I have been doing yoga for a little over five years. My first yoga experience was regular Hatha Yoga and I absolutely hated it! I couldn’t stand still for ten seconds and remembering to focus on my breathing was pretty much out of the question. All I wanted to do was fidget and move the whole time. For some reason though, I kept going.

After moving from Dallas to Austin I started Vinyasa and Ashtanga Yoga studying with a fantastic teacher who really taught me how to

incorporate my breath with my movement. I loved this type of yoga, but because of a shoulder and hand injury I was not able to do it anymore. A student of mine told me I should try Bikram Yoga and thought that I would really like it. When I heard that the room was heated to 105 degrees I gave him a funny look and told him that was not for me. Finally, a couple of months later I decided I would try it.

I went to the Free Day of Yoga offered at Yogagroove (I didn’t even want to pay for one class because I was convinced I would hate it). I suffered through that first class and did pretty well except for camel pose. In camel (both sets) I blacked out and sat on my feet while I stared at the floor. It was horrible. I left feeling really glad for the experience, but unsure if I would ever go back. The next day though I realized that my injured hand and shoulder felt the best they had felt in a long time. Better then after physical therapy, Alexander Technique, or Acupuncture. Because of that I came back a couple days later and I just kept coming. I never dreamed that I would go to training, but sometimes things just work out and what an amazing experience.

Teacher Training is everything you would expect and nothing you would expect at the same time. During the training you perform two classes a day, study and deliver dialog, and listen to countless lectures. In the beginning I thought that the classes, the physical part, would be the most demanding part of training, but I was completely wrong. It’s the mental part of being pushed to the edge and finding out what you can do in extreme situations. There were about 300 people in my training and we were together all day long. In the first couple weeks of training I could not stand taking class because if you were lucky you might have 6 inches between your mat and the person next to you, side to side and front to back. (Talk about space issues) Also because we were in the same room we practiced in all day long there was always stuff all over the carpet. Most of the trash was picked up, but there was never a class that I didn’t pick someone else’s hair off of my arm or leg. The smell was horrible…300 people, 2 classes a day, and the carpet wasn’t washed for the first four weeks! Even when you weren’t in class there were people constantly around you and your chairs on the floor were even inches apart. From this alone I gave up all of my personal space issues.

I learned how to cope with everything day by day, met the most amazing people from all over the world, and got to learn About Bikram from Bikram himself. I never thought that when I came back from training, I would be so lonely not being around 300 people all the time, but I am! So if you see me in class, go ahead and put your mat 6 inches from mine, put your hair on my towel so I can pick it off of my leg later on, and make sure our arms hit during full locust! This really will make me smile! If you have any questions about training or anything please let me know and I would be happy to speak with you. Namaste.