My journey with Bikram yoga began in 2002. I was on holiday in South Beach when my mother and I happened to walk by the Bikram Yoga Studio. My mother was interested and decided to take a class the next day. When she returned from class, she could not stop talking about how good she felt and encouraged me to try it.
I decided to take a class the next day. After 90 minutes of huffing and puffing, I decided Bikram yoga was obviously something I needed to add to my workout routine. At that time, I was not living in the States and returned to London, England. I was able to find a class in Central London and commuted on the weekends to attend class. Later that year, I moved back to Texas and was excited to see that Stacey had opened her studio in Grapevine which allowed me to attend classes more frequently.
I have always struggled with whether I should be in the gym or at yoga. Although I started coming to the Grapevine studio in 2002, I was never consistent with my practice. My pattern was generally three days a week for about four to six months then I'd disappear and show up again when I knew what my body needed was yoga.
Finally in 2007, tired of my inconsistency in going to yoga or the gym, I decided enough was enough. I needed to commit to being at one place or the other. I had gained weight and was allowing my job to give me an excuse not to do either. Yoga won out.
In 2008, my goal at the beginning of the year was to attend at least 4-5 classes a week. That led to my first 60Day Challenge which I completed in May. I could see that coming more than four times a week was one of the keys to improving my practice.
Bikram yoga has helped me in a number of ways. It has provided me with the ability to look at situations in my workplace and personal life differently then I may have in the past. And most importantly, I am less critical of the person looking in the mirror every day for 90 minutes than I used to be. We all tend to be hardest on ourselves and Bikram teaches us to be more accepting.
I appreciate the opportunity as Student of the Month. Thank you to Stacey, Suzann, Sherri, Jorina, Sami, Carrie, and Atina for your daily support.
