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• SAVE on Yoga with Autopay! 
Bikram C, Sam G, and Diane D
Bikram Yoga Auburn |
TestimonialsPlease click here if you would like to submit a personal testimonial. We would love to hear from you, thanks! At the age of 18 I found myself in a wheelchair, the excruciating pain
I was in made it unbearable to walk. After six months of attending doctor
appointments, getting MRIs, CAT scans, blood tests, and using a wheelchair,
crutches, and braces to help me walk, I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia.
The doctors I was seeing immediately put me on generous amounts of medication:
painkillers, muscle relaxants, antidepressants, and sleeping agents. All of
these medications combined helped to mask my symptoms for years while at the
same time, produced various symptoms of their own. I was constipated,
irritable, my short-term memory ceased to function, I developed medication-induced
epilepsy, I was losing and gaining weight according to my current medications, and
most importantly, I was suicidal. The pain was too much for me to handle and all
the drugs only seemed to exacerbate the problem. I was desperate for a way to survive. To my dear Bikram Yoga instructors, I just completed the 60 day challenge! Every summer I tend to gain weight with vacations and
barbecues. I rarely get to yoga or the gym either. This summer I put my gym membership on hold
and committed myself to the 60 day challenge. I am so glad I did. Instead of gaining 10 lbs this
summer, I lost 10 lbs and I didn't give up those barbecues. I can get back into my old clothes one
size down. I shaved three strokes off my golf handicap. My practice is greatly improved. After
three years of practicing, I finally touched my "forehead to the floor" and can "get my hips on the
chair instead of the bar stool". This has been one of the healthiest summers of my life, mentally
and physically. I have been doing Bikram Yoga for three months now and about a month ago I made a very
interesting discovery. Twenty-five years ago I broke my left thumb in a skiing accident and
have never been able to bend it more than half way. About a month ago as I was driving home
from yoga I just happened to notice that I was moving my thumb a lot. I started to bend it
more and realized that I now had full range of motion back in my thumb. After twenty-five
years, and only two months of Bikram Yoga I think that's pretty amazing. I've also noticed
a huge increase in my over-all flexibility, improved digestion, and much fewer aches and
pains. Yoga, Bikram Yoga, will change your life. Practice just a few times and your body
will gain flexibility and strength. Your mind will calm; no one and nothing will trouble
you ever again. After 1 1/2 hours in the "hot room", you can handle anything. Your body
will change, your sex drive will increase, and your immune system will improve. Your
balance will be better, both physically and emotionally. These are just a few of the
many benefits you will gain. Really, it's true! By way of examples: Soon after taking
a few classes of Bikram yoga instruction, I misjudged my step and walked off a curb.
Instead of falling and twisting or breaking an ankle or worse, I landed and held my balance.
I know it was because of the yoga. One day arguing a case at court, an attorney for the
other side was trying to push my buttons, but Bikram yoga had changed me; I was calm, strong
and unfazed. Anxiety Anyone!!! Bikram is the answer! I want to thank you and the team at Auburn Bikram Yoga for everything you do. I am now addicted to
my yoga practice and really feel it when I miss class. Just wanted to let you know that I had my yearly physical yesterday
and my blood work came back with some good news. My good cholesterol
(HDL) increased by 13 points...My doctor wanted to know what I was
doing, and I told her Bikram Yoga. I still have to work on decreasing
my LDL (bad cholesterol), but that's a work in progress. I would love to be able to inspire other students to continue their practice while dealing with rosacea.
I was working at a very stressful job as a pharmacist and raising 4 very active children. At the age of 41,
I suddenly developed painful breakouts on my face. In addition to being painful, it was also ugly, making
it very uncomfortable to be out in public. I could not wear any makeup...I couldn't even wash my face or
moisturize with any product. Everything seemed to make it worse. My exercise routine consisted of going
to the gym and spinning and lifting weights. Everything in my life was fast, high stress. I went to the
dermatologist for my skin and she diagnosed me with rosacea. She went on to tell me that no one knows what
causes this problem and there really is no cure. It would be something I would deal with for the rest of
my life. The best I could hope for would be to control the symptoms with oral and topical antibiotics.
