Wrapping up our Keeping it Real campaign 

I’m super excited to share a wrap up of our Keeping it Real campaign. I can’t quite believe it has been running for six months now. Time really does fly when you’re championing real yoga! The campaign has had some great results and lots of lovely feedback from our fab yoga community which I’m thrilled to be able to share with you. I’ve put together this video with key successes or you can read on to find out more. Let’s dive in!

What is the Keeping it Real campaign?

First, just a quick recap to remind you what the campaign is and why we decided to do it in the first place…

As many of you know, I’ve been teaching yoga for over ten years now. In that time, hands down the thing I’ve heard most about why people don’t feel confident to come to a yoga class, is that yoga is just for the fit and the flexible. This campaign was all about tackling that misconception head on and busting some of those other yoga myths.

Real yoga really is for all ages, abilities and body types. I really wanted to show that through this campaign and encourage as many people as possible to give yoga a go.

What has the Keeping it Real campaign achieved?

There have been lots of campaign successes but, most importantly of all, the campaign has given people the confidence to give yoga a try. Since the start of ‘Keeping it Real’ over 50 completely new students have joined my classes. Several of you have told me that the decision to book on was down to something you’d seen in the campaign. I’m so pleased that I’ve been able to break down those barriers for you. As a result, more people are now experiencing the life-enhancing benefits of yoga.

I was also really pleased to hear that the campaign has helped you to feel more connected with me, not just as a teacher, but as a person too. I really wanted to challenge myself to ‘keep it real’ through the campaign. To do this, I created a couple of short videos that shared a little bit more about me. My hope was that it would help you to feel more confident to come to class if you were new to yoga – or be able to speak to me more openly if you were a regular student. Your feedback tells me this one has been a big tick!

One student said:

Have there been any other campaign successes?

Personally, I’ve been super proud that I’ve been able to shine a spotlight on the real people doing yoga. Just before I started the campaign, I rebranded completely and a big part of that was making sure that our wonderful yoga community was represented in everything I do. The campaign was very much an extension of that. An opportunity to shine a light on all of you lovely people!

A great example of this was the Chair Yoga video that we created featuring some of the fab residents at Waterhouse & Mackintosh Homes. I loved sharing more about chair yoga and showing how yoga can be easily modified so that anyone can take part. You guys seemed to love it too. It was by far the most ‘liked’ content that I shared as part of the campaign.

I was also really pleased to be able to challenge stereotypes about what yoga actually is. Real yoga is more than stretching and posing. It can also be taking a few deep breaths or enjoying a meal mindfully for example. My Mindful Minute videos were created to show that yoga goes beyond what happens on the mat. They are short practices to help you take a quick break in your day to reset and recentre. I’ll be keeping these live on my YouTube channel so you can revisit these anytime you need a wellbeing boost.

What’s coming up next?

Championing real yoga doesn’t stop here! In the next few months, I’ll be sharing some more campaign successes with you before moving on to phase two of the campaign. This phase will delve a bit deeper into the real people in our community. It wall also show how real yoga has really benefited them. Keep your eyes peeled for more video, social media and website content coming soon!

Thank you everybody for being part of this campaign. It’s been an absolute joy to share it with you and I can’t wait for phase two.