"When my therapist diagnosed me with severe depression, he recommended anti-depressants to treat the illness. I tried medication for a month, but felt even more like a zombie. I decided to look into a self-directed approach to dealing with my emotional well-being. Luckily, I came across an article about the various benefits of Bikram Yoga, one of them being emotional balance, and I decided to give it a try. After only one week of practicing, I felt a tremendous difference in my moods and now, 9 months later, I really feel like I’m a whole new package.

Bikram Yoga has been a natural way of bringing about my physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual shift. It’s been empowering! Taking a self-directed approach to my health instead of popping a pill has resulted in a more holistically balanced life, in all aspects. It really works."

- Sally McGraw

"Where do I begin? The “slowed, conscious breathing” has begun to improve my day-to-day management of life’s stressful situations, a great boon. Also, prior to Bikram’s Yoga I needed to visit a massage therapist and a chiropractor about once a month to reset ribs that required constant adjustment – most likely caused by weight lifting, running, or stressful situations. Now that I practice yoga, there has been no need to visit a chiropractor, and massage is now enjoyed as a relaxing experience.

As a person who thrives on challenging and rewarding projects in life, yoga has become an ideal activity that still requires me to be patient. While not only providing long term health benefits that I am still discovering, it has also given me immediate benefits, like: greater flexibility, improved breathing; and increased internal core strength. All of these are noticeably improved after each yoga session.

I also have to mention that the staff at Bikram Yoga really unite to provide a supportive, comfortable and friendly environment for all levels of Yoga. The facilities are awesome and appreciated by all. This is key to keeping me coming back to practice regularly!"

- Kim Kengle

"Bikram Yoga has been a real success story for me. I started practicing in January of 2003, and I usually come 5 to 7 times a week. That’s a lot of yoga! Since coming, I’ve noticed a great increase in flexibility and in my sense of balance. My mental acuity has improved and I’m able to focus my attention to matters at hand. Also, my posture has improved to the point where even my physician has commented! I came to the Yoga with a history of running and weight-lifting, and I used to have to run with an ankle brace. I can now run without pain in either my knees or ankles, and the brace has been discarded.
In addition to the obvious physical benefits I’ve just mentioned, I’ve also been undergoing a regimen of chemotherapy and antiviral medication, both producing strong physical side-effects. Bikram Yoga has kept many of those side-effects at bay, or has at least brought them down to manageable proportions, enough so that I’ve been able to keep working without having to use sick leave.
The Yoga has become a real part of my daily life, and I hope to one day (in the near future maybe) be able to stand on one leg in tree posture for an entire minute! Now, if only I can convince my wife to start coming…"

- John Gutch

"This Yoga has been a complete success story for me. I only started it a couple of months ago, and already I’ve lost about 20 lbs! The weight is just melting off my body. But there have been other benefits as well. I really had to focus on learning how to breathe properly just to survive the heat, because for me, I found the heat one of the most challenging obstacles to stay in the room. By learning how to breathe more effectively, however, I noticed that my practice really started to just fall into place. I started staying present for the entire 26 postures, and my balanced improved as well as my stamina.

So the heat forced me to quickly change my breathing patterns, and it also relaxed my muscles so that I could start to get a deeper stretch almost from the start. I was a really inflexible guy when I first walked into that Yoga room! I still have a ways to go, but what a difference already, and the effects are not only physical: in releasing the tension in my muscles, I’ve also released a lot of emotional tension. There is this incredible feeling of general calmness and well-being that I get after class; it’s worth the 90-minutes of sweating and stretching!

Practicing this Yoga has gone hand-in-hand with my studies to be a massage therapist; it’s about creating a calm inner space that serves a source of personal strength from which to help others. I really feel that the Yoga has deeply impacted my life, giving me a better sense of my own rythm, and of an inner tranquility and peace. It has been a solid step in the right direction for me!"

- Bob Kehoe

"I started taking Bikram Yoga about 1 ½ months ago, so I haven’t been doing it for too long, but I came into it with a very specific problem: I just had 2 bunions removed from both feet – they’re called bilateral bunions. Before surgery I was doing jazzersize, but afterwards I wanted to do some kind of exercise that was less vigorous (on the feet, as least), and my doctor gave me the green light to try yoga, and what a difference it has made! I try to come 5 days a week, and I’ve had no need to take my anti-inflammatories for about 4 weeks now. Also, the level of mobility in both my toes has already exceed my doctor’s expectations.

But there have been other, hidden benefits as well, including a general feeling of well being. I have a very stressful job, and coming in to the Yoga room after a busy work-day helps to bring me down from the stress of my job. At night, I sleep like a baby – no anxieties to keep me up.

I’m definitely going to keep coming, even after my feet completely heal, until I can finally lock out in standing bow. It might take a few years!"

- Betty Dickison

"Bikram yoga has been a part of my life for the past five years and I can’t imagine being without it. I didn’t have any major injuries or other physical problems when I started Bikram but I certainly see and feel a huge difference in my body from practicing this yoga. It’s my primary form of exercise and I love the way it strengthens and shapes my body. I am not a naturally limber person so this helps me stretch and move more fluidly in my daily activities.

The best thing about Bikram yoga for me is the almost automatic mind-body meditation that just happens in class. Focus, concentration, breathing and endurance all combine to push out worrying thoughts or emotions and I always feel stronger, physically and mentally, after my practice. No matter how I feel when I go into class, I leave with both energy and calmness. I plan to be doing this yoga until I’m 100…or more!"

- Ceci Martin

“Bikram Yoga facilitated a complete turn-around for me. Not only did it teach me to have patience with myself, but it also taught me to have compassion for myself – to look in the mirror for 90-minutes in a hot room with other people all working together on our bodies, our health, or minds….whatever we were there for individually, and to be completely honest about what was being experienced. It taught me to confront my addiction to alcohol; I had to come to terms with the fact that I was hiding behind drinking as a way of not dealing with my life. So, for me this Yoga has been a blessing and a god-send in so many ways. Thank you Bikram and all of his teachers!"

- Ginie Hogan