All of our teachers have been directly trained and certified by Bikram Choudhury to teach the Bikram’s Beginning Yoga Class series.  We are the first Bikram’s Yoga College of India to open in Michigan.  We opened in 2000 and have the most combined experience teaching Bikram Yoga of any other school in Michigan.  We’ve sent over 40 instructors to teacher training including the directors of all the metropolitan Detroit studios.  Bikram Yoga is our PASSION!!  We  want to be your teachers too so come see us today.

We have 12 teachers instructing students at Bikram Yoga Northville, each would love to see your smiling face in practice.  We do not publish the specific names of the teachers for each class for a couple of different reasons.  Bikram Yoga Northville encourages students to practice for their own reasons, health and benefits. Each of our teachers offer special insights and commentary in practice, please feel free to participate in classes at different times and days.

Erik Cuolahan

Arden Bow

Walter Bow

Sarah Weckerle

Katherine Navin

Vince Fedel

Heidi Pratt

Rebecca Roman

Karima Amlani

Leslie Purucker

Alan Santos

Jeane Goddard

Director, BYCI Detroit, Certified 1997

This yoga saved my life!  I had terrible asthma and allergies and I was overweight and stressed out.  I was always sick and tired.  And then I found Bikram Yoga. I struggled in every class in the beginning just to breathe.  But I would feel soooo great afterward that I kept going back.  This yoga class was the best thing that ever happened to me.  Before I knew it,  I quit my corporate job in purchasing management at General Motors in June 1997 and was standing before Bikram Choudhury in Los Angeles, California. 

I practiced Bikram’s Beginning Yoga Class twice per day for 75 consecutive days (except Sundays.)  Bikram challenged me to sweat, bend, twist, and breath my way to radiant health.  I gave up ALL medications and haven’t touched any since.  I lost over 20 pounds and kept it off.  When I finished my training I knew my calling was to teach this yoga to as many people as possible. 

I became more forgiving, patient, accepting and loving.  I have given birth twice, returning to my pre-pregnancy weight. 
I credit my yoga “bank account” to my recovery.  I’m so grateful to be blessed with the opportunity to introduce students to Bikram Yoga every day.  I couldn’t ask for a greater job or a happier life.  Bikram Yoga has taught me so much about health, life, God, and myself.  Come join me!

Director, BYCI Detroit, Certified 1999

“The best thing about our studio is the atmosphere. We’re down to earth and laid back…we don’t enforce discipline. I think the yoga does that on its own.”

Ernie Curnett was first introduced to yoga in a seemingly unlikely setting: Up North at a hunting camp during a weekend getaway with his girlfriend. “The heater was on, my cousin and I had had a few beers…and Melissa [now Ernie’s wife] was like, ‘C’mon, guys. Let’s do yoga!’ She was gung-ho, all about the yoga,” Ernie remembers.

Ernie took a liking to yoga, started doing it once a week, and realized that the more he practiced, the better he felt. Nevertheless, becoming a yoga instructor wasn’t exactly an aspiration. Ernie says it best: “I don’t think there’s a cement finisher in the world who teaches yoga.”

But if there’s one thing Ernie knows for certain is that life is full of surprises. “Ten years ago I thought I would retire a cement mason,” Ernie says, who is also a licensed aircraft mechanic. “There was no question in my mind that I was going to be a union cement finisher and retire at 55.”

Ernie questioned his conviction, however, one afternoon while he was in the midst of a huge paving job. When the sky opened up and it started raining, Ernie couldn’t just run for cover. He had to protect the freshly-poured concrete with large sheets of plastic – and then he had to re-do it all once the rain stopped. Consequently, Ernie was drenched and covered with cement from head to toe by the end. This got him rethinking his career path. “I just thought, What if I did do the teacher training? It would be in the winter time, things were going to be slow… I thought it could be a good opportunity for me to transition or at least have a back-up plan.”

In 1999 Ernie added the role of Bikram Yoga instructor to his list of accomplishments. Today, pouring cement is no longer part of Ernie’s daily routine, but he now helps his students establish a steady foundation through the practice of yoga.

What was initially a business decision for Ernie ended up transcending his expectations and opening his eyes to a whole new world. One of the greatest lessons Ernie learned was acceptance. “I worked with big, burly, strong, rough, scruffy men,” Ernie says flatly. “It [doing yoga] was a huge deal for me: Who I was, what I was doing, the line of work I was in.” To say that Bikram Yoga opened his eyes to a new way of living would be an understatement. Ernie recalls a particular instance of going to a popular health-conscious California eatery for lunch with his fellow students during Bikram Yoga’s teacher trainer. As everyone convened at the table, Ernie looked around and realized that – for the very first time in his life – he was surrounded by vegetarians. “Being out in LA during teacher training was complete culture shock,” he says with a chuckle.

Ernie, who is the proud father of two boys, Miles and Max, ultimately credits the life-altering experience with challenging his pre-conceived notions and beliefs. “Yoga creates body awareness, self awareness, physical and emotional awareness, and it’s really something how that happens. Just by practicing yoga it opens up so many areas of you to other things. I like that about yoga in general.” Ernie says that those particular qualities sustain his daily practice, and the fact that he practices in the relaxed and diverse setting he and his wife have cultivated is an additional reward. Ernie says, “The best thing about our studio is the atmosphere. We’re down to earth and laid back…we don’t enforce discipline. I think the yoga does that on its own.”

