Yogassential

One interesting challenge I’ve encountered since starting Yogassential has been shattering my ankle 8 weeks ago in a fall from my horse at a competition.  It’s happened at a very frustrating time, just as I was finishing the planning elements of the Yogassential concept and was working on bringing it to life I suddenly landed up in hospital.  Needles to say, not ideal.

After a long 2 weeks in hospital trying to do everything I could from my laptop for Yogassential including learning coding (you know, just in case we have tech issues) I was finally released and able to go home and settle into life on one leg for 6 weeks.  

Given I couldn’t drive and take myself places with a cast on it’s been a fairly lonely and long 6 weeks.  However, the silver lining is I’ve been utilising that time to get everything lined up for Yogassential’s launch.  This business has been the only thing that’s stopped me going crazy at times, on the same note there’s times I’ve wanted to bang my head on a brick wall over niggly issues such as payment processing and VAT - let me tell you now, it can be a minefield.

It’s amazing in today’s modern world what you can do from a laptop and a phone, who needs meetings anymore, let’s Skype.  It’s been a phenomenal journey even up to this point to recognise what you can achieve despite seemingly unsurmountable challenges.

When I set out on this venture I obviously thought I’d be able to practice yoga which, at the end of the day is always going to be good when you’re in the yoga business.  I also thought I’d be able to go out, attend meetings and push it forward.  Despite being unable to do all of the above Yogassential is still alive and coming into reality just as fast, if not faster than it would have before (undoubtedly it must be admitted showjumping is a distraction).  Co-founder, my sister, Raquelle Gracie who is also a yoga teacher has been an incredible pillar of strength to maintain our momentum through this difficult time.

Even at our video promo shoot not be able to get involved in the class was frustrating, all I wanted to do was get involved, as it was, I was sidelined to the stairs to watch, and I like to think, direct. :P

Whilst I have previously worked with 2 fashion startups with very close friends, Yogassential is truly my baby and my responsibility.  As a first-time entrepreneur, the startup process of the business is like learning to walk.  There are things you just don’t learn until you do and the responsibility is on your shoulders and we’ve not even launched yet.  At the same time, the joy of learning to walk is that one day you’re going to run and I cannot wait.  

Yogassential excites me beyond belief - I believe in yoga and the benefits it offers people and I’m so happy to be working on a business that will make yoga accessible to more people.  I can see the yoga teacher dilemna; how to build a client base, security concerns and those unreliable clients.  By creating a yoga concierge I envisage lifting that burden from teachers and allow them to focus on their true passion, yoga.

I’m not the kind of entrepreneur who doesn’t practice what they preach.  I’m betting on yoga to fix myself, after the cast came off yesterday I was able to walk out of hospital, albeit with the assistance of a boot for the next 6 weeks.  If I can do that now, imagine what I’ll be able to do in 6 weeks when it’s off and I can really focus on my yoga rehab, which should be pretty convenient given my line of business.

Setting up a business, getting back on 2 feet, it’s all a learning curve - but everyday you know more, everyday you can do more and one day, who knows where you’ll be.

With our website almost complete it was time to shoot our promo video so we can show the world in a short clip what we’re all about.

It was a full, hectic day of filming, particularly for our resident yogi, Raquelle.

We wanted our video to be as real and authentic as possible, inviting yogis of all levels to give a Yogassential lesson at home locations.  It’s amazing how some incense and candles can recreate a yoga studio atmosphere and our clients really enjoyed the freedom of being at home, forgetting to even be self-conscious of the filming.

No one invited to take part had ever tried a private group lesson at home before and the feedback was really positive.  They were impressed how different the lesson felt compared to classes they attended before.  For some they realised that they’d been doing a posture wrong for years and finally it was noticed and corrected, for others they were happy to learn specific poses tailored to their requirements, all in all the general consensus was practicing yoga this way was a higher quality, more effective workout - and this is what Yogassential is all about.

Not only did our groups find their yoga improved but they really enjoyed the social aspect of hosting a yoga lesson.  As opposed to dashing off from a class, after the lesson they could sit down, have some tea and cakes and catch up with their friends with a good conscience.

We want to change how people practice yoga - taking it away from generic classes and bringing it into a bespoke, social form of exercise that is still affordable.  For the Yogassential team, shooting this promo video proved that this is needed to create a more fulfilling yoga experience for both teachers and students.

Take a look at some of our backstage shots to see how it went - I was not happy to be sidelined from the class due to my ankle but at least I could ‘direct’. :P 

Join Us

Whether you’re a qualified yoga teacher or just someone who likes to practice yoga get in touch and give the Yogassential way a try. 

This is the story of Yogassential and our story as we bring the UK's 1st yoga concierge into a reality.

So what's it all about?

