–by Ann Chrapkiewicz
21 months into the pandemic, it is time for me to speak up. Well over 50% of Bikram Yoga studios in the U.S. have closed since spring 2020, and that wave of closures is not over. I have been doing everything I can to not be one of those who close, and I will continue to do everything I can. But at this point a broader base of support is required, and I am asking YOU to be a part of this.
We are so happy to welcome Angela Moulin Sinclair to Bikram Yoga Capital Area! Her passion for this yoga as well as her nearly two decades of experience make her such a wonderful and positive part of our yoga community.
Angela and I first met at a Mary Jarvis Lake Michigan Shapeshifting retreat in the summer of 2018, but our shared history goes back to many similar experiences in the early 2000s at Bikram Yoga Teacher Training (at La Cienega Headquarters, Los Angeles).
Just over three years ago, Michigan State University Assistant Football Coach Ron Burton started practicing Bikram Yoga with us. Since then, he has been telling every coach and athlete he knows about this practice, encouraging them to come to class, and bringing his kids to class whenever they are in town.
They call each other “coach”, so if you ever hear Ann say that in class, you know who she is talking to!
Meet Briona Jones, 29, doctoral candidate in English at Michigan State University and former Division I basketball player.
Briona’s story is so moving and her reflections so articulate, we decided to share them in multiple blog posts! Here is Part I, which focuses mostly on the physical benefits Briona has created with her practice.
I was born with rickets, so as a child I was able to walk, but I wasn’t able to run.
by Ann Chrapkiewicz
Would I rather feel Pain? Or Nothingness?
This is the broad choice I have been given, the dominant set of options I was born into. Not just me, personally, but I, the human of 20th and 21st century North America, and probably many other places and times.
Whether I am experiencing emotional pain and choosing alcohol…
In the process of childbirth and being pressured to get an epidural….