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Michelle Ryan

Yoga Sculpt Pop-Up Monday, June 6 at 7 PM

By Announcement

The Iron Hour class you know and love has gotten even better and a lot more challenging!

We’ve recently rebranded this strength-based workout as Yoga Sculpt, and students are loving it.

If you haven’t been able to try it on Sundays or Thursdays, we’re offering a special pop-up class, Monday, June 7 at 7 p.m.

Yoga Sculpt still incorporates light hand weights (maybe even a little more than Iron Hour!), cardio and core work for maximum calorie-burning effect.

Instead of targeting the same muscles over and over, sequences change regularly so you’ll never hit that dreaded plateau.

It’s a total body workout designed to sculpt every major muscle group by combining yoga postures with weights and cardio. It’s a great balance of strength, conditioning and vinyasa flow!

We feel that Yoga Sculpt more appropriately describes this class and the effects it’s designed to have on your body. And we can’t wait for you to experience the difference.

Don’t miss it!

Why Lavender Towels in Savasana?

By News

Research has revealed that the essential oil of lavender may be used for treating anxiety, insomnia, depression and restlessness. 

That’s why we’re so excited to have brought back our cool lavender towels for you to enjoy during savasana!

If, for whatever reason, you don’t want to receive a lavender towel, that is absolutely no problem. Just let the teacher know. 

When you are finished with class, please place your used lavender towel in the basket just outside the hot room door with any rented Sterling practice towels.

We’ll take care of the rest. Enjoy!

Summer Bingo Challenge Starts June 1! Sign Up, Practice and Win Prizes

By Events

One of everyone’s favorite challenges is BACK this summer. Get ready for the 2021 Sterling Summer Bingo Challenge!

You have all of June this summer to fill up your card. Beginning Monday, June 1 through Wednesday, June 30, we’re challenging you to fill up your bingo card to win some fun prizes along the way.

All you have to do is simply maintain your practice and complete activities along the way. You can earn one bingo stamp per class.

If you’ve never played Sterling bingo, you’ll want to! Of course, if you have, you’ll want to play again!

Cards will be available this week at the front desk. Sign up and have (more) fun doing yoga this summer!

Memorial Day Weekend Sterling Schedule

By Announcement

We’re giving our staff and you a short break on Monday, May 31, the observance of Memorial Day.

But you’ll still have an opportunity to get your yoga in at 9 a.m. with our Original Hot 60.

No other classes will be offered. Our regular schedule will resume Tuesday, June 1 with our 10 a.m. Original Hot 60 class.

Remember this class is open to non-members for a $15 donation to

Veterans Recovery Resources. Your last chance during our Memorial Day promotion to support this very worthy cause! Make your donation here and then book your class!

Follow us on Facebook to stay up-to-date about holiday schedule announcements and more.

You can also download the MINDBODY app (free for Android and Apple) to follow the latest class schedule, book classes, see who’s teaching and more!

See you in the hot room soon!

How You Can Support Services for Veterans This Month

By News

Memorial Day is this month, and what a special time to remember the ultimate sacrifices our service men and women–and their families–have made.

In memory of them, we are asking you to join our May karma cause and “Be the Light” in our community for veterans.

We want to highlight and support Veterans Recovery Resources, which provides a unique by-veteran, for-veteran approach in delivering counseling, physical therapy, medical care and more. They are also one of our valued community partners!

Please help us support their much-needed role in being the light to one of the largest concentrations of veterans in the country.

If you’re not currently an active member, you can “Be the Light” by joining us for ANY class now through Memorial Day. Simply click this link and your donation gives you access to a class. Then schedule your class between now and Monday, May 31, it’s that simple! All proceeds go to this most important community service.

Sterling members are welcome to make donations to this worthy cause as well. If you can’t make it to a class, but want to make a donation, we will be accepting them through the end of the month.

Get to Know Nappie Award Best Yoga Instructor Finalist Kenee Lacoste

By Announcement

My yoga experience started about 13 years ago after the birth of my youngest son, Aden. My husband, David, got a yoga membership for me. He thought it would help with my depression.

I practiced for a year and then dropped out. After about a year, I went back

realizing how much it had helped me. I really embraced the breathing, focusing on the postures and the changes in my body. I slept better, I was more focused and clearer. My family noticed the difference as well. My husband encouraged me to keep practicing.

