I started practising Bikram Yoga in 2010 at the studio in Parsons Green, London. It’s a small studio and it was very crowded, it was hot as hell and I felt so nauseous the first time but I got hooked on that magical after class feeling.
I felt so much better physically and mentally from day one of practicing Bikram Yoga. After 6 months of practising I knew I had to become a Bikram Yoga teacher.
I eventually ended up going to teacher training in LA in 2013. Shortly after training I left London for Edinburgh. I taught there and in Glasgow for two wonderful years and then in 2016 I went off travelling in India and when I got back I started teaching in Europe (remember the good old EU days!) I spent time in Luxembourg, Vienna, Göteborg and Stockholm. In 2021, I came full circle, came back to London and started teaching in the studios where I first started practising in. It’s an absolute delight to be part of the BYC community and team where I took my first class in 2010.
What I appreciate so much about Bikram Yoga is that it’s been a constant in my life. No matter what city I have lived in, what language the class was taught in, or what I might have been dealing with emotionally or physically on a smaller or larger scale the postures have remained the same and this has been a great source of comfort.
Along the way I have also taken teacher training in Yoga Nidra (Total Yoga Nidra, 2016), Yin Yoga (Norman Blair, 2017) and Yoga Therapy (Ghosh Yoga College in Kolkata, 2019). In February 2023 I qualified as a Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapist (www.hypnotherapywithlisa.com)
The greatest lesson for me in recent years is learning to be with what is going on for me any given day, to open up to that awareness in a soft and gentle way in spite of anything that might be challenging in the moment. As a teacher I aim to create a space for students to do the same. Yoga practices, whatever the style, gives us the precious time outside day to day responsibilities to improve our relationship with ourselves. I believe that Bikram Yoga can be that very starting point for self-intimacy…. So, “Feet together nicely, start please….”