Being a pharmacist, I try to stay away from most medications. This was not what I wanted to hear. I took
the antibiotics and the rosacea did go away. But I couldn't help thinking about what the drugs were doing
to the rest of my body...and I was supposed to take these drugs for years? This just was not going to work
for me. I went back to my doctor to ask for any other options. The only thing she could tell me was to reduce
the stress in my life. OK. So I have a full-time, stressful job, 4 kids, 2 dogs...easier said than done!
My husband reminded me that years ago, when I practiced Ashtanga yoga, I was a much calmer person.
My practice kind of faded away due to time restraints and neck injuries, but I do remember being much calmer.
I decided to try to get back into yoga. A local studio was offering a mix of Bikram and power yoga classes.
I quickly noticed that, although horribly uncomfortable, the Bikram series seemed to have a very strong effect
on my mind and body. My face was on fire...it did not like Bikram yoga. I started to do some research and
read that the Bikram series would actually clear the toxins from my body. I felt that perhaps whatever was
out of balance in my body, this mysterious "cause" that no one can define, could perhaps be corrected with
the practice. My dermatologist, friends and family, even the lady at Whole Foods where I bought my face cream,
totally disagreed with me. They all said, "How can being in a hot room where your pores are dilated be good
for you?" My doctor actually said I would be doing more damage to my skin if I continued to practice.
But something inside of me said this was going to help, so I pushed on. I also sent an email to Bikram looking
for some back-up to my crazy obsession. Rajashree emailed me back within weeks to tell me that if I maintained
a slow and steady practice, I would be fine. I am happy to report that I have now been practicing Bikram yoga
5-6 days per week for 7 months. My rosacea is gone. I only flares up when I don't practice for 4 or 5 days.
I can't even begin to list the many other benefits I have gained from the practice. So, I continue to practice
and gain amazing benefits from this awesome practice. I have been practicing Bikram yoga for seven years. This past summer I suffered severe lower back spasms,
something I've had before. This time, however, it was worse than any previous episode. I had spasms and
extreme pain when going from sitting to standing and vice versa. When the sitting and standing became
more manageable, I developed severe sciatic nerve pain in both legs, mostly my right leg. This I had never
had before. With the sciatic pain, simply standing up was unbearably painful. The combination of lower
back spasms and sciatic pain kept me away from practicing yoga for over four weeks. The only treatment
I received duirng this time was a massage when the lower back spasms first occurred. I do not have medical
insurance, so I saw no doctors, took no prescriptions. I remembered reading in Bikram's second book that
the yoga practice is a healing practice. I resolved that as soon as I was able to drive my car to the
studio, I would use the Bikram class as my healing therapy. The first class I took after over a month
of absence I could barely stand up. I spent the entire standing series lying down. I was able to do the
floor series moderately well. I went to class four times per week for three weeks and by the end of the
three weeks, I was again doing all 26 postures. In about four weeks, I was standing and walking completely
free of lower back and sciatic pain. I have no doubt that if I had simply waited for all the pain to subside,
I'd still be in my recliner at home in pain. I was diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis at the age of 14 and my world quickly changed. In attempts to halt the progression of the disease I was sent to various specialists over several years for physical therapy, surgery, alternative therapies, new treatments, etc, but nothing seemed to help. The physical and emotional strain of RA is enormous and the thought of living the rest of my life in that type of pain was unbearable. I never thought yoga was for me but two years ago, at the age of 27, I went to my first Bikram Yoga
class and I was bitten by the bug immediately. Everyone at the studio was/is so nice and encouraging.
I couldn't believe how quickly I felt results from class, both physically and mentally.
My rheumatologist couldn't believe the results either! She reduced the doses of the harsh medications
I take and has mentioned my results to other rheumatologists and encouraged other patients to attend a
class. As proof of how much she believes in the benefits of Bikram Yoga, just yesterday she wrote a
note to my health insurance saying that Bikram Yoga needs to be a part of my treatment for this chronic
disease and that this should be covered under my medical care. I cannot say enough about how much
Bikram Yoga has done for me and I encourage any other person with chronic pain to give this class a
try and not accept pain as a way of life. My two week special ended today and I have been to yoga 10 times.....pretty impressive for me! And what have I received for my two weeks of torture in the heat tank? Physical changes to date are: I actually started to see my waist again, and even though the scale hasn't changed, clothes just fit better. And I love that I can get out of bed in the morning and sprint like a kid instead of taking tiny slow, hunched over steps like a 90 year old arthritic woman. While I doubted the value of Bikram Yoga in any emotional sense, I (and those close to me) have noticed that I am much calmer, and clearer. They're hoping patience will come next. Some days I go in with an emotional headache, stomachache and general malaise and walk out feeling pretty darn good. Each class that I finish is a personal milestone. Me, 58 years old, inactive, and I'm doing this cardio bending stretching pulling in a room with a heat index of about 145 degrees. ME. I can do that. But I can do that because of Sam Goldman. I could be lying on the floor gasping for breath while everyone else
is in their standing postures, and Sam would say, "Good, Bonnie, rest if you need it. That's good. This is your class.