Fast forward a few years and I decided I wanted a life change and to share the yoga that had helped me so much. So, in 2017, I decided to go to Sterling Teacher Training to become a yoga teacher. Those who know me, are aware that I rarely leave my familiar circle and my routine. The thought of spending time away from my family and my friends was a great source of anxiety for me.

My decision to attend teacher training, gave opened me up to some wonderful support from our studio and fellow teachers. During my preparation, I practiced and studied with a fellow student, and now teacher who has become one of my best friends.

We spent 28 days in Mexico, practiced two 90-minute yoga classes every day, studied anatomy, yoga history, yoga philosophy and earned 200 hours of training certification. We learned to drink our coffee black, enjoyed vegetarian food.

We survived teaching drills, asanas, and killer mosquitoes. I learned so much and, in the process, I was able to handle missing my family so much. I left Mexico on a Saturday, and on Monday I was on the podium teaching my first class. I was confident, prepared – and yes scared to death!

The last three and a half years have been a dream teaching students. I love both the opportunity to share yoga with new students as well as motivating students with a long-term practice. One of my greatest joys is seeing students progress and gain confidence in their own practice.

My goal is to be a benefit to my students. Me being prepared as a teacher is my greatest service to them. That means constantly studying and doing what is necessary to challenge myself and improve my knowledge of yoga. That led me to learn about other types of yoga and in 2018 I decided to attend training to teach Vinyasa.

While there are distinct differences between Vinyasa and Bikram yoga, both have benefits and both practices will complement each other. I have been fortunate enough to teach in several different environments and work with students with a variety of fitness levels and goals.

In the summer of 2018, I was fortunate to work with several Division 1 athletes, football players and some NFL draft picks. Yoga is no respecter of persons. I have seen the top-notch athletes brought to their knees and humbled by simple Pranayama breathing.

My yoga journey has brought me many places, but there is no place like home. I have conquered anxiety, depression, mental and physical challenges, and I see the same strength in my students with every class. I never set out to be a great yoga teacher, but only the best I can be while having the honor of sharing this great yoga gift.

Truly outside of my family sharing yoga is the most important thing I do with my life. Sterling is an amazing community, and I am very proud to be a part of it.

Get to Know Nappie Award Best Yoga Instructor Finalist Michelle Ryan

By Announcement

Almost ten years ago in Savannah, Ga., I discovered Bikram Yoga. Upon a co-worker’s suggestion, I tried it in 2011 and have been practicing regularly ever since.

Quite simply, I fell in love with the practice for what it did for my body, mind and spirit. That quickly translated into a desire to become a teacher and share that with others.

Since completing Sterling Hot Yoga Teacher Training (a 200-hour training in original hot yoga) in Summer 2015, I have been certified to teach: Yoga Sculpt (yoga with weights), Yin, Inferno Hot Pilates, Vinyasa, Power Yoga, Chair Yoga, Yoga Nidra, Mindfulness Resilience Training for military and veterans, Gravity Yoga and Breath Coaching! I am now E-RYT 200 certified with nearly 2,000 teaching hours to my credit.

I am the first (and still only) yoga4cancer-trained teacher in Alabama, and prior to COVID-19, I had been teaching regular classes for cancer patients, survivors and caregivers at USA Mitchell Cancer Institute. Last year, I completed a training for Yoga for Nervous System Disorders, and I had been working with an MS patient prior to COVID as well. Last year, I also completed a yoga for traumatic brain injury training offered by the Love Your Brain Foundation

I most recently completed a training for Mindful Resilience for Compassion Fatigue, which helps identify and implement self-care techniques for healthcare professionals, caregivers, first responders, teachers and more to help prevent burnout. Later this year, I will complete Level 1 & 2 Adaptive Yoga training offered through Mind Body Solutions that makes yoga poses accessible to all students regardless of ability.

My goal has always been to seek out and learn from the masters, so I have studied with Bernie Clark, Bryan Kest, Esak Garcia, Ben Sears, Jimmy Barkan, and Scott Lamps and Ida Jo, the head teachers of Ghosh Yoga, and many others. In addition to the hundreds of hours of in-person and online workshops and trainings since Sterling training, I have taught at studios in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Texas and Kentucky. 

