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May 18, 2010 Portlandbiz

Yoga instructors find flexibility is key in business venture

Photo/Courtesy Greener Postures Heidi MacVane, left, and Danielle Morin, owners of Greener Postures Yoga in South Portland
By Robert M. Cook

Danielle Morin and her business partner Heidi MacVane know that if they want to have a successful yoga studio in a down economy, they have to approach it with the same discipline they use to practice their yoga.

The "breath-synchronized movement" principles involved with the specific type of yoga -- called heated vinyasa flow yoga -- they will teach in their classes at Greener Postures Yoga have certainly helped them reach this point.

"In yoga we always talk about practicing our yoga ‘off the mat,'" Morin says. "Everything is part of a transition, everything leads to something else. Just like yoga, we are moving forward whether we like it or not."

The two women signed a five-year lease for the 3,000-square-foot space with T&T Development LLC of South Portland at an average rate of $14 per square foot. They also invested $100,000 to create the yoga studio, which is located on 740 Broadway. Morin says the heating system alone cost $30,000.

"We have no doubt we benefitted from this principle as we moved from architect, to heating specialists, to daily trips to Lowes, even toilet paper salesman," says MacVane.

Morin says they will each teach 15 classes per week, for a total of 30 classes, and they will cater to drop-in students. Morin says they will charge $15 per class and sell packages such as $120 for 10 classes and $150 for unlimited classes per month. She says they will also offer a newcomers package at $60 for unlimited monthly classes.

Vinyasa flow yoga, a popular form of yoga taught in the United States, allows a participant to flow from one posture -- like Sun Salutation and Cat-Cow -- to the next while breathing from the nose, Morin explains. For each breath, there is one movement. This type of yoga provides good cardiovascular exercise and helps people build good upper and lower body strength, she says.

Morin says there are other yoga studios in the Greater Portland region, but there are only two other heated yoga studios besides Greener Postures. Their heated yoga classes are done in a room warmed to 85-95 degrees. Hot yoga is believed to help cleanse the mind and body, improve weight loss and increase flexibility.

The classes will not involve one technique or one set of rules that students must follow like other yoga studios. She says they want their classes to be more flexible to give students the option of doing physical poses that are comfortable for them.

"It's also meditative and you're sort of getting out of your head and into your body," she says.

MacVane and Morin met four years ago as they carpooled from Boston to a yoga retreat in upstate New York. They also practiced yoga together at a studio in Newton, Mass., before MacVane relocated to Maine.

Morin says they wanted to create an eco-friendly studio that incorporated as much recycled material as possible. The yoga studio has recycled sinks, ceiling fans and ceiling speakers from the Habitat for Humanity's ReStore, ceiling tiles made from 75% recycled materials, bamboo flooring, all recycled or homemade furniture, and recycled yoga mats, blocks and straps.

The studio also uses environmentally friendly cleaning products, washable cleaning supplies, recycled paper towels and toilet paper. The energy-efficient heating system funnels recovered hot air.

Greener Postures Yoga will host a grand opening May 22, where the first class will be free to all yoga practitioners, or "yogis," from the experienced to the newcomers.

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