In the summer of 2016 I decided to make it my mission to learn yoga; I've always been  into active, intense exercise, struggling with the calmness and flexibility yoga required and considering it, dare I say, boring. :o

Anyhow, I'm a keen show jumper and was finding in competition sometimes I would over ride and needed to be calmer as excited energy can be passed to the horse.  Now I have a slightly fiery chestnut mare who doesn't need help to be over-excited.

Going back to basics I realised to achieve this calm I needed to learn to be still as I am a person of perpetual motion.  Yoga provides that sense of stillness if you have the mental discipline to achieve it.... and the challenge was set to myself...

1st attempt - go to a yoga class at the local country club

My Mum is a long-time yoga devotee and passed that on to my sister who is a yoga teacher.  So, when I said let's go to a yoga class, needless to say she was delighted.

The country club classes are free with our membership so it was fairly easy to book our place in the class online.  Arriving at the lesson there was a hustle for the best spaces in front of the mirrors in the room, the teacher took her mat and class commenced.  As silence fell the thud of the dance music in the gym next door could be heard and I realised this definitely wasn't going to be the type of yoga lesson you fall asleep in.

I was slightly surprised to see her reading poses from her notebook so there were a few pauses.  For the first time in my life I was really giving the poses a try and feeling those ever so good stretches.   Despite the teaching leaving something to be desired I started to understand that yoga really can do something for you so I'd pursue it further.  Just not at the country club.

2nd attempt - a specialised yoga studio with an experienced yogi

Having had a yoga taster at the country club I wanted to try more in a specialised environment.  I felt the teacher at the country club had too many students (18) to check our poses (plus she was too busy reading her notebook) so I wasn't even sure if I was doing it right.  Anyone who knows anything about me knows if I'm going to do something I'll at least do it right!

One of my showjumping friends is a keen yogi given my new interest invited me to come along to one of her classes.  It was a good half hour from home, hitting rush hour traffic and trying to get there on time was slightly manic.  Arriving in a fluster I found this studio tucked away in a little enclave.  Walking in to the lesson was a real gear change from go, go, go to slow, slow, slow.  Huffing and puffing I took a mat, settled down and listened.  There were 8 of us in the class in a cozy room  across 3 rows with no possibility of escaping the teacher's gaze when the going got tough.

Now this was challenging but my body was coping surprisingly well.  I was fighting the urge to rush and do, taking a considered approach and shockingly, with that mindset, it came easy.  The teacher was clearly passionate, explaining the benefits of each pose and checking how we were doing it.  All in all I enjoyed it, just not the drive there and back when all I wanted to do after was relax.  As much as I enjoyed the class and felt the benefit, there was no way I'd regular be able to make that journey for a yoga class.

3rd attempt - a private yoga lesson at home

Now I decided to be serious about practicing yoga, as I could see the discipline could be a real asset to my equestrian skills I needed to learn properly.  To do that, you can't beat a private yoga lesson at home.  Now, just to find one, surprisingly not an easy task.

Thinking for sure there'd be a trustworthy yoga site to find a teacher I was shocked to realise finding a decent yoga teacher in Cheshire isn't that easy.  I googled around, found a few random ads, majority of which on the bio alone I didn't want to call, the ones I did call had no availability for the next 3 days.  Eventually I found a teacher who squeezed me in, she had a lovely phone manner as I explained how I wanted yoga to help me improve my riding.

She came over, gave me an in depth analysis of my body and it's natural strengths and weaknesses.  The poses she was teaching me contorted me like never before in all directions and my body responded.  Yoga started to feel good.  She created a bespoke flow for me to practice each morning, I came away so excited to become a yogi pro.  A statement that a couple of months before I wouldn't have been heard dead saying.

The start of the Yogassential adventure

Just trying to get a yoga lesson really hadn't been as easy as I'd assumed.

I'd assumed that classes were the way to practice yoga.

I realised they just meant you couldn't receive much individual attention to improve, they were annoying to get to and teacher quality wasn't guaranteed.

I'd assumed finding a teacher to come home to teach would be easy.

I found few teacher profiles online inspired confidence, those that did were busy and it was generally not an easy task to find someone decent when you want, where you want.

Given yoga is so popular nowadays I was shocked at there was no way to reach local yoga freelancers, despite the majority of teachers being freelancers.

As my sister is a yoga teacher I asked her if there was any platform where freelancers could share their availability with potential clients.  This would save all the back and forth:-

"Can you do this time?"

   "No, what about this?"

"No, this?"

And so on, would be much easier just see when they are free.

My sister thought for s moment before confirming there wasn't but she wished there was.  Although she now has her own studio she used to teach private lessons at client homes and said she would've like to post her free time for more work as teachers often only generate new work through word of mouth.