About Us
The Tale Of A Hot Yoga Studio In Glasgow
It’s been an eventful journey since the first ever Hot Yoga studio in Scotland opened in a two-bedroom flat in Glasgow’s Byres Road run by Steven Clark, who we will always be grateful to. People travelled from all over Scotland and queued up in the close to practice in a sweaty living room on the 1st floor. Bedrooms were full as two people also lived there so everyone got changed in the hall, old skool!
Hot Yoga Glasgow was established in 2014. We put everything on the line to make it happen. Investing our life savings and more, we converted an office shell in Shawlands into an amazing yoga space with the capacity to host 50 people per class and achieve temperatures of over 40 degrees. Due to an unexpected twist of fate, our lease was terminated, and we were forced to relocate in 2019. As a small independent business, it was a huge blow to start from scratch again, but we were not prepared to give up on our dream. By this time, we had an amazing team and yoga community behind us. We renovated the old Job Centre building on Battlefield Road into an improved Hot Yoga studio now equipped with a state-of-the-art Infrared Heating system. Lockdown was another fight for survival but we made it through.
Throughout our journey, we have always strived to grow, learn from our struggles and keep on improving ourselves and what we do. The theme of growth is central to our teaching and ethos as an organisation. We love putting our energy into making our studio a really special place for people to connect.
‘Never too bad, never too late never too old and never too broke, to start from scratch once again.’
Want to join our community? Read about our Classes and find our more about our current Pricing Options.
Linda, Co-Founder
Ex primary school teacher has a degree in psychology and has studied anatomy at college. Linda has practiced Bikram Yoga since 2007 and after completing her Teacher Training in San Diago Fall 2010, she co-founded Hot Yoga Glasgow in June 2014 with her now hubby Louis. Linda is a Reiki master and has also completed teacher training in yoga nidra, yin yoga and intermediate hot yoga. Linda is now completing a 200 hour teacher training at the Seasonal Yoga Academy. Her classes are fun, strong yet meditational and full of inspiration.
“When we first got there, the place was an empty office shell. We designed the place from scratch and transformed it into an amazing yogas space. We put everything on the line and put our whole heart and soul into the place. It could not have been more worth it. I truly love what I do, love our studio, it’s community, the energy and love about the place. I love hearing the students’ stories and watching the practice change people’s lives.”
Louis, Co-Founder
Previously a General Manager in Arnold Clark, he became fed up of the 6-day week and the constant pressure and quit to set up his own company. He now runs an online whisky shop and consults as a whisky broker. Louis completed his Inferno Hot Pilates Teacher Training in Mallorca this year. His classes are fun, fast and high energy.
“When we set out to build a Bikram studio one of the key factors for us was to nurture a yoga community. We feel we have now accomplished this and it’s growing all the time. Life is all about the people you meet and the experiences you have. It’s not always been sunshine in the garden, there have been tougher times when we wondered what the hell have we done! These have been far outstripped by the positive times. We wouldn’t change it for the world.”
Ilaria Bassi
Illaria went to Bikram Yoga teacher training in Spring of 2015. From there she continued travelling and teaching around the world. Starting in Brussels and Italy, Illaria has also taught in Thailand, Indonesia, California, Mexico, Africa, Serbia. She has also completed her 200 hour sacred geometry and hot vinyasa teacher training with Benjamin sears and Intermediate Hot Yoga Teacher training with Zeb Homison. Ilaria brings passion, precision and warm sunshine energy into the room
“I loved teaching from the first moment; the feeling of happiness that comes from seeing how this practice makes life better in all aspects for my students, not just on a physical level. It makes me proud to be able to help others. I try to give all of my passion to my students and I’m grateful to be able to help them change.”
Sara
Professional Dancer/ Choreographer Sara Gordon had recently been doing music videos and adverts for H&M, House of Fraser, Laura Mvula, Jungle, and Rae Morris. She practised yoga since 2003, graduated as a Bikram Teacher in 2011 and in 2015, Sara became one of the founding teachers of ‘Fierce Grace Yoga’, a hot yoga system based on classic Hatha, Bikram and Ashtanga. Sara is also qualified in pregnancy yoga and her wonderful full-moon workshops weave together astrology, kundalini yogi, conscious dance and ritual, always with a touch of magic. Our warrior goddess.
