From: I live and work in Kitchener, Ontario.
Started practicing Bikram Yoga:
I started Bikram Yoga in Toronto in 2007 when I moved from Halifax to start my eye surgery residency training at the University of Toronto. My first class was so difficult; it was hot and I wanted to leave the room several times and I felt lightheaded. I managed, with difficulty, to stay in the room for the full 90 minutes and at the end I was surprised that I wanted to try it again. It took me a few classes to adapt to the heat and I quickly fell in love with the practice.
As someone new to the “big city” it was great to have Bikram Yoga as a way of decompressing, particularly during a busy and stressful surgical training program. I fell in love both with the postures and with the euphoric feeling of lightness and alignment after class. I have taken short breaks from Bikram Yoga like during pregnancies, but I always return quickly to the practice. With my last baby I was back in the hot room within the week.

Favourite posture:
My favourite standing posture is Standing Head-to-Knee Pose. I also love Camel Pose and Rabbit Pose as complimentary postures. Both help me feel a delightful flexibility in my thoracic spine.

Why practice Bikram Yoga:
16 years after starting this practice, Bikram Yoga continues to help me feel grounded. I have always been fit and athletic and tried many other forms of exercise but Bikram Yoga is the first practice that I am consistently excited to practice independent of other life circumstances. It has an intensity, both with the heat and the challenge of the postures, that demands your entire attention. For those 90 minutes you can forget about life outside of the hot room. I have five children, age ranges 4 to 14, and I have a busy full-time practice as an eye surgeon. When things get overwhelming I know that Bikram Yoga will keep my mind and body calm and help me build resilience. It helps me to keep good posture and spinal alignment in a profession where surgeons often get work-related muscloskeletal disorders, and the meditative component of Bikram Yoga helps me keep my mind calm during complex surgeries in the operating room. I also used the focus I learned from Bikram Yoga during the delivery of my kids.

Bikram Yoga is cardio and core; it is meditation and relaxation; it is a chiropractic and motivational session with an instructor that pushes you to your potential. I practiced the authentic, 90 minutes class this morning and I feel amazing, full of energy and flexible.
I am very grateful to have Bikram Yoga in my life.