Yoga hotting up in Harrogate
Two years since entrepreneurial yoga and Pilates expert Ebru Evrim opened her luxury three-storey studio in Harrogate, the James Street wellness hub continues to grow with new offerings this summer including ‘hot yoga’ and a Therapy Room.
Hot yoga originates from the concept of replicating the hot temperatures and humidity of India, where yoga traditionally originated. It has gained in popularity recently as it allows people to introduce greater intensity to their yoga routines. The Ebru Evrim Studio features a room heated to 37-40 degrees, like a sauna, for this practice, so the yoga poses become a cardio-based exercise.
Though not suitable for everyone, research has shown that hot yoga offers a range of benefits. As well as burning calories, it increases strength, improves flexibility due to the heat dilating blood vessels, reduces stress and aids mental health while better blood flow helps with counteracting skin ageing.
Ebru is steering the Harrogate studio, the largest of its kind in Yorkshire, to respond to clients’ need for help with particular issues affecting mobility, such as back pain which the NHS cites as the largest single cause of disability in the UK affecting 115 of the population.
She explains “Yoga and Pilates is not only a means of keeping supple for those who are already fit and well, but with the correct supervision, it is also a route to ‘fixing’ many problems associated with poor posture and the result of many people spending their working hours in very sedentary environments. Conversely, at the other end of the scale, we see people coming here for help with rehabilitation after injuries from more active employment and sporting activities”.
Alongside the flat mat studio and 12 reformers for a wide range of yoga and Pilates classes, a new Therapy Room has been added to the facilities at the studio with practitioners providing specialist one-to-one treatments including massage, sports massage, head massage and reflexology.
Twenty-five teachers and therapists form the team at Ebru Evrim studio, each with their own areas of expertise. Subscription based online yoga classes with those teachers is being added to the mix for people to practice at home.
The Studio now features a professional training academy offering certified 4-day training courses in teaching reformer Pilates.
Also new to the Ebru Evrim Studio offering this year is the opportunity for caterers to hire the Studio Kitchen. The fully equipped open-plan kitchen and surrounding seating area are ideally suited for hosting cookery classes and demonstrations as well as cooking for external events.