Testimonials

When I first stepped through the doors of Yoga for You it was June of 2009. I was 21 years old and had just lost my older brother to an overdose a month before. At the time I was more lost than I have ever been. After a lifetime of my parents’ addiction, my mother leaving when I was 13, and my brother’s unexpected passing I was completely broken and numb. 

Diane taught my first class. To be honest I hated it and I was angry that I was even taking it! It was difficult and completely out of my comfort zone. I had never really exercised. I went to a seminar Bikram had in Boston around that time which Diane also attended. I was impressed but didn’t come back to the studio until 6 months later. That is when I started practicing consistently and my whole life changed forever. 

This yoga has given me everything and more! After 11 years these 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises have healed every single part of me. All of the anxiety, depression, pain, sadness, resentment, and anger. I have learned how to heal it all. I have learned how to let go. I have learned forgiveness, discipline, strength, unconditional love for myself, and total joy! I never needed to go to therapy because I had this yoga. I feel better with each passing year. Thank you for this beautiful and magical gift! It is the greatest gift I have ever been given. I wish the whole world knew about it. 

I’ve often wondered how I got so lucky to have you and your studio right in my hometown of West Roxbury all those years ago? What are the chances I would find you and this yoga when I needed it most? Who would I be without it? What would my life be like? I don’t want to know! You gave me the structure and stability that I needed. 

I love the way you teach your classes. You command the room and have a powerful energy which only you possess. I admire how strong, smart, and witty you are! I value your teachers and students. I appreciate the amazing community you’ve built here at Yoga for You. I am forever grateful to you Diane. You have had a profound effect on me. You’ve changed my life for the better in countless ways.

Thank you for opening your studio 25 years ago. Thank you for sticking with it and never giving up —even when it was hard! Thank you for all of your wisdom. Thank you for being you! All the best, Grace M

I have significant physical limitations, chronic pain and I am waiting for a hip and knee replacement. Yoga for You has been in my life since my now teenagers were toddlers. Coming back after a (too) long time away from my practice when the COVID restrictions lifted was revelatory. It is the first time in ages I’ve walked without a pronounced limp. Emotionally, it’s a relief to be back in the studio: it’s a calming place to stay centered when the world feels so unsettled and uncertain. So grateful for Diane and the teachers at the studio.

My mother just passed away from Breast Cancer and Altzheimers. She was diagnosed with dementia
about 10 years ago, and then my father, who had been taking care of her, died. I have been responsible for her care for the past 7 years.

I thank my luck for finding Diane’s Bikram yoga studio. It got me through many tough times. Often I would be so exhausted that I would just lie in dead body pose and listen to the words. They were metaphors for many things in my life. “Do the best you can with the body you have today” It brings so much peace, comfort and common sense. Now my mom has passed. I did a good job looking after her because I was able to keep my strength and spirits up mostly through the yoga. I am so very grateful!

When I first met Diane Ducharme Gardner, I was 32 years old and had spent half my life walking with a cane, crutches or confined to a bed. I had already had two total hip replacements and was desperate to avoid the same fate for my knees.

I’ve had rheumatoid arthritis since I was kid. It would go into remission from time to time, but when the disease was active, it was devastating. At various times it affected every joint, large and small, and did its damage. I was taking dozens pills every day and receiving weekly injections in an attempt to keep the disease under control. Even when my RA was in remission my doctors wanted me to continue taking the toxic medications and were unable to offer any relief from pain that the disease was causing except for joint replacements. I had lost substantial range of motion in most of joints and felt incredibly old. I couldn’t stand in place for more than 10 – 15 minutes a day in total. If I did, the pain would become increasingly unbearable, and I would need to use crutches to walk instead of cane, or be stuck in bed for days until the pain subsided. Sometimes my knees would also just give out from underneath me when I walked. If I didn’t have cane with me, I could fall. My legs muscles were strong. Except for getting on and off, I could easily ride a bike for miles, and could use some gym equipment, but standing and walking were very difficult and painful for me.

I wasn’t particularly impressed after my 1st class. I could hardly do a fraction of any of the postures, and didn’t feel like I was accomplishing anything. Diane told me if came 6 days a week for 90 days I would get better. She said, even though I couldn’t really do any of the postures, that if I tried to do what little I could do as correctly as my body would allow, even if it was only 1% percent of the posture, I would get 100% of the benefits. I was dubious about her claims after trying so many other alternative cures and remedies to no effect. Besides, there was no way I could afford to go to class that often anyway. But, Diane said she would let take class for free. I left that day with no intention of ever returning. [Side note: he walked out WITHOUT his cane]!

The next day I could feel that the muscles along my spine had been worked hard. I knew something positive was starting to happen to my body. I began to realize Diane had offered me the bargain of a lifetime and there was no way I wasn’t going to take advantage of it. Slowly, I began to get better. I practiced 5 days a week and never missed a day. When I couldn’t get to class, I would practice at home. Little by little I began to reclaim full range of motion in my joints, and the constant pain I was in began to disappear. I think it took about 6 months before I could kneel down on my mat without folding 2 bath towels to kneel on. The quality of my life continued to get better and better. I was able to get off disability and return to work. I gave up my handicap placard and was able to stand in place and walk without any sort of aid for hours at time with no ill effects.

That first class was 24 years ago. Bikram Yoga continues help me so many ways. One of which is that besides having RA, I also have a few other autoimmune diseases including Crohn’s disease. Since I have been practicing, I have remained symptom free and have not had any flare ups of any kind. Other than when I needed to have a revision performed on one of my prosthetics, I have never used a cane or a crutch since or had to take any medications. The prognosis for anyone who has as a severe case RA as I had is bleak. I had literally been told by my doctors to give up hope of ever getting better and things were only going to get worse for me. I consider Bikram Yoga nothing less than a miracle and so did they!

Thank you, Diane.

Recently I had laparoscopic surgery. Recovery time was estimated to be three days. When I awoke from surgery, however, my left arm didn’t work from the shoulder down due to a “positional neuropathy.” As a result of this injury, all the muscles on my left side were tired and tight. I was extremely uncomfortable. I couldn’t sleep more than 3 hours at a time and walked with (as my physical therapist described it) “a posture of pain.” Afraid to move for fear that I would hurt myself more, I continued like this for more than three weeks. As a student of Yoga for You for six years, I knew the benefits of yoga and decided to attend a class. Three breaths into the first breathing exercise I was ready to throw in the towel. I couldn’t lift my arm and felt ridiculous. Years of yoga had worked their magic, however, and that little voice in my head said, “Just do what YOU can do.” I stayed for the whole class and left feeling so rejuvenated that I went back the next day for more and continued to attend classes for most of the month. It’s been four weeks since that first class back and I am pain-free and have most of the motion back in my arm. Thank you to the instructors at Yoga for You. Always helpful and encouraging.