SEAN MCARTHUR says he had a life-changing epiphany moment two and a half years ago after a yoga class.

The owner of a property company and a trading company, who lives in the West End of Glasgow, had taken part in the odd class when he was at the gym.

It was only when he attended more regularly, and tried Bikram yoga, practised in a room heated to 40 degrees centigrade with humidity of 40%, that he had his light bulb moment.

"After my second Bikram class I went to the toilet and burst out crying," he remembers. "I thought, 'This is what I want to do, I want to tell other people how good it is'. And that began the journey to open the yoga studio."

The 46-year-old set up City Fusion Yoga in Montrose Street in the Merchant city three months ago.

As well as offering classes to all ages and abilities, all the way up to advanced level, the idea is simply to open up yoga to everyone.

The name fusion refers to hot yoga, the blend Bikram and regular Hatha yoga offered in two of the three studios.

"The hot yoga is like Bikram, and we have a Bikram-trained teacher," explains Sean, "but is is extreme. It is 90 minutes, really challenging, and I thought, 'There are other forms of yoga out there, so we can offer different types' . Hence the name of the studio: Fusion Yoga."

The bright, light-filled studios offer classes from 7.15am until early evening. Prices range from an introductory offer of £20 for 20 days for newcomers to a monthly membership.

There are special deals for students, a group that can benefit greatly from the classes, according to Sean.

"There have been a lot of studies done and in one, of 100 students tested who did yoga in the US, compared to 100 who didn't, those who did yoga had a 98% better success rate in their exams and suffered from less stress," he says.

"Yoga is great for everyone; you really go back to your authentic self, feel good and don't get overly stressed. Life is an emergency these days for everyone. With yoga, because you're doing so much good to your body, you see past all of that.

"We have had amazing stories of people who haven't touched their toes in 20 years. Some of them come out crying.

"Another great example is a woman who has experienced back pain every day for three years. After one class she came back the next day and said that was the first time she has woken up without any back pain."

Visit www.cityfusionyoga.com.