Our BYSJ Posture Talks are in-depth discussions and demos that detail each Bikram Yoga posture’s form and intention. Let’s kick it off with Pranayama – Standing Deep Breathing! Michele Vennard and Matt and Sarah Newman explore the importance and purpose of this exercise. As Michele noted, it sets the tone for the rest of the class and helps build a mind-body connection. Watch the video of their discussion and demo, and read the highlights below. Michele: It’s nice to be here talking about the postures. I’m a teacher here, and owner of Bikram Yoga San Jose, and I’m here with staff tea ..read more

I discovered Bikram Yoga at a young age, attending my first class back in 2006 when I was in my 20s. I liked the physical effects of the exercise even though I was never consistent. I would practice for a month, get back in shape, and stop. I repeated this over and over. I used Bikram Yoga occasionally to lose weight but was never committed to the practice. My weight fluctuated a lot but stayed in the 125-140 lb. range, so a month of yoga was used to fix my small weight gains. When I turned 29, I got pregnant and had my daughter. During my pregnancy, I gained 75 lbs! In my last trimester, my ..read more

It was 2014 when I first found Bikram yoga. I remember laying in bed at the end of the day, feeling very empty and lost. At that time, I was starting my recovery from anorexia. My battle with an eating disorder came at the age of 15, and throughout my teenage years, I spent many months hospitalized. My body, vitals, and heart were severely damaged by years of depriving myself of food and using fitness as a way to deplete any calories I did put in my body. When I gained the courage and determination to fight against this disease that had taken so much from me, there were many dark days. I fel ..read more

How did you first discover Bikram yoga? My coworker asked me to go to a class with him in 2018, and I practiced for one month – that was my first time ever. After that, I wanted to do the 60 Day Challenge but never got the chance. I started again on October 30, 2023, and haven’t missed a single day since then. I think I’m on day 90; I don’t count it anymore. You can never be the best at yoga because you will always find something to get better at. That’s why I am here.  What have you gained from your yoga practice? I practice how to listen and pay undivided attention to what I am doing ..read more

How did you first discover Bikram yoga? In the summer of 2005, I was back home from college and going through a major depression. Every day, I felt hopeless. I felt trapped in my body and mind – I had zero control over anything, and my life had no purpose. One day, my mother saw an ad for an introductory deal from a nearby Bikram Yoga studio. Since I already felt like I was at rock bottom and had nothing to lose anyway, I might as well try it. Having no clue about this style of yoga, we went to the studio to sign up. In the first class, I didn’t bring a towel, did most of the postures wrong ..read more

I first discovered Bikram Yoga in 2002. My sister and I took our first Bikram class together, and we still practice almost daily. We’ve always been best friends, and this yoga has added another layer of awesome to our relationship. My yoga practice brings me so much joy and peace. I’ve been a professional chef for 15+ years and have owned two very busy restaurants in my career. Without this yoga, I would probably be one of those chefs who choose outlets for my stress in less healthy ways. This yoga has taught me so much about myself, including patience for myself and those I interact with ..read more

How did you first discover Bikram yoga? For my birthday, my friend Purshina gifted me an intro to a Bikram studio in Reston, Virginia. I went and spent 90 minutes with the teacher, little Reggie, yelling at me for the whole class; it felt that way. Then he would sing or read poetry, so I thought, “Oh well, it’s not all bad, is it, Charles?” What have you gained from your yoga practice? This yoga practice has helped keep me alive for years by detoxing my body. My neck, shoulder, and lower back were frozen from years of work, play, and a bad fall I had taken. They would pop loose in class and ..read more

How did you first discover Bikram yoga? I have been physically active my entire adult life and primarily enjoyed cardio-intense activities such as running, hiking, and cycling. Yoga was never on my radar until 2018, when, during a solo trek in the Himalayas, I took a bad fall and tore the ligaments in my knee. Even after months of various treatments, I could not walk normally, and the pain was not going away. I came across Bikram Yoga after an extensive online search for another remedy, hoping the heat and stretching could help relieve the pain. Within a few weeks of practice, I noticed my k ..read more

Who would have thought Newton’s 3rd Law has anything to do with yoga, Bikram Yoga? And, yet, it does. You can count on every posture relying on this law of motion: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Once you begin to understand it, you’ll have fun exploring where equal and opposite force is throughout your practice (hint; think hundreds) and use it to help you strengthen and deepen your physical and mental expression of each pose.   We held a clinic in late 2022 on this concept and will do it again in December 2023. It’s a game-changer, for real. So, t ..read more

BYSJ member Lien Pham shares the story of her yoga journey. How did you first discover Bikram yoga? Knowing about BYSJ via an advertisement, I bought a Groupon in 2011. However, I didn’t activate it until a year later and only practiced once. I returned a couple of years later, bought another Groupon, and completed a few classes. With my third Groupon in January 2017, I finally committed to practice 20 times. I recognized the benefit of practicing hot yoga, so I signed up and became a member in the Spring of 2017. What have you gained from your yoga practice? You may have never known what ..read more