The BeneFIT Team

Nora Jeanne Welsh
BeneFIT Bikram Yoga Director
Certified Bikram Yoga Instructor

After years in corporate America and as an independent small business advisor, Nora Jeanne began studying meditation and the flow of energy in the body at the age of 34. She took her first Bikram Yoga class in early 2001, attended the Bikram Yoga Teacher Training that started later that year (right after 9/11) and has been teaching the yoga ever since. Nora Jeanne is fascinated by all aspects of life and loves the expanded awareness and new perspectives that travel brings. She has explored many teachings including those of Abraham-Hicks, Avatar, Bikram Choudhury, Buddhism, Byron Katie, Christianity, Hinduism, Mike Dooley, Paramahansa Yogananda, Sufism and more and enjoys sharing the wisdom she gathers as she writes and teaches always with the focus on empowering the individual on their path of Self discovery.

She chose the domain name “beneFITby.com” to allow the business to continually grow and encompass more than just hatha yoga so that its members can benefit by meditation, retreats, yoga, her articles, and other avenues towards self awareness.


Erinn Lewis
Certified Bikram Yoga Instructor

If you come to my class, you can expect a few things. First, you can know your ability to laugh at yourself is far more important than your ability to balance in Standing Bow. You can expect to be challenged to push your edge, wherever that edge might be. You can always ask questions (after class), but remember the answers you will find will eventually come through your own practice. And finally, you can expect to sweat a lot and curse a little and then remember why you are practicing and find yourself smiling in the midst of it all.

What I cultivate in my practice, and in my life, is what I have to offer my students —- it’s what I have to share as a teacher. If I am not letting the practice expose my softness and vulnerability as well as my vibrance and my joy, I have no depth to share, only words, and there are too many empty words in this world.

Karen Schexnaydre
Certified Bikram Yoga Instructor

I took my first Bikram Yoga class in 2001. I had taken a few yoga and Pilates classes before, but I felt like I still had to “work out”. Where was the sweat and increased heart rate? Well, I found that in Bikram Yoga. I also found a complete release after class. I worked as an engineer and engineering manager at a Motorola manufacturing facility for 13 years. The department was a 24-7 stress machine and by taking Bikram Yoga on my way home from work I was able to completely forget about my day and start the evening with a calm mind. I had a change of life decision at the end of 2004, and went to the teacher training in early 2005. At the training I realized that I was absolutely doing the right thing. I had always thought of Bikram Yoga as a way to keep myself and others healthy (in muscle/lung/heart). At training, I learned that this yoga keeps EVERY part of your body healthy (including your digestive, endocrine, lymphatic, and nervous systems) and can make profound differences in peoples lives. Hearing students’ stories of how Bikram Yoga has changed their lives physically, mentally, and spiritually is the most rewarding thing I’ve ever experienced.

Kirk Burg
Certified Bikram Yoga Instructor

After running for 6 years (1 marathon and many ½ marathons) and dabbling with other yoga disciplines, in 2001 my personal trainer friend took me to a Bikram Yoga class.  I gave it my all and was absolutely spent by the end. 3 hours later I was bouncing off the walls with energy and knew I had to try it again. By the third class I could see physical changes in my body. Bikram Yoga became more and more a part of my life from then on. I toyed with the idea of going to teacher training for years and finally mentally moved the obstacles aside and took the leap of faith to follow my passion in 2010. I am still a hairstylist at Sirens Salon in mid-town Austin and at times am more active with my other passion, theater, but nothing is more rewarding than teaching Bikram Yoga and witnessing the transformative effects on the students’ body, mind, and spirit. Thank you Bikram!

