MyLifeYoga

I’m a 37-year-old mother of 3. I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at the age of 14. I have suffered greatly over the years with swollen & painful joints. I took Ecotrin (coated aspirin) for about 10 years only to end up with an ulcer. Then I just learned to live with the flare-ups, taking anti-inflammatories & lots of heat/ice. At about 18, I started having problems with my neck. I went to chiropractors for the next 2 decades on and off. They said I had a pinched nerve in my neck. Then the pain went from my neck to my shoulder down my arm and back and felt as though my trapezius muscle was wrapped around my collarbone. It was incredibly painful. I soon learned that nobody could tell me what the problem was, never mind help me. At 30 I was in two car accidents within one month. After that my neck, shoulder, trapezius muscle, whatever it was, was unbearable. The doctors said I had whiplash and soft tissue damage. On my own I went back to the chiropractor. That did nothing. Then a muscle specialist sent me to physical therapy, four times a week. At that time I could not raise my arm over my head & had no range of motion in my neck at all.

After 10 weeks of physical therapy there was no improvement. I decided to try HotCore (Bikram) Yoga. At first I still had a hard time getting my arms over my head, but after only 6 weeks I could do it with almost little to no pain. At my most recent class I tried to reach my neck to my chest? It worked! I have not been able to move my neck for so long I couldn’t believe it! Continue reading →

Melanie Camp

I found that I fit the statistic of 56 — the average age of widowhood. I felt too young to be a widow and as my practice improved I knew that the door to a happy life was not closing. Yoga helped me see that the possibility of a healthy and full life was ahead of me and that there were no limits to my flexibility. Because each posture addresses so much of the “inner mind”, my adjustment to this new chapter was enhanced by a positive focus and a consistent practice.

After a few months of reflection, I decided to participate in my yoga teacher’s first Yoga Teacher Training along with sixty other yogis from around the world. I enrolled for five weeks of intense training, six days a week from 7am until 9pm or later. I did it…I completed my training and while I was not convinced that I would be teaching, I wanted to share my knowledge. With a body that was more toned than ever, I began sharing the message wherever I traveled. “Yoga can change your life!” became my theme song.

With meditation and concentration, I sent a message out to the universe that I wanted more than ever to “participate” in this new life; explore my new freedom and challenge my fears. The following year I attended yoga retreats in Brazil, North Carolina and Costa Rica and later Santorini, Greece. I took advanced yoga training and began to teach privately and as a substitute at my regular studio. I attended yoga conferences in Canada and Arizona and I supplemented my yoga training by visiting an assortment of yoga studios from California to New York. I was asked to teach at a Day School in Miami Beach and in preparation for that assignment I attended training for Kids Yoga in Italy along with 20 others. I was the only American!

Along with the yoga exploration I began sailing….I wanted to experience a taste of the sea and the mystery of its lure. After assorted sailing classes and day sails with a sailing club, I participated in my first ocean passage with 55 other sailboats from Virginia to the British Virgin Islands. Yes, I meditated and I relied on my Yoga to get through a major storm under very challenging circumstances for ten days on a 55 foot Schooner. Continue reading →