Eco-friendly yoga studio dovetails with owners’ philosophy
Yoga may be the last thing on your mind when you’re backed up in rush hour traffic in the Spaghetti Bowl, but the founders of a new yoga studio in the east valley think that’s exactly where you should be practicing the lessons.
“We try to live our yoga on and off the mat,” said Kirk Luipasco, who opened Modo Yoga Las Vegas, 3638 E. Sunset Road, Suite 110, with Ashley Cottrell in September. “It’s not just about coming in here and practicing yoga and being peaceful. The way we teach breathing, for instance — you can take that and apply it when you’re stuck in traffic and find peace there.”
The pair met while teaching yoga at another location in the valley. They bonded over their shared vision of what a yoga studio could be.
“We realized we had the same disappointments in what we felt was lacking in the yoga community,” Luipasco said. “We had a similar perception of what a comfortable practice space and environment would look like. Eventually, we came to a place where we said, ‘Instead of complaining about it or wishing it, why don’t we make it happen?’ Once we sat down and decided to do this, things moved pretty quickly.”
The pair brought their vision to reality in just over a year. While they were working on the goal of a studio, they began with open-air yoga classes, taking the practice to natural spaces and parks. They gathered a following of students who enjoyed their practice and philosophy.
“Every time there was a setback, we found it steered us in a better direction,” Cottrell said.
The pair discovered modo yoga, a practice that matched their thoughts, and brought it to the valley. The practice is a form of hot yoga, done in rooms with a high temperature designed to help practitioners limber up. It is based on seven pillars, a philosophy that has little to do with holding seemingly impossible poses.
“Everything we do within this business, from the way it’s decorated to the way we teach to the way we provide services, are based on these seven pillars,” Luipasco said. “It starts with, ‘be healthy,’ which we do with everything, from the water to the type of heat we provide.”
Other pillars include “reach out,” which, at Modo Yoga Las Vegas, includes giving to the community by having a number of donation-only classes and giving the proceeds to local charities; “live to learn,” which encourages participants to not be complacent or satisfied with the status quo; and “live green.”
“The studio was hand-built by us,” Cottrell said. “We picked up unwanted things in the local area and refurbished them. The couches were made with recycled pallets. The benches were made with wood salvaged from the Carpenter 1 Fire. It’s all handmade, authentic and real.”
Other green practices at the studio include using recycled paper, putting the studio in a space that was already built for yoga and a wood panel behind the reception desk that is built from recycled pallets from the Las Vegas Review-Journal, where Cottrell’s father works on the press.
The classes are designed to be accessible for people of all abilities, body types and experience.
“You can take the tools you learn in class and be living a life of yoga, more peaceful, more calm,” Luipasco said. “We believe it makes the world a better place, because when you know yoga, it rubs off on everyone you interact with and makes them more calm. It’s a domino effect.”
For more information, visit las-vegas.modoyoga.com or call 702-331-2030.
Contact East Valley View reporter F. Andrew Taylor at ataylor@viewnews.com or 702-380-4532.
