Wetumpka studio focuses on fitness and faith
When Vanessa Rogers rented a yoga workout DVD from her local video store 15 years ago, she wasn’t sure what to expect.
“I woke up the next day, and I was so sore, like I had lifted weights. I was like, what in the world was that? And then I just fell in love with it,” said Rogers who recently opened Yoga4Him, a Christian-based yoga studio in downtown Wetumpka.
Rogers practiced yoga by herself for years before she took the opportunity to teach a NOW boot camp class, where she mixed yoga poses into the high-energy exercises. From there, she started a yoga group at her church and realized that her yoga practice was deepened when she connected it to her spirituality by focusing her thoughts on God.
Rogers ultimately saw the chance to share her revelation with others through the studio on Bridge Street.
Her faith informs all aspects of the business, Rogers said, and the classes at Yoga4Him have names like Joy, Goodness and Love & Kindness. The titles are drawn from the fruits of the spirit listed in the biblical letter of Paul to the Galatians, and they are just one way that Rogers tries to de-mystify yoga for her local students.
“My target audience are the ones that are not familiar with yoga or have been afraid to try yoga because of its origins,” she explained.
Many benefits of yoga, which were thought for centuries to be connected to Eastern religious practices, are now being explained by medicine. For example, the type of deep breathing that students practice as they move from one position to the next has been scientifically proven to reduce inflammation that leads to heart disease.
“Flexibility, toning, strengthening … it does so much for you,” Rogers said.
To further increase the health benefits, most of the classes at Yoga4Him are hot yoga. That means the studio is heated to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit during the classes. The heat allows muscles to stretch more than they normally would, reducing the risk of injury while increasing flexibility.
Rogers first experienced hot yoga when a friend encouraged her to try a class at a Montgomery studio.
“I thought I’d give it a try,” she said. “Then I became addicted to the heat.”
In addition to the physical benefits of yoga, Rogers said she has seen the workout improve students’ mental health.
“I had a client tell me the other day she’d cut her anxiety meds in half, and she only comes here once a week,” she said.
Part of the calming effect of Rogers’ yoga classes might be the studio itself. She has renovated the former hotel on East Bridge Street to be intimate and cozy. The wood-floored studio is softly lit and filled with charming furniture and artwork. In the classroom, ceiling-mounted heat panels designed by Roger’s husband are printed with scriptures so they can inspire students looking heavenward in the middle of difficult poses.
Near the front of the building is a post, painted sky blue and covered with sticky notes. Each note is a prayer request placed there by a class member. During classes, students are encouraged to meditate on their prayer requests and the blessings they have received. That quiet “mat time” is the soul of Rogers’ approach to yoga.
“It has benefits for internal health that we don’t even realize,” she explained.
She plans to keep discovering those benefits with her classes, one deep breath at a time.
To learn more about yoga with a Christian perspective, call Rogers at 334-301-7714.
