited she found yoga being used to treat medical conditions like diabetes and asthma.“Lo and behold, they did the postures Bikram’s way,”Emmy says.“I visited three of four other research centers that did the poses his way as well, with the same energy and same demand for precision.”
So Emmy went back to Beverly Hills and immersed herself in Bikram’s teachings and in the logic of his twenty-six-posture, ninety minute series.(the advance series, also an hour and a half long comprises 84 postures).“The first time you do the twenty-six postures which cover a normal range of motion for just about anybody, they act as a diagnostic tool,” she explains.Even People with minimal body awareness are able to diagnose their own problem areas.Then with practice those same postures become therapeutic tools that reeducate yourbody and heightens the efficiency of its major systems.
Like any well chosen asana program, Bikarm Yoga is intended to tone the endocrine, lymphatic, and digestive systems, increase capillary blood flow and produce a strong, limber and comfortable musculoskeletal system.To attain the benefits of this series, though, the sequence of the postures is paramount which is why Emmy defends Bikram’s decision to copyright his method.
The efficacy of Bikram Yoga is made continually apparent to Emmy through the many therapeutic “miracles” she has witnessed in the thirty years she has taught it.What gives me such pleasure is that I am able to share this valuable thing, which has so much potential to better people’s lives and to heal whatever is not working for them,” Emmy says.“That is the ultimate accomplishment of my life and will be to the end of it.”
Emmy Cleaves took her first yoga class in 1950 from a Hindu in Beverly Hills, California. As a young war refugee from Latvia, her trajectory to that tiny locale had been at least as unlikely as his.So when she later studied under another Hindu, Bikram Chouhdury, the universality of the teachings remained clear to her.“There’s only one kind of yoga,” she says.“There are just different paths to it because we are such a myriad of people.We are all God’s experiment of one.
Emmy was a young girl when she and her mother fled their hometown of Riga, Latvia, during the Stalinist army’s second advance on the tiny country during the second world war.When the Eastern front advanced on Danzig, the camp disintegrated and Emmy separated from her mother, was shipped off to Denmark, then back to Germany, and finally to the United States.She learned the language and eventually moved to California.Emmy was a successful businesswoman in Los Angeles by the time she attended that first yoga class.She had been pestering her jazz dance teacher for more of the slow stretching exercises he taught as warm-ups she told her to do yoga—the first time she heard the word.“I became completely fascinated with the subject,” she says.For her, as for most practioners, the initial attraction was physical.“But when I started learning the philosophy, it seemed like yes, that’s exactly it; that the truth,” she recalls,”the ethics and morality that my mother had taught me.I had always sensed that we’re not just a quantum mechanical body, that we’re multidimensional beings, and that the body is just a denser form of the many interactive energy fields.So it resonated completely with my state of mind.”
Emmy began reading books and practicing on her own.For the next two decades she sampled the relatively limited smorgasbord of yoga offerings then available in Los Angeles.“I would try a class here and there, but I was never impelled to stay because internally I never connected with anyone,”she says.The teacher has to resonate on some other level than just ‘Put your legs here’ and ‘do this’ and ‘stretch that.’”
Then at thirty five, Emmy almost died from a brain hemorrhage, which is how her father died in Latvia.With the odds against her, Emmy survived and recovered.But the experience changed her forever.“A life threatening event like that makes you wonder what the purpose is of your survival.Why are you alive?Why didn’t you die?Emmy’s search for answers created cataclysmic upheavals in her life.She gave being a businesswoman, divorced her first husband and began exploring meditation and yoga more seriously.
In 1973 Emmy attended a demonstration by a 26 year old yogi by the name of Bikram Choudhury.“His group consisted of maybe ten people—all ages and shapes, including a couple of kids.I was fascinated by the energy and precision of his demonstration.”At the end of the presentation Bikram jumped off the stage, walked across the room, and stuck a card in her hand.“Tommorrow.You come my school,”he said.She did.
As chance had it, in the preceding weeks Emmy had been reading Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramanhansa Yogananda, whose brother Bishnu Ghosh had been Bikram’s guru throughout his childhood in Calcutta.Ghosh, a master of yoga’s physical practices, trained young Bikram to compete in the National India Yoga Competition, which Bikram won at the age of eleven and for next three years.At Ghosh’s behest Bikram set off for the West, eventually ending up in Beverly Hills where he began reteaching Emmy Cleaves everything she had ever learned.
“We argued.We really argued,” Emmy says.“I had done yoga for a long time, none of it the way he demanded it be done.”Bikram’s methodology involves a basic series twenty six poses practiced in a 42C studio.His studio and teaching methods were different from Emmy had previously learned.“I would go into a Cobra pose doing everything right,” Emmy says, “ and he would say, ‘No, that’s not the way.The posture’s not the object; your body is the object.’I began getting very frustrated.And that heat!I said, ‘Bikram, if you’d turn down the stupid heat this room would be much more full.’He said, ‘An empty barn is better than a barn full of naughty cows.”
Emmy had had enough.It was upsetting my whole equilibrium,” she says.Her friend Barbara Brown, a pioneer in the development of biofeedback, was taking a trip to India to tour research centers and Emmy joined her.Among the facilities she visited she found yoga being used to treat medical conditions like diabetes and asthma.“Lo and behold, they did the postures Bikram’s way,”Emmy says.“I visited three of four other research centers that did the poses his way as well, with the same energy and same demand for precision.”
