About Us - Our Studio

At Bikram Yoga West Edmonton, we share a passion for Bikram Yoga and believe in its ability to affect positive change in people's lives. It is our goal to provide our students with an atmosphere that promotes growth. Our certified Bikram Yoga teachers will encourage and inspire you to do your best. In practicing Bikram Yoga you will develop tools that transcend the yoga room and can be used in your everyday life.
We strive to provide a safe, healing, supportive and fun environment where all individuals feel welcome; a space where students will create a true version of themselves through their own commitment of perseverance, patience and determination.

Instructors

All instructors at Bikram Yoga West Edmonton have been certified by Bikram Choudhury after graduating from his intensive Teacher Training Program. All instructors are required to re-certify every 3 years, and to maintain the integrity of Bikram’s Hatha Yoga system, the teaching methods, and his dialogue. We encourage our teachers to continue their study, practice, and development as teachers by returning to the source, attending Bikram’s seminars, classes, re-visiting the teacher trainings, and most importantly – maintaining their own yoga practice.

Julie Sagan – Studio Director/Instructor
Julie@bywe.ca

Teacher Training Graduation June 2005

In the summer of 2002, I began my lifelong practice of Bikram Yoga. I was quite inflexible and didn’t know what to expect from this “hot yoga”. I was amazed at how challenging, fun and sweaty the classes were. Most importantly though, Bikram Yoga made me feel fabulous! Bikram Yoga has become much more than just a workout for me. It is a tool that I use to help balance my life. Hoping to share Bikram Yoga with others, I went to teacher training in the spring of 2005. I consider it a privilege to guide students and share in their practice with them. As an instructor I strive to inspire and encourage students to work hard, to do their best, and to discover “their true self”. As the Director of Bikram Yoga West Edmonton I truly hope that students can come and feel welcome, safe, and motivated to make a difference for themselves. My favorite Bikram saying is “yoga makes you you”

Lisa Anderson

Yoga has brought focus, determination, strength, flexibility, balance and tranquility into all aspects of my life. It has revealed my weaknesses and strengths, helped me accept myself exactly for who I am, and shown me how to work with what I have. I love the accessibility of the Bikram series because anybody can do it. Seriously. I am honored and privileged to share this yoga with others.

Firm yet nurturing, I teach with conviction and compassion.
I believe that frequency, intensity and precision, coupled with the foundation of breathe and stillness, are the most important factors in the progress of your yoga practice. “You get what you give” and “what’s the use of having if you don’t know how to use it” are some of my favorite mottos. So come feel the burn, sweat it out and discover what you are made of; it is so worth it!

Ricky Brennan

I began my practice of Bikram Yoga because I wanted to make changes within my life.  I was unhappy with the rigors of warehousing and the junk body that physical labor created.  I’ve continued to instruct and practice regularly since graduating from Bikram’s Teacher Training in the Fall of 2005.  My classes offer a soothing relief from the chatter of your own mind.  I like the room hot, as most of us do, and provide a challenging environment for your own personal development.

 

Aimee Dumont

I love trying and practicing all kinds of yoga, but this unique type of yoga has been the only one that keeps me coming back several times a week. Bikram Yoga has challenged me on so many different levels - physically, emotionally, spiritually, and especially mentally (all at the same time!). It has opened up my body and mind, and taken my self-awareness to a deeper level of understanding.  As I have continued my practice, it is not only the yoga that keeps me coming back, it is also the wonderful support system and network of amazing people that is the foundation of the studio.  I knew from the first time that I practiced yoga that I was going to become an instructor, it was only a question of when. So when all the stars aligned and I managed to save enough money, I headed off to Bikram Yoga teacher training Fall of 2009 in Las Vegas baby!  My main objective as an instructor is to help my students get maximum benefits from their practice which means I lead a focused class balanced with command and compassion. I have been lucky enough to teach in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and have future goals of traveling and teaching all over the world!

Nikki Henriksen

I started Bikram Yoga in June of 2003 and practiced 1 to 2 times per week for the following 2 years. An instructor told me that if I committed to 3 times per week I would receive much greater results; I thought that my commitment to the gym would be sufficient. Then, in the fall of 2005 I was on a 2 week road trip and had a lot of lower back pain. When I got back I remembered that yoga is supposed to be good for back pain and because I never experienced back pain before,
I decided to give the 3 times/week a shot. Over the next 4 weeks I could not believe the difference. I bumped it up to 4-5 times/week and have been committed ever since.
It has truly changed and enriched my life for the better. Bikram Yoga helps me find and be me.
I feel I bring a strong dialogue to my class. I am the 3 f’s: Fun, Firm, and Fair.

