You don’t have to fit in before you arrive.

Isabel has practised yoga for more than 20 years and has been part of the studio since 2012. She worked in human rights at Amnesty International and has met both the Dalai Lama and Daniel Craig — Daniel Craig twice. At Phoenix, she comes for the teachers and what she calls “brain switch off.”

Heather’s yoga journey started after breaking her ankle on a remote Greek island — surgery, physio, and a recommendation to try yoga to get her mobility back. She walked into Kylie’s fundamentals class in 2014 and never looked back. Yoga has since carried her through full-time work, two kids, GCSEs, A Levels, university, empty nest, and lockdown. Weekend yoga and post-class coffee with friends is now a permanent diary fixture.

Alex came to Phoenix via the 21-day offer, thinking yoga would be a gentle easing back into exercise after a period of poor health. Her first class was Juliet’s Power Flow. She lay panting on the floor and laughed at herself — and was immediately hooked. A former BBC TV producer who left to become a photographer (@lightbylexi), she found in the studio the community she’d missed from the newsroom. When Phoenix rose from the ashes of The House of Yoga, she was determined to help it thrive, and has since photographed all of our teachers.

Jo has done yoga most of her adult life, but it has come and gone. In the past it was about pushing herself physically. Now it’s about losing herself in the moment and coming out of the room as a different person: broader in mind and body, breathing easier. She is currently filming the final series of BBC One’s Doctors — and her character, for the record, definitely also does yoga.

Johannes started at his company gym, fell in love with the practice immediately, and pretty soon noticed that minor body aches he’d had for years quietly disappeared. Yoga became his refuge through City life and lockdown both. These days he starts every morning with a class in the studio. His favourite asana is child’s pose — for the calm and groundedness it brings. He recovers from it all with nature walks, his dog, and a day that never passes without chocolate.

Ali found yoga during lockdown when she needed somewhere to put her restless energy. She came for the physical practice and stayed because it helped her focus. She likes energetic classes and practising with other people in the room.

Alex first came through the doors of The House of Yoga as a student trying to make sense of shapes his body seemed determined not to make. Years later — after studying, teaching and asking a lot more questions — he came back to the same Putney studio as one of the teachers helping shape Phoenix. His story is about pain, curiosity, anatomy, dialogue and learning that yoga is not about conquering poses but rather understanding the body you actually have.

Marcus started practising yoga about eight years ago, and it was love at first practice. What began as two classes a week gradually became a daily routine. During lockdown he kept his practice going with the help of an app, which he happily abandoned after joining The House of Yoga in October 2021.

When The House of Yoga was heading towards closure, the uncertainty was difficult. Marcus dreaded losing something that had become an important part of his life. He joined Ray and others from the community in helping take the lead in keeping the studio open. Phoenix quickly found its feet and, before long, the studio felt like home again.

Now approaching his 800th class, Marcus still looks forward to every visit. Yoga has had a profoundly positive effect on his physical and mental wellbeing, but Phoenix has become about much more than the practice itself.

Every class is also an opportunity to see some of the genuine friends he has made at the studio over the years. Coffee after class has grown into lunches, dinners and plenty of time spent together away from the yoga mat.

The excellent teachers, beautiful studio and very good facilities all contribute to making every visit a pleasure. And frequently bumping into Ray is apparently a bonus too: “He is always in a playful mood and we always have a laugh about something.”

Kristian came to yoga through rowing. About ten years ago, he noticed that three members of his Masters Eight practised yoga and, as he puts it, “seemed to be healthier.”

So he asked his stroke, who also practised, where he should begin. The advice was simple: start with gentle and restorative yoga.

He hasn’t regretted a session since.

Now 82, Kristian is still a keen rower and has practised at Phoenix more than 650 times. He credits regular yoga with helping him, in his words, “keep the ageing process at bay.” What began with gentle and restorative yoga has become a regular Flow practice that he says he “couldn’t be without.”

But his connection with Phoenix goes beyond the practice itself. After hundreds of classes on the Upper Richmond Road, it’s also somewhere he feels he belongs.

“Living in Putney, Phoenix is my second home — a lovely, welcoming and outstanding community.”