Georgina Gray (Founder and Studio Director)

After practicing Ashtanga for 2 years to improve really severe scoliosis, Georgina came across Bikram yoga purely by chance and she got hooked immediately. Within several months, she noticed that not only her back felt healthier but every aspect of her life radically changed for the better. She realised that she had found the key to unlock her dreams.

Georgina has been practicing Bikram yoga since 2004 and it became as an important part of her life as personal hygiene…! A day without a class just doesn't feel right. She went to USA to study with Bikram Choudhury to become a Bikram teacher in early 2007 and since than she has been teaching her heart away. She then taught for several years for Helen Currie in London in her studio in Chiswick, London, she also taught for Michele Pernetta in Queens Park and Old Street.

After 2 years of regular teaching Georgina gave up her high level media executive job in London and moved to Bristol to open Bikram Yoga Bristol in August 2009. The studio has been flourishing from day one. She loves the yoga and you can tell that from taking her class. She will make you work hard and you will learn lots about the postures and your own body. Her classes are always hard but inspiring and motivating. It helps to get you through the class! The studio, for many students, feels like a second home. The yoga is challenging in a way that brings confidence and joy into your life, as well as health and energy. "I feel blessed to run the studio and practice and teach yoga, I am inspired by people everyday." Make this yoga part of your life, it works!

Carl Gray (Founder and Studio Director)

Since I was 16 years old, I have cycle raced, competed in triathlons, mountain biked and love walking long distance trials, I love to be active...

Being so active comes with a price, and I was becoming more concerned by the regular trips to my osteopath - to fix my sore back, painful thighs, twisted ankles etc. Every month I would be manipulated back into shape and within a week or two I was once again suffering with the usual aches and pains. My wife Georgina had been telling me about Bikram Yoga for quite some time, so one day I stepped into the hot room - Chiswick, West London. I was immediately hooked, I loved the heat, the concentration, the hard physical effort, and the 90 minutes of focus. It appealed instantly, it was cardiovascular, I was building strength and stability around my joints, I was stretching out all my tired muscles, and my back finally stopped aching. My lungs capacity increased, and my resting heart rate decreased.

After practicing Bikram Yoga for several years, and later returning to triathlon I can honestly say that I have never felt better, fitter or stronger, and with no injuries. My back feels stronger and never hurts, my knees no longer grown, I feel taller, overall I feel younger and much fitter than when I was in my 20's!

I feel incredibly lucky to have discovered Bikram Yoga and its many benefits, not all immediately obvious. Since becoming a Bikram Yoga teacher I am keen to share my experiences as this yoga is a gift. I fully appreciate how mentally demanding the class can be, and I also understand how some of the postures can be a great challenge, for the new and the regular student.

I have learnt a great deal about myself, the realisation that absolutely anything is possible in life, you just have to keep maintaining a health body and the mind will believe.

Margaret Brereton

Margaret began practicing Bikram yoga in January 2005 in Wellington, New Zealand, and can remember sitting in the car after her first class thinking "What was that? I need to do that again." She immediately signed up for a year, but within a month of practicing, made the decision to train to become a Bikram yoga teacher.

A year and a half later she gained certification to teach Bikram Yoga, at the first training program held in Honolulu.

Before discovering Bikram Yoga, Margaret spent 25 years working in the Fashion and Textiles industries in Australia and New Zealand, of which 10 years was running her own company in Wellington. "After 10 years, I felt like I needed to do something else, I no longer wanted the challenges of running a company. I wanted to do something that not only benefited me, but could also benefit others. I truly believe that Bikram Yoga is the elixir of life."

In 2009, she sent 6 months traveling in the USA, Canada, England, Holland and Sweden, visiting studios and teaching. She is now back as a senior teacher in the Bristol studio.

"Teaching and practicing Bikram Yoga is such a joy, nothing gives me greater pleasure than sharing this with others."

Laura Mcdonald

When Laura heard a friend talking about Bikram Yoga in December 2005 she thought it sounded like a good way to come in from the cold and resolved to try it the next day. Little did she know what a great impact it would have on her life. She immediately loved the class and quickly became a regular and eager practitioner.

It wasn't until much later that she started to see the possibility that she could become a Bikram Yoga teacher and went to Bikram's Teacher Training in Palm Springs California. Laura has been teaching at Bikram Yoga Bristol since the day it opened. As well as teaching in Bristol Laura teaches in Chiswick, West London and has taught at several other Bikram Yoga studios in London.

Laura loves the strong global community of Bikram Yoga and was delighted to have the opportunity to teach in Melbourne, Australia while visiting her sister. Laura finds teaching extremely rewarding, and is constantly inspired by watching students develop their practice. Maintaining her own practice is also very important to her and she hopes that she is able to inspire others too. Laura attended Bikram's Advanced Seminar in Malta earlier this year (2011), which was a fantastic opportunity to learn more about the Advanced series. It's a series of 84 postures which is both challenging and humbling but Laura hopes to take Bristol students to another level of their practice by offering them the opportunity to discover this series for themselves.

Jean Wilkinson

I have been practicing Bikram Yoga regularly since 2006 and prior to qualifying as a Bikram Teacher, I was a Solicitor working in Dublin for 8 years. I have always been passionate about sport and fitness. I qualified as a Fitness Instructor in 2006 and it was during that course that I heard about the Bikram Studio in Dublin.

I loved Bikram Yoga from the start and I found the Teachers and Practictioners inspirational. It was through a regular practice of Bikram Yoga and excellent guidance that I believe I developed stamina and mental focus to partake in events that I never thought I would do.

I ran twelve marathons from June '07 to June '09 to include marathons in Marrakech, Chicago, Oslo, Paris and Krakow. I enjoyed long distance cycling tours and triathlons. I completed Teacher Training in Las Vegas. I taught in Vegas before travelling to live and teach in Indonesia for 12 months. I was a full-time Teacher at the Bikram Studios in Jakarta and Bali before returning to teach here in Bristol. I believe that if you practice Bikram Yoga regularly you can set your mind to anything. My hope is for everyone to enjoy and benefit from Bikram Yoga as much as I do.