So Emmy went back to Beverly Hills and immersed herself in Bikram’s teachings and in the logic of his twenty-six-posture, ninety minute series.(the advance series, also an hour and a half long comprises 84 postures).“The first time you do the twenty-six postures which cover a normal range of motion for just about anybody, they act as a diagnostic tool,” she explains.Even People with minimal body awareness are able to diagnose their own problem areas.Then with practice those same postures become therapeutic tools that reeducate yourbody and heightens the efficiency of its major systems.
Like any well chosen asana program, Bikarm Yoga is intended to tone the endocrine, lymphatic, and digestive systems, increase capillary blood flow and produce a strong, limber and comfortable musculoskeletal system.To attain the benefits of this series, though, the sequence of the postures is paramount which is why Emmy defends Bikram’s decision to copyright his method.
The efficacy of Bikram Yoga is made continually apparent to Emmy through the many therapeutic “miracles” she has witnessed in the thirty years she has taught it.What gives me such pleasure is that I am able to share this valuable thing, which has so much potential to better people’s lives and to heal whatever is not working for them,” Emmy says.“That is the ultimate accomplishment of my life and will be to the end of it.”
Two World Class Yoga Teachers From Opposite Parts of The Globe
Brought Together by Bikram Yoga
Bikram热瑜伽为来自地球两端的两个世界级瑜伽教师提供走在一起的契机
When Emmy Cleaves first started practicing yoga, Mo Huiping’s parents were not even together. Despite their difference in age, when the two met for the first time in September 2000, the master teacher immediately knew the “China” girl was destined for great things. At Mo Huiping’s teacher’s training graduation, Emmy gave Mo Huiping a card with the following, “you will make a great China ambassador for yoga…and Bikram’s system.” Almost five years later, the “China” girl brought recognition to China by winning a world championship competition and now hot yoga is quickly becoming a popular style in China.
当艾米最初开始练习瑜伽,莫慧萍的父母甚至还没有结婚。年龄上的差别不说,当她们两个在2000年9月份第一次见面的时候,这个老教师一下就看出了这个中国女孩子将会做一番大事业。当莫慧萍的教师培训课程结束的时候,艾米给了莫慧萍一张卡片,上面写着:“你将成为瑜伽和Bikram热瑜伽的中国大使”差不多五年过去了,这个中国女孩赢得世界锦标赛并且载誉而归,现在热瑜伽已经在中国快速流行起来。
EMMY’S YOGA SEARCH 艾米对瑜伽研究调查
Emmy started yoga by reading books and practicing on her own. For the next twenty years she tried the few types of yoga found in Los Angeles at the time. “I would try a class here and there, but I could never stay with one teacher because I never had a good feeling with anyone teacher, she says. For me, “The teacher has to be very high level and cannot just say, ‘Put your legs here’ and ‘do this’ and ‘stretch that.’”
Then at thirty five, Emmy almost died from a brain hemorrhage, which is how her father died in Latvia. With the odds against her, Emmy survived and recovered. But the experience changed her forever. “A life threatening event like that makes you wonder what the purpose is of your survival. Why are you alive? Why didn’t you die? Emmy’s search for answers made her change many things in her life. She gave being a businesswoman and began exploring meditation and yoga more seriously.
艾米开始阅读书籍并自己练习瑜珈。在以后的20年里,她尝试了几种在洛杉矶发现的瑜珈。“我会到处上课,但是我却没有一直保持和一个老师学习,因为我对任何一个老师都没有一个完美的感觉。”她说,“对于我来说,老师应该有非常高的水平而不只是说,‘把腿放这’、‘这样做’、‘那样伸展’。”在艾米35岁时,她差点儿死于脑出血。她的父亲就是得这种病死于拉托维亚的。由于活着的可能性激励着她,艾米幸存且康复了。但是这次经历改变了她以后的生活。“一次生命的威胁会让你思索你幸存的原因是什么?你为什么还能活着?你为什么没有死?”艾米搜寻的答案使她改变了生活中的很多事情。她放弃了商业女性的地位并且开始更认真地探索瑜珈和对瑜珈的思考。
In 1973 Emmy attended a demonstration by Bikram, a 26 year old yoga teacher. “His group consisted of maybe ten people—all ages and shapes, including a couple of kids. I was fascinated by the energy and precision of his demonstration.” At the end of the presentation Bikram jumped off the stage, walked across the room, and stuck a card in her hand. “Tommorrow. You come my school,” he said. She did.
1973年艾米参加了Bikram的表演。Bikram是一个26岁的瑜珈老师。“他的示演学员大约有10人——不同年龄和不同体型,包括一些儿童。我被他示范动作的准确性和精力所感染。”在表演结束时Bikram跳下舞台,穿过房间,往艾米手里塞了一张卡。“明天,你到我的学校来。”他说。艾米去了。
“We argued. We really argued,” Emmy says. “I had done yoga for a long time, none of it the way he demanded it be done.” Bikram’s methodology involves a basic series twenty six poses practiced in a 40C studio. His studio and teaching methods were different from Emmy had previously learned. “I would go into a Cobra pose doing everything right,” Emmy says, “ and he would say, ‘No, that’s not the way. Posture is not object, your body is object. I began getting very frustrated. And that heat! I said, ‘Bikram, if you’d turn down the stupid heat this room would be much more full.’
