Spotlight
Post LOCKDOWN uRBAN VILLAGE LDN has been shining A light on a different FULHAM business each MONTH. in this issue we talk to fulham resident and THE Hot SPOT Studio Director Melissa McIntyre
I always had the desire to own my own studio. Having been an existing client and teacher already I wanted to put my creative stamp on the business and set a challenge for myself. It is definitely a passion project to say the least, my love of bikram yoga was the main driving force. I felt people who didn't know about this exclusive style of hot yoga were missing out! The studio had actually been established in Fulham since 2006 then I bought it from the previous owner in 2014. It was all very grass roots: I started practising there shortly after it opened, became a bikram yoga teacher in 2010 and eventually the owner - you could say I did my research!
I have lived in Fulham for 20 years and (as I mentioned previously) was a client at the studio and also a teacher. I had experienced the studio in all its forms - mainly as a successful business with a great local community (the local aspect also provided the added advantage of allowing me to walk to work with my dog!). It was basically a no-brainer.In regards to the yoga, bikram yoga is a very specialised form of hot yoga - in my opinion nothing else beats it. The added heat (40c) adds another dimension not found in other styles of yoga. It ticks all the mind/body boxes - you get a great work out and really go inwards mentally for the duration of the class. In regards to the studio, our amazing community of students, staff and teachers is second to none - it's a joy to turn up every day with everyone having a laugh and finding something to smile about, priceless.
We had to shut for the government directed four months which was tough all around, not just for us. We are thankfully now open again and thriving. The USP of the heat, as mentioned earlier, has got loads of people back into class - we even have waiting lists at the moment. I think people who practise this style of hot yoga know how beneficial it is to one's health and how it helps to build immunity and over-all wellbeing - the foundations of a healthy lifestyle for creating resistance to all forms of illness, not just COVID. We ran online classes for the duration of lockdown. So many of our amazing clients stuck with us and we were able to provide a suitable alternative to the studio experience while keeping our incredible community connected. Now that we're back in the studio we have protocols in place to alleviate any concerns: we have reduced class sizes with everyone socially distanced up to two metres, have placed protective shields on reception, take everyone's temperature on arrival, have reduced the number of people allowed in reception while checking in, have invested in a medical-grade industrial UV air filter in the studio which runs continuously and have created a one-way system for entry and exit which has worked quite well.
'I have been coming to The Hot Spot Yoga since it opened and the work that the team have done during lockdown and now gyms are open is FANTASTIC. A sign that they care about us!' - Louise F (5 August 2020)