“My teaching style is always evolving. Three qualities I always convey in class are Sthira (steadiness & alertness), Sukha (comfort & lightness), and focus on the Breath.”
Fraz
Photographer and film maker Fraz is a mentor in Shooters, a film making project that part of a Scottish children’s charity. He has worked as a documentary cameraman for the Spirit Aid filming their overseas projects in the Townships of South Africa and bush communities of Malawi. He also does independent videography work for the Conservatoire, Still Game and Barlinnie. Fraz is a reiki healer who has studied tantra and several methods of meditation.
Fraz brings a unique energy, passion and compassion into the room. Don’t miss his classes for a dose of peace love and happiness
Karen
Karen worked for William Hill the bookmakers for 25 years starting out as a 'Saturday Girl' & eventually leaving as Regional Gaming Manager. She is a qualified group exercise instructor and personal trainer with 15 years of experience in the fitness industry. She has recently furthered my studies by training in Life Coaching. Karen is passionate, amazingly organised and super-charged with positive energy. In her most recent role, coached at the F45 flagship studio in City Centre."Hey, I'm Karen, super proud mum of 2 boys, Jack 21 & Sam 15 years. A girl who likes a challenge & always looks to find the positive in any negative situation. Thought I could never complete a marathon... & then I believed, & I did!
As an instructor, my next step was always going to be Yoga teacher training so when the opportunity to surround myself with amazing Yogis in the Assistant Manager role here at Hot Yoga Glasgow presented itself, I believed all my dreams had come true."
Sam
Sam is contemporary performer and dancer and yoga teacher and has practicing yoga for over 12 years. He completed the 26+2 teacher training program in August 2017 (250hr). He is also trained in vinyasa flow and intermediate hot yoga. Sams classes are strong, super focussed yet calming and full of wisdom.
I competed in Sweden in 2012 in the Nordic Yoga Championships and won, becoming first Finnish champion. Yos is part of my everyday existence, keeping me focused, flexible and free. Connecting me to body, mind and spirit.I have practiced with many teachers in different countries, learning something different from each of them - in the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, China, Germany, Israel and the United Kingdom. I feel a deep sense of gratitude for this experience and want to pass on this knowledge to others their yoga journey. I follow the mantra of:‘The student is always the teacher, and the teacher is always the student’
Ann Shankly
Psychology graduate and grandmother Anne Shankly works as a support worker and completed her teacher training in 2018 with Fierce Grace in London. She is trained in the 26 + 2 series, fusion yoga, deep release and "In" yoga. With her lovely gentle teaching style and wicked sense of humour, Ann is our gal for keeping it real.
Anne discovered Bikram in 2016. It came as a shock on her first class that she could touch her toes, but with consistent practice, her strength and flexibility improved beyond her expectations. The most challenging aspect was the workout her mind started to experience:
“There’s something about standing sweating in what’s basically your underwear with 40 strangers that pushes you to become comfortable in your own vulnerability, no masks of clothes or makeup, just you, your mat and you’re perfectly, imperfect self.”
Jaclyn McCann
In 2018 Jaclyn completed my Inferno Hot Pilates (IHP) Teacher Training in Mallorca and proceeded to complete IHP level 2 the following year. In 2019 she followed her passion and continued her yoga journey, completing 200 hours of Vinyasa and Yin Yoga Teacher training. Still wanting to learn more, she completed another 200hrs of Sacred Geometry Vinyasa in the South of France Benjamin Sears and Tatiana Dipillo and continued to complete another 150 hours of training with them."I started practicing Bikram, January 2013 and it changed my life. I practiced 5/6 times weekly thinking of nothing other than my next class. It was the discipline aspect I liked, as it helped me focus on mindfulness, as I had struggled with panic attacks and anxiety. I loved how the practice made me feel mentally and physically.I’m keen to continually learn as much as I can for the overall well-being being for my mind, body, and spirit and I feel extremely grateful to be able to share my learnings with students, hopefully helping to cope with the stresses of life, My mantra I try and live by and wish for others is to have Peace in your mind, Strength in your body, Love in your heart. Namaste"