Bikram Yoga Sierras Instructors Reno, Sparks and Truckee

	Tanya Rose Paul Instructor and Director of Bikram Yoga Sierras EMAIL Bikram Yoga College Graduate Spring 2003 In 1991 Tanya visited Lake Tahoe and it was then she decided to move from Southern California to the Sierra Nevada mountains. In 1998 she gave birth to her beautiful twins, Cade and Maddison (who now practice Yoga alongside mom!).
Like many moms, Tanya became exhausted by the full-time job of mothering and began to suffer from severe headaches, hormone imbalances and other health-related issues. As is often the case, experiencing physical and emotional lows inspired Tanya to embark on a path of self-realization and healing. During this time, a friend encouraged Tanya to attend a Bikram Yoga class. Reluctantly, she attended that class, yet she emerged, in her words, "a new person." Tanya immediately became hooked on the emotional, spiritual and physical therapeutic aspects of Bikram Yoga as well as the sense of accomplishment she felt, and continues to feel, from every class. Tanya practiced Bikram Yoga virtually every day after attending that first class and soon realized that she wanted to become a Bikram Yoga instructor in order to share with others the amazing benefits that she had experienced. In 2003, Tanya moved to Los Angeles for nine weeks to attend the over 500-hour teacher training program. She considers that time one of the most challenging and life-changing experiences she has ever had. As owner and director of Bikram Yoga Sierras, Tanya strives to help create and nurture a loving, caring Bikram Yoga community. It is her belief that Yoga, in whatever form, brings much needed peace and compassion to our fast-paced and often ego-based western world. It is from this belief that Tanya considers it her highest calling to introduce Yoga to children. As such, Tanya offers children’s Yoga classes to local children as well as trains youth competitors for the newly-established youth division in national and international Yoga Asana competitions. Whether you know Tanya, or not, you can see and feel her enthusiasm for Bikram Yoga whenever you are in her presence. Tanya believes that her students are her best teachers and she continues to learn and grow through teaching and practicing Bikram Yoga.
	UP TO STAFF INDEX
	Barry Peterson Instructor and Manager of Bikram Yoga Reno & Sparks Bikram Yoga College Graduate Summer 2002 It seems I always liked things that make me sweat. I came to yoga in 1997 for the physical benefits - specifically to save my knees so I could continue to run.
I've stayed with the yoga for another, much less concrete reason. Most of my adult life I spent working for America's defense. Somewhere along the line, a soft-spoken, gentle monk penetrated my armor to plant the seed of nonviolence in my sun-baked, hard-packed soil. That tiny seed somehow survived. I knew the seed was planted, but I denied it life. As an infantry paratrooper, leading men through moonless swamps, I thought I was tougher than that monk. It must have been the emotional impact of 911 that sprouted that tiny seed. In its full glory, no longer could I deny the hopes: peace is more noble than war; violence weaker than nonviolence; our hearts tougher than our egos. 911's aftermath forced my hand. I could continue my study of the expertise of killing in the name of, or I could gamble it all on the possibility that yoga might make my heart more peaceful, less warlike. Take the sure bet or go for the long shot? I quit my profession and then decided to teach yoga. After earning my Bikram Teaching Certification in June 2002, I taught fulltime in Santa Cruz and San Jose. This summer events turned. I reacquainted with Steve and Pam, then found myself very pleased to relocate to Reno NV. Writing has always been one path to clarity for me. So, when I'm not doing yoga, I spend most of my professional effort writing a book. It is a description of how violence crept into my heart and how yoga has empowered me to self-experiment with nonviolence in its place. Speaking of sweating for peace, I also crank hard rock and 80's metal as a fan, guitarist and DJ. Reno rocks! A crazy world it is, so I just keep showing up. I keep sweating.
	UP TO STAFF INDEX
	Melissa Martinez Instructor and Manager of Bikram Yoga Truckee Bikram Yoga College of India Graduate Fall 2007 I wandered into a Bikram Yoga studio by accident in Portland, Oregon sometime in 2000.
