Instructor Bio’s
At Bikram Yoga Folsom, we have 7 regular instructors.
- Karen ( owner )
- Katie
- Alice
- Margery
- Shannon
- Hillary
- Melissa
Each instructor has their unique story to tell. One thing that holds true ~ each instructor with challenges of their own, were introduced to Bikram Yoga, never knowing that one day they too would be teaching and encouraging others to join and find their strengths as well.
A Bit About Katie:
My whole life I struggled with weight problems. I was always active, played tons of sports, including soccer in high school and rugby in college at Chico State. However, I never felt comfortable with how I looked unless I was on some kind of strict diet.
In April of 2007, I was on a trip with some girlfriends in San Diego. They mentioned they were going to try “hot yoga” the following week.
I had never done any yoga before, but I jumped on board and tried it with them. I was unsure about it at first, but my husband urged me to keep going.
Before I knew it, my eating habits were becoming healthier on their own and I had completely switched over to drinking only water. After a few weeks of doing the same 26 postures over and over again, I noticed increased strength, my will power to get through all the postures without sitting out had increased, the teacher even occasionally saying “good Katie”. I knew I had finally found what worked for me.
By Spring of 2008, I was off to Acapulco, Mexico for teacher training. In 2009 I became pregnant with my first child, and continued practicing Bikram yoga. I gained nearly 40 pounds during my pregnancy, and thanks to my committed yoga practice, I have lost 60 pounds post baby. I feel better than ever.
I look forward to competing for the first time this coming January (2011) in the Northern California Yoga Competition. I’m forever grateful because Bikram yoga has changed my life in the most amazing ways.
“First” Yoga Competition in Stockton, CA, January 15th!
A Bit About Alice:
After years of body building and weight training, I found yoga, wanting to lengthen and stretch my muscles rather than bulking them.
I’ve been practicing Bikram yoga since 2001, and have been teaching since Fall 2006.
When I first started practicing, the more I did it, the more I fell in love with what it did for not only my body, but also my mind. It has so helped me become more grounded, focused, and calm. Just like brushing my teeth, I can’t imagine not doing it!
Teaching yoga became my second career, as I am also a registered dietitian, and have worked for numerous research studies and have taught nutrition at Sac State for 4 years. Now, venturing into the world of entrepreneurship, my “Nutritional Counseling Business” is in full swing. Applying good nutrition along with the yoga is a win-win situation.
I love Bikram yoga and love teaching it and seeing people’s bodies and minds change—it’s so inspiring!! I am a Sacramento native and live in Folsom with my husband and 2 awesome sons, who are 14 and 10.
A Bit About Margery:
I was a tall awkward freckle faced kid. I never felt comfortable in my skin. I never played sports growing up and to be perfectly frank I spent more time curled up with a book then moving my body until I was 30 years old. 
I developed a great sense of humor about myself and eventually I enrolled in dance classes hoping to find a more graceful me. I struggle with coordination and choreography.
I connected with bikram yoga my first class. I had never sweated like that before. I had never felt my heart pound and soar. I was suprised that I could do most of the 26 postures. My yoga practice has saved my life. I show up to class, I take care of my health, and everything else falls into place .
The hot room is my sanctuary. I am a kinder , patient , grounded thoughtful person when I practice. When I do not make time to connect my mind with my body I feel myself getting caught up in petty frustrations and irritability. Yoga brings me so much peace. .
Bikram yoga has carried me through a divorce, my best friends passing, depression, and mutliple moves. I lost over 40 pounds 5 years ago and have kept it off. My skin is clear, my eyes are bright. I am balanced , strong and flexible.
Bikram yoga is incredibly empowering. The more I practice the more I undersand that anything is possible and I am inspired to pull my shoulders back lift my chin and sing.
A Bit About Shannon
Growing up as an army brat I became accustomed to moving around, it seemed as though every AugustI would go back to school but it would always be a new school, in a new town or sometimes a new country. I feel so privileged to have gotten to see and experience the world at such a young age. 
When I moved away for college I found myself repeating the same pattern of moving, I moved 3 times in one year. Moving around from place to place felt like my life had returned to normal, but I still felt stressed out all of the time and I had a tremendous amount of anxious energy.