“我们吵起来了。我们真的吵起来了。”艾米说,“我已经练瑜珈很长时间了。他所要求的我都做过。” Bikram的方法就是在摄氏40度的瑜珈室里做26个基本的系列动作。他的训练室及教学方法与艾米以前学的有所不同。“我会依我所知的正确方法去做眼镜蛇姿势。”艾米说,“但他还会说:‘不,不是那样的。姿势不是重点,身体才是动作的主体。’”我开始有一种失败的感觉,还有那高温度瑜珈室。我说:“Bikram,如果你能降低那该死的温度,这儿会有很多人。”
Emmy had had enough. Her friend Barbara Brown, a pioneer in the development of biofeedback, was taking a trip to India to tour research centers and Emmy joined her. Among the facilities she visited she found yoga being used to treat medical conditions like diabetes and asthma. they did the postures Bikram’s way,” Emmy says. “I visited three of four other research centers they did the poses his way as well, with the same energy and same” high standard that Bikram taught me.
艾米已经受够了气。她的朋友巴伯若·布朗在生物反馈的发展领域是一位先锋人物。当时正要去印度旅行,去参观研究中心。艾米也同她一起去了。在她所参观的设备中,她发现瑜珈已经被用来治疗疾病,像治疗糖尿病和哮喘。“他们做的是Bikram的方式,”艾米说,“我参观了3/4的研究中心,他们也都采用了同样的精力和高标准,就像贝克哈姆教我的方式。”
So Emmy went back to Beverly Hills and studied Bikram’s teachings very hard. (the advanced series, also an hour and a half long comprises 84 postures). “The first time you do the twenty-six postures which cover a normal range of motion for just about anybody, they act as a diagnostic tool,” she explains.
因此艾米回到贝弗莉山后努力学习Bikram的教学方式。(高级的系列训练,也是1个半小时,含84种姿势)“这套系统对任何人都很适用,因为在这26个动作里包含一般人体所需的基本瑜珈训练。所以当你第一次练习这26个动作,可把它视为一个自我诊断的工具。”她解释说。
Emmy is clear about the good health benefits from Bikram yoga because she has personally witnessed “miracles” in the thirty years she has been teaching. Emmy says, “ I am so happy that I am able share this valuable thing which can make peoples lives better and to heal their bodies and minds…”
艾米很清楚从Bikram瑜珈中获得好身体的益处,因为在跟Bikram学习的30年里已经亲身见证了这一点。艾米说:“我非常高兴能分享这项让人们活得更好并且治疗身体和精神上疾的运动…”
MO HUIPING FINDS BIKRAM YOGA 莫慧萍找到了Bikram热瑜伽
A former ballet dancer and fitness instructor, Mo Huiping started practicing yoga in Taiwan when she was on breaks from her dance practice. At that time yoga was practiced mainly by housewives wearing leotards and the classes were slow moving with a lot of breathing and meditation included. It was an interesting diversion but not something she thought would be vigorous enough to give her the type of workout which would satisfy her world class dancer’s body. She started reading more about yoga and would take classes on her visits to the US. The range and scope of yoga in the states was enormous. It was in the US that she tried all the different forms of yoga including Ashtanga, Iyengar, Vinyasa, Anusara, as well meeting many different teachers and practitioners of yoga. She felt she was not getting enough exercise. “I suppose it depends what you want from your yoga class,” she says. Being active, I was looking at yoga to keep in shape—keeping my weight down and muscles in toned.” Most styles that I tried were just not strong enough to keep give me the shape I wanted. Mo, was more interested in “physical yoga” because she wanted to keep in shape since she was retired as a professional ballet dancer. Then, on a summer visit to the US in 1999 Mo passed a studio in Calfornia called Bikram’s Yoga College Of India. The next day she took her first Bikram class.
莫慧萍从前是一个芭蕾舞蹈演员和健身教练,当她不练习舞蹈的时候,她开始在台湾练习瑜伽。那个时候大多是家庭主妇穿着紧身连衣裤练习瑜伽,课程一般都是包括呼吸和冥想在内的很多慢的动作。这个对她而言是很有趣的娱乐项目,但那并不是她所想象的那种可以真正强健她身体的运动,更不能满足她世界舞蹈演员对于身形的要求。她开始阅读更多的关于瑜伽的书籍并且当她去美国的时候,她也参加了当地的瑜伽课程。在美国,瑜伽的种类繁多和范围也广泛。在美国他尝试了各种不同的包括Ashtanga, Iyengar, Vinyasa, Anusara 的瑜伽,在那段时间她也认识了很多瑜伽教练和瑜伽从业者。她觉得她没有获得足够的锻炼“我觉得这个要看你想从瑜伽课程中得到什么”她说。我是想通过练习瑜伽,可以保持身材-使我的体重下降并能保持肌肉的修长。我试过的大多数类型都不够锻练力度以达到我塑身的要求。莫慧萍对体位法的瑜伽更感兴趣,因为自从她从专业芭蕾舞蹈演员岗位上退役下来之后,就想一直保持原有的身材。在1999年的夏天莫慧萍再次来到美国,经过了一个坐落在加利福尼亚州叫做印度Bikram的瑜伽学院。第二天, 她去上了Bikram的第一节课
After the class was finished I immediately felt my body respond to the training. I felt great after class with a feeling of satisfaction that comes from a good exercise session. I never thought I could get this feeling from yoga. The heat was unusual at first but it felt natural to be moving from one posture to the next with a “warm body.” When class was finished, as I let my body cool down, I felt refreshed and invigorated.
“After that first class, I couldn’t believe how great I felt—challenging but refreshing at the same time,” Mo said. “My body ached for the next few days—just like someone exercising for the first time, but in fact I was quite active so I thought that this class really works the body at every possible angle. While some people have trouble getting used to heat, not me, I liked it not because it made me sweat but it made my body “feel ready” for the poses. What I also immediately noticed about this system is that it is designed so one posture flows into the next. Bikram says that he designed it this way so that each posture prepares you for the next one. This is why I felt thoroughly stretched after my first workout.