Damian Kosabeck

In 2005 I found Bikram Yoga and started practicing twice a week.  After very few classes, I began to feel... something.  I couldn’t explain it other than an almost imperceptible feeling of change.  The benefits from the yoga were overflowing into my day to day life.  I was calmer, stronger physically & mentally, and I could feel more balance permeating my being.
My practice quickly increased to 4 and 5 times a week and with that, my progress accelerated.  I was continually finding ways to challenge myself and was being challenged in different ways with each class.  I wanted to share the yoga more and more; there were so many people I could see that could be, would be & needed to be helped by the yoga.  A thought... teacher training... came to me.  Soon, becoming a teacher seemed like a natural step, an evolution to deepening my understanding of the yoga and a way to share beyond my enthusiasm.
I went to Teacher Training in the Fall of 2008 and began teaching soon after.  Through teaching, I hope to bring a sense of openness, acceptance and community that has kept me with Bikram Yoga.  I want people to feel the same wonder that I still feel growing inside me.
You will change, you will be better; there is a more authentic you.  Do your yoga, do it often.

Allison Levy

Bikram Yoga found me in 2007, through a suggestion from a colleague of mine at work. I complained to her that it was difficult for me to find something that fit my 9-5 schedule and was enough of a challenge to push me and help me de-stress at the end of the day. Having danced my whole life,
I had always been skeptical about Bikram because I knew it was the same 26 postures every class. As students of Bikram know and I have learned, every class is always different every day. Finding that Bikram studios often have 6 am classes that fit perfectly before work, I took my colleague’s advice to jump into the torture chamber and have never looked back. My first week, I took 5 classes…and every week from then on. 
Bikram gives me so many things I can’t get from anything else. I don’t have to feel like I’m putting on a show and competing, which can get tiresome as a dancer, I get a crazy workout and a total body cleanse – in and out. The cleansing aspect is really what keeps me coming back. I know however I feel on any given day, I’m going to feel better after a class.  
I started teaching Bikram so I could pass the experience onto others and lend a little of my personality to the cleansing process. I teach with compassion and strength – always trying to push in a way that is motivating while being understanding and calm. I love injecting little things that make me smile and seem to get a few giggles from my students. 
When asked to choose my favourite/least favourite postures, I struggled a little….they can change on a regular basis depending on how I feel, but the two I chose are regularly up there. The posture I look forward to each and every class is Standing Bow Pulling Pose. It targets the areas I place most importance on working – abdominal wall, upper thighs, hips and bum. Above all, it is gorgeous to look at. The posture that sends my body and mind into angst is Locust Pose. It is pure evil – particularly both legs up, in which breathing becomes difficult and bringing body weight onto the shoulders is a major challenge and rather uncomfortable. Locust Pose also works some of my target areas and has numerous benefits that women tend to love (anti-cellulite), but it’s my nemesis.   
So that’s the inside look at Allison…do your best, stay in the room….and I’ll give you nothing but love…with a little push.

Kellie Paroginog

My name is Kellie and I was born on May 12th 1981, if you count by years. My mom told me I flew right out and kept on flying. I started Bikram yoga in 2003.  I graduated with my BFA in Dance from Stephens College in Columbia M.O. I was dancing professionally in NYC for two years and was maintaining a steady Bikram practice. I started to volunteer at the studio and the more I was there, the more my heart started to turn. My path slowly started to change and it was there that I made my decision to become a Bikram yoga instructor.

I graduated from training in Spring 2005.  My love for traveling seemed more relevant once I completed training.
I believe my real degree is the study of life and the people in it. The faint humming became a loud roar and I found my journeys traveling across the world to Hong Kong in early 2006. I taught in Hong Kong for one year. It was there that fate collided and I met my match, Ed.  Being polar opposites, he came to Edmonton to study computer technology at NAIT.  I followed, with no expectations.

Bikram yoga in Edmonton has been my living savasana. Talk about taking your practice from the mat to your life.  Always comfortable living in a big city as my guide, I was stripped of all I knew.
The fast paced city, dancing on all street corners, teaching full time and, of course, the stress of starting fresh…it all felt like slow motion. I was able to hear all the chatter in my mind, the yearning of my heart and the frustration of what it was all saying. I stayed with it; it has been 2 years and I have learned the most about myself.