Thinking yoga could help redirect that energy I googled it. Bikram Yoga Oceanside popped up on the screen and that’s how I found Bikram Yoga.
When I showed up for class I had NO idea what I was getting myself into… It was HOT, I was sweating like crazy, and I LOVED it! I knew right away that this was something that I wanted to incorporate into my daily life.
Becoming a Bikram Yoga teacher was always in the back of my mind but it wasn’t until my mother and my best friend passed away in 2008 that I decided to attend Teacher Training.
Losing my mom and then my best friend was a traumatic experience and without all the support of the Bikram Yoga instructors I don’t think I could have overcome that loss.
Becoming a Bikram Yoga Teacher and seeing all the healing and joy that it brings to life is why I love teaching.
Namaste,
Shannon
A Bit About Hillary:
Throughout most of my life, I was used to keeping very busy. During high school I was as involved as I could be, packing my daily schedules down to the minute. I was in choir, band, student union, dance team, volunteered, and still kept up my grades. I had been diagnosed with depression since I was fourteen, and I liked to keep myself as busy as possible so that I wouldn’t have time to be alone with my own thoughts.
I had a hard time when I went away to college and didn’t have all of these extra curricular activities anymore. Like most college students, my extracurricular activity became partying. I became very unhealthy, gained a lot of weight, and had a very low self esteem. At the end of my sophomore year of college, my best friend Cristine and I were talking about different ways to lose weight. I told her I had read in People Magazine that Jennifer Aniston did Bikram yoga. I thought to myself, “Well she looks great… maybe I should try that!” Cristine agreed, and said there was a studio near her house.
A week after school ended, we headed over to the Bikram yoga studio for our first class. I was so nervous, and I had no idea what I was getting into. I showed up for class in a huge t-shirt and big, baggy sweatpants. After 90 minutes of what seemed like torture, I walked out of class a different person. I’ll never forget sitting at lunch after our first class, talking and talking about how great we felt.
I started practicing regularly, and felt my mind clearing, my moods shifting, and I felt happy from the inside out for the first time in a long time. A few months later we decided we’d go to teacher training once we graduated college.
I waited those two years and kept my eye on my goal of becoming a Bikram yoga teacher. I attended the life changing Bikram yoga Teacher Training in Acapulco during the fall of 2008. Since then, I have traveled around the world, taught in several countries, worked hard on my practice, and competed nationally in the yoga asana championships.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from practicing and teaching yoga, it’s that you never have to give up on yourself. It doesn’t matter what your path has been leading up to this moment in your life. It matters what you do from this moment forward. This yoga teaches you how good you are, how strong you are, and how much you can do. See you soon in the hot room!
A Bit About Melissa:
My name is Melissa. I began practicing bikram yoga in June 2009. I stumbled into a studio that opened up across the street from where I lived-I had no clue what Bikram was and had never done any kind of yoga before. My first class I walked in with sweatpants and t-shirt, boy was I in for a surprise. I was hooked immediately after the first day, it was a challenge, and I loved it. At the time I was going through a slight depression.
I felt alone, lost and had no direction. Going to class gave me a reason to wake up, as soon as class was finished I would anticipate the next days class-so eager to be able to go deeper into the postures. Walking into a Bikram studio was/is like a breath of fresh air, literally, I lived in Las Vegas at the time and worked in the toxic environment of the casino industry.
I was only 4 months into my practice when I decided I wanted to go to teacher training. I am a true believer that everything happens for a reason. Teacher training was located in Las Vegas 2010, I could not think of any reason not to go.
During that year after graduating Teacher Training I mainly taught in Las Vegas, but took time to travel and teach as well such as, Vacouver B.C. , Florida, Alabama, and Hawaii. I was also visiting South Lake Tahoe, and realized that there were many Bikram studios located in the Sacramento area.
August 2011 I quit my full time job as a Blackjack dealer in Las Vegas and decided to relocate to where I could make Bikram yoga my career. It is my goal to motivate, encourage, inspire, and educate students.
“You’ve got to find what you love and that is as true for work as it is for lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking and don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you’ve found it.”
Steve Jobs, Stanford Commencement Adress, 2005