Lisa Faia
Certified Bikram Yoga Instructor

In an attempt to prepare for a yoga retreat my sister had talked me in to, I attended my first Bikram Yoga class in 2003 and was immediately hooked, even though I thought the instructors and everyone in the hot room were crazy! I had never experienced a form of exercise that made me feel this amazing. I’d tried more conventional exercises and had more personal trainers than I care to admit, but nothing really stuck. I began my career as a classroom teacher and technology coordinator and, after years of burnout, fast-tracked to the corporate world of software sales responsible for some of the largest education customers in the world. My Bikram Yoga practice kept me sane, helping to combat the stresses of a high profile job, constant travel, and moving abroad. This unique system of hatha yoga reshaped my body as well as my mind. In addition to the health benefits, the yoga has helped me with self-acceptance, patience, humility and compassion. Now I feel like there’s nothing I can’t do. Yoga is a way to empower, heal, and love oneself and I look forward to sharing this with my students. See you in the hot room! Namaste.


Marcie Davis Skonieczny
Certified Bikram Yoga Instructor

I started practicing Bikram Yoga in 2007 and was immediately struck by the ways in which this brilliant yoga brought balance and peace into my life. As my practice developed, I started to think more and more about teaching. I made the decision to study directly with Bikram Choudhury and attended teacher training in the Spring of 2009. Since then I have dedicated myself to teaching Bikram Yoga as Bikram intended. I try to give 100% to every class I teach or take and both aspects of my practice have taught me patience. Neither can be forced, it must be a balance between effort and time. As Bikram says, “You get 100% benefit as long as you try the right way.” I’m happy to share this journey with everyone who steps into the room.

The hot room is my favorite place in the world but when I’m not there, I enjoy spending time with my husband Dave, son Conner (15) and daughter Claire (12).

I look forward to seeing you in class! Namaste!

Nicole Chavez
Certified Bikram Yoga Instructor

Before discovering Bikram Yoga I’d spent 10 years bouncing around the Fashion and Interior design world from Miami to New York and eventually Los Angeles. I felt professionally disconnected, mentally burned out, and physically needed to recover from injuries incurred during 4 years of playing volleyball at the University of Alabama. After being laid off in 2009, I moved to Dallas to visit with my sister and take a break. She took me to “hot yoga” promising that I would get something out of it. I walked into class with little expectations and left with eyes wide open. It quickly became clear that it was not just an option to become a teacher but more of a calling and I joined with Bikram for his teacher training in Las Vegas in the spring of 2010. I taught in the Dallas area for almost a year before moving to Lakeway to manage Backwoods, an outdoor adventure store in the Hill Country Galleria. Lakeway felt like home when I began teaching at BeneFIT Bikram Yoga the day it opened. For me the 26 postures of Bikram Yoga are like coming home. They allow me to be who I am, they give me great comfort, challenge me mentally and physically, and keep me honest in every sense of the word. Most of all they make me grateful for being right here right now.

Namaste

Susan Anderson
Certified Bikram Yoga Instructor

After hearing constant praise about the hot yoga experience from my mom, I attended my first Bikram Yoga class with her in 2000. I wanted to flee the hot, sweaty room for some fresh air, and couldn’t believe that I was being asked to do such challenging, yet funny, postures. What kept me going was my mom — I thought, if she can do this, so can I! Soon after, I found myself back in the hot room for more yoga. I kept coming back day after day, month after month, year after year, and at some point realized it’s a lifetime practice.

I began teaching in 2003 and continue to feel passionate about the yoga. I enjoy all the little details that make a yoga posture and communicating my understanding of the importance of these details with others. Each Bikram Yoga practitioner undergoes often subtle, yet profound, healings and I feel blessed to be an instrument of these changes.

Through yoga competitions I have taken my yoga practice to an advanced level. I’ve participated in regional, national, and international yoga asana championships beginning in 2003 when, representing Northern California in the very first Bishnu Charan Ghosh International Yoga Asana Championship, I took sixth place. I was the Texas women’s champion in 2008, 2009, and 2010, and took 10th place in the 2010 national competition. I have grown tremendously as an active participant in the yoga championships and continue to do so in recent years as a coach. The competitions have provided me the opportunity to travel, meet others in the international Bikram community, and have taken my personal yoga practice to a deeper level physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

And, this is only the beginning- I look forward to a lifetime filled with yoga. Within yoga, there is always something new to learn!