Teacher Profile: Lisa Pelzer

We sat down with Lisa Pelzer, co-owner and director of Bikram Yoga Vancouver, to ask a few questions. Lisa is passionate about Bikram Yoga and is a devoted student and instructor. We decided to take some time to sit and chat. Here is what we asked her:

Lisa, how did you find out about Bikram yoga so long ago? A friend? A newspaper article? The internet?

When I was living in Hawaii I wanted to start yoga and I called around. Someone recommended the yoga to me in Honolulu and that’s how I found it. That was in 1996.

When you first began practicing Bikram yoga what was your biggest obstacle?

I would say the heat—it was really hot and humid in Hawaii and I really hadn’t exercised like this in my life. I think the physical aspect alone was so demanding and the heat intensified it. It was a lot. I could only actually do one class a week for a couple of months. I couldn’t handle any more than that at the beginning because it was extremely intense for me…

It’s been 11 years for you as a teacher—what an accomplishment! Do you have any pieces of advice that our newer students should hear as they begin their journey?

Just listen carefully and keep trying. You will have your good days and your bad days but don’t judge either of them. Just keep practicing and you will see an amazing transformation in your life. There is no easy way—you just have to work through the pain and the discomfort. You have to work through the struggle. You have to struggle and that’s completely normal. We all experience that. If you think that struggling is a wrong then then, you know… that’s a misconception.

Is there a posture that you have a love/hate relationship with? Which one is it and why?

It changes all the time. Right now I’m really hating Awkward but honestly it changes for various reasons. Soon, Awkward will get better and it will become another posture.

We are dying to know, what is your favourite thing to eat after a Bikram yoga class?

Watermelon. Nice, cold, watermelon juice that I blend up before class.

Heard any great music this summer?

My favourite song right now is by Ray LaMontagne and it’s called “Beg Steal or Borrow.”

To hear Lisa’s music pick of the week, click here.