BE HEALTHIER.
BE IN COMMUNITY.
BE TRANSFORMED.

Meet Our June Student of the Month, Bonnye!

We love the diversity of our community.  New students join us regularly, and some have been here since the genesis.  Bonnye is one of them.  Not only has she been at the studio since we opened, she’s practiced longer than most everyone in Baltimore!  As a seasoned practitioner, she knows you don’t just come to yoga when you feel good, usually you need to come when you have a multitude of excuses.  For the most part, she has maintained her health coming day in and day out for many years.  As you’ll read below, a freak accident didn’t keep her away from her yoga practice long!  We are so grateful to have her as an essential part of our community and an inspiration on so many levels!

“So…  July 2002, Bikram Yoga sounded like just a good idea,.. yoga, dance, the gym, ..loved it all.., so why not ? … I walked in, filled out a questionnaire asking what I wanted to get out of it…  it felt like home as soon as I walked in but, when pressed to be more thoughtful and specific, I noted chronic neck pain that I’d gotten used to, and a situation I’d become resigned to…. where I signed the waiver, I noticed there was a blurb with promises, one being that this yoga would make you “age backwards”… ok ! …. Fast forward 23 years, I’ve been practicing almost every day no matter what…   we used to refer to time spent in class as “stopping at the gas station”.. and that’s what it still is for me, a combined “collective effervescence” with personal meditation, and a daily pain reprieve…  nope no aging backwards, but good health maintenance since Day #1 , and always a magical space of community and support..  The teachers also used to say that each class is “money in the bank” , and fortunately I had accumulated substantial savings by December 2024 when I slipped& fell hard on the concrete floor of the grocery store.  Resulting leg & pelvic fractures seemed like an impossible situation to me, but the medical theme, thru surgery at Shock Trauma and physical therapy at Kernan’s and beyond, has been that I have my years of yoga to thank for my recovery… It’s been a gradual yoga re-entry since february, enormous benefits just zooming from home in a chair, to finally back at the studio and.. yay !, the heat… I’ve learned to trust the intuitive guidance of our teachers, but when Kyle encouraged me to do the floor series.. On The Floor ! .. I was nevertheless a little hesitant.. I “knew” I couldn’t get up yet without help, if even then… so a few yogis were standing by during class to do the lifting… but when the time came, body wisdom took over and, thru an essentially hands-to-feet pose, I made it back to the chair with ease and without assistance…  this was beyond my expectation and beliefs, or my physical therapist’s !  I later told Kyle that this reminded me that I sometimes take the magic for granted, always finding what I need when coming to class each day..   I’m loving finding new magic.”