Testimonials

• Back Issues
• Old Injuries
• Emotional well being
• Car Accident

Back Issues

Hi... I am 63 and like a lot of Valley people I am a pretty active, modestly athletic guy. I have done a lot of sports all of my life... For the past decade, I mountain bike five hours a week, have played squash for thirty years, road bike ride, ski, kayak, Snow to Surf etc. In all this time there have been no serious injuries except a tennis elbow surgery 30 years ago. But I ended up with a tight, inflexible body and a perennial bad back which laid me up two or three times a year and kept my chiropractor and physician in business.

Two years of Bikram Yoga, twice a week for twenty months and no back issues. I feel confident that they are behind me. My flexibility is improving... a millimeter at a time. Compared to many of the supple bodies in the classes, I am a "board", but I know that I am much improved and can see good things ahead.

I've seen a lot of guys drop out after a few months, but for me, the key to incorporating Bikram Yoga into my life has been the knowledge that it would pay off in the long-run. I found the hot room to be nearly unbearable during the first three or four months but now it is almost enjoyable. I knew that if I toughed it out, it would pay benefits.... and it has.

As well as becoming more flexible and stronger, I feel somewhat more focused and calmer after two years of Bikram Yoga... Now, if only I can get some of that "spiritual enlightenment" Bikram talks about.

PS. Thanks to Natasha and everyone for enthusiastically, running a highly disciplined, quality studio.

 - Bob Austin

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I started BikYo last August. I'd started doing some form of yoga in my early 20s (almost 30 years ago now) when a friend suggested it as a way to deal with chronic lower back issues that had been bugging me since I was a kid. But life got in the way (kids, work, etc) and my practice had lapsed.

A couple of years ago I had a minor accident, which seemed to reawaken those old back issues. I was going to the chiro pretty regularly. The strengthening exercises I was doing, even my bit of half-remembered yoga -- it all helped, but I still felt like I was living with aches all the time.

I was also experiencing knee pain. Again, old stuff that had been reawakened by my silly idea to try to get in shape playing soccer (wearing boots with no arch support that didn't fit properly, and being out of shape... ahh, the dreams of middle-age, to be a sporting hero and achieve the body that I never had in my youth!). I was
dancing a lot, and the knee was just barely hanging in there.

Going to BikYo was about trying out a form of exercise that would help me get the aches and pains out of my body (I also had shoulder aches from several shoulder separations in the past 10 years). I have visions of myself dancing tango and rhumba into my very old age. That wasn't going to happen if I let myself slowly seize up. Yoga and heat sounded like a good thing.

It's now almost 8 months since I started. I've been to the chiro once in that time. My knees feel great. My shoulder rarely gives me a reminder of the old days (of 8 months ago). I'm dancing 3-4 nights a week, BikYo'ing 2-3 time a week (I'm going to try to move up to 3-4 x/wk in the next couple of weeks). I've lost some weight — gotten a "taller" feeling too (not sure if I've actually stretched up, or if it's just my spirit that seems to be floating higher...).

I feel so good about BikYo that I've begun recruiting my family. After all, I want them to be healthy & happy too. But, "easy does it." They see the changes in me. One of my daughters has joined me for a class. She liked it. The other one says she'll try it when she's here. I've got a stepson who I think would enjoy it. We'll see.

In the meantime: I go, I sweat, I keep my myopic vision trained on the blurry image of myself in the mirror, and I slowly align myself to some deeper inner sense of who I am. And I feel great doing it!

 - Hans

Old Injuries

The first time I ever did Bikram Yoga (or any yoga!) was your opening weekend last March and I was hooked. I knew I wasn't flexible but I thought I was strong (I cross-country ski, bike, hike and run) - hah! I was quickly humbled. Thanks to Bikram Yoga I am stronger now than I have ever been AND I am becoming more flexible every month. But even better, an old ski injury I have had for several years is finally completely healing. I LOVE this yoga! I am totally addicted!! :-)

 - Dale Marie Young

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This is what yoga has done for me. Approximately 5 years ago, I had a fall in the Toronto Airport en route for a Caribbean cruise. I grazed my right hand and left knee. So, superficial wounds, they healed and that was that. Or so I thought. It wasn't until I got back home some 2 weeks later that my back started to bother me. I went to doctor after doctor to find out what was wrong, almost forgetting about the fall.

One of the specialists was a rheumatologist in Nanaimo. The diagnosis from him was that I was full of arthritis and was destined to be in a wheelchair before long.

Then finally, after a full back x-ray, it was determined that besides the arthritis I had spinal stenosis. To remedy this, surgery was required. I was put on the waiting list – 2 years.

My own doctor told me to go to Pilates, go to yoga, and walk at least 20 minutes a day. So I did. My back steadily got worse so that I couldn't walk more than 10 feet at a time. Now the "quick fix" for this is to bend over. So every 10 feet I was bending over. Can you imagine what this looked like?

