All throughout my childhood I was active in sports, particularly soccer and running. While those are both great activities, building strength and endurance, by the time I went to college, I was quite stiff and I had developed some physical issues. By then, I probably hadn’t touched my toes with my legs straight since I was 10 years old. I also began getting headaches several times a week. I decided I needed to explore other methods of physical activity that incorporated more stretching and more of a total body and mind approach. I bought a couple of books on yoga and attempted to do the postures on my own, but I didn’t really know what I was doing.

I was 20 years old when, while attending college, I was also working at a Jamba Juice in Long Beach which happened to be just above a Bikram Yoga studio. I kept seeing all these sweaty people coming up to get a juice after practicing yoga and it really sparked my interest. So one day, with a co-worker, I went down to try my first Bikram class, instantly loathing and loving it. I was addicted right away and I started to practice 5 or 6 times a week. My headaches went away, and I got stronger and more flexible. Yoga also helped me build mental strength as well as physical and improved my ability to focus, to be in the moment, and to let things go. Yoga definitely helped me with a difficult time in my life when I was trying to figure out who I was and I was dealing with the transition from teenager to adulthood.

After practicing for 1 ½ year, I decided to attend the Bikram Yoga Teacher Training program in the fall of 2004. I have been teaching ever since. I originally thought that teaching yoga would be a great job to have while finishing my bachelor’s degree. Instead, after I graduated from CSU Fullerton in 2007 with a degree in anthropology, I continued to teach.

I would like, someday, to open my own Bikram studio. Bikram yoga, for me, is a continuous exploration of my mental and physical capabilities, both as a teacher and as a student, and it continues to challenge me with every class.