For the past several years I have been practicing yoga at home with a DVD, reading magazines, and catching Saturday yoga classes at the Y. I had always promised myself that one day (when the kids got older and I had  

a little more "me" time, when my career wasn't quite so demanding, etc.) I would start going to a yoga studio where I could really focus on learning and growing my practice.

Earlier this year I was talking with a friend who had recently been introduced to yoga.  During the course of the conversation I mentioned that I had read that Bikram yoga was one of the most challenging yoga styles, which immediately caught his interest. He did some research, pointed out that my job would always be demanding and that my children were in college/high school, and shortly thereafter we decided to come take a class together and see what it would be like to have an authentic Bikram Yoga experience.

I will be forever grateful that I walked through the doors of PBY in April. I immediately noticed that the environment was completely different than anything I had expected or experienced; there was no competitive air whatsoever and there was a pervasive feeling of inclusiveness and genuine support. The feeling I had sitting on the bench after finishing that first class was indescribable; I became an instant addict. A virtual "newbie" in my Bikram practice; I have already experienced so many benefits.

After suffering a running related break in May, which caused a three week mandatory hiatus, I returned to the mat and am convinced that the yoga played a large part in a quick healing process that impressed the Orthopedist.  Maybe the most profound benefit I have experienced so far occurred in the first class where I couldn't complete the entire series. I had never needed to skip a posture and was taken completely off guard. That was exactly what I needed to experience in order to progress. I thought about all of the times I had heard an instructor say "relax, it's only yoga" and I began to truly grasp that the yoga (like life) is not about being perfect. 

I am finding that in other areas of my life I am learning to be less rigid or concerned about what is "right". I am starting to find it easier to let things go, and struggling less with forgiveness. When I come to practice I focus on my breathing and accept that my body will do whatever it can do that day and am always thankful. I feel blessed to experience such awesome group energy every time I am in the room and fortunate for having such knowledgeable and caring teachers here at PBY.  Namaste.

Cindy Solis became a certified Bikram Yoga instructor in the fall of 2012. She has been active her whole life and has always had a passion for intense physical activity. After hearing all the benefits of yoga, she decided to sign up for her first Bikram Yoga class in 2008. It was then that she realized  Bikram yoga was the hardest mental and physical challenge that she had ever experienced. Being a person who enjoys challenges, she decided to commit to Bikram; and began to experience all the benefits the Yoga brought for her physically and mentally. She became self-aware, optimistic, physically enhanced, and her nutritional choices drastically changed, for the better. As a mother, Cindy knows that the most important factor of her life is to live a healthy life style and to be a positive, influential, role model to her daughter.  She believes Bikram Yoga adds longevity to her life, and as an instructor, she hopes students overcome the obstacles life brings by taking ninety minutes of their lives to begin their self-transformation in the hot room.