About this time, I discovered Bikram Yoga. Very slowly, I could actually do some of the postures. It was sure less painful than walking. I was such a novice and so awkward, I'm glad the classes were small back then!

Fast forward to now a few months, my surgery date was approaching about the same time as Natasha was closing her practice to re-open her new studio. I was told I would be recuperating – at least a month flat on my back. Well, I beg your pardon??? Because I had discovered yoga and was in as good a shape as possible, I sailed through the operation. I felt as if I could walk home the next day!

The only posture I really have trouble with is the Half Moon Pose. It really does feel like my back will break in two. But I persevere and get through it. Then, there are my flat feet which make balancing on one foot such a challenge.

Every time I think I've said it all, I think of something else yoga has done for me. I have G.A.D. – General Anxiety Disorder. Yoga is so good for it, my doctor has told me to keep going to yoga I feel that B.C. Medical should pay my membership, but no-go so far.

I've always been a little smug on reaching 50 years plus, without ever having cellulite in my legs, but I did have it around my waist. I asked Natasha if yoga would do anything for it and she said that it would be gone in 3 years and she was right – it's all gone now. I also have muscles in my arms now – finally I have shape to my arms! So, as Natasha says, nobody is so good that he/she can't get better. And so I continue, if only to keep this arthritis in check.

 - Adele Edwards

p.s. Oh yes, I also had carpel-tunnel syndrome, but that's been gone for so long I had forgotten about it.

Emotional well being

In the Heat of the Moment

I initially started Bikram yoga when Natasha operated out of Fitness Excellence. The first time I went to a class I almost burst out laughing when we did the warm up breathing exercise know as pranayama breathing. The whole class seemed too “spiritual” for me. I tried a few times but I was too busy running, doing spin classes and weights to fit yoga into my fitness routine. And so after a few lame attempts I quit attending. I saw yoga as just a way to stretch but I never thought it could replace everything else I did for exercise. At this point I was running about 40 – 50 kms a week and doing spin classes 2 times a week and weights for over an hour 4 times a week. I was fit and thin, but edgy and unhappy. I was obsessive about exercise and my weight. I have struggled with an eating disorder in its many forms for most of my adult life. I have learned that an eating disorder is really a disease of the mind and that to really overcome my obsession with my body and weight it was my thinking I needed to change.

It wasn’t long before I was over eating again and slowly I stopped exercising. I put on weight and then I just felt disgusted with myself. This all perpetuated a horrible cycle of then eating because I felt sorry for myself and then feeling too fat and ugly to exercise. It was at about this time that I was talking to some people and they mentioned a woman who I knew from the gym that was attending Hot Yoga. I had always envied her fitness level and aspired to look like her. What caught my attention was that she had lost weight and how great she looked. She had told her friends that it was the Hot Yoga. I had already thought her gorgeous so if yoga helped her perhaps it could help me.

Well it wasn’t long before I was down to the studio and signing up as I am a desperate addict of sorts and I will do anything to be thin. I am not afraid to work hard if I can get results. I can also be extremely focused (almost obsessive) so it didn’t take long before I was hooked on the intensity of this work – out. I did stick with it but I admit I was struggling with depression and still compulsive overeating and so I would come and then not come for 2 – 3 weeks. But I did keep coming back and I encourage you no matter how difficult to also keep coming back. Finally I think something just clicked and everything began to shift and change - physically, emotionally and spiritually.

I truly feel blessed that Natasha has come and opened this studio, because not only does she bring to us a form of Yoga that is truly healing, she also brings to us that part of herself that is passionate about what yoga can do for the mind, body and mostly the spirit. Natasha sets a tone in the studio that is professional but not pompous. She expects us all to work our hardest but teaches us to accept our limitations and be patient with ourselves. “ No judgement. Just accept and shake it off.” These are words I heard often in class and I now repeat to myself outside the studio.

When I first came to Bikram I could not look at myself in the mirror. I was told if you can’t look at yourself than something is wrong. Something was wrong. I had spent a life time trying to avoid looking at myself even though my eating disorder meant I spent years critically examining myself in the mirror.

I also had to learn to “check” my ego at the door when I came. We are told to focus on only ourselves and that this is 90 minutes of meditation and don’t compare yourself to those around you. I truly believed I would never be able to do this. If I wasn’t good at something I wouldn’t stick with it. I was always comparing myself to everyone else. I judged myself according to how I stacked up against others.
Slowly changes have started to happen and I cannot imagine my life without this yoga in it.

I know longer take any medication for depression. I believe that the yoga has helped to balance my hormones and serotonins levels. I don’t suffer from any PMS symptoms. I have always struggled with hips that are tight and out of alignment. Just lately, I am finally starting to feel them open up and now I can begin to finally do triangle properly. This is the other thing I have learned from yoga. Form before depth. I don’t need to prove anything to anyone. I am there for me and all the yoga instructors have convinced me that I must do it right before I will ever be able to improve. It has taught me self discipline in that I have had to struggle with not being able to do a pose well because I am willing to do it right. I have also learned the importance of balance in my life, so I go to yoga 3 – 4 times a week and I still go the gym and do other activities to provide the variety I need.

