|
TESTIMONIALS
Change your life! Our students share with us their experience in the hotroom:
Kelly Mullen:
Some would describe me as an athlete. I have been involved in sports all my life. Softball, Soccer, Lacrosse, Swimming all before age 18. Since college I took up running 5k, 10k, marathon, and full marathon. When running wasn't enough of a challenge, I turned to triathlons, sprint, and international distance. After my last marathon my hip hurt so much I decided to train for a ironman. My logic was that it is an endurance sport with 3 events instead of one. Using different parts of my body I would minimizing the pounding to my joints. The Saturday after my first ironman I went for a 16 mile run with my running group and then one hour later I went to my very FIRST Bikram class. For the first 6 months of Bikram I would go twice a week. Then I decided I would go 4 times a week. After my 1 year membership lapsed I went back to 10-pack because I was now training for century bike rides and week long bike rides. Who has time for Bikram?!?!
In August 2007 I got in a car accident and ended up with whip lash. With my neck pain I was unable to run, bike, swim, lift weights or do any of the physical activities that I enjoyed doing. One Saturday in September I was talking with an instructor about my whip lash. She said, "Why don't you do the 60 day challenge?" Knowing that during Thanksgiving and Christmas I would not do the 60 day challenge, I had to make a decision quickly. After 10 days my neck pain went away. After 15 days my lower back pain went away. After 20 days my hip pain went away. Around day 30 I was being challenged mentally and did not want to be in the room for about 10 days. After 40 days my knee pain went away. Around day 50 my busy brain finally relaxed and accepted this is where I belonged...in the Bikram studio.
I started the 60 day challenge to eliminate my neck pain. I completed the challenge with so much more mentally and physically. I am now 2 months in to training for a ironman WITHOUT pain thanks to a regular practice of Bikram.
On May 10, 2008 I will be swimming 1.2 mile in the Gulf of Mexico, biking 56 miles and running 13.1 miles in Panama City, FL. I am training for the Gulf Coast ironman as a member of the National Capital Area Team in Training (TNT) program on behalf of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
If you've found my story interesting or identified with the journey I've been on, I ask you to consider visiting my personal website, to make a donation to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Or, if you want to write a check please make it payable to: Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Harriet Runkle:
When I started practicing Bikram Yoga I had just been diagnosed with degenerative discs at the base of my spine. I was in physical therapy and taking prescribed muscle relaxers and anti-inflammatory drugs. My left leg was numb on the inside of my calf from my knee to my ankle. Nothing was changing with the therapy and drugs. I did the introductory week of Bikram Yoga and had to go out of town for two weeks. I bought the Bikram CD and book and took it with me on my trip and practiced every other day. The numbness went away within a week and I stopped taking the drugs after the second week. I didn't go back to physical therapy but I did go back to the yoga class. After 8 months of doing Bikram yoga 3-4 times a week, I was pain-free and remained numb-free. After over a year I can say that Bikram yoga is my physical therapy and the only exercise that has helped with my lower back problem. I still have degenerative discs but I am managing them with the practice. Also, I'm mentally and emotionally stronger and have found a connection with people who care about themselves and each other. I've learned that true healing doesn't happen overnight, and that the right way is the hard way. It took me 40+ years to get degenerative discs. Now I am living my next 40+ years undoing the damage in a hot room with fellow travelers who know that the journey is more important than the destination.
Laura Backner:
I started practicing Bikram Yoga in February 2007, since then there have been amazing changes in my body and my life. In June, I (finally) reached my Weight Watchers goal weight after struggling for 2 years to lose 25 pounds. In July I completed the 60 day challenge and realized that I hadn't had any sciatica pain in weeks. I had been having a lot of pain when I drove for more than 30 minutes at a time (which is pretty hard to avoid doing in the DC area!). Recently I was able to go off my cholesterol medicine (which I have been taking for 4 years). The only true change in my lifestyle was the Bikram yoga. I didn't change my diet since I already try to eat very healthy (lots of fruits/vegetable, whole grains, mostly fish/chicken/beans for protein, try to avoid flour and sugar). I also feel that I am more patient thanks to the yoga. I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate your studio, the teachers there and all the help/support you've given me. Thank you!
Chris Seeger:
I've been doing Bikram Yoga for just over two years now. I average two classes per week. Originally, I tried out Bikram Yoga because of a sciatic nerve injury that was just about the most painful thing I've ever endured. The injury was a result of my addiction to the game of tennis...and my disdain for stretching on my own. The pain was so bad that I literally could not walk. After several heavy painkillers and muscle relaxers, I decided to finally give Bikram a try (a friend had been urging me for months.) After a few months of Bikram at the Tenleytown studio in DC, the pain began to subside. Now, two years plus into my practice, I feel better than I ever have in my whole life. I now can sustain playing tennis five to six days a week, and I truly feel great on and off the court. I cannot recommend Bikram enough, though admittedly I feel that many times I am the tightest person in the room! Overall, I can't imagine not doing Bikram, and it has been a pleasure being welcomed to the Falls Church studio (my wife and I moved back to VA in Feb. of '07). The staff at Falls Church is experienced, professional, and most of all enthusiastic about teaching yoga. It is a great place to - as they say - stretch, sweat, and heal. Thanks -
|
