An all-female yoga studio offering everything from "holy yoga" to "happy hour yoga" is scheduled to open in the new Montecito Plaza shopping center at the northwest corner of Willow and Nees avenues.
Sisters Yoga is to hold its grand opening Friday, and classes begin Nov. 1.
Chasmar "Chaz" Russ, who owns the studio with her husband, Trent, said she wanted to create a women's yoga studio in part so she could easily talk about yoga poses that benefit women who are menstruating or going through menopause.
"A woman needs a place to go to just let her hair down, nurture herself, to boost her self-esteem," she added. "We are a happier studio. I focus on laughing and not taking yourself too seriously."
Although most yoga centers in town have mixed classes, they are still about 80% women, said Giovanni Pivirotto of Perfect Balance Yoga, with the exception of Coil Yoga, which offers a class for men.
Sisters Yoga classes include "happy hour" yoga, a class for all skill levels, "Cool Mama" prenatal classes, "hot chicks" yoga in a 95-degree room designed to release toxins from the body, and mother/daughter and teen classes, along with belly dancing and African dance classes. Classes are detailed on their Web site, www.sistersyoga.com.
Sisters Yoga will join several existing yoga studios in town. Yoga still is "maturing" in the Fresno area and is not as popular as it is in other California cities or even Midwestern states, Pivirotto said.
Russ said she and another teacher discovered some Christians here were hesitant to try yoga because of its Indian background.
"People are afraid that it conflicts with their deep-rooted Christianity," she said.
They decided to offer "holy yoga," which incorporates values such as compassion and open-heartedness. Participants pay on a donation basis and half the proceeds go to the Marjaree Mason Center.
Russ said her yoga style is different than other places for several reasons, including her use of "laughter yoga" by cracking jokes because laughter is healing.
"People are really surprised to hear James Brown or the Black Eyed Peas in my class," she said. "It's not the sounds of whales making love."
The business's grand opening "chocolate and champagne soiree" at 7:30 p.m. Friday will raise money with $5 raffle tickets
Bethany Clough, Sanford Nax and Dennis Pollock contributed to Word on the Street. It was compiled by Nax.The reporter can be reached at snax@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6495.