Most importantly for me is that today I can look at myself in the mirror and not be disgusted with what I once thought was an imperfect body. I am learning to accept my body and to come to appreciate all the amazing things it can do. I have learned so much about each pose and what it does for me. This has also helped me remember how complex the human body is and even though I have abused it for years it still can heal itself. Yoga has taught me to be grateful for what I have been given instead of expecting more and feeling sorry for myself. I have learned to quiet the “monkey chatter” that goes on in my mind and just breathe. I could never stand that uncomfortable sense of not feeling in control, but this yoga has taught me that, that is just my mind talking which is in response to my senses. My senses are connected to the parietal lobe which is concerned with the reception and processing of sensory information from the body. I have learned to ignore this part when I feel uncomfortable and to use the frontal lobe which we use for reasoning and logic. I have learned to quieten that voice which often leads to a sense of panic and not just in yoga but in my everyday life. Just breathe and I will be okay.

I could go on and on telling you how much this yoga has helped me, but the purpose of my testimonial is to hopefully reach that person who feels they are not “perfect” enough to come to yoga. I know longer pursue perfection. Even if you come and just lie on your mat in savasana I believe you will gain something form this yoga. Each instructor offers something different and I gain some new insight into how to better practice my yoga and some new insight into how to better practice the principals of yoga in my life. In the “heat of the moment” when I want to run out of the room in yoga or I feel like I am overwhelmed in my day to day life, I always have a choice. I am not powerless. I can choose to do something different today. Try it and keep coming back.

 - A humble and appreciative student of Bikram Yoga

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Hi Natasha, This is a wonderful idea. Here's my little story.

In August my mom passed away quite unexpectedly. She and I were very close and now my world has changed forever. My doctor had suggested I take some time off work to take care of myself. I had experienced Yoga many years ago so knew that I needed to seek it out again to help me re-balance my emotional self and get re-connected so that I could feel joyful again and appreciate what life has given me. Those are the values that mom had instilled in me throughout our time together. I accidentally came upon this yoga studio. The day I joined two different people passed onto me their words of encouragement - saying my life would never be the same. I was a little apprehensive to say the least but after attending the first two classes I was hooked. I began to feel stronger emotionally right away. I attended three times a week during my leave from work. Now I try to attend at least a couple times a week. It's quite the workout. Not everybody can endure the heat and stretching but it has so many benefits to all parts of our health. I highly recommend it to all my family and friends now. Thanks Natasha for doing a great job at teaching us. Your calm voice and words of inspiration truly make that class a growing experience.

God Bless you.

 - Margie

Car Accident

In October 2005 I was in a violent car crash, a head on collision with another vehicle. I was taken in an ambulance to the hospital and was unable to walk for a week and unable to sit up or walk without pain for 5 weeks or so afterward. After much physiotherapy, I was still unable to get massage due to the pain in my muscles, but I had stopped progressing in my healing. My friend Robyn Crouch invited me out to a hot yoga class, and despite my fears about the tension I felt in my back, the warm room, and the stretching helped me release a lot of pain. My muscles began opening up and strengthening. Natasha is a very good teacher, she explained every move clearly and paid special attention to her new students and people who could not do certain poses due to injuries or limitations.

Through attending classes I found the necessity for balance. Balance between strength and flexibility; balance between exercise and food; balance between work and play; and so much more. That word balance has since then become a key in every aspect in my life, not just in the hot room.The same friend later invited me out to the local Circus practices so I could learn how to play with acrobatic silks. I was super intimidated at first, especially after coming out of such a traumatic experience with my body. However, I was on the road to recovery, I applied my balance, strength, and flexibility skills to my Circus practices and in April of 2006 I was part of Robyn Fox's "X-Ray Vision" Circus production at the CRA in Courtenay. I performed a chair balancing act alongside 4 other fantastic, fit, and balanced women. Since then, I've been able to travel again.

My back no longer has any residual pain. The cool thing about Yoga is that you can do it anywhere, I can apply the moves I've learned to release tension anywhere, all I need is my body and the ground. I was recently visiting in Edmonton and found a Bikram's Yoga gym I was able to drop into a class and feel the comfort of being back home on the Island. All the moves are the same, so I felt comfortable in knowing what I was doing, while still learning and growing on each skill. I am currently down in Mexico City visiting that same friend, Robyn Crouch. We have been able to go to a Circus convention, learn new skills,practice old ones, and do yoga together!!

I am still learning, progressing, feeling my limits, and pressing for new ones. Thank-you Natasha for your careful guidance and constant encouragement!! I will never forget your bright smile and sweet voice. "Stretch, and stretch, and stretch!!!"

Adios,

 - Randi Barry