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"Bikram Yoga is a life-giving, life-loving practice. The 90 minutes we spend breathing, stretching, flexing, balancing and holding our bodies in various poses while sweat pours down our bodies and pools onto the floor creates an energy exchange that is unimaginable to anyone who has not experienced this space. We are a room full of young people, old people, mothers, fathers, grandparents, students, wealthy professionals, economically challenged, flabby, fit, gently used, surgically altered, enjoying wellness, managing disease, lusciously limber, terrifically tight, hormonally diverse, emotionally dynamic individuals who come together again and again to touch the threshold of our bodies at that particular moment. The yoga instructors create and hold a space that personal and communal; noninvasive yet encouraging. Each of us leaves class with greater love and kindness towards own bodies, which we may carry in our consciousness and spill into our interactions with others. I discovered Bikram Yoga last year after 30 years and thousands of miles running along hard, unforgiving concrete. My spine is herniated in several places and after spinal surgery five years ago, I was cautioned to change my high impact exercise regime. As a cardio-junkie, I did not think yoga was for me. On the contrary, Bikram yoga offers a cardio workout comparable to interval training, while also opening the joints, stretching the muscles, and bringing alignment to the body. My body is as fit and strong as ever and my spine is much happier. I am hooked! "
- Susan Shammel
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"A few years ago, I had a ski accident that required me to have three surgeries, one of which was a fusion of the L4-L5 vertebrae. Besides the areas that were corrected with the surgeries, I have been trying to heal a herniation at T8-T9 (pressing on my spinal cord), a radial tear at the L5-S1, and two medium herniations in the C2-C-6 region, and a torn joint joint capsule in the left shoulder! Over the last few years , I have spent a fortune in rehabilitation, pilates, healers, massages, etc. While the care I received post-operatively was needed at the time, I was still in a lot of pain.
"At the one year anniversary of my back fusion, I had an MRI that showed the fusion as healed, but the other herniations had stayed the same, even after a full year of rehab. At that point, I made a decision to listen to my intuition and return to yoga. I have practiced various forms of yoga for many years and knew that ultimately my healing was up to me and that yoga was the way back to health.
"I began by choosing ten very simple asanas that I would do every day for one month at home. After completing my month at home, I was ready to return to classes and Bikram was a natural fit as it is low impact, and focuses on spinal health. After my very first class, although I was a bit fatigued, I felt so much less pain that I was hooked. After the next several classes, I began to feel energized instead of fatigued. So I tried the 30 day challenge of 30 classes in 30 days and felt so good that I decided to try 60 classes in 60 days. After completing the 60 days, I can say my life has truly been transformed. I know I am in the right place for me because I am happier than I have been in years and no longer have debilitating pain. My family saw such big changes in me after I began practicing, that I now am enjoying the company of my husband and teenage daughters in class with me!
"I have found that Bikram yoga’s 26 poses are brilliantly sequenced to bring out the natural intelligence in my body. Doing this practice has allowed me to restore strength, balance and flexibility. While I still have “challenges” with my body, I am so grateful that I have the Bikram Yoga of Ashland community to support me on my journey. "
Namaste,
Libby Edson
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"Ten months ago I attended my first Bikram Yoga Class. I was 54, obese, recently separated and had never done any regular exercise as an adult. I gasped for breath and wobbled and fell out of balance.
"Patient instruction and regular practice helped in many ways: stretching, detoxifying, strengthening, aligning, meditating. I felt acceptance, respect, encouragement and support from both teachers and fellow students. The instruction taught me to calm my breath, balance, stretch and strengthen while enduring the heat and sweat in class.
"The benefits have been many. On the outside I have lost weight, improved strength and stamina, improved posture, deeper breath, clearer skin and more smiles. On the inside: my organs all seem to work better, my balance is improved, and my immune system strong. In addition to these physical benefits, the yoga has brought greater calm and balance to my mind. This calming and balancing of the mind has helped my work and family.
"Many thanks to Ashland Bikram Yoga."
- Jeff Johnson
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"I have read that Bikram Choudhury, the founder of this style once told a
student: 'you come to my class every day for two months and I will give you
a new life.' So I tried doing that when I started (as best I could with my
busy schedule), and I did get a new life (every day). Becki says: 'Between effort and relaxation, there is a place of grace.' Becki lives in that place, she runs her business from that place, and she and her teachers are expert at bringing that place into our practice and
into our lives. At the same time, there is no cult of personality at
Becki's Studio -- we're just a bunch of people who stretch and sweat like
pigs for a better life."
- John Cole
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"I just have to say how much I appreciate Bikram Yoga being in my life. I am thrilled to have found this practice, since no other yoga was do-able or enjoyable for me. I decided that yoga was not for me. No other form of exercise really excited me either, yet I desperately needed to move. I thank you and my body sings as it thanks you. I have not felt better in forever."
- Sarah Alter
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