Bind Yoga is a light, welcoming yoga studio in the heart of Haringey. Founded by local resident and yoga teacher Beccy Watkinson, Bind seeks to build on the strong community already created in the area & offer greater opportunity for others to engage with yoga.

Tottenham has a really poor reputation as being a deprived & violent area, but actually, there are countless local people out here serving the community & Bind is proud to be one of them. Beccy Watkinson

As Bind Yoga approaches its first birthday, Yogamatters caught up with Beccy to find out more about how she came to open a yoga studio.

Tell us about why you set up your studio?

When I first started teaching, it was hard to find opportunities that worked alongside my family, so I knew early on I’d have to take control & create something of my own. After running my own classes nearby, I’d built up a really strong community of local students, but it was frustrating to be limited to a handful of venues to run classes & events. There was no room for expansion.

My classes were always busy, so I knew there was demand for a dedicated space & there’s nowhere like Bind Yoga in the area- you can travel 15 minutes in all directions & be overwhelmed with choice, but opportunities in Tottenham are scarce.

One evening, I was driving home from teaching & had a sudden burst of inspiration about where exactly my studio should be – I told my husband & he started browsing properties available to lease & we viewed this space a few days later. I knew it was perfect for what I wanted to create & from then, it was a very dynamic process of creating business plans, changing the use with the council & hoping we’d get approval before the landlord found someone else to take it on!

I always knew I wanted to create a local studio, I didn’t want to leave my students behind & as we’re raising a family in the area, I wanted to contribute something that would hopefully have a positive impact on our neighbourhood. One day I suppose I just felt brave enough to take the leap, there are so many other businesses popping up in the area & it has a really vibrant energy to it at the moment, so it felt like the right time to step up & do my part.

What was your vision and has this come to light?

My aim with Bind was to create a welcoming space that offered excellent quality teaching at an accessible price. I wanted to show that yoga is for everybody & to provide a place for people to come together & engage with their wellbeing- whether that’s through a purely physical focus or just from an opportunity to pause & reflect. Ultimately, it’s a space that facilitates connection.

Even though I didn’t have the biggest budget, I’ve taken great care to invest in brands whose values align with our own & teachers who really support the aim of the studio & I think this attention to detail is what makes Bind so authentic. We’re not trying to be anything we aren’t, we’re just focused on providing a great service to the people who pass through the doors.

I’m really proud of where we are & all that we’ve achieved so far. There’s lots for us to keep working towards as we move forwards but right now, I’m excited that we’re about to celebrate our first birthday on the 8th December. It’s been a labour of love getting Bind together & reaching this milestone is a testament to all that hard work & the support of the people around us.

How has the studio helped your local community?

Beyond the accessible pricing & inclusive timetable, we provide a space for people to come together, take a break from daily stress, honour their wellbeing & build relationships with their neighbours. It’s a dedicated space for wellness. I love it when people are signing into classes & bumping into old friends, recognising people who live on their streets, going for a coffee after class & sharing tips for local places with those who’ve just moved in. It’s great to have something so positive in the area & people have really responded to that.
We’ve been really heavily involved in supporting local fundraising & we also run a community class (though these are currently on hold while we search for new teachers!) where all money goes to Mind in Haringey helping those who need access to support. We’ve donated over £600 in the last year & have plans to grow this figure even higher.

There’s often so much negativity directed at this area, but the community has been so positive about the studio – even those who never practise here stopped in & wished us luck while we were building. I think it’s a positive reinforcement of the good in this area. When people see others investing in opportunities, it’s almost like an affirmation about the area as a whole, that it is deserving of care & it can be more. There are so many amazing champions of Tottenham & I hope we play a role in that too.

What do you love most about your studio space?

So many things! The energy it holds. The connections & community it’s building. Certain places just have a strong feel-good factor & I think we have it. It’s down to the brilliant teachers we have on the timetable & the willingness of students to step onto their mat & immerse themselves in the moment.

It’s a really light & open space but in an evening, or early morning, with all the candles lit & salt lamps glowing, it has a beautiful atmosphere. It’s like stepping into a little oasis of calm.

On a less serious note, I’m very proud of all the greenery we have in the studio: that focus on helping clean the air & I haven’t killed any of them yet!

What is your personal yoga journey and how has it evolved over the years?

I first started yoga from a very unhealthy place in my early teens on a quest to get Geri Halliwell’s skinny yoga body! My practice definitely came from a place of punishment. What I learned on the mat over time was how to connect & make peace with my body & appreciate it for all it could do. I dipped in & out over the years, favouring the most dynamic styles, I’d say I was in it purely for the physical but secretly I craved the peace that came with Savasana.

After our children were born, I used yoga as an escape for some me-time & really committed to my practice, I noticed very quickly the mental benefits of a regular practice & so on the suggestion of my teacher at the time, I took my first training. I never wanted to teach: the idea of standing in front of a room of strangers filled me with horror! I just wanted to invest in myself & discover more about my own practice. I loved teaching the first time I tried it. The whole experience was transformational & opened up a whole hidden side of myself – I think there’s something amazing that happens when you accept the vulnerabilities of teaching & share your heart that way. I constantly rave about my training & send everyone who expresses an interest over to my teacher.

My practice has definitely softened over the years, & I’ve grown more spiritual alongside it. Friends make jokes about how different I am but I’ve finally found a sense of peace with myself. This is my favourite part of a sustained yoga practice. It ebbs & flows: when you start out, you can’t be sure exactly where it’ll take you, but you always end up in the right place.

What is your vision for the future?

At the moment, we’re launching our first retreats & I’d like to build more upon the teacher mentoring that I run through the studio – it’s a course focused on business skills for yoga teachers, giving them confidence in marketing, mindset & creating a successful, sustainable business: the practical side of teaching that’s not often covered in your YTT but helps support the next generation.

I’d love to open another space in the future, something bigger offering more services & a place for treatments. There are so many ideas I have about where we go next, how we grow & how we give back – it’s just about finding the courage to expand into that vision!