November Student of the month Christine Haryasz

Christine has been practicing Bikram Yoga for three years! She used to be an avid runner but got a stress fracture in her hip and needed something more low impact but that still gave her a good workout, so she decided to try Bikram Yoga. It was the first kind of yoga she had ever done! She says, “I remember calling the studio and Steve answered and offered some kind of 30 day challenge or deal so I signed up. I came as much as I could in those 30 days and by the end I was hooked!” Christine said she ended up loving the classes and has been hooked ever since.

Before her yoga journey began, Christine used to have a lot more stressful and chaotic life. She attributes her newfound sense of calm and centeredness to her consistent Bikram Yoga practice. If she takes time off of yoga, a week or a month, she can feel it! She says, “I not only feel it physically, but I feel it in how I react to situations, how I eat- it affects everything!”

Christine’s favorite posture is Pranayama Breathing because “it gets my mind set and ready for class. It gets me focused. Most of my day is going and going, so it gets me really focused to start my class.”

When asked what Bikram Yoga has done for her, Christine says, “It has completely changed my life! I know people say that and you think- no it didn’t- but it really did! I had never done any form of meditation ever in my life, it changes you a lot.”

Top tips for new yogis:

1. Listen to the instructors/teachers. Really. They are a fountain of knowledge.
    
2. Your mindset is the difference between a good and bad class. But, if that fails, just think about the ice cream you will eat afterwards (this always gets me through a tough class/challenging posture)
    
3. This yoga will change all aspects of your life (mental, physical, emotional, spiritual). Be consistent and stick with it!
    
4. It will be the best 90 minutes of your day and nothing compares to the feeling you have when you are finished with a class.
    
5. Relax!!  It's just yoga :)

September Student of the Month: Lynne Feilbach

Lynne has been practicing Bikram Yoga for an incredible 14 years now.  Before Lynn began practicing, she would work out at the gym and take yoga classes that they offered there.  She says, “I have always been a small person but with almost no muscle definition and strength. I never achieved that until I started at Bikram.”  Then came Bikram Yoga!

She became interested in Bikram Yoga because her roommate at the time took her along to class one day. She stuck with it because she finds it to be the most rewarding of any yoga that she has tried.  “It is like the Mount Everest of yoga,” she says. “I feel if I am going to take the time to come I should get the biggest rewards.” And rewards it gives!  Lynne attributes her focus to Bikram Yoga, stating that it gives her a plan instead of just having random workouts. Her mind tends to wander very easily, but it has kept her healthy and strong.  She used to suffer from asthma and sinus infections and with regular practice she no longer suffers from either ailment in the past 10 years!  Lynne has been a hair stylist for many years and she also suffers from having “horribly tight shoulders” due to her job, but Bikram Yoga keeps her functional at work and her back and feet strong.  She says, “I had broken my leg 2 years before and wore a cast for 10 months. I had a lot of atrophy in my foot and ankle from that. My foot used to swell and ache if I tied my shoe too tight or if it rained. Bikram Yoga has broken all that scar tissue up over the course of maybe the first year and it hasn't bothered me since.”

When asked what the most important pose to her was, Lynne says, “The most important pose to me is half moon. It wasn't always but just a few years ago during class the teacher said the harder you work in this pose the better and easier class will be. As soon as I heard that I started to actually work harder during that pose, not just get through it and I really excelled after that. It really was true.”

As for new students, Lynne offers, “Stay focused and listen to the teacher's words and don't rush to the end result without doing the setup properly. Also don't be afraid of the front row.”

Lastly, Lynne leaves us with this beautiful statement that her mom would always say, "Love Light and Peace.”  She says, “It has always stayed with me and I have it tattooed on my foot. It's my mantra in life.”

July Student of the Month: Dan Barkosky

Dan Barkosky has been practicing yoga consistently for about a year and can feel so many benefits from his practice that help him not only in the hot room but also in his everyday life.  Dan says that his job can sometimes be stressful and he often feels very rushed from one thing to the next, he seldom gets the chance to take time for himself.  The yoga helps Dan to relax more and focus from within.  It has also improved his flexibility substantially, he says.  Dan played college hockey back in the day and developed scar tissue from several knee injuries, he credits Bikram Yoga to breaking down that scar tissue and substantially improving his range of mobility.

When asked why he chose Bikram Yoga, Dan says, "I had tried other yoga classes but really liked the heat and the holds in Bikram Yoga."  Dan's wife is a certified yoga instructor teaching traditional yoga and he has often thought about taking classes.  A friend finally invited him a few years back to try Bikram Yoga.  Dan says "I enjoyed the hot room but due to several knee injuries from sports I didn't feel flexible enough to continue.  It took me a year to try it again and then I was hooked."

Although it is his most challenging posture, Standing Head to Knee Pose is also his favorite because it gives him a great stretch.  If he had any advice for new beginners Dan says, "hang in there, it becomes much easier as your flexibility improves which can happen in a few short weeks."

Top 5 benefits of Bikram Yoga:

1)      Reduces Stress.

2)     Improves flexibility, which really helps reduce your everyday pain from tight muscles, old injuries, etc.

3)      Helps you stay mentally sharp.

4)      Improves your overall health by shedding pounds and overall improving your core strength.

5)      The team environment and great group of people involved - from the instructors to the students.  It's easier to get to class knowing there will be other people doing the same class with you.

Celebration/Enjoyment

By Linda Scholten June 2016  

I recently experienced quite a roller coaster of events and emotions.  I have been a mentor coach for a year-long coaches training program, and we just had their graduation.  What a celebration! There was transformation, connection, acknowledgement, and enjoyment.  There was also sadness because of an ending and a mixture of hope and fear looking into the future.  Four days later I laid off an employee who had become a dear friend and informed our staff that our business had been sold.  Believe it or not, there was transformation, connection, acknowledgement, and enjoyment.  There was also sadness because of an ending and a mixture of hope and fear looking into the future.

I would never have expected these two diametrically different events to have such striking similarities.   Yet there were.  As it begins, so it ends.  As it ends, so it begins.  This circle of life is full of endings and beginnings.  We get to choose how we experience it.  If you want transformation, celebration and enjoyment, I strongly recommend taking risks, making connections, and serving and acknowledging those you meet along the way.

Without connection, we are a party of one.  If that’s what you want, you can have it.  If connection is what you seek, the fastest way to connect with someone’s soul is through service and acknowledgement.  Both of these are accessed through truly seeing or hearing someone.  Look at that person.  Who do you see?  What do you see?  Think of what would truly serve them (not what you would want).  Serve them.  Acknowledge them.  It is pleasant to get acknowledgement for a job well done, but to truly touch someone, acknowledge them for who they are.  Acknowledge their Being, their Essence.

How many of us are ever truly seen or heard?    There is no greater gift.  There is no cost.  The giver receives as much or more than the receiver.  What do you both get? Transformation, Connection, Acknowledgment and Enjoyment.  Now there’s something to celebrate!

For life, relationship and professional coaching, please contact me, Linda Scholten, at linda@coachingicu.com

June Students of the Month

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

1. Stay in the room.
2. Don’t compare yourself to anyone.
3. Plan your day around your yoga, not your yoga around your day. It makes a difference!
4. Focus on your breath, it will be your key to getting through a posture and to the next level.
5. Never give up. This too shall pass.  The discomfort is temporary and you will get through it.