Meet Our Instructors

Bikram Yoga San Jose Instructors are Certified by Bikram Choudhury at Bikram’s Yoga College of India, Los Angeles, CA

Adi Dagan, Summer 2005

Anna Morey, Spring 2004

Curt Patten, Spring 2005

Cynthia Wehr, Spring 2003
“Standing bow pulling pose is my favorite posture. While working at HQ, it took many “Cynthia do this and Cynthia do that” to understand the beauty and difficulty of this posture. I will never forget the day Bikram came over and locked my leg for me- and that was that. I was able to lock out pretty much every time after that experience. The level of intensity and concentration the pose demands from you is so superb, that there is nothing like it. It is as if the world has truly stopped for a moment and it gives you the space and breath to just dive into this amazing posture using all the strength and flexibility you can muster up in 60 seconds. I get so excited just thinking about it.”

Francoise Vincent, Spring 2002

Gary Auten, Summer 2005
“The biggest improvement in my practice was in awkward pose. Before teacher training, I could not hold the last part of awkward for 15 seconds. After teacher training, I was able to hold the last part of awkward for over 2 minutes. Part of it had to do with the belief that I wasn’t good at this posture. When I was asked to hold it for longer during teacher training, I held it for longer than I ever imagined.”

Sports accomplishments:
I have done 3 Ironmans (check out the blog section to read my experience on running the Ironman in Coeur d’Alene)
I have done over 20 marathons (with a fastest time under 3 hours)
I have done over 20 half-Ironman races

I do Bikram to supplement my Ironman training and my lifestyle. Whether it is through the breathing or the intense focus required sometimes by the practice, Bikram brings me back to that calm space inside of myself that helps me to find my way through life’s little challenges (including the second half of the marathon in Ironman!). Bikram class, for me, is also like a multi-sport house cleaner: after a long week of training, practicing Bikram reduces the inflammation in my muscles and gets me ready for another week of training. When I walk out of class, it feels as if someone has squeezed all of the swelling from my muscles and left me a little more supple. Of course, it almost goes without saying that Bikram increases my flexibility and strengthens certain muscle groups to help limit the amount of time I spend on the injured reserve, which was the original reason I started practicing a while ago.

John Ferreira, Fall 2004
“It took me years to touch my forehead to my knee and longer to get my hips on the floor in Fixed Firm. The best words of advice I can give is that everything works out in the yoga room. Just keep coming. The lessons of life are in the 90 minutes and once a breakthrough occurs it carries over to the other 22 1/2 hours outside the room.”

Kris Cowherd, Summer 2001

Lalena Valliant, Fall 2005

Chris Gray, Fall 2006
“I started Bikram in 2002 as a New Year’s resolution and haven’t stopped. I thought that I’d get in shape, improve my posture and get a break from the gym routine. What I actually got was humility, self-acceptance, patience and compassion (as well as the health benefits!) I have not been blessed with natural flexibility and often times my practice feels like “slow-ga” rather than “yoga.” However, little by little my breathing improves, my focus sharpens, and I go deeper into the asanas. When I compare myself to the person next to me in class, I can get frustrated. When I compare myself to myself I am amazed.”

Khalil Moutawakkil, Summer 2007

Linda Gross, Fall 2006
“I was diagnosed with A.D.D. and depression and was put on medication for both. I went to therapy regularly and periodically some yoga classes. My husband and I moved from Boston to California in the Fall of 2005. Within one week, I found BYSJ. I was really looking for another way to stay grounded and focused rather than the medication. After one class of Bikram’s yoga, I knew this was the way to heal and see the truth. One year later, I am off the medication and I am also teaching! I’ve never felt more grounded. It has been quite a process and still is but I can now deal with the difficult times that life brings. My Bikram practice has helped me to be compassionate and confident. I love bringing this to all the students in the classes I teach”.

Lisa Chandley, Fall 2005
“I never imagined that I would fall deeply in love with this yoga 5 years ago. It heals my body inside and out and continues to do so. I was diagnosed with MS 10 years ago. I experience occasional flair ups, however, this yoga has made a huge impact in my well being which I strongly believe mind, body, and spirit. It cleans me out, clears my head, and keeps me positive. I feel so good and want to share that with our universe. Just keep coming back!”

Marialena Roussere, Summer 2004
“Before doing yoga, I used to work out on treadmills and stair masters, which left me burnt out and continually feeling like moving my body was a dreaded chore. Most often now, when coming out of balancing stick and my heart is pumping and my mind thinks that it is hard, I offer a quick prayer of gratitude, recognizing that being in the yoga room is more creative, fun and life giving for me than 20 minutes on a stair master.”

Michael Mayle, Fall 2007

Michele Vennard, Fall 2001
“When I took my first Bikram yoga class, I could not believe that all 50 or more of us were going to stay in this hot sweaty room for 90 minutes! It was almost comical. By the end, I knew it was the very thing I needed in my life. I really saw how it helped any and all in its own unique way. That compelled me to not only do the practice but to teach it too.”

Nicole Chetaud, Spring 2005
“I started practicing Bikram Yoga after a friend of mine recommended it to me (he was on his way to training.) After starting it, I noticed how much better I felt after the practice. I also began to lose weight. I became very disciplined about it when I was going through an especially difficult time in my life. A daily practice during this time helped improve my emotional well-being, as well as my physical health. Bikram yoga is holistic: it fulfills a spiritual, therapeutic, and fitness need in my life.”

Puja Bichel, Summer 2007
“When I was 16, I began feeling an unexplained pain in my hip and right leg. It became difficult to walk or sit up. After an initial misdiagnosis, I was told I had a bulging disc and began physical therapy. I healed, then 3 months later I sneezed and found myself on the floor in excruciating pain, unable to move. This episode ended with me in the ER and a shot of morphine to release the muscle spasms. This scenario repeated itself several times until at 19 an MRI revealed my disc between L3 and L4 had burst into my spinal canal and taken up 70% of the space where my nerves reside. I could no longer move my right toes as my nerves discontinued to respond. I had back surgery within a week. A year later I had knee surgery on my right knee from a torn ACL and a complete reconstruction of my medial meniscus. I was 190 lbs. from 4 years of inactivity. Something needed to change. I was 20 years old and never having been physically active, I threw myself into physical therapy and through this path, I found Bikram Yoga. Our bodies are the temples of our mind and spirit. My experience taught me never to take for granted the health of our bodies. To cultivate the mind, body and spirit in 90 minutes, everyday, opens my heart to appreciate every precious moment we are given and have earned.”

Tara Forest, Fall 2005
“I want to show others that the key to peace lies in connecting the mind with the body. We can all get to that place of peace. We just need to practice regularly to be connected to our higher calling.”

Yulia Sytenkova, Fall 2004

Yi-Ting Chuang, Summer 2007