World’s Best Bikram Yoga Teachers: Readers’ Choice

September 4, 2012 12:00 am

Photo: Ron Sombilon Gallery Yoga Photography [Source]

We gave you some of our picks for the , and you responded with yours! Read more about our readers’ favourite Bikram Yoga instructors, and be sure to leave the name of your top hot yoga teacher in the comments when you’re done!

Alexis Vickers (London, England)

When her mom finally got her to try Bikram Yoga, Alexis went that hot yoga class expecting an easy stretch. Instead she experienced a series of postures that inspired and challenged her. The heat, sweat and frustration when I lost my balance was … part of the class, she says in her Sohot Bikram Yoga bio. But what got me back was the part [that] led to calmness of mind and strength of body … better concentration and focus. She completed Bikram Yoga teacher training in 2009. I now crave the heat, the sweat … and have learned how to balance on one leg, she says.

Photo: Bikram Yoga London [Source]

Ben Sears (New York, New York)

Ben (who, along with Craig Villani, is the director of LuxYoga) calls himself a perpetual student despite completing teacher training and competing for the Bishnu Charan Ghosh Cup. His best advice to hot yoga students: Class is about you, so be your best, trust, be honest, take pride in the details and you will get better, not hurt. Above all, breathe. Take a day off when you need one, be consistent and eat well. Ben Sears lives and teaches in New York and gets that you can be a good yogi and still enjoy the modern world.

Photo: Bikram Yoga Lower East Side [Source]

Dana Moore (Toronto, Ontario)

Dana completed in 2005 and went on to open her own Toronto Bikram Yoga studio. Because Bikram Yoga effectively transformed and enriched her life, she’s dedicated to sharing it with as many people as possible. The yoga is so complete – it touches every part of your body, she said in an interview with CP24. It’s a very well-balanced and efficient regime. It works you through every system, muscle, tissue, organ and gland of your body. It keeps you focused, releasing stress, providing more energy than before, really creating overall well-being. It’s a tough class but … accessible for all levels. Bikram Yoga is suitable to everyone because it is [all] encompassing.

Photo: Toronto Star [Source]

Mari Dickey (Vancouver, British Columbia)

Not only does Mari teach (on average) 12 Bikram Yoga classes a week, she practises in the hot room daily (sometimes twice!) and trains for competitions. The payoff for all this hard work: placing third in the world at this year’s International Yoga Asana Championship. “For me yoga is my passion, so if sharing my practice with others … allows people to feel my joy and passion, and that inspires even one person to want to practice yoga, or do what they are passionate about, then that is what is really important,” she says.

Photo: Chikum Advanced Athletic Wear [Source]

Michele Pernetta (London, England)

Michele Pernetta first came to Bikram Yoga after her martial arts training injured her knees and doctors advised her to have surgery. She healed both knees in the Bikram hot yoga room, avoided surgery, became a certified teacher and brought the yoga to Europe in 1994. After teaching for six years, Michele opened the first Bikram Yoga studio in the U.K., in London, in 2000. In case you’re counting, that’s 17 years of teaching experience and nearly 20 years of practise! Michele has also judged the International Yoga Championships and the British Regional Yoga Asana Championships, and has been running yoga retreats abroad for over nine years. Because of her own introduction to Bikram Yoga, she has a special interest in working with people with injuries and special needs: People’s bravery, application and patience always lifts my spirits and communicates to me the power yoga has to unleash the body’s own healing mechanisms. These people are my teachers, and through them I am continually learning about how the body works, what it needs and how yoga can be used as a tool for healing.

Photo: Bikram Yoga London [Source]

Lorraine Stewart (London, England)

A dancer all her life, Lorraine discovered Bikram Yoga in 2001. The first draw to the hot room was finding new ways to stretch and strengthen her muscles, but over time she became more self aware and thrived in such a warm and friendly environment, where no one was there to judge. She’s kept up a regular hot yoga practice ever since, realigning her body and soothing aches and pains after dance rehearsals and performances. Most importantly, Bikram Yoga has kept Lorraine injury free, strong minded and spiritually sound. Since becoming a teacher in 2009, she’s taught classes in London and L.A.

Photo: Hot Bikram Yoga [Source]

 

 

 

Sindy Haque (London, England)

Bikram Yoga really did change Sindy’s life. After narrowly escaping death in the 2004 tsunami, she suffered severe post-traumatic stress and actively sought to combat her anxieties without medication. Back in London, she decided to give the hot room a try – and loved it immediately. Working every bodily system provided the complete physical release that enabled her to change her entire outlook, while finding calmness and balance through her practice made virtually all her anxieties disappear. Sindy graduated from teacher training in 2009 and has been teaching at Sohot Bikram Yoga ever since.

 

Trey Griley (New York, New York)

Trey’s Bikram Yoga journey began in 2002 in Miami. Looking to gain more strength and flexibility (and wondering where his girlfriend was spending so much of her time), he entered the hot room and found far more than a physical workout. While the series has definitely helped him develop physically over the past nine years, the mental benefits have been more important. Trey’s best advice to his New York students: Don’t be scared, do your best and don’t judge what happens.

Photo: Racked [Source]

 

Yukari Miwa (Japan)

Yukari discovered Bikram Yoga after moving to L.A. from Tokyo. She completed teacher training in 2006 before going back to Japan. Since then, she has represented her home country in competition several times, placing first in the world (women) in 2011. This champ’s yoga philosophy: I like to always listen to the teacher and learn more every day because sometimes we need guidance and corrections, and it is very important to listen to instructors in every class.

Photo: Mika Yoga Wear [Source]

 

 

 

 

Check out World’s Best Bikram Yoga Teachers Parts 1 and Part 2 for even more of Bikram Yoga’s Best! Who’s YOUR fave teacher?

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