All over Canada and in multiple major U.S. metro areas, Modo Yoga established their brand of hot yoga and eco-consciousness yoga studios. Now there is a Modo Yoga less than a mile from Downtown Columbus.
Located at 1042 Dublin Road, co-owners Elizabeth Moore and Chad Underwood converted a light industrial building into an eco-friendly yoga studio.
“We interviewed a lot of builders to find one that understood what we wanted to do,” says Moore. She and Underwood recycled many items on-site, as well as using non-VOC paint, sustainable cork floors, and FSC woods. Also in line with Modo’s “Live Green” philosophy, they do not sell bottled water, but if you forget to bring some H2O with you, they lend adorable glass jars to drink from.
The yoga room has 19 radiant heating panels that create good heat and four large fans for good convection. In classes that I took here and at two locations in Toronto, it was 102 degrees F on my own thermometer. There are large mirrors on the front wall and a big window on one side wall. Modo Columbus has three showers in the women’s locker room (and yes, there are lockers there, too) and two in the men’s room. They also have a gender-neutral changing room for students.
“We are a safe environment that welcomes everyone LGBTQ and beyond and made sure to include a gender-neutral restroom/changing space so that we can be truly accessible to all,” says Moore. Being accessible to all is one of the Seven Pillars of Modo Yoga. In addition to being accessible to different orientation and body types, they also offer classes reduced fee classes and have free classes at the Land Grant Brewery (currently on hiatus for the summer). As part of their community-building ethos, Modo offers donation-based Karma yoga classes which to fund charities. Modo Columbus itself received part of its funding from a crowd-source campaign.
Moore and Underwood discovered Modo Yoga in Cincinnati, where there are three locations, a relaxing refuge from chronic health programs and the stress of corporate jobs. They went through the 500-hour teacher programs at Modo and Moksha studios in Canada.
All Modo teachers have a minimum of 500 hours of teaching training in the Modo system; if not enough teachers locally are available, then a Modo recruits from Canada. One thing that I have learned over the years is that there are yoga teachers and there are people who say that they are. When it comes to leading a class and especially to doing adjustments (which Modo does), you can really tell a teacher who has been in a quality teaching program.
Modo Yoga studios typically offer a variety of classes, but their signature classes are Modo and Modo Flow. Based on the classes that I took in Canada and here, I would say there are very positive things about Modo Yoga. Modo (or Moksha as it is known in Canada).
In a Modo class, you hear things like, “Just do what you can,” “Be at peace in this pose,” and “It’s yoga; it’s not stressful!” Modo Flow is similarly mellow but with multiple Vinyasa sequences. “The focus is on healing,” as a teacher in Toronto told me. Being in a Modo class is a lot like being in a restorative yoga class.
Classes at Modo Columbus will be free thru July 3rd. There will be many specials during the opening months, too. Underwood and Moore loved the community that Modo created in Cincinnati and look forward to building a yoga community in their studio here.
Modo Yoga Studio is located at 1042 Dublin Road. For more information, visit columbus.modoyoga.com.