Jeanette

Biram yoga Albuquerque Studio Owner

Certified Bikram Instructor

Around the holidays in 2005 Jennifer (my twin sister and best friend) started to tell me about this new yoga she was doing. She said she had found it in my town, so I could go too. Can you believe she wanted me to drive 45 minutes to do this yoga for another 90 minutes in a 105 DEGREE room. Yuck. Come on, who would want to be in a room that hot for more than 5 minutes let alone 90 minutes (while twisting like a pretzel). . NO WAY!!! Not happening. So I continued to put her off. Did I mention at this point I had a daughter, Breanna, who was not quite 2 yet?

Well, I went to my sister in Dallas for one of my usual visits. I get there and she says she has gotten a babysitter to watch our toddlers---two separate times. She usually did this, which was great…we’d go shopping maybe to a movie. It was our fun time to get away from the wonderful children. What fun! I was excited.

Did we go shopping? Did we go to a movie? Oh no….She dresses me in as little as possible and takes me to this CRAZY YOGA. Bikram yoga yes….in that 105 DEGREE room! And I get there and they tell me just to make sure I don’t leave the room during the 90 minutes…OH and you can’t drink water till after the third posture. For anyone that knows me, going 90 minutes without peeing is almost an impossibility.
Ok, so we are here at the studio, we go into the room (not before Jennifer assures that I will be very quiet….can you believe they don’t allow talking before class). We walk in and yes it is HOT. And actually a little stinky. Then after one last quick potty break, class starts.

And you know what. You actually forget about the heat (and smell). It was the most amazing workout I ever did. Whew, I was high. I felt so good after class was over. I did not have a dry speck on my body. My hair was dripping, my clothes drenched. And it felt great. (You will come to long for that.) Halfway through the class I thought “you know maybe I could teach this someday”. And then after class Jennifer tells me that I will teach this someday at my own studio. She knew all along, before I even stepped into that HOT room.

Ok….wait…let’s go to the next day. OWWWW! In the morning every piece of my body hurt. Places I didn’t know could hurt. My neck, shoulders, back, arms, forearms, elbows, wrists, toes. Everything! And you know what Jennifer said. Ok, let’s go do it again. I could not walk straight seriously. I’m thinking we should take a week off so my body does not go into shock. No, no. We went back. And guess what…the PAIN WENT AWAY. And I was happy. I had found my HAPPY PILL.

Well, now it was time for me to go home. Now I was going to have to pay for it myself, drive 3 hours (ok only 25-45 minutes) and find my own babysitter. I managed these two things. Even though many think I am full of confidence and have no fear, walking into that studio was a huge step for me. I knew no one, it was a community I had no experience with. Wow, I had never walked into a community so welcoming and encouraging. The studio became my second home. I went all the time (60 days straight when I first started). I have never looked back. Within two weeks my hip pain was completely gone. It was something I had lived with for almost two years after having Breanna. In addition, my wrists were always hurting. Within a couple days of this practice that pain went away. Within a month my family was saying “who are you?’ I became much more calm and just ready to deal with the world.

Let me share a little history about myself before yoga. (Since this bio is not yet long enough.) I grew up in El Paso, then I went to college at TCU where I completed my undergraduate and graduate degrees. During both I played in the TCU symphony under a violin scholarship. When I graduated I got into BeautiControl Cosmetics. To quote my father “After all of this education, you are going to sell make up!” Yes, I became a skin care and image consultant with BeautiControl and later became a Director. I followed my high school sweetheart to New Mexico…then later found my real sweetheart Lee Lewis.

It was in this town that my BeautiControl career took off. The first year I moved here I was the top 5 consultant in sales in the company. Three months after that I became a Director with the company. I spent many great years in this career building my own self esteem and hopefully many other women’s confidence along the way. I share this part of my life, because it is so different from owning a yoga studio (where makeup is a rare occurance). When I had my daughter, everything came to a hault. Whew!!! Being a mom was HARD. It was when Breanna was almost two that I found this yoga. It has kept me sane and I think made me a better mom and better person. So if you are reading this and new to parenting, I am especially talking to you. You must get in here and try this yoga. See you soon!