After four moves, Michelle Stobart can finally say she’s brought her business of flexibility to its “dream location.”
Starting Sept. 6., Stobart, the owner of Inhale Yoga Studio, laid out her yoga mats, arranged her fitness balls and offered yoga classes at the studio’s new location, 63 S. Court St., above Follett’s University Bookstore.
In 1997, Stobart began performing yoga. After completing a yoga-teaching program and gaining experience as a yoga instructor at Ping, Stobart opened Inhale Yoga Studio in 2004 in Marietta.
To be closer to her family, Stobart decided to move her studio to Athens in 2007. Before its most recent move, the studio has been housed in two different locations at 8 N. Court St. and 29 E. Carpenter St.
“When I first decided to move my studio to Athens,” Stobart said. “This was the space that I always wanted … It has always felt like home to me.”
Inhale Yoga Studio will continue to be a Vinyasa-based studio with Yin Restorative, Anusara and Yoga Therapy classes for all levels of expertise.
Most classes are an hour and a half in length and are taught by eight different instructors, including Stobart. There is a standard $10 fee per class, but the studio offers different membership packages that range from $45-$720. The studio attracts Athens residents, students and faculty, Stobart added.
Moving into the new space was not easy, Stobart said. Since 2007, she negotiated with the Athens Masonic Lodge, the landlord of the property, and Follett’s, who leases the property, asking to rent this space.
“I got used to hearing ‘no’ a lot,” Stobart said. “Over time, we grew as a business and I continued to ask for the space. I finally got a ‘yes’ this year.”
The size of the studio is what attracted Stobart to this property, as it allows Inhale Yoga Studio to transition to being more of a “wellness center than just a yoga studio.”
The metamorphosis is being accomplished with the addition of a sauna, several message therapists, nutrition-based classes and a larger boutique of eco-friendly apparel and products.
“Aesthetically, it was just the right place,” Stobart said. “I like the way in which we can be here and have the big-city feel in a small-town life.”
Zelma Badu-Younge, an associate professor of dance at Ohio University who has been going to Inhale Yoga Studio for two years, said she loves the new location.
“Inhale Yoga (Studio) is my favorite place to be in Athens,” Badu-Younge said. “It’s something that I need, want and cherish.”
sl642509@ohiou.edu
