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Michelle Ryan

Outdoor Vinyasa and Yin Classes Return This Weekend!

By Events

Now that the weather is warming up, we’re going to bring back our outdoor classes!

These proved to be a popular option before we put them on hold for the winter, so we hope they give you an option to enjoy the great outdoors and your yoga practice at the same time!

Join us on Saturdays at 2:30 p.m. in the space next to the Moorer Public Library on McGregor Avenue for vinyasa flow. Sign up here!

On Sundays at 4:30 p.m., we’ll meet at the stone monument, the “Rites of Passage,” between St. Joseph’s Chapel and the Student Center on the campus of Spring Hill College. Sign up here

Outdoor classes are included in all active Sterling memberships. If you’re not an active member, you can still participate! Your first class is on us, then drop-ins are $15 after that.

Sign up in advance to reserve your spot. We’ll have plenty of space to socially distance!

Keep in mind, there will be no livestreaming options with our outdoor classes. In case of inclement weather, we’ll move class back to the studio. Stay tuned to your email and our social media channels for updates!

Yoga on Tap Continues on Tuesdays at Serda Brewing Co.

By Events
Our outdoor yoga series “Yoga On Tap” in partnership with Serda Brewing Co. continues! 
 
If you’ve been looking for a FREE vinyasa flow class in a fun outdoor space, join Bridget Reiter at one of our favorite local breweries downtown on Tuesdays at 6 p.m.
 
EVERYONE is welcome! Bring yourself, bring friends — it’s a great way to stay connected to Sterling outside of the studio or learn a little bit more about it for anyone who hasn’t visited us yet.
 
Social distancing guidelines will be observed and space is limited, so please arrive early.
 
Join us Tuesday, April 6 at 6 p.m. If you’d like, you can hang around with your friends or make new ones over some of Serda’s local micro brews, including IPAs, sours, ales and more!

Thank You for Supporting Our LoveYourBrain Karma Class!

By Announcement

During March, which is Brain Injury Awareness Month, Sterling hosted a special karma class to help raise money and awareness to help support those affected by traumatic brain injury (including concussion). 

We want to thank everyone who donated, participated in class or helped spread the word.

Because of each of you, Michelle met her $300 fundraising goal to fulfill one of the components of her training with LoveYourBrain, a nonprofit that provides yoga, retreat and meditation programs internationally to build community and foster resilience for people affected by TBI. 

Thank you so much for your support in making the healing power of yoga accessible for everyone!

Congrats to Our Healthy Habits Challengers and Winners!

By Announcement

Congratulations to our 21-Day Healthy Habit challengers, Mendy Bornfleth, Robert Carlock, Kaitlyn Holman and Danny Miller! These dedicated yogis completed 21 classes in 21 days, putting them well on their way to setting and keeping the healthy habit of practicing yoga regularly. ⠀

These dedicated yogis completed 21 classes in 21 days, putting them well on their way to setting and keeping the healthy habit of practicing yoga regularly.

Congratulations also to these challenge prize winners: Danny, nutritional counseling from The Delicious Dietitian with Bridget Reiter; Kaitlyn, juicing bundle from Heidi Pritchett; and Mendy, organic soaps from MelAsana Soap

In March, we challenged everyone to set healthy habits with our 2021 Healthy Habits Challenge! Since it takes about three weeks to form a habit, the challenge was to take 21 classes in 21 days and get your year off to a healthy start!

Did you miss the Healthy Habits Challenge? You can start your own at any time! But if you prefer to push yourself along with others at the studio, stay tuned!

The Healthy Habits Challenge is the first of four 21-day challenges we’ll offer this year. For every one you complete, you’ll get an entry into a special prize drawing, and if you complete all four challenges, you’ll be entered into a separate drawing when we celebrate your accomplishments at the end of the year.

Keep up the great work!

Sheri Granberry Hits Major Class Milestone at Sterling!

By Testimonial

When Sterling Hot Yoga & Wellness (then Bikram Hot Yoga Mobile) opened in October 2010, Sheri Granberry took her first class at the studio during the first week.

She wasn’t new to yoga. Iyengar, Anusara, Jivamukti, Baptiste, Ashtanga and even Bikram were among the many styles she’d practiced before she landed at Sterling.

But it was the original hot yoga sequence of 26 postures and two breathing exercises that has consistently motivated her to practice since then, and just last week, Sheri reached an amazing milestone of 2,000 classes!

For Sheri, her practice has become an essential part of her day. “It’s part of my world, just like bathing or brushing my teeth. It’s a body/mind reset,” she said. “For me as I age, it’s more moving meditation and less of attaining a goal in a particular posture.”

She equates that consistent practice with a “type of internal cleansing, a feeling of bodily rejuvenation and a restoration of a fresh day/approach to things,” she said.

Sheri also noted the source of her motivation to practice, her yoga buddy, Flora Thompson. (Read more about their friendship that blossomed at Sterling.)

“A very long time” ago, Sheri was first motivated to practice yoga as “a retaliation to all the Jazzercise that people were doing back then,” she said of the fitness craze that flourished in the ‘80s. 

She had even practiced the original hot yoga sequence on her own outside of the studio setting, and she noted the difference it makes. 

“It’s so much better to practice in a heated room! Your body is like steel,” she said. “It bends when heated, but rigid when cold.”

Many times, it’s easy for students to work too hard in postures, denying themselves the opportunity to find balance, or as Sheri put it, peace.

“The more you force a posture, the less likely you will ever make peace with that posture,” she said of the most surprising things her practice has taught her. “Also my body is never the same day to day.”

