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

This is a testimonial from Paul who won an honourable mention for his creativity (a dozen love buns from Ume's Kitchen)...

A farmer parked his combine behind his barn after the fall harvest.  However, he quit farming and moved away that winter, renting out the land to another farmer.  The combine was left there and forgotten. 
 
The machine sat there unnoticed for a very long time.
 
The farmer came back to the land to farm again after many years later and found the combine exactly where he had left it.  It was in bad shape.  The machine had sat through many dry, hot summers and cold, harsh winters without being used or maintained.  It had been pelted by rain and hail and had endured gale force winds.  Most of the gears and sprockets on the machine had become rusted and would not turn.  The motor would start but the machine struggled to move even an inch.  In fact, none of the parts seemed to move at all.
 
It seemed hopeless that the combine would ever work or run properly. The farmer wondered if he should even bother trying to fix it.  But the machine had worked well before so he decided to give it a shot.

The farmer set to work on combine.  Everyday, he added oil and grease all the gears and sprockets that would not move.  He used a wrench with as much force as he could muster to try and turn them, but they would not loosen.  The farmer was dismayed but kept at it.
 
One week went by and the farmer went out to add oil and grease to the gears and sprockets.  He used a wrench to turn one of the sprockets and lo and behold it began to move, ever so slightly.  He tried the same thing with one of the gears and it too turned, just a tiny bit.  The same thing happened with all the other the gears and sprockets.
 
The next day, the farmer added oil and grease and all the gears and sprockets and again, they all turned a little bit more.
 
After a few months, most of the gears and sprockets were turning.  Mind you, they were all not working at full capacity, so the farmer kept oiling and greasing the parts everyday.  

Finally, fall arrived and it was time to harvest the grain. The farmer oiled and greased the machine.  He started the motor and slowly put the combine into action.  Sure enough, the gears and sprockets began to turn and the combine moved through the field, harvesting the grain with ease.  The combine never broke down again and  farmer was able to use it for harvest every year after that. Of course, he kept oiling and greasing all the moving parts everyday (almost)!
 
Definitions: 
Farmer - mind
Combine - body
Gears and sprockets – arms, legs, neck, spine, ankles, knees, toes, arms, elbows, fingers, calves, thighs, skin, back, front, bottom, top, side and all other parts of the body
Wrench, Oil and Grease - Bikram's Hot Yoga
Harvest the Grain – Being able to move body parts with ease and live a healthy life

~ Paul