Helen was advised to do the yoga because she had years of back pain and damaged knees, caused by horse riding accidents.
She was amazed at how quickly her back pain reduced and how the flexibility in her knees and hamstrings improved, having been so stiff for so long.
She practised for 2 years in her own living room, with electric heaters, to get the room as hot as possible, as there were no Bikram studios in those days. “So great was my determination to do the yoga, that each week I would move all the furniture out of my living room to make space for a small group of people to practice”. Helen went to LA to study with Bikram Choudhury to become a teacher in 1998.
Helen met Sydney Saboonchian at the training. They have been friends ever since. Sydney now teaches at Chiswick also.
Helen then taught for a number of years for Michele Pernetta in Chalk Farm and Queens Park. “It was fantastic when Michele opened her first studio. To be able to practice and teach in a hot and humid Bikram studio was brilliant. I met other Bikram teachers and I learnt so much.”. After 5 years of regular teaching (including Boston, USA), Helen opened Bikram Yoga Chiswick, in November 2002. The studio has been flourishing ever since. Helen is a mother of 3, two of which were born during the first three years of opening the studio: she has been very busy! She loves the yoga and you can tell that from taking her class. She will make you work hard and you will learn lots about the postures and your own body. Her classes are always inspiring and fun. She likes to keep a sense of humour when she teaches, it helps to get you through the class!
The studio, for many students, feels like a second home. The yoga is challenging in a way that brings confidence and joy into your life, as well as health and energy. “I am very lucky to run a studio and teach the yoga, I am inspired by people everyday. “Embrace the yoga, make it part of your life, it works!”.
Helen:
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Zooologist. (So she’s half way there!)