Yoga for all
YogaLab is catching a lot of attention with its pay-it-forward program.
A local studio is pushing back against the stereotypes that surround yoga, showing that it can truly be for everyone.
YogaLab, 1745 NW 16th St, just celebrated their second year anniversary July 8, opening its doors all day for free classes. And with the success the studio has seen the past two years, there was plenty to celebrate.
“We started our teacher training program three years ago and just before we started it, we were wondering where everybody was gonna teach,” YogaLab owner Ted Cox said.
Cox and his wife, Martha,owners of Spirit House Yoga, saw their second studio as an opportunity to make yoga accessible and affordable to people near the Plaza District.
“Another studio had opened and at that time, it was a $20 walk-in,” Cox said. “And 20 bucks for a yoga class just prices so many people out of yoga. We’ve talked to so many people out in the community and they’ll say ‘I’d really like to come to yoga, but it’s too expensive.’”
YogaLab was the solution — opening a studio where their students in the teacher training program could get experience and at only $6 per class, more people could afford to attend.
“I have been teaching here at YogaLab for almost a year now,” Jackie Ellis said. “The work here at YogaLab has certainly honed my skills.”
Good yoga for a good price was the underlining idea for YogaLab, but what catches a lot of people’s attention is their pay-it-forward program.
“If you come in and you cannot afford the $6, take a sticker off the door, no questions asked,” Ellis said.
A yellow sticky note might not seem like much, but for some, it makes all the difference.
“Sometimes you don’t have $6,” Cox said. “Sometimes you need yoga but you also need to get something for dinner, so we’d much rather people eat than pay us for yoga.”
The affordability and the pay-itforward program has created the opportunity for all types of people to attend.
“That’s the beauty of the whole thing,” Cox said, “it’s everyone. It’s men, women, ethnicity, shapes, sizes, levels of ability. I’ve had kids in class, I’ve had grandmothers bring their grandchildren. I’s just the whole mix of everyone. If you walked down the sidewalk in the plaza district, that’s who comes to class.”
Everything from the classes to the design of the studio is meant to make people feel welcome.
“People walk in and they feel comfortable,” Cox said. “We purposefully made it stripped down [so] it doesn’t look like a spa. We made it look like a schoolroom with the chalkboard, the classroom doors, the school lockers and we got the periodic table of elements on the wall. We wanted to make it look comfortable.”
Cox, a yoga teacher since 2004, recalled a piece of advice an old teacher gave him, one that has influenced him to this day.
“My primary yoga teacher, years ago, told me don’t make yoga about money.”
For Cox, there’s much more reward in helping someone than in making a profit.
“I want everyone to have the experience of becoming present,” Cox said. “I call it distorting time, where you forget the day, you forget the stresses of work, you forget the stresses of your relationships or your family ... you know all that stuff that we all have. To stop that drama for a bit and you’re just lost in the present moment, that’s the best thing I can do for anybody.”
With classes designed for all levels of experience, YogaLab has aimed to create a place where stereotypes are broken and a community has been built.
For classes and information, go to www.yogalabokc.com or call 405-528-4288.