Our Studio: Bikram Yoga Dupont

Totally exhilarated by my first-ever Bikram class in San Rafael, California, in 2000, I was psyched to open a Bikram yoga studio in Washington DC. I'd practiced other forms of hatha yoga for years and had always looked down on Bikram's method of practicing hatha yoga in 105-degree heat. It wasn't until I actually took the class that I realized it was the best series of postures I had experienced as a yoga student. Rarely, if ever, had I bent or twisted my spine in all 6 different directions and done as much spinal work and backward bending in one class. Determined to pursue this invigorating practice and finding no studio in DC in early 2001, my career at Accenture was doomed. I went to Bikram's teacher training in 2001 and opened Bikram Yoga Dupont Circle on January 1, 2002.

The studio started out on the 4th floor at the 1635 Connecticut Ave location where the hot room was so steamy it is still talked about - not always fondly - in the Bikram community. Thankfully, I expanded the studio in 2004, turning the 2nd floor into a brand-new yoga room. A large, sunny and beautifully fresh-air-heated space, the new yoga room is a pleasure and a joy. The 4th floor is also expanded with larger locker rooms and showers, a sitting area and yoga mat storage.

The students and the teachers who have lovingly created this community at the studio are my source of inspiration. I feel blessed and grateful to be surrounded by such extraordinary human beings everyday. It is their vibrancy and commitment to share themselves, through love and grace, that motivates me to be who I am.