Angels
by Alexander King I

I found my body lying on my daughters four-post bed. I awoke in New Albany just two days after my horrific demise on the Caribbean island of Trinidad. I was jumped by a group of awful thugs ( some 5 in number ), who left me for dead on the side of the road.
The incident rendered me unable to walk independently, and with severe nerve damage up & down the left side of my body. I will spare you the details of the carnage, though there is a wonderful story I can relate about the experience. I will just say however that I am living proof of being reborn.
As I watched my body being dragged to the side of the road in a helpless heap of skin & bone, I called to Jesus Christ & Babaj for help, and they sent me an Angel. My daughter Ayanna arrived. The soon to be director of Bikram Yoga College Of India in New Albany.
The mugging left me with cracked ribs & a mouth full of loosened teeth. Ayanna took me to nursing homes, and private hospitals both here & abroad, but I was in deep shock so I cannot remember all the details, and several cat scans later I found myself convulsing in her home. My left arm, eye, ear drum, and nasal cavity were severally affected, and it took me a few days to realize that I could not move the toes on my left foot.
My yoga teacher, daughter & guide, Ayanna, snatched me from the jaws of certain physical death, after training with Bikram Choudrey that year, and beginning her life’s purpose, blossoming under his guidance & direction .
I became one of the 1st students of this, her dynamic program along with my son, Alexander II, who designed & furnished our present studio partly while Ayanna was at Teacher training. We awaited her triumphant return to start the Bikram Yoga College Of India, in New Albany. Some eight years have past now, and along with them most of my physical, spiritual, and phychological problems. I am younger now than I have ever been before, with energy to burn.
I can jump & dance & carry on, and my visual & creative powers have increased ten fold. Testimony to this fact are  the works which hang at the Yoga studio in celebration of all my teachers & fellow students of yoga. I thank you all for supporting me with every pranic breath I take, for the breath is the active belief in the moment : within it lies eternity.

Love to you All,
Alexander King I
Student of Bikram Yoga
Artist / Educator / Dad

Indiana Bikram visits a local elementary school

While lying on his stomach, 13-year-old Tré Vaughn attempted a yoga move, lifting his right leg as far as he could off the mat.

“Ah!” Vaughn exclaimed, with his face red. “This is hard!”

The Hazelwood Middle School student is one of about 140 students who tried out yoga in gym class Monday, thanks to a grant to purchase the mats and a volunteer alumna, Ayanna Brown, a Bikram Yoga Method instructor, who came by and led each class through the stretches.

Therese Stevens, PE teacher at the school, received a $250 grant from the New Albany-Floyd County Education Foundation to purchase the 37 mats. She said she’s done a lot of different exercises in her life and none compare to yoga.

“This is the most complete exercise I’ve done in my life. You exercise from head to toe,” she said. “It’s a new experience for the students and they are moving their bodies in ways they never have before.”

Brown said childhood obesity is a major problem in the state and yoga can help children lose weight as well as gain flexibility, balance, reduce stress and more.

“There is an alternative to a team sport that they are used to. [Yoga] is another way to keep healthy,” Brown said.

After spending a class period doing the various stretches, many said though it was challenging, they enjoyed it.

“I liked it,” 13-year-old Tyler Ward said. “I want to do this, because it makes you more flexible and better at athletic stuff.”

“It’s kind of hard, because I’m not that flexible, but I like it,” 13-year-old Constanza Gutieriez said. “It’s better, because we usually have to play badminton or run or jog outside and I don’t like running.”

“I thought it was fun,” 12-year-old Abby Daugherty said. “It relaxes everybody and releases all the stress.”

Stevens said students will continue to do yoga in class two times a week.

“It’s great for the mind, body and spirit,” she said. “It puts people in focus.”

Article written by Tara Hettinger
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