Elizabeth Doherty
Certified Bikram Yoga Instructor
I have been active my whole life studying Martial Arts, kickboxing, aerobics, walking, hiking, skateboarding, and swimming. Almost six years ago, I woke up one morning with a slight pain in my back that went all the way down my left leg. I didn’t think much of it. I went to work where I was on my feet all day. The pain continued to get worse as the days went by. I found myself pretty much unable to stand for long periods of time. I was 27 years old.
I found a chiropractor and started going to him once a week, but it got expensive and it really wasn’t helping. For the next 3 years I went from doctor to doctor, orthopedic surgeons to chiropractors in 2 states. I was told that I had 3 severely herniated discs in my lumbar spine, and my spine was in the shape of a question mark because I had been compensating on one side. In other words I was hunched over. I heard “You have the back of a 70 year old woman,” and “You’ll have to get a lift and a cane, and deal with the pain.” Some doctors considered my back to be “Too far gone for surgery.” I was so frustrated; I used the cane on and off. I finally found a surgeon that had a great reputation and was willing to do this risky surgery. Honestly, I couldn’t take the chronic pain anymore nor was even considering the thought of having to take medication on an everyday basis. So as my last resort, I decided to get a discectomy. They went in and shaved off a small part of my spine to take the pressure off my sciatic nerve, which caused the shooting pain down my leg. I was told this would leave me with little to no pain, no guaranties.
It took a small bit of pressure off, but I was still in pain. Two months after I had surgery, I started Bikram yoga. After three weeks of going almost everyday, I had NO back pain! I have to stress the fact that I had been in severe chronic pain for three years and three weeks of this yoga was all it took to begin to change my life. I have now been practicing for over two and a half years and I am a Bikram method Instructor. I have corrected my spine through Bikram yoga, I stand straight up, and I still have maintained little to no pain in my back. What educated doctors said was a “Lost Cause” was fixed due to this amazing yoga and my belief that there was hope. Bikram yoga truly does work miracles.