Meet John, who started practicing Bikram Yoga with us in December 2013, at age 68. Just prior to beginning Bikram Yoga, he was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease.
Against the advice of his physician, he started coming to class 4-5 times per week.
In only 3 months of this new routine, his health dramatically improved. Here are the official numbers from his diagnostic tests:
As inclusive as North American yoga wants to be, yoga in its deeper dimensions demands certain qualities.
Well, I have a yoga mat and I hydrated well. So yes, I think so.
The yoga clothing companies would like you to think you are.
–BYCA Guest Blog Post–
The author is a scientist, musician, and occasional computer programmer based in Lansing, MI.
He is a founding member of “Los Tres Yogamigos”, BYCA’s premiere yoga buddy challenge team.
I suffered from chronic back pain for fifteen years. Episodic attempts at cultivating a yoga (or Pilates, or Alexander technique, or self-medication) practice would temporarily ease this pain, but it was not until I moved to Lansing and had the opportunity to practice the 26+2 sequence daily at Bikram Yoga Capital Area (BYCA) that I was able to make the (hopefully somewhat permanent) changes to the structure of my spine that were necessary for me to sit comfortably and live without chronic pain.
by Lauren Anastos
Almost four years ago, while long-distance training, I pulled a hamstring. I continued to run on it and completed a marathon in Charlevoix in June 2013.
I struggled throughout the race due to the pain in my hamstring. Also, despite my training, around mile 14 I had trouble breathing and needed to use an inhaler. At the end of the race, the pain in my hamstring was so bad that I couldn’t bend my knee.
by Ann Chrapkiewicz
I started practicing Bikram Yoga in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 2003 – shortly after returning to the United States after 2 years of living in rural Japan. I was working in the kitchen of the People’s Food Coop at the time and attended on the invitation of one of my coworkers. I do not think that either of us “liked” the first class – she did not ever return for a second class (that was hard!).
by Lindsay Gray
I started practicing Bikram Yoga six years ago and have had the pleasure of practicing in many different places. Having started in Honolulu, and then in Houston, Austin, Boston, and Berlin before ending up here at my most favorite of studios. (Aren’t we lucky!!)
I am forever indebted to a close friend of mine, a former dancer like myself, who introduced me to Bikram yoga.
by Ann Renee Chrapkiewicz
…..
Bikram’s Beginning Yoga Class is truly that. A place for beginners to start the yoga process.
However, there seems to be a part of the human mind – and if I may propose, especially a noticeable portion of the American mind – that would like to believe that it is not a beginner.
It is sure that it is already an expert.
Bikram Yoga is often referred to as a “90-minute moving meditation”.
Lately I have started to prefer the term “physical meditation” over “moving meditation”. It is true that we move our bodies, but the emphasis of class is always on stillness.
Physical Meditation is a term that makes sense for me because it describes the heart of how anyone can practice, just by stepping in the room, and regardless of any flexibility or ability.
by Ann Chrapkiewicz
. . . . . . . . . . . .
I have learned a dozen lessons and received a thousand blessings from my back injury on March 17, 2004.
But before getting to those, let me finish telling you about that day. If you missed the first part of the story, you might want to read that first.
by Ann Chrapkiewicz
. . . . . . . . . . . .
If I had not broken my back 13 years ago today, we would not be here. At least not in the way we are today.
It might sound extreme, but it is true.
If you were in class last year on this date, you may have heard me tell the story.