Hello
We are Hélène and Claire. We are the co-founders of L'Atelier Yoga. Our mission is more than teaching yoga. It's about leading the way for women, especially those in their 40s and beyond, to find strength, resilience, and pain-free movement in every stage of their life. Every woman deserves to feel vibrant, confident, and full of life and it is our deepest passion to guide you there.
My story (Claire)
"I have known Hélène for many years now. Both living in north London, we met at a playgroup for French speaking mums with our daughters. Mine was 6 months old, hers was 2. We both had our girls in our 40s and were feeling strong, full of energy and optimism. Fast forward to 2019. I am 49 and for me, life has taken a sharp turn. I feel constantly tired, run down. My mental health is at an all time low. I have no motivation for anything. My back is in constant pain, day and night. My joints feel rusty. I just feel old. Despite many visits to different doctors, nobody is able to tell me what is wrong with me. That is until a visit to my mother in France when, during a very ordinary conversation, she asks me: "are you taking anything for your menopause?".
This seemingly innocent question was a revelation for me. First, I realised that I was going through menopause or more precisely peri-menopause. Until that moment, I assumed that if I did not have hot flashes and was still on my cycle, I could not be starting menopause. I had never heard of the word peri-menopause. Second, I understood that the menopause, far from being a minor event, was actually an event with profound and lasting impacts on my body and mind.
Little by little, I started to make sense of many of my struggles. Even more importantly, this simple question made me understand that I had a say in what was happening to me. Instead of being a passive spectator, I could be in the driving seat and take back the control of my life.
Part of this journey back to myself was a return to exercising. Hélène for the nth time reminded me that yoga was a very good form of exercise. This time I listened and I joined one of her classes. I would have loved to say that yoga made an immediate difference, that I instantly enjoyed the classes. But no. The first months were difficult for me, physically and even more so mentally. I could not accept that my body had changed. I was no longer that 20 something full of stamina and strength. But each time I fell, each time I was about to give up, Hélène was there. With her gentle and patient approach, she gently guided me on my new path, my second spring.
Today my back pain is gone. I can tie my shoe laces easily and I can look backward to reverse my car.
I am convinced that all women, no matter what challenges they face, have the talent to shape and enjoy their own second spring.
My hope and belief with L'Atelier Yoga is that it is a place and a community where women feel understood, supported and cared for."
Claire
My story (Hélene)
"I discovered yoga a long time ago in France, where one of my maths teacher, a nun, would give us some yoga classes at lunch time. I must have been 17 years old. I had never managed to do any sport, any physical activity, no interest whatsoever, a bit clumsy, very scared of balls… but I was blown away by the yoga classes.
Unfortunately back in those days, yoga was not yet popular neither in France where I studied nor in Spain where I went on to live for a few years. I kept looking but could not find any classes! I kept taking gym memberships to try and keep fit but only to stop very soon after; I did not like it, it did not do it for me, at all.
So when I arrived in London in 1998 what a surprise and a pleasure to find yoga classes sprouting everywhere! I went to a community centre round the corner from me and started practising 2 to 3 times a week regularly and loving it. I went on to try fashionable centres, small classes, big classes, hatha, ashtanga, Iyengar styles, I loved them all!
The real revelation was when I went with one of my first and favourite teachers to India on a retreat. I realised that it was really what I wanted to do: Yoga all day long!
I trained in India, in 2003 in the Sivananda centre in Kerala and I have not stopped training, learning, taking classes since. In 2018 I took the teenyoga teacher training with Charlotta Martinus from Yoga Campus; in 2020, I trained to be a yin yoga teacher with Amelie Annoni and am currently doing the « Somatic Women » training specialising in Peri menopause and beyond with Judith Hanson-Lasater, her daughter Lizzie Lasater and Mary Richard. More than 20 years on and still learning of course!
With young children I had cut back on classes and focused mainly on local ones. I also founded in 2012, with a friend, a French after-school school to give our children some French education, culture and history. But kept teaching yoga, just a couple of classes a week because yoga was still my passion.
So here I am a few years down the line, the children have grown, one has left the nest, the other one has already one foot out, I am way past my menopause and truly believe I could not have done it without the help of my yoga practice. I am in what traditional Chinese medecine call « the second spring » and it is lovely. Bumpy but really lovely and empowering. My practice has changed, my vision of teaching is evolving all the time but Yoga has given me more confidence in my body, it has taught me to like it and appreciate it, with all its quirks, defaults and beauty. Yoga has taught me to be more patient, to take a step back when I need to. My yoga practice is my safe place, I feel happy and beautiful on my mat and want to share it with all the other women around me. Yoga has been a gift to me and it is something I am really proud and happy to share more widely in our beautiful Atelier Yoga."
Hélène