10 Years of Modern Yoga: A Community Built on Breath, Resilience, and Heart

By James & Joyce.

Ten years ago, Modern Yoga began with a simple belief: yoga could help people feel stronger, steadier, and more connected — not only to their bodies, but to themselves and each other.

At the time, we didn’t know exactly what the next decade would hold. We knew opening a yoga studio would be hard. We knew it would ask a lot from us. We knew we were changing our lives in a very real way.

But we also knew the practice had changed us.

For Joyce, yoga arrived at a time when life felt like it was beginning to unravel. The practice had a profound impact on her mental health, and that experience created a deep pull to share yoga with others. For James, opening the studio was a way to step out of a fast-paced career and into something healthier, more meaningful, and more aligned with the life we wanted to build.

Modern Yoga was never just about opening a business.

It was about creating a space where people could come in exactly as they are, move, breathe, sweat, struggle a little, laugh a little, and leave feeling more like themselves.

From One Studio to a Real Community

When we opened, one of the biggest questions was simple: how do we help people try yoga — and then stay with it long enough to experience what the practice can really offer?

That question has shaped so much of who we are.

Over the years, Modern Yoga has grown from one studio in Strongsville to two studios serving both Strongsville and Brecksville. We have grown as teachers. We have grown as students. We have learned how to train new teachers, how to lead better classes, and how to build a style of practice that feels strong, modern, and deeply rooted.

Our classes are challenging. They are sweaty. They ask you to pay attention.

But the deeper part of the practice is not about the pose. It is about the breath. It is about what happens when a group of people moves together, breathes together, and creates a room where effort and ease can exist at the same time.

That is where Modern Yoga found its identity.

Come for the workout. Stay for the yoga.

The People Who Made Modern Yoga What It Is

When we talk about Modern Yoga, we are really talking about people.

Our clients. Our teachers. Our managers. Our front desk team. The people who walked in nervous for their first class and became part of the fabric of the studio. The people who have practiced with us for years. The people who came for strength or flexibility and found friendship, consistency, confidence, and a place to belong.

Community means everything to us.

It means you are not alone. It means the person practicing next to you is dealing with life, too. It means everyone is a sweaty mess and nobody has to pretend to have it all together.

It means book clubs, softball games, bowling teams, wine nights, retreats, conversations in the lobby, and friendships that started on neighboring mats.

Some of those connections began because we created opportunities for people to gather outside the studio. But many of them grew because our members wanted to be together. At some point, the community took on a life of its own.

That has been one of the most touching parts of the last ten years.

The welcoming feeling at Modern Yoga does not come from James and Joyce alone. It comes from our teachers, our staff, and the people who walk through the door every day and make an effort to be kind to each other.

That matters.

Especially when someone is new. Walking into a yoga studio for the first time can feel intimidating. You are stepping into the unknown. You may not know where to put your mat, what the class will feel like, or whether you will “fit in.”

We want Modern Yoga to answer that quietly and clearly:

Yes, you belong here.

Resilience, COVID, and the Bodhi Tree Mat

Every business has hard chapters. Ours certainly has.

Starting a studio came with pressure from the beginning — the buildout, the finances, the learning curve, the stress of trying to grow something from scratch.

Then came 2020.

At that time, we were on the edge of opening a second studio. We were close to signing a lease when COVID forced studios to close. Like so many small businesses, we had to shift quickly. We became “digital yogis” almost overnight, filming classes, figuring out how to keep teaching, and wondering how we would keep the business alive.

When we shut down, we gave members the option to pause their memberships. We also gave them the option to keep their memberships active if they wanted to support the studio during the closure.

About 100 people chose to keep supporting us.

That support helped us pay rent. It helped us keep going. It reminded us that Modern Yoga was never just a room with heat and mats and music. It was a relationship.

When we were able to reopen and stabilize, we created the Bodhi Tree Mat as a thank-you gift for those members. The Bodhi tree is known as the place where the Buddha found enlightenment, and for us, the mat became a symbol of support, gratitude, and community during one of the most uncertain moments in our history.

The Bodhi Tree Mat is not just a product.

It is part of our story.

It represents the people who helped hold Modern Yoga up when things were hard.

What Teaching Has Taught Us

Teaching yoga changes you.

Joyce has often described teaching as a reminder that we are all equals in the room. The teacher may be guiding the class, but everyone is practicing together. Everyone is learning. Everyone is human.

Teaching has built confidence, but it has also reinforced humility.

James often connects teaching to the idea of seva — service without expecting something in return. Yes, Modern Yoga is a business. We pay bills. We manage schedules. We make hard decisions. But the yoga itself has always had to remain authentic.

The longer we teach, the more we understand that it is not our job to fix people.

It is our job to guide the practice, hold the space, and let students find their own insight.

Yoga starts with movement, posture, breath, and focus. But over time, it becomes something bigger. It becomes a way to meet discomfort. A way to stay steady. A way to notice your habits. A way to keep returning to yourself.

That has been true for our students.

It has also been true for us.

Giving Back Through Practice

One of the things we are most proud of is our donation class.

Over the last ten years, Modern Yoga has donated more than $75,000 back into the community through donation-based classes and community-supported efforts.

For a small local business, that number means a lot.

It represents years of teachers showing up, students contributing, and the studio choosing to make giving part of the culture — not as a marketing idea, but as a real practice.

That class tells the story of Modern Yoga well.

We are here to practice.
We are here to serve.
We are here to support each other.
We are here to keep showing up.

Ten Years In, We Are Still Practicing

Looking back, we are proud of the resilience.

We are proud that we made it through 2020. We are proud that we kept learning. We are proud that our teachers have grown with us. We are proud that our clients have trusted us with their practice, their stories, their challenges, and their celebrations.

Most of all, we are grateful.

Grateful for the people who came to one class and decided to come back.

Grateful for the members who have practiced with us for years.

Grateful for the teachers who bring skill, care, and personality into every room.

Grateful for the staff who make the studio feel steady, organized, and welcoming.

Grateful for the friendships that formed here.

Grateful for every person who has helped make Modern Yoga more than we imagined it could be.

Ten years in, we are not done.

We still have ideas. We still have work to do. We still have classes to teach, mats to roll out, students to welcome, and ways to grow.

Thank you for being part of Modern Yoga’s first ten years.

Meet you on the mat.