About Us

What We Do and Why

The Asheville Yoga Center is a community center dedicated to offering all styles of hatha yoga to the public. We have classes perfect for total beginner's through advanced. We have classes for those in rehabilitation, or those who have been away from their yoga practice for a while and need some inspiration. We offer the finest yoga workshops, retreats and teacher trainings.

Hatha Yoga is the balance of body, mind and breath. This system which combines poses with the breath, (asana and pranayama) is said to be thousands of years old, originating in India. All bodies, however handicapped, can do yoga and reap the benefits: better posture, more overall comfort in the body, more flexibility, more strength, better breathing, better concentration, and an improved sense of peacefulness.   

It is the mission of Asheville Yoga Center to provide the highest education of Yoga. All of our teachers teach with compassion and acceptance. Love is the aim of Yoga, and we at the Asheville Yoga Center strive to walk in that Love at all times.
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Built From the Ground Up as a Yoga Center

We've built you a new state of the art yoga studio, it's at 211 S. Liberty St. This is just a few doors down from the space we've been in since 2001 at 239 S. Liberty. The new studio opened January 1, 2012. This is one of the few studios in the country that was designed as a yoga center from inception. We spent 14 years as a yoga center in re purposed buildings and over that time came to know exactly what makes a great yoga studio. We feel blessed that we were able to create one for the community.

The two-yoga-room, 3,500 sq. ft. facility sits on what will be a lushly landscaped campus of edible, aromatic and native trees and plants. There is an 1,100 sq. ft. class room with 15 ft. ceilings, lots of natural light and a floating bamboo floor. A well organized prop wall helps keep the floor space clear for yoga. There is a second yoga room to be used mostly for teacher trainings, workshops and events. The 1,250 sq. ft. room opens into a courtyard with plenty of seating for between sessions. Bamboo floors and plenty of windows with southern exposure make for a lovely space to experience our celebrated teacher trainings and other yoga programs.

We considered our environmental impact every step of the way as well as what makes for a great space to practice yoga in.

We designed this building to lend itself to yoga. It is oriented on a E-W axis so there is plenty of natural light and a passive solar advantage is achieved. And day lighting is used through out to reduce the need for electric lights. We put the windows up high in the yoga rooms so there would be plenty of room for working at the wall.

Thermal Envelope and Energy use

The building is constructed with the Superior Wall system. This eliminates a lot of waste in the building process. It eliminates a lot of site disturbance as well. The system creates a very quiet, tight and well insulated building that uses less energy over the life of the building. Additional insulation was added in the walls and roof that far exceeds building code standards.  Fly ash concrete was used, helping to pull a waste product out of the landfill.

The building uses an efficient zoned heating and air conditioning system, complete with a fresh air heat exchanger, so fresh air is pre warmed by the heated exhaust air. We've included a quick room flush system that can quickly flush the hot humid air from a hot yoga class out between classes. The building features a DuctSox duct work system, making for quiet, clean, environmentally friendly delivery of conditioned air.

Water conservation.

The building features a waterless urinal in the men's room as well as low flow fixtures at the sinks and showers. The toilets are the lowest gallons per flush available. The on demand water heater has an innovative feature that keeps hot water at the tap, so there is no need to run water until it gets hot. Thus saving water. We will be installing rain water catchment cisterns in the spring for the irrigation of the edible landscape.

A great space for yoga and the community.

We planned the property and building to be community friendly. There will be plenty of spaces to hang out and catch up with friends before or after class. There will be plenty of spaces to change clothes or sit and put your shoes on. There are showers for those that would like to freshen up after class.. There is plenty of space in the reception area for waiting between classes.

We are conveniently located near Whole Foods / Greenlife Grocery and downtown Asheville. Close enough to walk downtown but not with the hassles of trying to park downtown.
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About The Donation Yoga Center

Located at 239 S. Liberty St.  Asheville Yoga Center has been in this location since 2001. The studio space, has a 1100 square foot Yoga room. The yoga room has natural light, soothing colors, a floating wood floor system, high ceilings, a sound absorbing wall and ceiling system and gentle lighting. We're conveniently located on the north side of town minutes from downtown and the freeway, and we have plenty of free safe street parking. For more information call 254-0380.

We have props and water (filtered water fountain) if you need them. We are walking distance to downtown, just a few blocks away, where you will find a large health food store with deli, tons of vegetarian restaurants, and yummy food everywhere!

 

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The Founders

Sunny and Stephanie Keach are the founders of the Asheville Yoga Center. They live in Asheville, North Carolina with their 3 young sons. When Steph and Sunny met in '94 at massage school, they spoke of their dreams and plans for the future. One of these dreams was to own and operate their own yoga center. Several years, a marriage and a birth later that dream was realized.     
      
Stephanie began doing Hatha yoga after she fractured her back in an auto accident. Yoga changed her life and helped her heal her back by herself. She began to study with teachers and then began to teach herself. Stephanie spends her time these days continuing her yogic education, teaching and parenting. Read feedback from her Teacher training students.
     
Sunny Keach's interest and practice in meditation, Buddhism, and the human potential began around 1983. It wasn't until Stephanie invited him to one of her yoga classes in '94 that he began an asana practice. Sunny currently spends his time managing the Yoga Center, parenting three very wild boys, gardening, cycling, dancing and playing West African drums.

click picture above to see Keach family yoga pictures.

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Check out our beautiful, historic mountain town on the following web-sites:
www.mountainx.com
www.citizen-times.com
www.goasheville.com
www.asheville.com