Learning that while in slow motion, if given the opportunity and staying in savasana pose, I could watch, listen, remember, learn and grow.  Facing my biggest fear. It doesn’t matter if you practice every day; that is only one component.  It is what you do with your practice. Believe it for what it is, not what you think it is. Taking your practice from the mat and transitioning it to your life. Quality verses quantity. That is true success.

Ilona Rakievich

I started my Bikram yoga journey after I had to give up distance running due to knee injuries.  My first Bikram yoga class in 2003 was indescribable; a mix of awe, nausea, and every emotion and sensation in between you could possibly imagine.  It was so incredibly intense I just had to come back again and again to see and know that what I felt was even possible and real.  The inspiration to become an instructor occurred to me shortly after I started my practice; I had after all, survived my first class.  I attended training in 2004 at Bikram Yoga Headquarter in Los Angeles. Bikram yoga challenges me on so many levels and it is a significant influence that continuously guides me to gain a deeper understanding and insight to all aspects of my life.  As I continue to grow in my own understanding and awareness, I am fortunate to have the opportunity to share the wonderful benefits of a Bikram yoga practice with students of all ages, and give people the chance to learn more about themselves as they continue on their own individual journeys.

Wayne Hall

I discovered the magic of Bikram Yoga in August 2010.  From my first class, I felt a connection to the practice that I knew would be lifelong.   A few days after my first class I signed up for a 30 day challenge and have never looked back. Since then, I've had the opportunity to take posture clinics with several senior Bikram Instructors where I learned to deepen my practice.  I started to see some amazing changes in my body; increased strength and balance, as well as significant improvements in some health related issues. I also found my concentration dramatically improve and stress from my corporate job considerably minimized. 
I knew I had to share this incredible practice with others and made the decision to attend Teacher Training in Spring 2011 in Los Angeles.

Bikram Yoga has taught me discipline, compassion, patience and awareness.  I consider it an honor and a privilege to share Bikram Yoga with others and my intention is to give each of my students a fun, disciplined yet compassionate journey of self discovery and healing in every class. See you in the hot room!

Dave Wong

Self-Realization. As Bikram Choudhury states, it is the ultimate destination of human life. This word holds true to the fact of the real and perfect individual and the ultimate human potential that I may carry throughout my life.

My relentless journey began during the summer of 2008 as I took a moment to ponder what were the next steps I were to take to achieve happiness, love and many other positive aspects of life that has to offer. I had the desire to strive for something extraordinary and relate to a mindful self-discovery. After careful considerations and research, I chose to attend my first Bikram Yoga class. I had no doubts what Bikram Yoga can offer to an individual physically as all I wanted to achieve was a defined physique. After several months of practice, I realized I received more than I bargained for. The physical, mental, and spiritual challenges Bikram Yoga presented in front of my daily life was overwhelming and difficult to overcome. I struggle to accept the lack of concentration, determination and patience that I had for myself, but also gratefully understand my true destiny and joy and well-being I deserve.  

Bikram Yoga is one of the most remarkable experiences I have gained as it opened a path to obstacles and self-gratifying moments. I have been inspired by many students, teachers and individuals that chose to be a part of this global philosophy. As I continue my journey with breath, focus, and strength, at the same time also pursuing to inspire and lead practitioners all around the world, but most importantly is to help someone to experience what Bikram Yoga has offered me and that is Self-Realization.

Jan Wilson – Super Star Guest Teacher

I was first introduced to yoga while I was traveling and playing competitive squash as a practice to help my body and mind balance and heal from injury. I quickly fell in love with yoga, and have been in love with the practice to this day!

I believe that yoga is about learning to develop a true and authentic connection with ourselves and the ability to remain present and aware in whatever healthy daily activity or situation we are in. Bikram yoga has and continues to be a truly valuable tool for myself in working towards this intention. I feel that I bring a genuine love for people, the yoga practice and the path of life to the yoga room. To learn from and practice with the Bikram yoga family is a true blessing and one which I feel very fortunate to experience.

Our Studio

Our spacious 1400 sq ft studio/hot yoga room features:

Locker rooms feature:

Reception Area features:

We feature Mondo Tech Advanced Rubber Anti-Microbial flooring. This anti-microbial rubber flooring system is non-porous, bacteria free, and odorless. The floor is insulated to keep your muscles warm, and it has been bio-mechanically engineered to perform with your body, absorbing shock. The Athens Olympics 2004 Modern Games used this floor for the indoor volleyball courts.