I am so honored by being selected as Student of the Month for June 2008. I first want to thank the teachers for their unique styles, what they offer on a daily basis in compassion, understanding, encouragement and great instruction for continuous improvement one millimeter at a time. I travel with my job and therefore have visited many Bikram studios. If you have not, you may not fully understand how blessed you are to practice in Grapevine with Stacey, Sherri, Suzanne, Sami, Katie, Jorina, LaDonna, Jay and Carla. For anyone new, please don't give up and come often! You will make it over that hump. When I was just beginning, I could not even hold my arms straight above my head. This posture took me months.
A few years ago when I selected Bikram Yoga Grapevine as the vehicle I would use to ease back into exercise I really did not understand what I was getting into. After 20 plus years of running four children to their events and being an executive managing 1300+ employees my age, no exercise and not enough sleep were catching up with me. I had several minor health issues and just did not feel healthy. I thought yoga would be an easy way to ease back into exercising and help me make progress back to the days I ran mini-marathons and went to aerobics several times a week. Well, I was right and wrong. I quickly found out Bikram Yoga was the hardest, most physically and mentally challenging thing I had ever done, yet any person at any level was capable of being in a posture at their personal best and would get the full benefit by doing so. I learned that immediately, because I was sore every day and still am two years later. If you are not, challenge yourself to go a little farther ;).
Mental and physical benefits I have gained by doing yoga are numerous. I have always had great control of my mind. I planned to give birth to my four children at my home and was so good at controlling my mind my second child was born with no mid-wife present, because I woke-up my husband and called the mid-wife 9 minutes before I gave birth. She lived 10 minutes away. However, yoga has made my will much stronger and I am now working on my third 60-day challenge as a result of this mental strength. The physical improvements are what people notice because this is the area I had the most to gain due to many years of inactivity. Numbers may best paint this picture and the only thing I have changed is adding yoga and more water to my daily routine.
Before Weight - 152
After Weight - 134 (-18 lbs - I'm still working on this)
Total Cholesterol
Before 202 After 159(info from one year ago)
Hydration Before - Slightly dehydrated
Hydration After - Blood test always good now
Arthritis Before - Painful in fingers
Arthritis After - Completely gone
Vision Before - Near sighted
Vision After - Two prescriptions better, rarely wear glasses
Skin -My daughter after returning from college kept asking me what procedure I had done to my face because my skin looked so much better…just yoga!
Menopause Before -Hot flashes
Menopause After- Hot flashes completely gone
My breakthroughs have come by doing 60-day challenges. In my first challenge I was down to the last week and needed to do a double to complete the challenge. I was terrified, but when I completed it, my mental state became that much stronger and I learned a valuable lesson. After my second challenge I was in the full expression of some postures I could not even attempt in the beginning. I am looking forward to the benefits of this third challenge and celebrating my 50th birthday feeling better than I have in 15 years.
Namaste,
Ginna (pronounced like a bottle of Gin / na.
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