Listen to your body. That's perfect." He's something else, that Sam. But the postures that I'm working hard on, he is
right there saying "push, grab your knee, you can do it, maybe not today, maybe tomorrow" and then, go figure, I do it
today. We need to clone Sam. He is without a doubt the most motivating person that has come into my life. You can tell
he just loves what he does and wants everyone to feel the same.
And so, with my two weeks up today, I signed on for 3 months. I should be pretty close to awesome by then! I first waked into this studio 5 years ago; I'd never done yoga or even knew there were different kinds of yoga. I had never really done any type of regular exercise. I tried aerobics and the gym but it really wasn't for me. Then after my first class of Bikram Yoga, much to my surprise, I was hooked. I have been an active member for these past 5 years and come anywhere from 3 to 6 days a week. I have persistent disc, lower back problems since childhood and had been seeing a Chiropractor regularly. Since doing this yoga not only have I not needed to go to my Chiropractor in over 4 years my back has never felt better. Also, my posture, which was never very good, noticeable improved in a very short time. I can't say enough about this yoga and the welcoming environment in this studio. This is a wonderful place to practice yoga and I plan on doing so for a long time to come. I hope to see you in class. Dear Sam, I wanted to send you a picture of my four beautiful blessings that I could not take care of without yoga.... whenever I start to loose it at home my husband always knows it has been a while since I've been. Bikram yoga is an amazing thing... I started doing it when I was six weeks postpartum with my oldest (now 6 1/2) and have not been able to stay away since! It is addicting. You never know what you are going to encounter in that heated room, once I realized I was pregnant (with my youngest, now 14 months). And I knew he was a boy in that yoga class... it was too soon to even do a pregnancy test. Bikram Yoga is so much for me: physically healing (I've lost over 100 pounds between the four pregnancies), balancing emotionally, but mostly it keeps me in connection with myself thus grounding me to be the best that I can be as a mother, nurse, teacher, wife, sister, daughter etc., etc! Thank you!!! Kate Paul O. CNM I've been practicing Bikram Yoga in Auburn studio over 4 years. I can honestly say that it's the best thing I've
ever done. Prior to yoga, I've tried many different type of exercises and when I discovered yoga, that was it! I recently returned to Bikram Yoga 4 weeks postpartum and feeling great. I started practicing Bikram Yoga on
and off for the past year before becoming pregnant with my second child. From the very first class, I knew it
was the right type of exercise for me. I saw posture improvements right away. I even had to adjust my rearview
mirror on the way home because I was sitting up taller! Each class is such a personal challenge, it's so great! There is a great deal to say about the benefits of Bikram Yoga, Sam Goldman's instruction, and the other
instructors at Bikram Yoga Auburn. The Quest for Ultimate Fitness and the Perfect Body: Today I woke up and said, "I can't wait to go to yoga." I have been working in fitness as a group exercise instructor and personal trainer for 16 years. I started doing
bikram yoga while living and working in San Francisco in the early 1990's. I learned then what a powerful tool
this yoga could be to improve strength and flexibility as well as heal over use injuries as an athlete. I moved
back to the east coast in 1991 to attend medical school and recently completed my residency in Anesthesiology.
Bikram yoga not only helped to heal a foot injury I obtained during my intern year (no doubt from being on my
feet 100 hrs a week) but helped immensely with my stress level. In addition, I had two children during residency
who are 3 and 1 years old. I did bikram yoga 2-5 times a week during my pregnancies and believe it helped
increase my energy level, and helped me to sleep better and feel better during both pregnancies and deliveries. I am 59 years old and recently had my annual eye exam by my eye
surgeon. He said, "This is kind of odd. You need a weaker
prescription." Then I told him about Bikram yoga and other
testimonials about improved vision from practicing the yoga. |
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