Congraulations Brandy Lyn Winfield
2010 Bishnu Charan Ghosh Cup World Champion!
Nevada State Champ Brandy wins USA & World Championship!
Competitors test yoga skills at national event 
By JAN HOGAN
VIEW STAFF WRITER
Jan Hogan/ViewBrandy Lyn Winfield, an instructor at Bikram Yoga, 7520 W. Washington Ave., placed first in the 2010 Yoga Asana Championship in Los Angeles in February. Three other valley residents took part in the international event.
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There's yoga, and then there's Bikram Yoga. It's so demanding, there are competitions for it, and some Las Vegans recently took home the gold.
Valley resident Brandy Lyn Winfield, 29, won the international women's championship at the 2010 Yoga Asana Championship in Los Angeles Feb. 12-14.
Also competing from Nevada were Zeb Hormison in the adult male category and two youngsters: Codi Petrie, 10, and Kehonu Sturm, 11, in the youth division. Kehonu took second place internationally. Hormison and Codi placed nationally. All three are valley residents.
The event involved 20 men and 44 women competing for the U.S. title. The competition eliminated participants until 10 men and 10 women advanced to the international finals, which were Feb. 14. Finalists came from the U.S., the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, India, Canada-West, Poland, the United Kingdom, Japan, Mexico and China. The results can be seen at www.yogacup.com.
Winfield, who teaches the discipline, took first place in the female category in all her events, taking home the international yoga female title. She said she was at complete ease while being judged.
"I'm thinking about everything and nothing," Winfield said. "That's the best way I can describe it. It's like time is frozen."
The focus of the Yoga Asana Championship is physically demanding, similar to a gymnastics floor exercise, and competitors are judged on the perfection of the pose, its difficulty, their poise and composure, and the grace of movement into and out of the position. Points are awarded for completion of the pose and flowing movement, steadiness, grace of movement and alignment. If contestants show effort or stress, they are marked down.
Kehonu credited yoga classes with helping him sleep and taking his grades from As to A-pluses.
"I thought it was a long shot," he said of the possibility of winning. "I got a silver medal, I think it's real silver ... and a water bottle, and stuff to spray on your mat so it doesn't stink."
Codi took the top spot for youth competitors in the regionals last October and repeated the win in Los Angeles.
She said when doing poses, she has to remind herself to breathe. "If I hold my breath, I can't do the posture," she said. "Then, with other postures, I have to think, 'Pull, pull, pull.' "
Codi's mother had her take up the discipline for health reasons resulting from antibiotics to treat ear infections. Also a student of Bikram Yoga, she said it fosters a mother-daughter connection.
"If I go by myself, I feel alone," Erin Petrie said. "When we do (a certain pose), we hold hands. It's a great bond."
Even when not instructing yoga, Winfield practices on her own each day.
"If I don't, I feel like I would if I forgot to brush my teeth," she said.
Known officially as Bikram Original Hot Yoga, the discipline was founded by Yogiraj Bikram Choudhury. Discipline is the key word, as the scientifically-based style consists of a fixed sequence of 26 postures that incorporate two breathing exercises. The postures are comparable to Cirque du Soleil contortions.
As extreme as the postures are, so is the setting. Classes last 90 minutes and take place in a studio heated to nearly 110 degrees Fahrenheit and 40 percent humidity. The temperature and the humidity help tendons, ligaments and muscles with flexibility.
Winfield spent years in ballet, so she already was used to being limber when she took up the discipline six years ago. But Bikram Yoga challenges the body to move into pretzel-like poses and to do so with grace. The advanced postures cause even her to get sore muscles, she said.
Since earning her degree in communications, Winfield has divided her time between Las Vegas and Salt Lake City. Along the way, she embraced Bikram Yoga and became a certified instructor in 2007. In Las Vegas, Winfield taught at Bikram Yoga Summerlin, 7520 W. Washington Ave., Suite 150.
Bikram Choudhury moved his training from headquarters in Los Angeles to Las Vegas in 2009. The Nevada regional competition was held at Town Square Las Vegas that November. Winfield was hired soon after to manage the Mumbai studio in India. When her contract is up in June, she will be a traveling ambassador for Bikram Yoga.
Bikram Yoga Summerlin owner/operator Stephanie Dixon opened the 3,200-square-foot studio in May 2009. She described Winfield as funny, passionate and "totally disciplined." Dixon said that she expected television coverage to feature Winfield before she hopped on a plane to India but found out at the last moment that the camera crew had other things to cover.
"I learned the president was coming into town today (Feb. 18), so I guess because he's the president ... what are you going to do?" she said, joking about her disappointment.
Contact Summerlin and Summerlin South View reporter Jan Hogan at jhogan@viewnews.com or 387-2949.
Brandy Winfield 2010 from DK Howe on Vimeo.