I had never heard of Bikram or yoga done in a heated room for that matter. I left class in a daze but somehow I felt different. I kept going back and soon became addicted. It wasn't so much what happened in the actual class that kept me going back. It was what happened after. I made subtle changes in area's of my life that began to place me down a path of truth. That path eventually lead to Lake Tahoe, a place I always wanted to live. I've lived here for the past 4 years and it feels like home. I've never been a fan of the cold so it's ironic that I live in Truckee and now teach yoga in a hot room. Ahhhh… I've truly found a way to make it work here. Living in a small town feels like having an extended family at all times. I went to Teacher Training in the fall of '07 and hit the ground running. Teaching this yoga is a gift. I never thought in a million years that I could get up in front of a room full of people and speak. Not only speak but have the intensity behind what I'm saying to make them do amazing things with their bodies and minds. I believe in every word I say in that room. I believe in this yoga. It is this passion and drive that makes everyone of the Bikram Yoga teachers and students I've met my instant friend. Namaste
	UP TO STAFF INDEX
	Kelly Schrader Instructor Bikram Yoga College of India Graduate Spring 2003 I began practicing Bikram Yoga in 2002 due to the stress within my life and I was instantly hooked. Soon after I began I found myself at the studio seven days a week.
Not only was my stress level significantly reduced, but my waist line was as well. I have lost several inches and have healed several injuries through my practice. Years of practicing soccer and running had taken a toll on my joints. Within six months I enrolled with Bikram's Yoga College of India and have been teaching ever since. I began my teaching career in my hometown, Elk Grove, California, and have worked my way across the country teaching in both New York City and Boston. While on the East Coast I pursued a career in advertising and organizational development. With one foot in the corporate world and another in the holistic healing world I felt pulled and was not able to focus on what mattered to me most. In 2005 I enrolled with the Institute of Integrative Nutrition and became a certified Holistic Health Councillor. In the Summer of 2006 I left the East Coast and the corporate world behind me. I launched my own Holistic Health Counselling Practice--EVOLVE, and haven't looked back. I am excited to call Truckee my home and very much enjoy working with my dear friend and teacher, Tanya. I enjoy managing the Truckee Studio while running my practice and find that the two compliment each other more than I had ever anticipated. The community of Truckee has been very welcoming and I am honored to share Bikram Yoga with them. The Bikram practice builds both strength and flexibility within the mind and body. For me, it continues to be the place where I can focus on what matters most. The yoga room is my sanctuary. See my website: www.evolveholistically.com
	UP TO STAFF INDEX
	John Ludwick Instructor Bikram Yoga College of India Graduate Fall 2005 John began his yoga journey in 2002, first practicing on his own and then experimenting with different studios. After trying a few different styles of yoga, he realized he liked the Bikram method the best.
It seemed to be the form of yoga that has best preserved its integrity in its transmission from East to West (as well as working him harder than any other thing on the planet!) John has been skateboarding most of his life and needed something to offset the daily destruction that skateboarding unleashed on his body. As a conessieur of skateboarding, heavy metal, vegan food, guitar & drum playing, and math & physics, he never imagined he would become a yoga teacher. But the world unexpectedly guided him down this path and John graduated teacher training in November 2005 and began teaching immediately in the Reno & Sparks studios. Other than teaching, John is also currently employed as a social worker with occasional dabbling in the janitorial sciences.
	UP TO STAFF INDEX
	Kerri Kuntz Instructor Bikram Yoga College of India Graduate Spring 2005 Kerri grew up in Montana and went to Montana State University for 2 years before deciding to take "one semester" off. She moved to Tahoe and worked at a ski resort… and that was 10 years ago. During this time, Kerri joined the Air National Guard in Reno, finished school at the University of Nevada, Reno, & made the ski resort business a full time job.
For a short period after earning her degree, she commuted to Reno and worked at an Environmental Consulting Firm. This type of work did not suit her personality or energy and within a very short time she developed an anxiety disorder. She believes this developed from working indoors at a job where she didn't feel very good about herself or what she was doing at the end of the day. To help combat her anxiety, she began training for a marathon. This training stressed her body, especially her lower back which was already compromised from early onset degenerative disc disease. Kerri discovered Bikram Yoga a few months later while searching for a healing physical activity to balance her running, biking, high cardio-high impact activities that she had participated in her entire life. As her practice developed, she began to feel her body stabilize emotionally and mentally, healing from the inside out. A five-month deployment overseas for Operation Enduring Freedom in 2004 led her to take a second look at what she was doing with her life and she decided she wanted to shift her focus a bit. She attended Bikram Teacher Training in Spring 2005 in order to share her enthusiasm of the yoga by bringing this gift to others. She says, "look at me now…I can almost touch my toes!"
	UP TO STAFF INDEX