Pure Yoga + Cycle (PYC), in Hamala, is Bahrain’s only topline hot yoga studio and licensed Spinning facility. Owner Fatima is a Saudi national who has mentored numerous students and trainers to date.
She attended her first Spinning class in the year 2000. “It started off as a quest for personal transformation,” she says. “I had dealt with obesity at the young age of 18. I lost 70 kilograms within five to six years. Today, I am approximately 60 kilograms, so you can do the math! I remember struggling to find the best way to reach an ideal weight in those roller-coaster years. Advice from friends and family didn’t really help. Finally, I sought professional help, and that made me want to be qualified and certified to help others transform themselves to live truly happier lives.”
She retells her initial experience with this form of working out: “Being overweight, I had just started my quest to lose the extra pounds. I wasn’t very keen on the Spinning class; I stayed for 10 minutes and left, thinking I would never do it again. One day, I had no other option but to take the class again, and to my luck it was a session with Spinning master instructor Sarah Morelli. I went through the hour without looking at the time; she had taken me to another world and that’s when I discovered the mind-body connection of exercise and fell in love with it.”
Fatima went on to get certified as a Spinning instructor in 2007 by none other than Sarah Morelli herself. “She inspires me still today and I still learn a lot from her,” she says. Since then, the fitness professional has attended many an international event. “I have attended the World Spinning and Sports Conference (WSSC) every June since 2010, and have gone to the Spinning showcase in the UK five times to date. The 24-hour Portugal Ride in August 2015, the underground Spinning 12 hour event in a salt mine in Poland in 2016, and the six-hour Spinning Experience in Holland in 2014 and 2016 are a few of the amazing, fun events that I have attended. I also join many fitness instructors every year to learn about new types of exercises and stay up-to-date with new sports research and physiology,” she says.
In her initial years, Fatima did have to get around some difficulties in treading her own path in Saudi Arabia’s conservative society. She says: “When I first started, about 12 years ago, fitness for women in Saudi Arabia was very rare, and was meant only for the well-travelled and elite. Most fitness instructors were expatriates, so it was very difficult for others to understand why I was taking this path. But I am proud to say that I have inspired, trained and supported many young women of my country to become fitness instructors. Today, it’s different. The acceptance level is very high and most people are trying to get active in some way or another. It’s great to see the level of awareness grow.”
Besides training students on indoor bikes, Fatima teaches fitness bootcamps, HIIT, boxing, strength workouts using functional training, as well as the various forms of yoga. She is also a CanFitPro personal trainer and group fitness instructor, as well as a certified trainer in ACE, TRX, PeakPilates and kickboxing. In another ‘first’, Fatima is the pioneering Piloxing instructor in the Middle East. She explains: “Piloxing is a creative mix between Pilates and boxing, geared towards women. The mental and physical goal is to attain a ‘sleek and powerful’ self-image. I was at a UK fitness convention where they launched Piloxing for the first time in Europe, and I loved the workout. So, I flew to Los Angeles and got certified by its inventor, Viveca Jenson, who is an inspirational woman.”
Not only has the energetic entrepreneur helped people attain their health and fitness goals, she has also made them look fabulous while getting there with TIMA, the first Saudi /Arab brand for sportswear, that she founded in 2012. She says: “TIMA is a brand made for women by a woman who has faced struggles and found ways to overcome them. It empowers them, and makes them feel and look good. The inspiration to launch it came from those around me who were against my mission to advocate fitness for Saudi women. It became my vehicle to reach out to them, because, well, no one can say no to fashion! It is also inspired by the ladies who trained with me and complained about how boring sport apparel is. Many of TIMA’s lines are actually named after these women who inspired the design.” The collection is available in Bahrain at PYC’s retail section.
PYC is Fatima’s baby across the bridge, in Bahrain. “It is where one can find a true connection of mind and body, either with yoga or Spinning classes,” she says. “We are a family here; a community that will support and embrace you. We give a personalised experience, and are genuinely driven to better people’s lives.”
She goes on to add that PYC will be consistently expanding its expertise in fitness education and training. Apart from regular classes, there are many workshops related to meditation, yoga teacher training and Spinning certifications planned in the coming months. Commenting on her loyal clientele, she says: “It is my commitment, enthusiasm and hard work that has brought me success. I strive to improve myself and empower others to achieve their greatest potential. My strength lies in the fact that my clients can relate to me. I am real, genuine and human. I face the same problems and struggles and strive to find ways to overcome them. Every woman needs a support system, and healthy habits, like exercising, to make it easier. I can make people see and experience that, and they achieve fantastic results.”