当课程结束后,我马上就发现了我的身体对此练习的反应。课后,我感觉棒极了,我从这个很好的练习中找到了满足的感觉。我从来没有想过我能从瑜伽中得到这种感受。一开始会觉得有了热度的感觉很不一样,但是身体在热的情况下,从一个姿态到另一个姿态的动作都会感觉很自然。课程结束后,当我把身体凉凉,我感觉十分的精神抖擞。“第一节课过后,我都不相信我的感觉如此之棒-虽然身体肌肉感觉疲惫,但是同时精神清爽。”莫慧萍说“再后来的几天我的身体肌肉感觉到酸疼-就像有的人第一次运动过后的感觉,但是事实上我平时很勤于锻炼,所以我觉得这项练习真的是可以使身体各个部位都得到充分的锻炼。虽然有一些人不适应练习中的热度,但我不是,我喜欢它不仅仅是因为它能使我出汗,更因为它让我觉得我的身体已经准备好了各种姿势。关于这个系统我立即发现的还有这组动作每一个动作到下一个动作都很流畅。Bikram说,他设计这样的动作,所以你可以在进行下一个动作之前就做好了准备。这就是为什么我第一次尝试之后就觉得身体整个得舒展开来。
Now excited that yoga was great exercise, Huiping set her sights to become a certified instructor and enrolled in Bikram Teacher’s Training one year later. The certification training was a grueling 9 weeks, 2 classes a day with classes and studying finishing at 23:00 to midnight each evening. During the teacher’s training Bikram invited Huiping to attend the advanced teacher’s training. The senior teacher was none other than Emmy Cleaves. Emmy recognized Huiping’s dedication and raw talent and gave Huiping invaluable training and tips. Out of her class of over 200 international students Huiping was awarded the Best Posture award for her exemplary execution of yoga postures. Emmy presented Huiping with the award during the graduation ceremony. Already an experienced fitness instructor, Huiping honed her teaching skills through Bikram’s training program and with the additional training from Emmy Cleaves. Following her graduation in 2000 she began teaching hot yoga to her students in Beijing. She was the first to introduce hot yoga into China and is authorized by Bikram to teach his system in a classroom setting.
现在,通过令人振奋的瑜伽训练,莫慧萍已经决定作一名持执照的瑜伽教师,并且一年以后在Bikram教师培训中心注册。这种证书的培训需要经过9个星期每日2次的艰苦训练,每天晚上都是23:00左右才能完成课程和学习。在教师培训期间,Bikram邀请慧萍参加高级教师培训。那个高级的培训老师就是艾米。艾米发现慧萍的不懈努力还有她的天生资质,她给了慧萍无价的培训课程和技巧。在200多名国际学生中,由于慧萍模范的瑜伽姿势,她被授予最佳姿态奖。艾米在毕业典礼上给慧萍颁发了此奖项。作为已经是一个有着丰富经验的健身教练,慧萍在Bikram的培训课程中和艾米的附加课程中更加锻炼了她的教学技巧。2000年毕业以后,她开始在北京教授学生热瑜伽课程。她是第一个向中国引进热瑜伽并且经过Bikram授权在教室里教授其系统课程的人。
When asked about the recent popularity of hot yoga recently including studios opening up everywhere including teacher’s training, Huiping replied, “I am not surprised with the popularity of Bikram’s system—like the States and Europe, Bikram yoga will be popular here because it works, it really is a great workout and makes you feel great. It’s a pity that Bikram is not getting credited for his work. I believe many teachers that are being locally certified may not be aware of Bikram and understand how and why he developed this system. Soon there will be more Bikram certified instructors in Beijing and the public will have more information about Bikram and his methods. I cannot tell you how many times I was approached to change the Bikram system for the China market. I refused everytime because if you change the sequence or the heating standard then you know longer have the same “formula” or “recipe” if you use a cooking analogy. The Bikram formula has been tested and proven—it works--there is no need to change it.
当问及现今热瑜伽的流行,包括到处开放的热瑜伽室和老师的培训,慧萍答复,“我对Bikram热瑜伽的流行一点也不感到奇怪--就像美国和欧洲,Bikram热瑜伽也将在中国流行,是因为它的确奏效,它真的是一项很棒的尝试,而且能让你感觉很好。很遗憾,Bikram先生没有从他的工作中获得应有智慧产权尊重。我相信有很多现在有着中国当地证书的老师并不知道Bikram是谁,而且也并不懂bikram是怎样又是为什么发展这项系统。不久,北京将会有更多持有Bikram证书的教练,并且社会上将会有更多的关于Bikram和其方法的信息。我不知道有多少次被鼓吹叫我自创中国热瑜伽为中国的市场改变Bikram的系统。但是每次我都拒绝了,就像烹饪一样,如果你改变了动作的顺序或是热度的标准,时间长了,你会发现那个配方并不合适。Bikram热瑜伽已经被检验并证明过了-它很奏效-所以没必要去改变。
I tell these individuals that the system doesn’t need changing—the market needs to be educated in the way Starbucks has and is doing so with coffee. The China yoga market is young and is still in an exploratory stage. Local entrepreneurs are trying to influence the market with their particular brand or style but within a few more years the market will be telling us what type of yoga they prefer and who they want teaching it to them. In the end, the pie is big enough for everyone, I believe the China yoga market will eclipse the US market within the next 10 years. Why? Because Chinese already have an affinity to eastern forms of exercise and yoga, if promoted as exercise, especially like the Bikram method will cross over all the various market segments and tap into these markets. The sum of the parts will be greater than the whole. The yoga revolution is coming soon and it is exciting to be part of it.
