The Yorkshire Centre for Wellbeing is celebrating its 20th anniversary this month.
The business is the longest-standing yoga and pilates studio in Harrogate, having opened on Duchy Road in 2003.
The owners said opening the studio was a “big financial risk at the time”.
However, founder Anne-Marie Burford believes “post-covid anxieties” caused a surge in prioritising health and boosted the credibility of yoga and pilates, as well as causing a shift in attitudes towards them.
She said:
“Yoga in the West can often be about images, especially now a lot of celebrities do it.
“That isn’t the true form of yoga – we just want to support health and wellbeing”.
Ms Burford also said social media has “probably caused the most significant change” in attitudes towards wellbeing.
The studio centres on being entirely holistic and focusses on incorporating Ayurveda, a traditional Indian healing therapy, into the yoga, pilates and tai chi classes.
The centre also “places focus on the spiritual aspect of wellbeing”, including soul coaching, reiki, and various Eastern-style massages.
Staff members have extensive spiritual and physical training, including one-to-one training with Deepak Chopra, as well as a South Asian spiritual pilgrimage. The business also offers yoga retreats to members, both nationally and abroad.
James Burford, one of the teachers at the wellness centre, said:
“I feel very encouraged by the support we already receive form our students, many of whom I consider friends, and the increase in number of students joining and connecting with our centre over the last few years“.
Yorkshire Centre for Wellbeing is holding an anniversary celebration on Saturday, April 16, with pop-up classes, afternoon tea and live music. Full details are on its Instagram feed.
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