Sheri has been a fixture on the front row as long as most of us at the studio can remember. Her focus, dedication and warmth is what we all love about her!

“It’s a lifetime thing that benefits both body and mind,” she said. “It’s not about being able to do all the postures; it’s about showing up.”

That was her advice for first-time students, to simply show up. But in the 10-plus years she’s been at Sterling, we think she’s got some pretty great advice for everyone!

“Listen to the dialogue. Try not to fidget and add extra movements. Keep it fluid and soft. Try to incorporate some beauty in your practice with stillness and grace. Try not to compare yourself with others. You be you!”

We’d love for you to show up at Sterling and begin your yoga journey with us! Come join Sheri and our amazing community for one low introductory price if you’re a first-timer.

It’s Time to Rock the Nappie Votes!

By News

Who’s the Best Yoga Studio in Mobile? Who’s the Best Yoga Instructor? Well, we hope you think that we are and the best instructor teaches here!

We’d love to make it to the finals of the 2021 Nappie Awards for the Best Yoga Studio and Best Yoga Instructor in Mobile, but we need your help.

Please nominate Sterling Hot Yoga & Wellness as the Best Yoga Studio in Mobile and who among our awesome teachers is the Best Yoga Instructor in Mobile once per day between now and Sunday, March 28.

Click here to submit your choices for Best Yoga Studio, Best Yoga Instructor and more in the 2021 Nappies! You’ll find us in the Beauty, Health and Wellness categories.

Thank you for your continued support!

FREE Yoga Class on Monday, March 22 for Brain Injury Awareness Month

By Events

March is Brain Injury Awareness Month, and Sterling wants to do our part to help support those affected by traumatic brain injury (including concussion). 

Michelle Ryan will be leading a free 60-minute original hot yoga class on Monday, March 22 at 5:30 p.m. to help raise money to support LoveYourBrain, a nonprofit that provides yoga, retreat and meditation programs internationally to build community and foster resilience for people affected by TBI. 

Through donations, LYB can provide these programs free to everyone who attends, including people affected by TBI and their caregivers.

Donations also provide scholarships for LYB teacher training, which equips individuals with the knowledge and skills to support people with TBI in their own communities. Michelle recently completed this training in December.

To help her fulfill one of the components of her training, Michelle will be leading that free class to raise awareness and donations toward her $300 fundraising goal during LoveYourBrain’s Mindful March campaign.

What is MindfulMarch? MindfulMarch is LoveYourBrain’s largest campaign of the year to raise awareness about brain injury and funding for the LoveYourBrain Yoga program. 

You are welcome to make donations at the studio or directly through Michelle’s fundraising page here.

Reserve your spot in class here in the studio or online. Thank you so much for your support in making the healing power of yoga accessible for everyone!

21-Day Healthy Habits Challenge Begins Monday, March 1!

By Announcement

How is your year going so far? If you need motivation to stick with your healthy habits or to develop some, we’re here to help!

In March, we’re encouraging you to set healthy habits with our 2021 Healthy Habits Challenge! Since it takes about three weeks to form a habit, the challenge is to take 21 classes in 21 days and get your year off to a healthy start!

Everyone who completes the challenge will be entered to win a drawing for these prizes: one one-hour initial consultation with Bridget Reiter, Registered Dietitian with The Delicious Dietitian; one Wellness/Immunity Boosting Juicing Bundle from Heidi Pritchett; and one set of hand-cut, small-batch, plant-based soaps formulated to give you an all-natural healthy glow from MelAsana Soap by Melanie Kaufman. 

The Healthy Habits Challenge begins Monday, March 1, 2021 and ends Sunday, March 21, 2021. 

It will be the first of four 21-day challenges we’ll offer this year. For every one you complete, you’ll get an entry into a special prize drawing, and if you complete all four challenges, you’ll be entered into a separate drawing when we celebrate your accomplishments at the end of the year.

Sign-up cards for the Healthy Habits Challenge will be available this week!

Gravity Yoga Pop-Up Class This Sunday at 4:30 PM

By Uncategorized

Feeling stuck in your practice? Maybe it’s a stiff back, locked-up hips, tight hamstrings or tight shoulders. 

If so, join Michelle Ryan on Sunday, Feb. 28 at 4:30 p.m. for a new type of class that will help you utilize the science of passive stretching to effectively change your body, improve your posture and increase your range of motion. 

Gravity Yoga is a mat-based, targeted mobility training method that has helped students all over the world improve their flexibility and move better. 

Sunday’s class will be a pop-up class offered in the studio and via livestream, and it will be designed to gauge your interest before the next workshop series begins. 

Included in active Sterling memberships, but drop-ins welcome at a special rate here.

Please reserve your spot as we continue to limit our class sizes. See you on Sunday!

2020 Mardi Gras Schedule

By Announcement

Mardi Gras 2021 is certainly one we won’t forget, but although we don’t have the regular festivities to enjoy, there is plenty of yoga we’ll be offering for you to practice.

Sterling will be open for our regular schedule on Lundi Gras, Monday, Feb. 15 and Fat Tuesday, Tuesday, Feb. 16. 

Please be sure to register in advance whether you are taking class in the studio or online. If you practice in the studio, you reserve your spot (we are still socially distancing in the hot room), which is important because some classes are starting to grow. If you practice at home, booking online will give you access to the Zoom link to join the class.

This year’s might not be the Mardi Gras celebration you were looking forward to, but we’d love for you to come practice with us!