I’m at Indee Yoga studio, and I’m putting myself through 26 challenging hot yoga poses in 25 degrees heat. I’m squatting with my bum sticking out, balanced precariously on tiptoes, sweating profusely with my arms stretched out in front of me. My legs are starting to tremble, I’m trying not to wobble and I have to hold this pose for 60 whole seconds! Don’t worry this is not how I photograph my clients (though I have been known to adopt some funny shooting positions at times!)

Why do I engage in this insanity?

Because it works. It’s incredible. It sorts out body and mind and keeps me strong and flexible which is essential when I am photographing portrait clients as it’s quite a physical job.

Visually I find these yoga poses incredibly elegant. I saw a beauty and strength that I wanted to capture with my camera so I invited a couple of my fellow Indee Yoga students to my studio. We picked a few of the 26 poses and for me it just had to be low key, dark and dramatic! These ladies look so calm and graceful… you’d never guess just how much strength, balance, stamina and determination is involved in holding these poses! I can’t wait to see these images framed and on the wall at the Yoga studio.

Whether you are a yoga bunny, a dancer or neither and simply want a set of beautiful portrait images to display on the wall I can design a shoot and create a incredible set of images to express who you are.

And if you’ve not tried hot yoga before this is why I have come back to it.

Years ago when I lived in Brighton, hot yoga poses transformed my body and lost an inch within 2 weeks – seriously. Not thin but just beautifully toned in a way I had never achieved before. And after each class I felt so refreshed and alive. I then moved 100 miles away to Hertfordshire and nobody had heard of hot yoga. So 10 years later I was jumping for joy when Lucy Toleman opened Indee Hot Yoga studio in my area. I make the effort to go to my hot yoga class 3 times a week if I can… I think of it as my long term health insurance… when I’m 90 I still want to be able to do the ‘Standing Bow’ (pictured top left above) and I certainly do not want to end up hunched over and dependent on other people to care for me. We don’t know what the future will hold for us but I am going to do my best to help myself as much as possible. And shouldn’t we all?

Visit Indee Hot Yoga Studio to find out more about the benefits of learning hot yoga poses and to sign up for a class.