我跟这些个别人说,这个系统不需要改变,而需要培养教导群众,就应该象星巴克过去和现在做咖啡宣导文化一样。中国的瑜伽市场还很年轻,还仍处于一个试探的阶段。当地的瑜伽馆正在试图用他们特有的瑜伽派系来影响中国市场,但是过几年市场就会告诉我们消费者喜欢什么样的瑜伽和消费者想要谁来教他们。最后这块饼足够每个人的,而且我相信中国的瑜伽市场将在未来的10年内超过美国市场。为什么呢?因为中国已经与东方式的练习和瑜伽有着密切的关系,如果发扬这些练习方法,特别是Bikram式的方法将会遍及市场的不同层面并且接近这些市场。所有部分的和将大于整体。瑜伽的革命将会在不久到来,并且它将很振奋的成为部分之一。
Like Emmy Cleaves, Huiping is living proof of the benefits of Bikram Yoga. She has achieved her physical goals and likes the shape and feel of her body. “I have to say that while all my students enjoy the feel good aspect of a Bikram class, most of my women students are interested to shed some weight, and shape their bodies. Some of the transformations have been astounding. Most people cannot believe that yoga can affect your body so dramatically but that’s because their image of yoga is of a passive, meditative art—they don’t think of it as exercise like running or aerobic dancing. As I learned, Bikram Yoga is great physical exercise and the good part is it can
administered to anyone according to their level of fitness.
就像艾米一样,慧萍是一个受益于Bikram热瑜伽活生生的例子。她已经达到了她身体上的目标并且很享受她现在的体形及感受。我不得不说所有我的学生都已受Bikram式瑜伽给我们带来的好的感觉。我大多数的女性学生对减重和身体塑形很感兴趣。有些变化是很惊人的。大多数人都不相信瑜伽可以如此神奇的作用于人们的身体,但是这是因为她们对瑜伽的想象是被动冥想艺术--她们不认为瑜伽能像跑步和有氧操那样的锻炼运动。如我所学,Bikram热瑜伽是一项很棒的体育运动,它可以依照每个人不同程度上的健身计划而执行。
Huiping summarized her yoga achievements by saying, "yoga can be many things to many people. It is more than restoring your health or preventing poor health. Yoga views health from a broad perspective which involves the mind. Yoga recognizes the mind as a powerful influence on the body. It makes you aware that you are part of a larger whole. It reunites you with your body and once this happens your relationships with others will change. Huiping said, “So while I first began yoga for health effects, it is a great to see that feel the effect it is having on my mental and psychological health. So keep in mind that while a healthy body is the first goal for many of us, there is much more that yoga can do for us. It's all about starting the journey and letting yoga take you where you feel most comfortable."
Also, like Emmy Cleaves, Huiping is a master at motivating and educating her students. If her packed classes give a hint of the future--China will be a very healthy nation.
像艾米一样,慧萍也是一个激励和教育其学生的专家。如果她的课程是未来的一个线索--那么中国将是一个很健康的民族。
Brought Together by Bikram Yoga
Bikram热瑜伽为来自地球两端的两个世界级瑜伽教师提供走在一起的契机
When Emmy Cleaves first started practicing yoga, Mo Huiping’s parents were not even together. Despite their difference in age, when the two met for the first time in September 2000, the master teacher immediately knew the “China” girl was destined for great things. At Mo Huiping’s teacher’s training graduation, Emmy gave Mo Huiping a card with the following, “you will make a great China ambassador for yoga…and Bikram’s system.” Almost five years later, the “China” girl brought recognition to China by winning a world championship competition and now hot yoga is quickly becoming a popular style in China.
当艾米最初开始练习瑜伽,莫慧萍的父母甚至还没有结婚。年龄上的差别不说,当她们两个在2000年9月份第一次见面的时候,这个老教师一下就看出了这个中国女孩子将会做一番大事业。当莫慧萍的教师培训课程结束的时候,艾米给了莫慧萍一张卡片,上面写着:“你将成为瑜伽和Bikram热瑜伽的中国大使”差不多五年过去了,这个中国女孩赢得世界锦标赛并且载誉而归,现在热瑜伽已经在中国快速流行起来。
EMMY’S YOGA SEARCH 艾米对瑜伽研究调查
Emmy started yoga by reading books and practicing on her own. For the next twenty years she tried the few types of yoga found in Los Angeles at the time. “I would try a class here and there, but I could never stay with one teacher because I never had a good feeling with anyone teacher, she says. For me, “The teacher has to be very high level and cannot just say, ‘Put your legs here’ and ‘do this’ and ‘stretch that.’”
Then at thirty five, Emmy almost died from a brain hemorrhage, which is how her father died in Latvia. With the odds against her, Emmy survived and recovered. But the experience changed her forever. “A life threatening event like that makes you wonder what the purpose is of your survival. Why are you alive? Why didn’t you die? Emmy’s search for answers made her change many things in her life. She gave being a businesswoman and began exploring meditation and yoga more seriously.
