27 July 2008
An introduction to yoga in the mid-1990s has transformed Paula Flood’s life and career.
Flood,
who is from Kells, Co Meath, spent seven years working in sales and
marketing before starting to teach yoga in Dublin in 1999. She
specialises in hatha and pre-natal yoga at Lotus Yoga, a city centre
studio she co-founded with likeminded yoga enthusiasts three years ago.
She also teaches at a home studio in Glasnevin in north Dublin.
‘‘I
started to practise yoga in the mid-90s as away to stay fit and relax,”
she said. ‘‘From the first class, I felt transformed and I knew I
wanted yoga to be a big part of my life.”
Flood qualified with the Yoga Therapy and Training Centre
in the North. She trained at the Institute of Yoga in Bangalore, India,
where a special maternity clinic combines western medicine and
traditional Indian methods such as yoga and ayurveda, the ancient Hindu
system of health care.
She also studied in Australia before setting up her business in Ireland.
The
pre-natal yoga classes evolved when Flood’s sister and two friends
became pregnant, and asked her to organise a class using yoga poses
specifically for pregnancy.
The Lotus Yoga centre on Dublin’s
Wicklow Street offers a range of yoga styles and training courses to
suit all tastes, including hatha, iyengar, kundalini, ashtanga yoga and
tai chi.
‘‘We retain our customers by providing excellent teachers and a good choice of classes,” said Flood.
‘‘At
least one third of yoga students come to Lotus on the recommendation of
a friend or colleague, so word-of-mouth is key to building the
business. We don’t have a big budget for advertising so we focus on
maximising our website presence on www.lotusyoga.ie and by distributing
leaflets around the city.”
The centre also offers free
meditation classes twice a week, but Flood’s main interest is in
running a ‘corporate wellness’ programme at Lotus and at venues
nationwide.
Corporate clients such as Teagasc, the Department of
Foreign Affairs and the National Learning Network use the programme to
learn about stress management, physical fitness and mental performance.
‘‘The
courses are taught over half or full days and benefit businesses by
increasing productivity, staff morale, team building, an increased
ability to deal with stress, and having fewer sick days,” said Flood.
‘‘When
there’s so much negative talk about an economic downturn, people tend
to seek out alternative health systems like yoga and relaxation
methods, and Lotus offers that urban oasis of peace and tranquillity.”
