“Our minds are so occupied, constantly buzzing with thoughts, it’s very hard for us to find stillness and peace in our daily life.”

It’s a common refrain heard in this hyper-busy modern world. It is likely that there are few people today who wouldn’t recognise this description of life as being full of stresses and distractions flying in from all directions.

But 25-year-old Emma Vasquez has found a solution. For her, yoga has been literally life-changing. It brings her peace, comfort and a sense of positivity. But it has also brought her a career.

Four years ago, Emma took a cursory course in yoga teaching - just to deepen her own knowledge of the practice.

She didn’t think at the time it would be a turning point in her life.

“I just wanted to deepen my knowledge, id been studying yoga philosophy and decided to go for it,” said Emma, from Carlisle.

“After the course I decided to teach a class, I didn’t expect it to take off.”

Three months later, Emma decided she’d found her calling. She quit her “much loved” job at the Cumberland Infirmary’s Heart Centre and before she knew it, she was teaching 21 classes a week.

As Emma fell deeper in love with teaching yoga, she also found herself falling in love in a different way - with her now fiancé Martin Scott.

“I’m so lucky to run the studio with my partner Martin,” Emma said.

“He does a lot of the back office work with me.

“We put a lot into the studio and it is accredited highly, it’s good to be acknowledged for what we’re doing when we put so much into our work.”

Emma is being modest - the studio is collecting accolades at a rapid rate, recently being declared as one of the top 30 yoga studios in the UK by national firm Origym, as well as one of the top 25 yoga studios in the country by Women’s Health Magazine.

For Emma, yoga not only represents a world of growing professional success, but also a source of support through some extremely difficult personal experiences.

“I was very anxious when I first came to yoga, my twin sister was very poorly with organ failure and I felt very isolated in my life,” Emma said.

“I was so sick of putting myself down all the time and not allowing myself to be happy - I wanted to make a change.

“I knew yoga was good for relaxation and at that time I didn’t do anything that was ‘me time’ so I went for it.

“It changed my life.”