艾米开始阅读书籍并自己练习瑜珈。在以后的20年里,她尝试了几种在洛杉矶发现的瑜珈。“我会到处上课,但是我却没有一直保持和一个老师学习,因为我对任何一个老师都没有一个完美的感觉。”她说,“对于我来说,老师应该有非常高的水平而不只是说,‘把腿放这’、‘这样做’、‘那样伸展’。”在艾米35岁时,她差点儿死于脑出血。她的父亲就是得这种病死于拉托维亚的。由于活着的可能性激励着她,艾米幸存且康复了。但是这次经历改变了她以后的生活。“一次生命的威胁会让你思索你幸存的原因是什么?你为什么还能活着?你为什么没有死?”艾米搜寻的答案使她改变了生活中的很多事情。她放弃了商业女性的地位并且开始更认真地探索瑜珈和对瑜珈的思考。
In 1973 Emmy attended a demonstration by Bikram, a 26 year old yoga teacher. “His group consisted of maybe ten people—all ages and shapes, including a couple of kids. I was fascinated by the energy and precision of his demonstration.” At the end of the presentation Bikram jumped off the stage, walked across the room, and stuck a card in her hand. “Tommorrow. You come my school,” he said. She did.
1973年艾米参加了Bikram的表演。Bikram是一个26岁的瑜珈老师。“他的示演学员大约有10人——不同年龄和不同体型,包括一些儿童。我被他示范动作的准确性和精力所感染。”在表演结束时Bikram跳下舞台,穿过房间,往艾米手里塞了一张卡。“明天,你到我的学校来。”他说。艾米去了。
“We argued. We really argued,” Emmy says. “I had done yoga for a long time, none of it the way he demanded it be done.” Bikram’s methodology involves a basic series twenty six poses practiced in a 40C studio. His studio and teaching methods were different from Emmy had previously learned. “I would go into a Cobra pose doing everything right,” Emmy says, “ and he would say, ‘No, that’s not the way. Posture is not object, your body is object. I began getting very frustrated. And that heat! I said, ‘Bikram, if you’d turn down the stupid heat this room would be much more full.’
“我们吵起来了。我们真的吵起来了。”艾米说,“我已经练瑜珈很长时间了。他所要求的我都做过。” Bikram的方法就是在摄氏40度的瑜珈室里做26个基本的系列动作。他的训练室及教学方法与艾米以前学的有所不同。“我会依我所知的正确方法去做眼镜蛇姿势。”艾米说,“但他还会说:‘不,不是那样的。姿势不是重点,身体才是动作的主体。’”我开始有一种失败的感觉,还有那高温度瑜珈室。我说:“Bikram,如果你能降低那该死的温度,这儿会有很多人。”
Emmy had had enough. Her friend Barbara Brown, a pioneer in the development of biofeedback, was taking a trip to India to tour research centers and Emmy joined her. Among the facilities she visited she found yoga being used to treat medical conditions like diabetes and asthma. they did the postures Bikram’s way,” Emmy says. “I visited three of four other research centers they did the poses his way as well, with the same energy and same” high standard that Bikram taught me.
艾米已经受够了气。她的朋友巴伯若·布朗在生物反馈的发展领域是一位先锋人物。当时正要去印度旅行,去参观研究中心。艾米也同她一起去了。在她所参观的设备中,她发现瑜珈已经被用来治疗疾病,像治疗糖尿病和哮喘。“他们做的是Bikram的方式,”艾米说,“我参观了3/4的研究中心,他们也都采用了同样的精力和高标准,就像贝克哈姆教我的方式。”
So Emmy went back to Beverly Hills and studied Bikram’s teachings very hard. (the advanced series, also an hour and a half long comprises 84 postures). “The first time you do the twenty-six postures which cover a normal range of motion for just about anybody, they act as a diagnostic tool,” she explains.
因此艾米回到贝弗莉山后努力学习Bikram的教学方式。(高级的系列训练,也是1个半小时,含84种姿势)“这套系统对任何人都很适用,因为在这26个动作里包含一般人体所需的基本瑜珈训练。所以当你第一次练习这26个动作,可把它视为一个自我诊断的工具。”她解释说。
Emmy is clear about the good health benefits from Bikram yoga because she has personally witnessed “miracles” in the thirty years she has been teaching. Emmy says, “ I am so happy that I am able share this valuable thing which can make peoples lives better and to heal their bodies and minds…”
艾米很清楚从Bikram瑜珈中获得好身体的益处,因为在跟Bikram学习的30年里已经亲身见证了这一点。艾米说:“我非常高兴能分享这项让人们活得更好并且治疗身体和精神上疾的运动…”
MO HUIPING FINDS BIKRAM YOGA 莫慧萍找到了Bikram热瑜伽
A former ballet dancer and fitness instructor, Mo Huiping started practicing yoga in Taiwan when she was on breaks from her dance practice. At that time yoga was practiced mainly by housewives wearing leotards and the classes were slow moving with a lot of breathing and meditation included. It was an interesting diversion but not something she thought would be vigorous enough to give her the type of workout which would satisfy her world class dancer’s body. She started reading more about yoga and would take classes on her visits to the US. The range and scope of yoga in the states was enormous. It was in the US that she tried all the different forms of yoga including Ashtanga, Iyengar, Vinyasa, Anusara, as well meeting many different teachers and practitioners of yoga. She felt she was not getting enough exercise. “I suppose it depends what you want from your yoga class,” she says. Being active, I was looking at yoga to keep in shape—keeping my weight down and muscles in toned.” Most styles that I tried were just not strong enough to keep give me the shape I wanted. Mo, was more interested in “physical yoga” because she wanted to keep in shape since she was retired as a professional ballet dancer. Then, on a summer visit to the US in 1999 Mo passed a studio in Calfornia called Bikram’s Yoga College Of India. The next day she took her first Bikram class.
