Leyla Assadi
As a young girl I was always very interested in anything related to health and physical fitness. My earliest encounter that I can recall was at age 5 when I discovered “Get in shape girl” and from that day forward I was hooked. Around the same time I also began taking lessons in ballet and tap dance which I continued on and off until I was 15. At that age, I dropped the dance and went full force into running. I ran cross country and track throughout high school and beyond until I started teaching aerobics and spinning classes at the age of 19.
I loved anything high impact and I was a cardio nut… ”no pain no gain”. I would also spend a fair amount of time at the gym lifting weights, working out, teaching classes and still run 35-40 miles a week. I just liked feeling thrashed after a rough workout day. At that time, I could have never done something simple and calming as Yoga.
I ran the L.A. marathon and did very well, to my surprise. This qualified me for the invitation only Boston marathon. I began training intensely and that’s when I had my very first injury ever. My back.
As I tried to work it out and training at the same time, other physical problems surfaced. I guess it was my body’s way of forcing me to take a break since I couldn’t decide to do it on my own.
This pause was an opportunity to look at a different way to exercise my body and to let the idea of Yoga enter my mind. I still needed something intense and vigorous so when somebody talked to me about Bikram Yoga, I tried it.
I took my first class and I had a surprising and amazing experience. I remember a sense of floating and a feeling of calmness and peace, and so I was hooked.
Eventually I dropped my spinning classes, stopped running and focused just on Yoga. My pains started to diminish considerably.
I went to a chiropractor to understand exactly what the problem was with my back. Through x-rays, he found scoliosis, a reversed cervical curve and a hyper lordodic curve. He suggested to continue Bikram Yoga.
Through the practice of Yoga and careful chiropractic adjustments, I am greatly improving my spine condition. Actually, I no longer receive chiropractic adjustments and have been able to improve the condition of my spine solely through the yoga practice. I continue to feel the shifts in my body and the severe pains I experienced in the past are now gone. I also noticed improvements in the circulation and the digestive systems. I sleep so much better and I have grown an inch since I began practicing Bikram Yoga. Moreover, this Yoga has benefited me mentally and spiritually.
My body, mind, and soul have experienced so many benefits from the practice of Bikram Yoga. I encourage as many people as I can to try to the yoga so that they can have the opportunity to experience the healing benefits that it has to offer.
Kay Ostrenko
I am a native of Miami, Florida where I was raised on a sailboat up the Miami River. We moved into a house and I started my training in classical ballet at the age of 10. I performed with the Miami Ballet Company for six years and started singing in musicals. Than, at the age of 19, I was off to New York.
In New York I landed a job with the New York Health and Racket Club. It was there that I was first introduced to Hatha Yoga. I really liked it and the teachers liked my practice. After a while they decided to train me to teach a basic beginning class.
I loved to teach Yoga and I quickly traded all my high impact aerobic classes for the other teachers Yoga classes. I had regulars coming to class that were well into their seventies. They were coming to keep their body young. I remember my teacher always saying” You are as young as you are flexible”. I found that to be true.
I now live here in L.A. and perform my one woman show, “A Common Thread”. I also perform as a stand up comedienne.
In 2001, when I was diagnosed with breast cancer, my life changed for ever. Luckily it was in the first stage and after four cycles of chemotherapy and 81/2 weeks of radiation a friend told me about Bikram Yoga. The very first class was such a relief to be rid of some of the toxins from three surgeries and treatment.
At first I was concerned about the heat because of the possibility of getting lymphedema, having had all of my lymph nodes remove on the left side of my arm pit. I had no swelling at all after the first class or the hundredth. The doctors also warned against putting any weight on my left side so the beginning series is perfect for a cancer survivor like me. I could not do a sun salutation right after my treatment. Now six years later I am doing the advanced class and getting my upper body strength back. My goal for 2008 was to do headstand. Well, with Bikram and Emmy’s help I’ve achieved that in Feb. 2008 and now I am working on finger stand as my new goal.
Bikram Yoga works at such deep level, my scar tissue is now soft and smooth just by practicing. It also helped me cut down on medicines for my thyroid, bone density and cholesterol. I am completely off of the bone density medicine and completely off of any cholesteral medicine. Bikram yoga has saved my life and my families life as well through my exposing them to it.
Now, as a teacher, I am so grateful to have the opportunity to help others discover themselves trough this practice.
Every time I see Bikram I thank him for saving my life and his answer is always the same,”That’s what I do.” I’ve been teaching now since graduation of Spring 2005 and have loved every minute of it. I now wish to teach Bikram’s way to more people by opening up a studio in my area Hermosa Beach. I also am working on getting more people exposed to Bikram and this way of life through an exhibit of how yoga works on the body by connecting Bikram and my brother Wit Ostrenko who is President of the Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa, Florida where a million people pass through his doors a year. Exposing a million people a year to Bikram Yoga would be a blessing for us all.