OUR STORY
Wanna know what we’re all about? Meet our Founder, Chloe McDonald, and discover the origins of REVIVE YOGA LONDON.
Chloe
McDonald
REVIVE
Founder & Owner
Specialist Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist
Yoga & Pilates Teacher
Lover of movement, mountains and making memories
Mumma to Luna (fur baby) and Ruairi (human baby)
Why REVIVE?
Through ten years of clinical practice as a Physiotherapist, I have seen first-hand the incredible power that emotion, stress levels and a general sense of well-being have on a person’s physical symptoms and ability to heal. What I have always loved about yoga is that it doesn’t try to separate a person out, it works on everything together. Yoga is all about connection, self-observation and self-discovery. On the mat, it doesn’t matter how ‘good’ or ‘bad’ you are. The journey is about noticing your body, mind and breath and feeling present and alive at that moment. This is something that I have always loved helping people to discover and something I wanted to bring more of to Tooting and Balham.
Prior to REVIVE, alongside Physiotherapy, I had been teaching my own Yoga and Pilates classes in local school halls. However, they didn’t provide the environment I desired and I wanted a dedicated space to bring together different teachers, classes and styles of practice - to give people of all abilities and preferences an option to be involved and to build a sense of community. So, in November 2018, with no real idea about how to run a business, REVIVE Tooting Bec opened its doors. Much like yoga and Pilates, REVIVE has been a journey of discovery! Owning a business, I have found, is a real roller-coaster ride. From floods to gas leaks - it feels like our studios have seen it all! But the incredible community at REVIVE keep us smiling through the dips and beaming through the highs.
With REVIVE Tooting Bec thriving and often fully booked, I decided to expand into a second space in Balham! Despite coronavirus throwing us all curveball (Balham was closed for the majority of it’s first two years of rental!) we are utterly in love with our younger-but-bigger sister studio.
REVIVE is intended to be about community and inclusivity. If there is something you want from our studios which we are not providing, or you have any ideas about how we can improve, I would absolutely love to hear from you at chloe@reviveyogalondon.com. Thank you for being part of our journey!
Off The Mat
Life, for me, is all about balance, which is much trickier to find since I became a Mumma! Friends and family are high on my priorities list so I’m often travelling around the country (and world) to visit and catch up. Energetically, I’m always drawn towards moving quickly. I love to create and materialise new ideas and experiences, but sometimes this can lead to feeling overwhelmed. Yin yoga, restorative and mediation help to slow me down when I need to rest and recharge. So does wine with friends.
We hope you love our spaces as much as Luna does!