莫慧萍从前是一个芭蕾舞蹈演员和健身教练,当她不练习舞蹈的时候,她开始在台湾练习瑜伽。那个时候大多是家庭主妇穿着紧身连衣裤练习瑜伽,课程一般都是包括呼吸和冥想在内的很多慢的动作。这个对她而言是很有趣的娱乐项目,但那并不是她所想象的那种可以真正强健她身体的运动,更不能满足她世界舞蹈演员对于身形的要求。她开始阅读更多的关于瑜伽的书籍并且当她去美国的时候,她也参加了当地的瑜伽课程。在美国,瑜伽的种类繁多和范围也广泛。在美国他尝试了各种不同的包括Ashtanga, Iyengar, Vinyasa, Anusara 的瑜伽,在那段时间她也认识了很多瑜伽教练和瑜伽从业者。她觉得她没有获得足够的锻炼“我觉得这个要看你想从瑜伽课程中得到什么”她说。我是想通过练习瑜伽,可以保持身材-使我的体重下降并能保持肌肉的修长。我试过的大多数类型都不够锻练力度以达到我塑身的要求。莫慧萍对体位法的瑜伽更感兴趣,因为自从她从专业芭蕾舞蹈演员岗位上退役下来之后,就想一直保持原有的身材。在1999年的夏天莫慧萍再次来到美国,经过了一个坐落在加利福尼亚州叫做印度Bikram的瑜伽学院。第二天, 她去上了Bikram的第一节课
After the class was finished I immediately felt my body respond to the training. I felt great after class with a feeling of satisfaction that comes from a good exercise session. I never thought I could get this feeling from yoga. The heat was unusual at first but it felt natural to be moving from one posture to the next with a “warm body.” When class was finished, as I let my body cool down, I felt refreshed and invigorated.
“After that first class, I couldn’t believe how great I felt—challenging but refreshing at the same time,” Mo said. “My body ached for the next few days—just like someone exercising for the first time, but in fact I was quite active so I thought that this class really works the body at every possible angle. While some people have trouble getting used to heat, not me, I liked it not because it made me sweat but it made my body “feel ready” for the poses. What I also immediately noticed about this system is that it is designed so one posture flows into the next. Bikram says that he designed it this way so that each posture prepares you for the next one. This is why I felt thoroughly stretched after my first workout.
当课程结束后,我马上就发现了我的身体对此练习的反应。课后,我感觉棒极了,我从这个很好的练习中找到了满足的感觉。我从来没有想过我能从瑜伽中得到这种感受。一开始会觉得有了热度的感觉很不一样,但是身体在热的情况下,从一个姿态到另一个姿态的动作都会感觉很自然。课程结束后,当我把身体凉凉,我感觉十分的精神抖擞。“第一节课过后,我都不相信我的感觉如此之棒-虽然身体肌肉感觉疲惫,但是同时精神清爽。”莫慧萍说“再后来的几天我的身体肌肉感觉到酸疼-就像有的人第一次运动过后的感觉,但是事实上我平时很勤于锻炼,所以我觉得这项练习真的是可以使身体各个部位都得到充分的锻炼。虽然有一些人不适应练习中的热度,但我不是,我喜欢它不仅仅是因为它能使我出汗,更因为它让我觉得我的身体已经准备好了各种姿势。关于这个系统我立即发现的还有这组动作每一个动作到下一个动作都很流畅。Bikram说,他设计这样的动作,所以你可以在进行下一个动作之前就做好了准备。这就是为什么我第一次尝试之后就觉得身体整个得舒展开来。
Now excited that yoga was great exercise, Huiping set her sights to become a certified instructor and enrolled in Bikram Teacher’s Training one year later. The certification training was a grueling 9 weeks, 2 classes a day with classes and studying finishing at 23:00 to midnight each evening. During the teacher’s training Bikram invited Huiping to attend the advanced teacher’s training. The senior teacher was none other than Emmy Cleaves. Emmy recognized Huiping’s dedication and raw talent and gave Huiping invaluable training and tips. Out of her class of over 200 international students Huiping was awarded the Best Posture award for her exemplary execution of yoga postures. Emmy presented Huiping with the award during the graduation ceremony. Already an experienced fitness instructor, Huiping honed her teaching skills through Bikram’s training program and with the additional training from Emmy Cleaves. Following her graduation in 2000 she began teaching hot yoga to her students in Beijing. She was the first to introduce hot yoga into China and is authorized by Bikram to teach his system in a classroom setting.
现在,通过令人振奋的瑜伽训练,莫慧萍已经决定作一名持执照的瑜伽教师,并且一年以后在Bikram教师培训中心注册。这种证书的培训需要经过9个星期每日2次的艰苦训练,每天晚上都是23:00左右才能完成课程和学习。在教师培训期间,Bikram邀请慧萍参加高级教师培训。那个高级的培训老师就是艾米。艾米发现慧萍的不懈努力还有她的天生资质,她给了慧萍无价的培训课程和技巧。在200多名国际学生中,由于慧萍模范的瑜伽姿势,她被授予最佳姿态奖。艾米在毕业典礼上给慧萍颁发了此奖项。作为已经是一个有着丰富经验的健身教练,慧萍在Bikram的培训课程中和艾米的附加课程中更加锻炼了她的教学技巧。2000年毕业以后,她开始在北京教授学生热瑜伽课程。她是第一个向中国引进热瑜伽并且经过Bikram授权在教室里教授其系统课程的人。
When asked about the recent popularity of hot yoga recently including studios opening up everywhere including teacher’s training, Huiping replied, “I am not surprised with the popularity of Bikram’s system—like the States and Europe, Bikram yoga will be popular here because it works, it really is a great workout and makes you feel great. It’s a pity that Bikram is not getting credited for his work. I believe many teachers that are being locally certified may not be aware of Bikram and understand how and why he developed this system. Soon there will be more Bikram certified instructors in Beijing and the public will have more information about Bikram and his methods. I cannot tell you how many times I was approached to change the Bikram system for the China market. I refused everytime because if you change the sequence or the heating standard then you know longer have the same “formula” or “recipe” if you use a cooking analogy. The Bikram formula has been tested and proven—it works--there is no need to change it.
