Sean moved from Sydney to the Gold Coast in 2005 to live the dream and spread the love of Bikram Yoga to the coast. Jodie was living the corporate life in Brisbane and feeling like a ‘fish out of water’ wanted desperately to move backdown the coast… The only thing missing was Bikram Yoga!
With Sean a builder by trade (carpenter for 20 years) and Jodie a CPA Accountant (please don’t tell anyone), the yin and the yang met to create what we now know as ‘Bikram Yoga Gold Coast’. It all started back in 2006 in a tiny room in Helensvale that fit 14 people at a push. Sean taught all 11 classes and began the Bikram buzz! At the end of 2006, as Jodie was on her way to teacher training in LA, Sean stumbled (he was on his way to the toilet) upon a great location to build the name of Bikram Yoga on the Gold Coast – The ‘Old Burleigh Theatre Arcade’. We have many fond memories of taking class and heading straight across the road for a cooling swim in the ocean! With Bikram’s increasing popularity the time came to expand. Jodie says ‘I remember being 8 month’s pregnant and one night squeezing 48 people in the room…. there was no room for me!’ So it was time to look for a permanent home with a bigger room, better parking, showers and change rooms. Finding a home in Township Drive, West Burleigh has been a dream of ours since it all began.
Its been an amazing journey from it literally being ‘the Sean and Jodie show’and teaching all the classes at the arcade, to now have 5 resident teachers and 21 classes to choose from. With pride and joy we have also watched 2 of our students become teachers, to grow wings and fly, and to open the beautiful Bikram Yoga in Southport.
Along the way we have been blessed with our 2 beautiful girls, Lily and Lucy (you may hear Sean joke he’s surrounded by female energy as even his dog is a girl! But then be comes home to say he is the luckiest bloke around when he gets a class full of women). We both love what we do and feel blessed everyday as we watch peoples lives change for the better. Each day we hear stories of how Bikram Yoga has healed their bodies and their minds, which is why we have a testimonials link for everyone to get a glimpse of how some of our regular students find hope and peace when all else has failed (there are more on Bikram’s main website).
We feel happy when we bump into familiar faces around the Coast and stop for a chat, usually about Bikram and for those who haven’t been in to practice for a while their parting words are usually, “ I have to come back to Bikram again, I felt so good when I was practicing”. That feel good feeling stays with you forever and the light of yoga never goes out.
Our passion for Bikram is still alive after almost 20 years of combined experience. The light of Bikram’s Hot Yoga series of 26 postures and 2 breathing exercises’ is shining brighter than ever and the advanced series of 84 postures has presented the next step on this fantastic ever-changing journey. Our hope isto continue to build upon the community that is now Bikram Yoga Gold Coast, which is surrounded by many special people, students and teachers alike. We also want to see the values of Bikram’s wishes for the series to be upheld and the postures to be taught the way they were intended (as they were documented 5,000 years ago).
You can be sure to see us at the studio teaching and practicing almost every day and are always willing to listen, guide and help in any way we can. Outside of the studio, you will see us with a yoga book or find us scouring the Internet to continue our education on the never ending journey of yoga and health, and in particular the Bikram “Hot Yoga “ Series.
We are so glad to have discovered what our lives needed and help you to find the same. See you in the hot box!
Namaste
Sean, Jodie, Lily, Lucy and Gypsy
Sean and Jodie began Bikram Yoga Gold Coast in 2006. Click below to read more about their story and click to the right to read all about the teachers.
