Giselle Aviles is the grand prize winner of the testimonial contest, taking home a 3 months unlimited Bikram pass. Giselle just completed our latest 30 day challenge - her 3rd challenge at SSHY! Way to go!

My Bikram journey of healing and growth began when my physician asked me if I had heard of hot yoga.  I had been having challenges maintaining my blood pressure.  In fact, I had been diagnosed with anemia as a child.  I had been practicing other types of yoga for a few months, had been a runner, and did light weights at the gym, but I had always felt that "something" was missing.  I pondered his idea for a few months, not only challenged by my fear of heat, but also my fear of being in a smaller room full of people.  Finally, with a few deep breaths, I entered the hot room for the first time in 2007.

I began to practice at Stafford Street Hot Yoga in 2009, and entered my first 30-day Bikram challenge.  I didn’t know if I could really survive, but I did!  I felt amazing support and determination from my fellow challengers. There was such an array of emotions – we laughed, we cried, we suffered, and we conquered.  And following the challenge, I took my practice to a new level; doing the hot yoga so consistently had helped me let go of the anxiety and shyness that had plagued me.  My practice was no longer defined by how others perceived me, but by how I saw myself.  In the hot room, it was my time.

In February 2010, I had stumbled on a rock along my Bikram hot yoga path when I severly injured my right hamstring.  I went through a month of intense physiotherapy on crutches before returning to the hot room.  I was reluctant, but I knew that I needed to. 

My first class back was the most difficult class that I had ever taken.  I was thinking about how I was starting all over when I heard one of Bikram’s mantras called out by the instructor: "You're never too old, never too bad, never too late and never too sick to start from the scratch once again."  My injury had created an opportunity to change my focus in my practice – to really listen to my body and mind!  I realized that depth wasn't the key, but my energy towards the postures!  And despite the setback, I became stronger than before, completed my second 30-day challenge that year, and a third in 2011!    

~ Giselle