Helen | Kim | Justine | Laura | Vanessa

HELEN D. NEFF

Helen Neff started practicing Bikram Yoga in 1997 in San Francisco during the week while spending weekends in Nevada City. She left her stress-filled corporate retail job in April 2002 to pursue her dream of moving to Nevada City on a full time basis and opening a Bikram Yoga Studio in the area.

Helen attended the Bikram Yoga teacher training in Fall 2002, successfully completing over 500 hours of training at the Headquarters in Los Angeles. She completed her internship at the Bikram Yoga studios in Reno, Tahoe City, and Truckee.

During her twenty-five years in the fast paced world of luxury retail, Helen turned to exercise as a stress reliever. However, she was hindered by frequent injuries, particularly stress fractures. A bad fall in August 1996 resulted in a fractured hip and three months in bed. Her doctor ordered a bone density test that showed a serious loss of bone for her age despite a proper diet with sufficient non-fat dairy products and calcium supplements for the prior 20 years. Another doctor recommended yoga as a way to strengthen the spine and the rest of the skeletal system and hopefully, avoid further complications later in life.

Helen started practicing yoga as soon as her hip was sufficiently healed, in January 1997. She chose Bikram Yoga for its balancing (weight bearing) and spine strengthening series.

Initial improvement was seen in a bone density test taken in 2000 and, after accelerating her practice of Bikram Yoga in the past three years, the most recent test showed Helen’s bone density at above normal levels for her age, without the need for stronger supplements or other medications.

In addition, Helen has enjoyed the other benefits of Bikram Yoga, specifically a healthy and balanced functioning of the skeletal, muscular, circulatory, nervous, digestive, elimination, respiratory, endocrine, and mental systems of the body. She used to have to swim, bike, run, or walk briskly for a cardiovascular workout, lift weights for strength, and stretch for flexibility. Now she just takes a 90-minute Bikram Yoga class and accomplishes all of this, plus the added benefits of more energy and mental calmness. She has never felt healthier in her life and looks forward to helping others raise their level of health as well.

KIM EMBER

Kim Ember has been teaching Bikram Yoga since fall of 2003. She grew up in a little town in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains near Seattle, Washington, and went to school at Pacific Lutheran University, where she graduated with a degree in Psychology and English. From there Kim traveled to Jackson Hole, Wyoming to be a cowgirl for a while and to backpack through the Tetons. She ended up in Grass Valley in the fall of 2001, where she did a year of service work with Americorps at Sierra Nevada Children’s Services. When the year was over, she traveled to Boulder and began practicing Bikram Yoga.

Kim fell in love with Bikram Yoga sometime during the first breathing exercise of her first class. Six months later she went to L.A. to get certified as a Bikram Yoga instructor, and began teaching in Grass Valley in November of 2003. Watching her students transform their bodies and their lives brings Kim incredible satisfaction as a teacher. She loves being part of the amazing Bikram Yoga community in Grass Valley.

Among various other interests that keep her busy, Kim is studying Graphic Design, art, and Shamanic studies. She is a Reiki practitioner, plays piano, and does Community Theater whenever she gets the chance.

Through Bikram Yoga, Kim continually finds healing, growth, grounding, balance, peace and symmetry in incredible ways for both her body and mind. Kim is motivated by helping people lift their lives to a new level through the power of yoga. She is an inspirational teacher, bringing calm and relaxation to the challenging Bikram series

Justine Guiney

Justine Guiney has been teaching Bikram Yoga since the Fall of 2002. She grew up in San Diego CA., where dance, equestrian sports, and surfing were her main passions and sources of exercise. She attended the University of California at Santa Cruz for college and attained a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Environmental Studies. Through her college years Justine grew more interested in yoga as a way to relieve stress and increase strength and balance. Once she found Bikram yoga she knew she was hooked, and decided to pursue this new passion further.

In 2002, Justine graduated college and went right on to achieve her certification in Bikram Yoga. She started teaching in San Diego, and in 2004 she was approached to teach in Bali, Indonesia on a yoga retreat. This was the beginning of an eight month travel course around the world, teaching Bikram yoga in five different countries including Australia, Ireland, Spain, Bali, and Thailand.

After traveling and experiencing many different cultures as well as Bikram Yoga studios around the world, Justine came back to the United States to settle down. She found through her travels that she immensely enjoys working with people, primarily in a yoga setting, and decided to return to school for an advanced degree in psychology.

Justine found a good program in Sacramento for a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology, as well as the very welcoming Bikram studio in Grass Valley. She is now happily teaching lots of yoga, as well as attending classes in Sacramento. Justine brings her passion for yoga and the healing and helping of others to her teaching.

Laura Shugart

Laura Shugart graduated from the Bikram Yoga teacher training in June, 2007 after attending classes at the Grass Valley studio for the previous two years. 

She grew up in the rural suburbs of Pennsylvania’s capitol city, Harrisburg and attended Harrisburg Area Community College where she majored in Visual/Fine Arts.  It was here that Laura discovered a passion for glassblowing.  In 2001, Laura transferred to Salem Community College in Carney’s Point, New Jersey, where she received an Associate’s degree in Scientific Glass Technology.  

It was glassblowing that brought Laura to Grass Valley – specifically an offer in the field of scientific glassblowing.  So, without ever having even visited California in the past, Laura packed all her belonging and her adorable yellow lab, Marley, into her car and headed west.

Once she settled in Grass Valley, Laura discovered Bikram Yoga.  She attended classes regularly and gained a deep appreciation for what Bikram Yoga could do for both her body and her mind.  When a business slow-down in the glass blowing field resulted in the need for a career change, it was a natural move to take what had become the most important aspect of her life, Bikram Yoga, and evolve it into a new career. Thus, she made the decision to become a certified Bikram Yoga teacher.

Teaching yoga has brought a new balance to Laura’s life.  “I feel centered and connected with my mind, body, and spirit and have found a new sense of self through both teaching and practicing,” she says.  Laura looks forward to continuing to grow through her teaching and her personal practice and particularly enjoys watching her students’ growth. 

And, in addition to teaching and taking Bikram Yoga classes, she also still finds time to create glass art in her home studio!

Vanessa Orlandi

Vanessa Orlandi was born and raised in Grass Valley.  She attended our local Bear River High School and has been practicing Bikram Yoga since June, 2005.

Always an active person, Vanessa enjoys outdoor activities including wakeboarding, swimming in the Yuba, horseback riding, hiking, and snowboarding.  When the sun goes down, she heads for the dance floor.  But, despite being so active, Vanessa was never drawn to competitive team sports and never really liked going to a gym.  But, when she found Bikram Yoga, it was the perfect fit and Vanessa quickly became proficient in the series.

After finishing school, Vanessa made the decision to take some time off to explore life and learn more about herself.  The next few years brought many lessons and challenges, above all, learning that her father was diagnosed with cancer.  After an excruciating 18 months of taking care of her father, he passed away in July, 2006. 

It was then that yoga played an even more important role in Vanessa’s life.  She found comfort in our studio and found something constant and solid to help keep her on her feet.  Vanessa was left with a great deal more responsibility, a deeper understanding of the more important things in life, and above all, a better understanding of herself and what she wanted to accomplish in life.  Shortly thereafter Vanessa made the decision to attend the Bikram Yoga teacher training and become a teacher so that she could spread the gifts and pleasures that Bikram Yoga has given her.

Since graduating for the teacher training, Vanessa has discovered an even deeper love for Bikram Yoga and a new direction in her life.  “I learn more about yoga and more about our students every day and am eager to learn even more.  This is a life-long practice for me.”