From Jeff....
I got my introduction to Bikram yoga while working as a consultant in Albuquerque, New Mexico late last year. A friend that I worked with on the project invited me to go one evening. I had had surgery in April 2003 to fuse my L5 (fifth and last lumber vertebrae) to my S1 (sacrum). This was the result of having "tall guy athletic back" as my orthopedic surgeon put in it layman's terms. There was no disc material left between those two bones and after exploring other treatments, it seemed the best route to go to relieve my chronic back pain. Six months after the surgery I was doing very well and enjoying being in less pain for the first time in a long time. However, I fell from the second story of my home while painting it, and fractured the L3 and L4 vertebras directly above the fusion. I was used to having chronic back pain but after my fall, the pain was worse.
So, when I was invited to Bikram yoga I thought sure, some "stretching" will do my back some good. Boy, was I in for a surprise! My first class was quite an experience. We had one young guy pass out and "moo" like a cow so as you can imagine, the whole time I was taking class I kept thinking "what in the world am I doing here?" I think that is everyone's response when they first take Bikram. I left class that night totally humbled at how much the class took out of me physically and how far I had to go to even get close to doing any of the postures correctly. Yet, even in total defeat, I thought I had finally found the exercise program that I knew was going to give my back the strength and flexibility to maintain a healthy back and overall body.
I am honored to be named student of the month along with my wife Terri. I have been fortunate to experience a few other studios that teach Bikram and can honestly say that Grapevine Bikram is by far the best studio I have personally experienced. The quality of all the instructors is second to none. Everyone is so positive and helpful that it creates a great atmosphere to continue your practice. While I have made a lot of progress over the past few months, I know I have a lot to improve on. One of the things I truly love about Bikram is that unlike weight lifting or running where you clearly reach your max, Bikram allows you to make continuous gains in your flexibility, strength, stamina and balance. I can think of no other exercise program that gives you all of those elements and the room to grow within each. And the best part now that I am back working in Dallas is that I get to do the yoga with my best friend (sorry Jay, it is not you) - my wife Terri!
from Terri...
How do I follow that? Well, here goes…. Jeff raved on about how much he believed this was the answer to his back problems and as long as he was working out of state, I just listened. Then, once he was back home again, he asked me to try it with him. I broke 5 vertebra in my lower back in a car wreck when I was 18 and now have several discs with serious damage and I'm trying to at least prolong, if not totally avoid, surgery. In addition, I broke my ankle almost 2 yrs. ago and lost some flexibility. Let's not even talk about the knee issues from running for a few years and just general aging wear and tear. Oh, let's not leave out the heart disease that tends to run in my family. I told him I would give it a try and secretly prayed I would not be the one mooing in my first class. Although I felt much like I did after 18 hours of labor and giving birth to my first child when I completed the first class, I agreed to give it a good solid try with Jeff for a month. That was June 5 of this year. Here I am 3 mos. later and I honestly would not still be doing this if I didn't believe it is working and beneficial to a healthier body. In addition to the flexibility and strength I believe I'm improving upon, the cardio component totally surprised me. Thanks to all the instructors for making the classes enjoyable and to my best friend, Jeff, for caring enough to "slowly, gently" push me along.
- Jeff and Terri Price
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