Wow! I don't know where to start...I'm so surprised to be student of the month because I'm just an ordinary, everyday yoga student...I still can't lock my standing leg for 60 seconds...so I'll start at the beginning. I started Bikram 4 years ago (Feb. 4, 2003 to be exact...my Bikram birthday!) at the behest of one of my friends. She had been doing Bikram in Grapevine for a year and kept telling me that I would love it! My friend was in great shape and I had slouched comfortably into my 40s...I didn't think there was any way I could do Bikram. 90 minutes in 105 degrees? No talking or laughing? The exact same poses every single day? Sweat like a pig? No thank you! I didn¡'t have time or money. I was too old and too out of shape...mere mortals could not do Bikram! Besides, there wasn't a studio near my house and there was no way I could drive to Grapevine on a regular basis. I had EVERY excuse in the book.
Then, one day shortly after my parents had surgery for new hips and new knees I declared to my husband that I was not going down without a fight. My genes may declare that I have bad joints, but I was going to exercise and eat right and battle the best I could. That very day I noticed the Bikram studio above the Tom Thumb where I have shopped for years! The yoga studio had been there for several years, but I couldn't see it until I was ready! (A true Karma yoga experience!!)
I took my first class the very next morning at 6:00am...I thought I was going to die, but I knew that it was the best thing I had ever done for myself so I signed up immediately for 3 months unlimited. (I knew that some days my prime motivation for going to class would be my monetary investment...it worked!)
In my four years of practice I have been up, down, and sideways. I've had great surges of motivation, determination, & euphoria. I've had stretches of ambivalence. For most of the first year I stood in front of the mirror with thoughts of loathing and hatred for my body. Then one day a voice inside my head said "Hey, stop criticizing...your body walked up the stairs and carried you into the studio...you should be grateful!" From that point on I DID view my body differently...I now appreciate it and try to treat it with compassion. It was interesting...once I accepted my body and stopped being so critical, it started to change for the better!
Right now I am in the best physical shape of my life and I know I can continue to improve. I had struggled with tendonitis in my right arm for over 15 years (I am a professional flutist)...I noticed improvement after my 1st class and now have no remaining pain or symptoms. The more Bikram I do, the better I take care of myself: I want to eat healthfully and I have finally learned to put "taking care of myself¨ at the top of my priority list.
I have had breakthroughs and setbacks over these past 4 years...physical, emotional, and mental...and I fully expect my Bikram practice (and my life) to continue this way. That's OK because Bikram is the best thing I have ever found to help deal with trials and tribulations of the small and large kind. I LOVE this practice and all the people in the studio who help keep me motivated along the way...teachers and students alike. It is the best thing I've ever done for myself and I look forward to doing for the NEXT 46 years of my life!