Ernie is a firm believer in the gifts that Bikram Yoga bestows upon its students with each practice.

Despite not knowing about that very intentional component, Arden knew full well that yoga in general has the capacity to heal. (Arden had actually taken two semesters of Hatha yoga in college.) It turned out that the high temperature inside the Bikram Yoga studio only served to enhance Arden’s experience. “What brought me back was how wonderful I felt after the class – so relaxed and comfortable,” says Arden who counts swimming and martial arts among his interests outside of yoga. An additional boon was the fact that Arden felt he had obtained a hearty workout – minus the punching or kicking, and without having to slam weights. “It continues to provide an excitement, and I look forward to the times during the week when I get to teach,” he says. Furthermore, Arden is drawn to the welcoming atmosphere of Bikram Yoga Plymouth and says that he values how students are supported here, regardless of their level of health.

So what drives Arden on his journey to teach Bikram Yoga? His reply says it all: “I focus on the benefits and healing, and what comes from that is just a natural progression and flow that really is kind of uplifting to witness.” Subsequently, Arden’s ultimate hope for his students is that they get all they can out of their respective practice. “My wish is that they get a 100% benefit from all the postures, spontaneous healing, and miracles in their lives,” says Arden, who has been teaching since June 2006.

Arden recently celebrated his 29-year wedding anniversary with his wife, Cheryl. He currently works in the field of executive security and served 25 years as a member of the Michigan State Police before retiring as Post Commander. He is also an avid reader who enjoys attending workshops, particularly those which provide guidance on how to coach effectively. One workshop he thoroughly enjoyed was about a program called Radical Forgiveness, which, as the name suggests, is predicated on releasing the pain and self-destructive patterns that serve as the proverbial road blocks to joy and abundance. “If you don’t forgive, it’s like drinking the poison and hoping the other person dies,” Arden says, paraphrasing the author of the aforementioned quote.

Arden’s parting words are directed toward those who have yet to try Bikram Yoga: “The best part about Bikram is once you try it,” he says. “I could tell you all about it and what the experience has done for me and other people, but the true benefit comes when you actually come into the class and try if for yourself. Then you’ll get that feeling of whatever you need. Whether it’s relaxation so that you’ll sleep better, or you have a tight or frozen shoulder, or low back pain. It addresses whatever issue you have.”

“Bikram said to me: “Your brother’s a smart man. You should thank him…he saved your life.”

Playing golf is a major passion of Walter Bow ’s, and if you ask him how often he plays, he’ll tell you “not often enough.” But one thing Walter does with consistency is Bikram Yoga. Walter generally teaches the 7 a.m. weekday class before going on to his other profession, truck driving, for the rest of the day. “I go from one extreme to the other,” Walter says.

Walter has been teaching Bikram Yoga since July 2007, and he still remembers the date of his graduation – June 16, 2007. Why? “It was intense,” says Walter, looking back on the required two-a-day practices, posture clinics, and group of 315 in his class. “It was fun, but it was work, too. A life-changing experience.”

But Walter is grateful for it. Bikram Yoga could not have arrived in Walter’s life at a better time: he wasn’t exercising, didn’t drink water, and he had just quit smoking after 30 years. It was a challenge, and it took nearly four years. “I told myself that as long as I don’t quit quitting, I’ll be able to do it some day,” he says. Walter likens having that kind of persistence and dedication to practicing Bikram Yoga. “As long as you keep trying and you continue to push yourself a little more each time you come, you’ll get better.”

Walter says the best thing about teaching Bikram Yoga is helping his students become healthier, and, ultimately, changing their lives. “Just to see the change in people’s lives is unbelievable – from when they first begin to after they finish a 30-day challenge to three months later after they first started. It’s amazing,” he says.

Walter bore witness to one remarkable about-face, however, that didn’t involve one of his students. “There was this older guy who stayed in the hotel with us during teacher training. He wasn’t there for Bikram Yoga, but he would watch us through the doors. He told me that there was no way he’d ever try Bikram Yoga in all his life. Well, I told him that if they [doctors] told you that you have three months to live, you’d be right in there with us. And the man replied, ‘You know what? You’re right.’”

Walter has one daughter, Chanelle, and comes from a large family of eight sisters and three brothers. In fact, Walter credits his brother, Arden, also an instructor at Bikram Yoga Plymouth, with introducing him to Bikram Yoga in 2003. What started as a good-natured brotherly wager ended up having a lasting impact on Walter: Arden told Walter that if Walter tried Bikram Yoga, then Arden would give golf a try. The bet succeeded in getting Walter into the studio, and when he went to Bikram’s teacher training, Walter told Bikram the story. “Bikram said to me: ‘Your brother’s a smart man. You should thank him…he saved your life,’” Walter remembers.

It’s a good story with a happy ending, but don’t stick a fork in the bet just yet: Arden has yet to try golf. But Walter remains optimistic: “This is the year I’m going to get him to try it.”

Erik has been teaching Bikram Yoga here in Michigan since he graduated from Bikram Yoga Teacher Training in December 2002. Erik is also a certified massage therapist specializing in Thai Massage. (Bio coming soon)

Vince Fedel attended Bikram Yoga teacher training in the Spring of 2010 when he retired as Fire Chief from the City of Taylor.Teacher training was Vince's gift to himself and he graduated in June 2010 as a Certified Bikram Teacher.(bio coming soon)

Karima is our newest teacher. Karima graduated from Spring 2011 teacher training just this past summer. (bio coming soon)