Lory & Marcus Muirhead Lory and Marcus Muirhead have been practicing at The Foundry since 2014! Before yoga… the Muirheads say their life had “less laundry, showers and a non-insulated water bottle. Life was good before yoga, but now that we practice consistently we miss it if we don’t make it to a class for a couple of days. It has truly become part of the daily routine.”
Lory began practicing yoga first, in the summer of 2012 while on vacation in Montana, she says that is where her love for Bikram Yoga began! Due to several busy life events, she stopped for a couple years, picking it back up again in September of 2014 and has been practicing ever since! Marcus says that Lory soon encouraged him to try, “telling me that there we all these “ripped” guys in class and I thought to myself why is my wife hanging around a bunch of ripped guys, I better go check this out.” When it was explained to Marcus that the room was 105 degrees, with 40% humidity he was up for the challenge! Marcus has been active most of his life playing sports while Lory never really grew up implementing exercise into her daily life. Marcus saw Bikram Yoga as a great challenge and Lory says that, “It was exactly what I needed. Intuitively, I knew I had finally found "my thing." It was hard. It was uncomfortable. It was awkward. It was perfect.”
The yoga has done a lot for the Muirheads since they began their consistent practice. Marcus says “more than anything it has made me calmer and more relaxed mentally.” Lory attributes her discipline to the yoga as well as a new sense of strength, both physically and mentally. She feels it has had a ripple effect on the entire family stating, “I feel like I have shown my boys that taking care of your body is so important. They LOVE yoga now, and my 8-year-old has even said that he wants to be a yoga teacher. I love that this is something we can do for our entire lives and do it together, as a family.” As for their favorite Bikram Yoga postures, Marcus says he loves the stretch he gets in Back Bend, and says that he used to have back pain but noticed an improvement once he started to consistently practice 3-5 times a week. Lory has a love/hate relationship with Triangle Pose!
If they could give new students any advice, Marcus says, “Stay present, breathe and relax.” While Lory offers, “Give it time. Go all in. Commit to YOU. Be kind to yourself.”
Top 5 tips for new yogis
- Stay in the room.
- Don’t compare yourself to anyone.
- Plan your day around your yoga, not your yoga around your day. It makes a difference!
- Focus on your breath, it will be your key to getting through a posture and to the next level.
- Never give up. This too shall pass. The discomfort is temporary and you will get through it.