Can someone give me a positive story involving Bikram Yoga?

Question

I am interested in personal stories of success involving Bikram Yoga and how it has improved you life.

Bikram Yoga is also called Hot Yoga.

Answer 1

You want a positive story involving Bikram Yoga? Well I can certainly give you one - my wife and I started Bikram Yoga 3 weeks ago. I had a few reasons why I wanted to do Bikram, the main reasons being that I suffer from anxiety in the early hours of the morning which means I rarely get a good nights sleep, and as a result this makes me an angry and restless of mind person during the day. I can't relax, and I worry about the silliest things. I've been looking for a way to achieve peace of mind for years, and finally I have through Bikram. Now just to let you know, I am very fit, I cycle to work and back every day, don't smoke and don't drink too much. In other words, I should be able to beat my anxiety by the way I live my life, but before Bikram I tried all methods, Homoeopathy, Naturapathy, councelling, etc. I was at a complete loss as to what to do, and my marriage was also suffering as a result of my lack of peace of mind. I've been through rough times in my childhood as well, and perhaps that also contributed to my anger, but it doesn't matter what the cause was, I've found amazing peace of mind and strength through Bikram Yoga. I even spent 3 1/2 months in India last year searching for an answer, and ended up doing a Vipassana meditation course in Nepal. I usually hate testimonials from silly websites promoting self help CD abd DVD's that will 'change your life; for only a small fortune, so I'm not one to usually write about a life changing experience such as this.

Bikram has given me a new perspective on life, I no longer look at the glass as half empty, but rather half full. I won't lie, Bikram is physically very hard, it's the hardest form of yoga there is, added the fact that you perform 26 positions in a 40C room, but it's well worth the effore of going at 4-5 times a week. Physically you will tone up very fast if you stick to it, and you won't need to go to the gym again. Bikram works all areas of the body as well as the mind. You will feel youself becoming stronger and more flexible at every class.

DO IT! Seriously put the effort in and just go, and if you don't feel like going to Bikram, pack your gym bag and go anyway. Get a friend to go with you, they will benifit as well.

Good luck!

Answer 2

There are thousands of stories. With me: It was the only thing that made me want to quit smoking after 22 years. I didn't even try before. I am more focussed, happier, much more laid-back emotionally. Fulfilled much more spirtually. This is before the physical benefits. EVERYBODY is asking me what I've been doing. I've lost inches but not really in pounds (I went to an XS in 4 months...con: I have to buy new wardrobe now) and all I can say is "thank you...I do yoga". My skin is glows. Finally, it's SO much fun watching yourself change in the mirror.

Answer 3

I enlisted in th Navy at age 20 with a BA in Math. I didn't go for a commission because I didn't want to make the commitment. At the time, an enlisted guy could get out after four years while an officer had to commit for six. Back then Boot Camp was three months instead of two. One of the weeks pitted the different companies of recruits against each other in different sporting venues. I'd lettered in swimming the last two years of college and had coached a swim team in the summer. Our company never lost a swim competition. Not because I had particularly good swimmers, but because I knew how to load the events in such a way as to win most of them. So my company got an athletic pennant to hang on our Guidon. My rating (Navy enlisted specialty) picked me during Boot Camp. After Boot Camp I got some more training and then was shipped out. My degree enabled me to go in as an E-3 as opposed to an E-1, and that gave me about a year jump on the guys without a degree. When it came time for me to reenlist for my E-6, somebody remembered I had a degree and recommended me for OCS. I took the offer, got some more training, and then went back into the field. Spent some time overseas... a little of it aboard ship. Saw enough jungle to last me a lifetime. Had some pretty incredible shore duty in the States. Some was in the San Diego area, some was in the Washington, DC area. Got to meet a couple of Presidents... one of them got my vote. I retired at age 45. Not too many people do that. Because I had lived frugally, I was able to bank about a third of everything I'd made in those 25 years. I also had a Navy pension. But I also had the GI Bill. So I went back to school and in three years got a couple more degrees. Then I started a second career managing government contracts for a management consulting firm. I got the job because of my military experience (25 years), my management experience (20 years as a Navy Officer), my education (largely due to the GI Bill), and my recent DoD security clearance. The pay was quite good. I purchased a house on a VA-secured loan and paid it off in ten years. I stayed with that firm for about 12 years. If you're trying to keep track, I was sixty at that time. I retired again with a pretty comfortable retirement plan. I did a little traveling... it's pretty much free if you're retired military. A few years ago I got tired of maintaining a house and moved into a Veterans Home. I rented the house to an officer stationed at a nearby Air Base. The income from the rental pretty much pays my bills here at the Home. That leaves me most of the time free to do whatever I want. So I run, swim, work out, and help out around the Home. I still travel a little, but I keep myself pretty busy here. When I was working for the management consulting firm, I used to talk to the client managers. These were guys who went to college and got their MBAs. A few of them were able to climb their respective corporate ladders up those 800 square-foot, glassed-in offices way up in the corners of those tall office buildings. They used to tell me about their dreams... like being able to do some traveling, maybe hitting a little white ball down the middle of the fairway on some exotic golf course, maybe getting into SCUBA diving... and the more adventurous wanted to take a shot at sky diving. But they never seemed to have the time and the money. I didn't tell them, but I did all that stuff when I was young enough to enjoy it. When they were probably still in the mail room, I was in junior management. When they got into a supervisory position, I was in management. When they finally made it into management, I had been in policy and had retired. And, when they got themselves and their companies into trouble, I was able to pull them out... with about a 98% success rate. Was it all peaches and cream? No. But I wouldn't have stayed in the military for a quarter of a century had it been all bad. I've met some pretty memorable people. I've gone to some pretty exotic places. I've seen stuff and done stuff that most people only get to read about in history books. And, while some of those who wrote those books were still splashing around in their baby food, I was out there making some of the history they would one day write about. You might try visiting a Veterans Home, or the VFW, or even the American Legion. Be forewarned that not all Veterans are going to give you "positive" stories. Different people view the military experience differently. For some it was bad. For some it was an inconvenience. But, for some, it was a positive experience.