Tracy Augustyn, 27

I am an artist and art teacher living in Avondale, GA.

How often? 2-3 times a week

How long? 5 years

Benefits: Yoga helps to balance my life… mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually. During the school year, I find it especially helpful in easing the stresses of teaching. It gives me the energy and patience I need in my classroom during the week. Classes allow me a place to release and let go of the stresses and worries I feel. Bikram yoga has also helped me in choosing and maintaining a healthier lifestyle. After a class, I usually experience a natural bliss that is unlike anything else. My mind is clear and I can get on with life, move forward, and get things done, instead of remaining stagnant inside my mind.

The yoga also helped in healing my leg after breaking it while hiking Stone Mountain, the yoga served as my physical therapy.

Challenges: Staying present with my breath and accepting my practice on that day. I have seen many changes in my practice, and just because I was able to get to a certain depth yesterday doesn’t mean I can do the same today. Surrendering to the process and to the heat is what it’s about. The class is challenging, but if it wasn’t, I wouldn’t love it.

Jim Harron, 53

I am a long term government employee with an interest in insects. Also, like Eric, I have found that wine and all its subtle nuances makes for a fun hobby.

How often? Usually 2 times per week

How long? 3 Years

Benefits: For years, I have had back problems. I tried many of the usual things to find relief (chiropractors, muscle relaxers, analgesics, physical therapy) with little success. Further, years of running and not stretching left me with iron hamstrings and no flexibility. After a few weeks of Bikram yoga I started noticing less and less pain. Now, I am relatively pain free, can sleep better and do not pop ibuprofen like candy.

Challenges: When I first started, I found out I had TERRIBLE balance and that I had to use the back wall to balance in several of the postures. Gradually, the balance has greatly improved. I am still working on the flexibility.

Many of my postures may not be picture perfect and I still struggle with many of them. However, for me, being relatively pain free after many years is certainly worth it. Bikram yoga may not help all back problems, but it did mine.

Marćia Riley, 57

How often? When I lived in the city, I averaged two/three times a week. Now that I’m in McDonough, I barely make it twice a month…(sigh)

How long? A year before you opened [2001] - I’ve been attending Bikram Yoga Decatur since it opened and continue to enjoy the practice, staff and atmosphere.

I own EA Incorporated which provides services in the area of written and oral communication skills (training, writing, editing, proofreading, transcribing to corporate, government and academic clients).

Benefits Seen: Health-wise it’s been GREAT!! I have three damaged discs in my neck and the heat helps tremendously. My body has really toned and I can actually see hips now!! Tummy was about 33 inches (pre-menopause spread), it’s down to 27 now. The practice has kept me flexible and energized. When folks ask how do I stay in shape, I proudly encourage them to give Bikram a try.

Carl McClatchey, 34

How Often? 3 times a week.

How Long? 2 years.

I am a hobbyist musician and career accountant with a degree in philosophy. I live with my wife in Decatur GA. Bikram yoga has transformed me by adding a physical and meditative practice to my life in a way that is directly applicable to my daily experience, fulfilling for my mind and immeasurably beneficial for my health.

Benefits Seen: Among the many benefits of Bikram yoga, I have experienced significantly greater patience, concentration and mindfuless accompanied by greater flexibility, higher energy level and overall improved physical condition.

Challenges: allowing my body to connect with my breath by finding the appropriate level of effort, while recognizing and discarding all of the different manifestations of my ego as they appear. The greater challenge is accepting that the level of effort that is appropriate and the manifestations of my ego will be different every single class that I take. And the heat…that’s challenging too….in a good way.

Rachel Bowser, 30

I’m an English professor living in Decatur. I like professional sports as much as I like 19th-century novels. I like when my toddler plays on my yoga mat. I dislike the way my yoga mat smells (and sometimes the way my toddler smells).

How often? 3 times a week

How long? 4 years

Benefits: I started doing Bikram yoga when I moved to Beijing, and my regular practice helped me find the mental calm I needed to deal with the stresses of living in a foreign country. Also, I could notice improvement in my yoga more readily than in my Chinese. Back home, the calm of my yoga practice helped me finished my dissertation. Also, this yoga helps me sleep (instead of counting sheep, I rehearse the series in my head).

Challenges: Initially, the heat was the most challenging. I notice that less these days, and am more challenged by staying present in each posture, not mentally jumping ahead.

Mary H. Hines, 47, Decatur

I’ve been taking Bikram classes on and off since BYD opened. At first, I took classes because I thought it would be challenging exercise, and, of course, it is. But I keep coming back to Bikram, sometimes after an absence of months, because it is the best, most affordable, and most convenient therapy I can get.

I’m 47 years old, and my job as a judicial law clerk keeps me at a desk or a computer all day long, crunching up my neck and shoulders. I’m also an avid gardener and work my half-acre garden year-round – hauling rocks and digging holes and pruning shrubs. That’s hard on the back and joints. But an hour and a half in a Bikram class and I’m limber and pain free again. More importantly, I’m stronger.

Bikram yoga works the spine and back like no other exercise I’ve done. The 26 postures are designed to keep the spine flexible and the muscles supporting it very strong which helps maintain the core strength and balance needed to continue doing the things I love as I get older. The postures also work the internal organs and the endocrine system. Although I’m perimenopausal, and the occasional hot flash makes hot yoga challenging, it is worth it because the postures keep my hormonal systems balanced, too.

Finally, Bikram yoga is mental therapy, the perfect adjunct to my regular meditation practice. Ideally, yoga should be meditation in motion. During a Bikram class, I couldn’t dwell on the stresses and worries of the day even if I wanted to! Intense focus on the present, on how my body and breath work together to stay in the posture, pulls my mind away from nagging thoughts. After a class, my mind is peaceful, and that peace stays with me for the rest of the day.