FIVE

1. What is the truth about yoga for you?

That it is healing body ailments that I have challenged since I was 13 years old. Knowing that I had moderate scolliosis, I went in search of an excercise cure... one that eventually led me to back surgery. Yoga at 50 years old is looking like the cure.

2. Do you believe there to be contradictions in the practice of yoga? If so, what are these contradictions?

There is a lot of pain getting to the cure. I don't believe this is true if you start when you are young. At my age I feel I am overcoming many bad postures and excessive excercise regimens that will take a long time to correct. I am in class and my correct spinal curve takes place and I am in bliss, if I miss a few classes my body tends to go back to 50 years of memory.

3. List three hopes you have for your practice.

one - Continue on a regular basis so my efforts are cummulative two - Retrain my poor posture, muscle habits so they stay in correct form. three - Master the rabbit pose and bow pose.

4. What has the practice of Bikram Yoga given to you?

A sense of well being, knowing I can improve myself everyday. I hope to continue to a point of excellence even at 60 years old or beyond.

5. Why do you practice Bikram Yoga?

I/ve done aerobics, step aerobics, running, biking, weight training since high school. I have always strived to be fit and healthy. In my 40's I went crazy in my cardio weight training curriculum. I was so fit and looked so good and really felt good except I was destroying my spine. By the time I recognized the systems, I needed back surgery to stand up straight again. Once I recovered from surgery I slowly tried to reconstuct my cardio weight training again. When my back began to fail again, I tried yoga out of desperation. My first few classes I reconciled the fact that my disc might burst in poses my surgeon suggested I eliminate (forward bending). But I got better and better. As my low back healed I learned my bigger problems resided in the thoracic region with scoliosis and my neck with inflexiblity. But every class makes me better physically and mentally. It is unreal that I spent my youth thinking yoga wasn't challenging enough. I am trying to get my kids to do it now while they are young. The fountain of youth is what yoga means to me. Cindy E., Fallbrook, CA USA Age:50