当问及现今热瑜伽的流行,包括到处开放的热瑜伽室和老师的培训,慧萍答复,“我对Bikram热瑜伽的流行一点也不感到奇怪--就像美国和欧洲,Bikram热瑜伽也将在中国流行,是因为它的确奏效,它真的是一项很棒的尝试,而且能让你感觉很好。很遗憾,Bikram先生没有从他的工作中获得应有智慧产权尊重。我相信有很多现在有着中国当地证书的老师并不知道Bikram是谁,而且也并不懂bikram是怎样又是为什么发展这项系统。不久,北京将会有更多持有Bikram证书的教练,并且社会上将会有更多的关于Bikram和其方法的信息。我不知道有多少次被鼓吹叫我自创中国热瑜伽为中国的市场改变Bikram的系统。但是每次我都拒绝了,就像烹饪一样,如果你改变了动作的顺序或是热度的标准,时间长了,你会发现那个配方并不合适。Bikram热瑜伽已经被检验并证明过了-它很奏效-所以没必要去改变。
I tell these individuals that the system doesn’t need changing—the market needs to be educated in the way Starbucks has and is doing so with coffee. The China yoga market is young and is still in an exploratory stage. Local entrepreneurs are trying to influence the market with their particular brand or style but within a few more years the market will be telling us what type of yoga they prefer and who they want teaching it to them. In the end, the pie is big enough for everyone, I believe the China yoga market will eclipse the US market within the next 10 years. Why? Because Chinese already have an affinity to eastern forms of exercise and yoga, if promoted as exercise, especially like the Bikram method will cross over all the various market segments and tap into these markets. The sum of the parts will be greater than the whole. The yoga revolution is coming soon and it is exciting to be part of it.
我跟这些个别人说,这个系统不需要改变,而需要培养教导群众,就应该象星巴克过去和现在做咖啡宣导文化一样。中国的瑜伽市场还很年轻,还仍处于一个试探的阶段。当地的瑜伽馆正在试图用他们特有的瑜伽派系来影响中国市场,但是过几年市场就会告诉我们消费者喜欢什么样的瑜伽和消费者想要谁来教他们。最后这块饼足够每个人的,而且我相信中国的瑜伽市场将在未来的10年内超过美国市场。为什么呢?因为中国已经与东方式的练习和瑜伽有着密切的关系,如果发扬这些练习方法,特别是Bikram式的方法将会遍及市场的不同层面并且接近这些市场。所有部分的和将大于整体。瑜伽的革命将会在不久到来,并且它将很振奋的成为部分之一。
Like Emmy Cleaves, Huiping is living proof of the benefits of Bikram Yoga. She has achieved her physical goals and likes the shape and feel of her body. “I have to say that while all my students enjoy the feel good aspect of a Bikram class, most of my women students are interested to shed some weight, and shape their bodies. Some of the transformations have been astounding. Most people cannot believe that yoga can affect your body so dramatically but that’s because their image of yoga is of a passive, meditative art—they don’t think of it as exercise like running or aerobic dancing. As I learned, Bikram Yoga is great physical exercise and the good part is it can
administered to anyone according to their level of fitness.
就像艾米一样,慧萍是一个受益于Bikram热瑜伽活生生的例子。她已经达到了她身体上的目标并且很享受她现在的体形及感受。我不得不说所有我的学生都已受Bikram式瑜伽给我们带来的好的感觉。我大多数的女性学生对减重和身体塑形很感兴趣。有些变化是很惊人的。大多数人都不相信瑜伽可以如此神奇的作用于人们的身体,但是这是因为她们对瑜伽的想象是被动冥想艺术--她们不认为瑜伽能像跑步和有氧操那样的锻炼运动。如我所学,Bikram热瑜伽是一项很棒的体育运动,它可以依照每个人不同程度上的健身计划而执行。
Huiping summarized her yoga achievements by saying, "yoga can be many things to many people. It is more than restoring your health or preventing poor health. Yoga views health from a broad perspective which involves the mind. Yoga recognizes the mind as a powerful influence on the body. It makes you aware that you are part of a larger whole. It reunites you with your body and once this happens your relationships with others will change. Huiping said, “So while I first began yoga for health effects, it is a great to see that feel the effect it is having on my mental and psychological health. So keep in mind that while a healthy body is the first goal for many of us, there is much more that yoga can do for us. It's all about starting the journey and letting yoga take you where you feel most comfortable."
Also, like Emmy Cleaves, Huiping is a master at motivating and educating her students. If her packed classes give a hint of the future--China will be a very healthy nation.
像艾米一样,慧萍也是一个激励和教育其学生的专家。如果她的课程是未来的一个线索--那么中国将是一个很健康的民族。
Spafitness Magazine - Emmy Cleaves in China
The magnificent Emmy Cleaves gives a Bikram Yoga Seminar in China captured in this article with photos.