For the better part of two years beginning in 2017, I taught for Mike Winter, the owner of Hot Yoga Houston and a graduate of Bikram’s first teacher training in 1994. Mike opened the first original hot yoga school in the state of Texas and is well-known in the yoga community for his high standards and dialogue-based instruction he expects from his teachers. He has trained and coached many teachers and studio owners in his 25-plus-year career, and I consider myself just one of the fortunate ones to have had the opportunity.

In 2018, I was honored to join the Sterling Hot Yoga Teacher Training team to share the philosophy and history of yoga, with an emphasis on the origins of original hot yoga. I have participated in trainings in New Orleans, Huntsville and Arlington, Texas.

When I began practicing, I took 10 classes and signed up for the 60-Day Challenge, a 90-minute class every day for that period! It was the best way to devote myself to the practice right from the start. Though I’m not able to practice every day, I make every effort to show up on my mat as often as I can.

There really is no substitute for me for sweating, stretching and pushing my way through a class alongside the students I teach. I am currently participating in Baron Baptiste’s 40 Days to Personal Revolution, an amazing journey into meditation, self-inquiry, and personal and group yoga practice.

When not studying, practicing or teaching yoga, I put my undergraduate and graduate degrees in journalism to use as a freelance writer and marketing consultant, assisting clients with social media, blogging, website content and more. My Sterling training was just the first step of a continual journey, and I believe that is evidenced by my ongoing commitment to learning and growing as a teacher.

Vote here. Thank you for your support!

We Need Your Votes to Bring Home TWO Nappie Awards!

By News

Well, we made it to the finals of the 2021 Nappie Awards thanks to YOUR votes! 

That means we’ll still need your help to bring home 2021 Nappie Awards in TWO categories, Best Yoga Studio and Best Yoga Instructor. 

Beginning TODAY at noon, start casting your votes here

Established in 2010, Sterling Hot Yoga & Wellness was the first yoga studio in Alabama to offer Original Hot Yoga. 

Since that time, our schedule has expanded to include Yoga Sculpt (previously Iron Hour), Inferno Hot Pilates, Vinyasa Flow and Yin Yoga.

That’s just our typical weekly schedule! 

Some of our special classes or workshops include: Candlelight Yin + Yoga Nidra, Platinum Plus (an intermediate hot yoga class), Hot Vinyasa Fusion and Gravity Yoga.

Not to mention our two very special community partners through which we offer yoga, USA’s Mitchell Cancer Institute and Veterans Recovery Resources.

We are committed to being an excellent source of health and wellness in the Mobile community, and we hope you’ll keep voting for us!

You can vote once per day now through Sunday, May 23 at midnight.

Stay tuned in the coming weeks as we will introduce our TWO teachers who are representing Sterling who have made the Nappie finals for Best Yoga Instructor: Michelle Ryan and Kenee Lacoste.

Thank you in advance for your continued support and votes!

 

New Health Service Now Available at Sterling!

By Announcement

Ready to improve your relationship with food? Whether you’re ready to simply try something new or you need to target allergies or an illness that has complicated your relationship with food, Sterling Hot Yoga & Wellness is pleased to offer a new service on site that can help!

Heather Fowler, owner of ComplEATly Well, is now meeting with clients at the studio for one-on-one coaching, consultations and more. 

She graduated from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition with an added Specialty in Hormone Health. She is a certified Integrative Women’s Health Coach with a Level 2 Master Class Certification from Precision Nutrition.

Heather can help you and your family with regard to women’s health, women’s hormones, and child nutrition and body neutrality with custom nutrition plans based on your needs.

For more information about Heather or ComplEATly Well services, visit www.compleatlywell.com. You can also schedule a free consultation there today!

Safety Guidelines Revised With Governor’s New Order

By Announcement

With Gov. Kay Ivey’s announcement of the “Safer Apart” order effective Friday, April 9 at 5 p.m., we will be making a few changes at Sterling.

While masks are no longer required, we still strongly encourage you to wear them at the studio in the common areas until you get on your mat to practice. You do not have to wear your mask while you practice.

We will continue to take staff and student temperatures upon arrival with the continued safety of everyone in mind.

With this announcement, we have reopened our shower facilities for students to use after class, and we are also bringing back a popular amenity—lavender towels!

Thank you, everyone, for continuing to comply with our safe operating guidelines and for your support of Sterling. We could not have made it through the last year without you!