Skip to main content
Category

Announcement

Fall Challenge Begins Friday, Oct. 1!

By Announcement

Need some motivation to commit or recommit to your practice? There’s nothing like a challenge to get you going, and we’ve got a great one!

Sign up for our 30-Day Practice Makes Progress Fall Challenge, and take any combination of 30 classes at the studio or livestreaming in 31 days, beginning Friday, Oct. 1 through Sunday, Oct. 31.

Complete the challenge, and you will earn a challenge T-shirt, the eternal recognition of signing the challenge wall and be entered into a drawing to win some great prizes! 

We’ll have a fun challenge party to celebrate your achievements, let you sign the challenge wall and announce our prize winners.

Ask about sign-up cards at the front desk!

 

Masks On for Breathing Exercises in Hot Yoga Classes!

By Announcement

Given the resurgence of COVID-19 cases, we are adjusting our mask requirements in our hot yoga classes.

Until recently, we taught closed-mouth breathing in pranayama to begin the class and blowing in firm to end it. We will encourage everyone to practice these again the same way.

If you prefer to practice these breathing exercises with an open mouth as they are typically taught, we will require masks on. 

This applies to the breathing exercises only, and the mask may be removed for the yoga practice.

Masks will be available at the front desk. Please continue to observe social distancing inside and outside of the hot room.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation and understanding!

 

Studio Etiquette Reminders

By Announcement

What a challenge the past 18 months have been for all of us! It’s exciting to see more of you in the studio as we return to normal. We welcome regular members, old friends returning and new faces to our wellness community.

We would like to remind everyone of these tips to make your experience (and others’) most rewarding.

• Classes start on time. The studio is open at least 30 minutes before class, so don’t be late! Plan to give yourself a few minutes to “arrive on your mat” to be in the right frame of mind for class.

• Please leave all phones and keys in the cubbies in the lobby and locker rooms. Doors are locked during class, so your personal belongings are always safe!

You, your yoga mat, towel and water is all you need in the hot room.

• Please observe silence in the hot room. For some, that is the only meditation we will experience throughout the day, so you are welcome to socialize in the lobby before or after class.

 Please wait to leave until the teacher has left at the end of class. Use final savasana to absorb all those amazing benefits before you head out. Furthermore, we want to see you before you leave the studio!

• While official local and state ordinances have ended and studio guidelines have been relaxed, certain protocols are still followed. Mask-wearing is strictly optional. Classes are limited to 25 maximum capacity. The hot room carpet and other touch surfaces are still being sprayed with a virucide.

• Showers are again available. For your convenience, towels are available for rental at the front counter.

And so, we move forward! Thank you for your patience and for your ongoing support of Sterling Hot Yoga & Wellness. See you in the hot room!

Schedule Changes Due to Tropical Storm Threat

By Announcement

Due to the threat of tropical weather and predicted heavy rain, we will not have the following classes at the studio on Saturday, June 19:

8:15 AM Inferno Hot Pilates

10 AM Original Hot 90

2:30 PM Vinyasa Flow

We will make another announcement tomorrow morning about the status of the 4:30 PM Original Hot 60.

Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding. Please stay safe!

Regular schedule will resume Sunday, June 20 with Yoga Sculpt at 8:15 AM.

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!

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!

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!

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!