Yoga Etc. Studio, Saint Petersburg

Co-owners Cindy Mastry and Jen Lowery forged the studio's varied yoga curriculum by alloying their extensive training histories. Cindy set off toward inner peace in the 1960s, holding poses alongside her grandmother. Combining her early experiences in yoga with years of dance and fitness training, she opened a home yoga practice and joined the Exalted Warrior Foundation to bring yogic healing to injured military personnel. Jen Lowery studied under several yoga masters to perfect her technique. She deepened her practice by completing an 800-hour Yoga Traditions Philosophy course, led by lauded expert Georg Feuerstein, in a single day.

Despite their rigorous training, Cindy and Jen tend to emphasize the relaxing, fun aspects of yoga through classes in Vinyasa flow, stretching, and partner work. Their own 200-hour course for aspiring yoga teachers imparts the values of 8 Limb Vinyasa flow, covering anatomy, pose sequencing, pedagogic techniques, and ways to climb spider webs without alerting the spider.