Written by Elisa Withers, Elizabeth Wolf, Shona Langridge and Salma Pinchin.
This International Yoga Day, we’re opening our doors and inviting you—and your family and friends—to try a yoga class for free. Whether you’ve been curious about yoga for a while or never imagined it could be for you, this is the perfect opportunity to experience the powerful, positive impact yoga can have on your life.
Yoga offers so many benefits: improved flexibility, better posture, increased strength, reduced stress, and a deeper sense of calm. But more than that, yoga gives you space to reconnect—with your breath, your body, and your mind.
If you already love Pilates, you’ll find familiar joy in yoga. Both practices celebrate intentional, mindful movement. They encourage us to slow down, focus inward, and move with purpose. It’s not about touching your toes or mastering a pose—it’s about how you feel when you move, and how that feeling ripples into the rest of your life.
So, what is it we love about Yoga? We thought we’d ask our very own instructors exactly this and what their favourite Yoga posture is.
Elizabeth Wolf, Yoga teacher @ Hampstead
Yoga provides an instant transition from tight muscles and a crunchy mood to length, space and calm. It works every time, how can I not love that ?
My favourite pose is half-moon (ardhachandrasana). One foot stays on the floor with the corresponding hand on the floor just in front of it. In order to lift your opposite leg off the floor to create a 90 degree angle, your hips need to open and your balance needs to be precise.
It took quite a bit of practice before I could find the pose without toppling. I remember the day I held it for the first time. It taught me an important lesson, ‘stay with what challenges you.’ Now, whenever I practice it, it feels like flight.
Shona Langridge, Yoga teacher @ Wimbledon
Yoga is the only activity I’ve ever done where all elements of myself are challenged… physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.
To me yoga is so much more than a posture, it is a beautiful representation of where I am within my body. There is never an ending to where yoga can take you and sometimes I think my whole life is a yoga class – where I see my challenges, my patterns, my judgements.
The real yoga is working from the inside out…tuning into the emotional body and connecting deeply with my breath to witness the mind.
For me, yoga is a sanctuary that supports, nurtures, challenges, forgives and encourages growth and self reflection. There is no greater gift that we can give ourselves, than being present to ourselves. It’s not WHAT we practise, but HOW we practise that has the impact.
One of my favourite quotes is by a Tibetan Monk: “A human being present to himself is more precious than the rarest of gems”. Yoga has given me the gift of presence and awareness to myself which in turn has transformed my relationships externally and internally. I would encourage anyone to use Yoga as a beautiful tool to combine physical, mental, emotional and spiritual growth.
My favourite posture is the Standing bow: it combines balance with a twist and backbend and looks beautiful!
Salma Pinchin, Yoga teacher @ Wimbledon
Stepping foot on my yoga mat is a trusted way to get me out of any ‘funk’ and in a state of joy. Whether it’s 15 minutes of movement or a full hour’s class; yoga has a way to get me fully immersed in a truly mindful experience. Yoga is the perfect combination of strengthening, balancing and lengthening, all in sync with the breath. It is truly a moving meditation.
Mt favourite pose is cow-facing pose or shoelace pose. Your legs look a bit like a pretzel and it is a beautiful way to open up the hips in a really intentional way. The more you lean into the pose, the deeper the stretch. This is a very calming pose; one of surrender and trust.
Actually its too hard to choose just one, so my other favourite pose is half-moon (ardhachandrasana). One foot stays on the floor with the corresponding hand on the floor just in front of it. In order to lift your opposite leg off the floor to create a 90 degree angle, your hips need to open and your balance needs to be precise.
My favourite quote is by Dr. Maya Angelou; ‘if you learn, teach and if you get, give.’ It’s such a great reminder that what we practice on our mats in yoga is one thing, but yoga is meant to be practiced off the mat too. A life aligned with yoga philosophy is one that is founded on compassion, kindness and generosity.
The only way to truly experience yoga is to give it a try; keep showing up on your mat and see the magic that unfolds once you start.
So why not give it a try? Bring a friend, a partner, or your whole family. Come move, breathe, and feel the difference for yourself.
Book one of these classes today at a reduced price of £10 and celebrate the joy of movement with us.