You could say that Bikram yoga changed Kate’s life quite literally! She had never practiced yoga until 2006, when she went to a Hatha yoga retreat in Cornwall on an Easter bank holiday weekend.
There she met Armond, a fellow participant and Bikram yoga teacher, who coincidentally also lived in London. They found out that they had more than just the yoga in common and began dating. She practised her first Bikram yoga class soon after she returned to London and was hooked immediately.
She had always been physically active but she found Bikram yoga’s combination of strength, balance, endurance and focus to be unique. After three years of regular practise (during which time she got married to Armond!) she realised that she wanted to further her knowledge and decided to go on teacher training to become a qualified Bikram yoga teacher.
Kate graduated in 2008 and is now honoured to share her knowledge and passion for the yoga with her students. She still works part-time as an operating officer at an investment bank in Canary Wharf, and therefore she really appreciates the healing effects of Bikram yoga as a powerful antidote to the frenzy of city life.
Kate:
As a child what did you want to be when you grew up?
I always loved aeroplanes and flying and, as a child, I was fascinated by these glamorous flight attendants!
Well, to cut a long story short, I met my future husband on a Hatha Yoga Retreat on Cornwall in 2005. I met Armond there and he introduced me to Bikram Yoga, he is a Bikram Yoga Instructor too. I remember looking for the first time through the window at BYC into the studio, seeing all the students sweating and doing the postures, my thought was, I can never do something like that in a hot room. Well, my body and my mind proved me wrong! I now could not imagine my life without Bikram Yoga.
Super Power – What would you choose?
The ability to make a toddler do what I am telling him to do.
Best Bikram moment to date -personal or professional?
Well, I have many best Bikram moments. I should start with my Teacher Training. It was 9 weeks and probably the most challenging yet rewarding moment of my life. It was an incredible experience and truly an eye opener about your own abilities and strengths and weaknesses. I’ve had many special moments as a teacher; being there, serving and offering people my knowledge and experience of Yoga, listening to their concerns and their achievements, helping them as much as possible with their practice and last, but not least, how rewarding it is for me and how happy it makes me hearing a student say thank you and smile at me at the end of a class. That is all I could wish for.
What did you do before you became a Bikram teacher?
I worked for 8 years at Credit Suisse First Boston Investment Banking in Canary Wharf as an Operating Officer in the M&A Department. Oh and I did become a Flight Attendant back in 1996 I was flying around the world for Swissair. I loved the experience and saw many different countries and cultures! Although it wasn’t quite as glamorous as I had imagined as a child!
