Good Karma For Yoga Steve!

Steve Thomas has changed his life having set up a business as an advanced yoga practitioner and holistic therapist in St Helens.

After suffering for 17 years with chronic ill-health, during which time he almost died, Steve is on the road to recovery thanks to his yoga practice. Setting up his own business has allowed him to get back into work and share his healing lifestyle with others.

Having learned from Sivananda yoga masters, Steve wants to bring traditional yoga to the public.

Steve said: “Yoga is spiritual, putting you in a good place and back on the right path, especially if you are coming from a place of depression or stress. I was really in a bad way and I didn’t understand how my lifestyle could have made me unwell.”

Steve is a British School of Yoga qualified meditation teacher with over 7000 hours of practice under his belt. In addition he is qualified in massage therapy, psychology and stress management.

He added: “I got into yoga after meeting an instructor at my local gym and once I opened myself up to the practice I’ve never looked back. I felt emotionally and spiritually better and I could feel the positive change within me. I wanted to share this with others and soon began my yoga teacher training.”

Steve was referred to St Helens Chamber from by Local JobCentre Plus and was assigned a dedicated Business Coach to help him into self-employment.

Steve said: “My Business Coach at the Chamber, Steve Mather, has been incredibly helpful, I really value his constructive advice.

“Every step of the way Steve has supported me and made me feel like what I’m doing is worthwhile. He listened to me and believed in my idea – he gave me the confidence to push ahead with my business.”

Steve Mather, Start-up Business Coach at St Helens Chamber, said: “Steve is incredibly inspiring. He has used yoga to turn the life around and he is very passionate about sharing this with the world. We’re delighted to have supported him into self-employment and we’re excited to see how his business grows.”

St Helens Chamber is part of Enterprise Hub, the enterprise gateway for business start-up support in Merseyside.  Offering expert advice and support to anyone thinking about starting a business including help to:

• Understand the process of starting a business
• Research a business idea
• Build a comprehensive business plan
• Develop a marketing plan
• Create financial forecasts to understand the costs of running your  business and potential income
• Identify sources of finance to get started

Enterprise Hub is funded by the European Regional Development Fund. For more information about the support available email enterprisehub@thewo.org.uk or ring us on 0151 706 8113