Hotpod Yoga Founder: A Day In The Life

Nick Higgins spent a brief stint as a TV presenter, followed by 2 years working as a school teacher while training to be a full-time yoga instructor. Following teacher training at leading studio YogaHaven in Morocco and Clapham, he began working at their hot studios in London. Combining the pedagogical approach with a fresh eye for business, he now acts as Yoga Director for Hotpod Yoga.

Nick says: Mornings are my favourite time of day. Normally, if I’m not teaching late the night before, I wake up around 5.30 – 6am and do 20 minutes meditation and a little yoga to wake my body up, shower (blast it cold for 2 minutes too!), change and head to the office to meet Max (my Hotpod Yoga co-founder) for breakfast at around 7.30am. Currently our office is in London Fields and I live in Stoke Newington, so I have a nice walk to work which is about 30 minutes (shorter if I ride my scooter!) Max and I have breakfast around 7.30am/7.45am and start work around 8.15/8.30am.

Yoga had a huge impact on me and my life. From a physical perspective it opened me up, strengthened me and made my body feel comfortable. From a mental perspective it gave me a sense of ease and calm. Ultimately, it makes me feel incredible, and this is what we want to bring to people with Hotpod. I can honestly say I love it all, cliche I know; but I love understanding different areas of the business, working with people, the challenges and the rewards. If I had to pick one area particularly it would be teaching, as there is nothing that compares to seeing people come in feeling slightly groggy and tense, and leaving feeling completely refreshed and rejuvenated. There are always bits of any job that don’t bring elation, but actually it’s how you view them makes that difference, so really I enjoy it all!

There are some very flexible ways to do your teacher training to become a yoga instructor, be it intensive or part-time, to suit you. The best advice I’ve received is to get lots of high quality sleep. There are many people who are inspiring in different areas that I have seen or met along the way, however if I’m allowed two – my main inspirations would absolutely be my parents.

I don’t have a lunchtime ritual, apart from eating some good, clean food. In terms of snacks, this mid-afternoon I have a bowl of raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, lemon juice and dark chocolate to reinvigorate me for the afternoon. I try to attend a Hotpod Yoga class a day, going to each teachers’ class at one point or other over the month. I’m also getting into more free body weight exercises – Callisthenics – everyday with one or two cardio exercises (sprints/swimming) a week too. My evenings vary, if I’m teaching I will finish work around 7/8pm. Out of hours, I like to hang out with my girlfriend, friends, discover London, try new actives and exercises, read and learn as much as I can.

I think I wanted to be a fireman when I was small! But this is honestly my dream job now, I feel incredibly lucky to do what I do and wouldn’t want anything different.

I’m really into personal tracking and health technology so my top 3 online recommendations are:

Sleep cycle – monitors the quality of your sleep
Head space – meditation app
Babylon – medical app