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February 1 – 14, 2014
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Bikram Yoga Chandler: The original hot yoga BY ALISON STANTON
Spend just a few minutes speaking with Gabi Garrisi, the owner and director of Bikram Yoga Chandler, and it is clear that she is passionate about not only her studio, but also helping as many people as possible to heal their minds, bodies and spirits. Garrisi, a massage therapist specializing in neuromuscular and myofascial therapies, has been practicing Bikram yoga since 2004. She earned her Bikram Yoga Teacher certification in 2007 and has been teaching Bikram yoga around the Valley since then. Garrisi began working at Bikram Yoga Chandler as a teacher when the studio opened in September 2012 and on Jan. 1 of this year she purchased the studio. One of the key things that helps to set Bikram yoga apart from other forms of yoga, Garrisi says, is that the yoga room is heated to a median temperature of 105 degrees, with a humidity level of around 40%. The heat and humidity help to warm up the connective tissues in the body allowing the body to safely stretch, Garrisi explains, and it also encourages the body’s detoxification process. “Bikram yoga is the original hot yoga, and includes 26 postures and two breathing exercises,” Garrisi says. The studio features an advanced system that pulls in fresh oxygenated air from outside, which is then purified by
ultraviolet light before it is heated and pumped into the rooms. “The same postures are done during every class in the same sequence. These Hatha yoga postures were all handpicked and placed in a specific order to address every cell, tissue and issue in the body.” From people suffering from sore knees or lower back pain to those experiencing thyroid problems or a host of other health concerns, Garrisi says just about everything can be helped by doing Bikram yoga, and that every bodily system—cardiovascular, respiratory, endocrine and others, including the joints, tendon, muscles and bones—are addressed during the class. “The class is a 90-minute moving meditation that is truly a combination of mind, body and spirit,” she says. “It is a very holistic therapy.” Every class that is taught at Bikram Yoga Chandler is ideal for people of all ages and ability levels, Garrisi says, adding that classes are offered Mondays through Fridays from 5:15 a.m. up until 8:15 p.m. “They are all beginning yoga classes, so anyone can start anytime. People can do Bikram yoga for their entire lives, and you can always advance deeper into the expression of the posture.” Garrisi, who has been involved in the fitness industry since the 1990s and has also worked as a group fitness instructor, conducted nutrition and anatomy
THE ORIGINAL HOT YOGA: Students at Bikram Yoga Chandler go through a series of 26 postures and two breathing exercises during each 90-minute class. Submitted photo
classes, and taught classes regularly at a few local massage therapy colleges, says she especially enjoys having the opportunity to help people grow and develop physical health and mental strength through Bikram yoga. Garrisi says her studio is dedicated to helping students in a “caring, respectful and precise manner.” “When I come here, it’s not even like going to work. I’m doing something I genuinely enjoy, and it is so wonderful to see people get better and be able to do things they never thought possible,” she says.
“Sometimes people come in at first and say ‘it’s too hot’ and they cannot balance and they have trouble with the postures, but a few months later I see them so focused and being able to be still and do the postures and feeling better. That is so rewarding.” Bikram Yoga Chandler is located at 1900 W. Germann Rd., Suite 3, Chandler. For more information, call 480-6992006 or visit bikramyogachandler.com.. Alison Stanton is a freelance writer for the SanTan Sun News. She can be reached at alison@santansun.com.