Stretching their capabilities

At Granbury Drug, which she owns with her husband Todd, pharmacist Gamze Strain often doles out this bit of health advice along with prescription medications: Take up yoga.

Strain practices what she preaches.

At about 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, she walked out of the heated exercise room at Flow Hot Yoga Studio and thanked founders Toni Floroplus and Ryan Culberson for another restorative session that left her feeling ready to face the day.

“Hot yoga” is the practice of yoga in a room where the temperature is elevated as high as 106 degrees, although the Flow studio offers sessions at lower temperatures as well.

An industrial humidifier makes the room similar to a steam room, offering “wet heat” as opposed to the dry heat of a sauna and enabling class participants to sweat toxins from their bodies.

Hot yoga provides a number of benefits, including improving circulation and flexibility, helping with inflammation and elevating mood, according to Floroplus and Culberson. It’s also good for the skin, they said.

Participants typically report feeling as if their body is clean and their mind has been cleared of stress and anxiety, the women stated.

Strain practiced the Hindu discipline as part of her rehab after a 2014 hip replacement. She became a devoted follower and was thrilled when she spotted the sign for Flow Hot Yoga Studio in a strip shopping center near Granbury Lakeside Center – the old Kroger location. The studio opened in mid-October.

“I knew that we desperately needed a (yoga) place in Granbury,” Strain said. “This place has been such a blessing.”

So far, about 150 people have been become members of the yoga studio founded by lifelong Granbury resident Floroplus, a 1997 graduate of Granbury High School, and her friend Culberson.

The women met through their husbands, both of whom worked in the oil and gas industry at the time. They have children that started preschool together.

Floroplus and her husband Kevin have three children: Cade, 19; Colton, 15; and Kennedy, 13.

Culberson and her husband Justin have two sons: Talan, 13; and Tate, 6.

Each woman teaches several of Flow’s 23 weekly classes. Floroplus even teaches a 5:30 a.m. “Sequence” class on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The studio has four other certified yoga instructors: Madison Lazaro, Jill Enticknap, Kelsey Schoessow and Cierra Wade.

Another teacher, Victoria Dillingham, is a barre instructor who leads students through exercises using a ballet barre. Participants in her classes do not have to have a background in ballet or dance to do a barre workout.

All but one of the instructors lives in Granbury.

Culberson has been practicing yoga for 14 years. She took up hot yoga about seven years ago, driving to classes in Fort Worth a couple of days a week.

As her friendship with Floroplus grew, Culberson invited Floroplus to accompany her twice a week to the Soul Sweat Hot Yoga Studio in Fort Worth. They traded driving duties.

Soon, Floroplus came to share Culberson’s goal of becoming a certified yoga instructor, even though she was a busy Realtor working to earn a broker’s license.

A year ago this month, Floroplus opened The Agency Real Estate Group. She currently has five agents working for her.

Together, the friends took classes at Soul Sweat on Fridays and all day on Saturdays and Sundays until they earned their Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) certification. The training involved 200 hours of yoga exercises and classroom instruction.

Flow memberships consists of both men and women. At least one member is about 70, Floroplus and Culberson said. He owns a lake house here.

There is no maximum age for taking the yoga classes but there is an age minimum: 16.

Culberson said that coaches oftentimes recommend yoga to their athletes. She and Floroplus said that CrossFit and weight trainers also find yoga helpful for increasing flexibility and helping to prevent injuries.

According to Strain, the practice of yoga can sometimes prevent the need for surgery among those who are older.

GETTING STARTED

Floroplus and Culberson said that people who are new to yoga are often intimidated, especially when it comes to trying hot yoga. Many people, they said, feel a bit fearful of the heat.

The temperature for the Sequence class is 100-106 degrees, with 50%-60% humidity. The Vinyasa class is 90-101 degrees, with 20%-40% humidity.

Floroplus said that while the heat may feel a bit difficult to handle at first, bodies acclimate after just a few class sessions.

As for yoga poses, class participants learn by watching the instructor or those around them. Instructors are trained on how to help those who are new to yoga with modifications, the business partners said, and private lessons are available.

“Everybody loves it,” Floroplus said of hot yoga.

Both women said that class participants are urged to pay attention to their bodies and lay down if they need to. Everyone is encouraged to arrive for class well hydrated and to bring water. Bottles of water can also be purchased at the studio.

Culberson and Floroplus advised that those who are older and/or new to yoga might want to start with a Restorative or Vinyasa class. Both are an hour long and for any skill level. The Restorative class is at 85 degrees with no humidity.

Class schedules, descriptions and various membership packages can be found at www.flowhotyogastudio. com. The studio also has a Facebook page and Instagram account where special deals are promoted.

One Saturday each month, the Flow studio offers a $5 cash-only deal that allows walk-ins to participate in that day’s classes. Today is one of those Saturdays. A Sequence class will be offered at 9 a.m. (50 minutes), an Express class at 10:30 a.m. (45 minutes) and a Restorative class (50 minutes) at noon.

The cost is $19 for those who do not come with cash but want to pay by credit card. Mats and towels are provided with that fee.

Floroplus and Culberson said that mats are disinfected and laundered after every use.

The studio is located at 1334 East U.S. Hwy. 377. The phone number there is 682-936-2721 and email is flowhy2019@gmail.com.

While hot yoga provides detoxification through sweating and the meditative poses are said to quiet the mind, the body also receive a thorough workout, the business partners said.

“Traditional yoga does keep you fit,” said Culberson. “We do a ton of core work. You build muscle and you build strength quickly – like within a couple of weeks.”

Class participant Strain said that hot yoga is “life changing.”

While it might be easier to “take a pill” for one’s ills, yoga “has no side effects,” she said.

And besides, she added, “You meet thoughtful, mindful, interesting people.”

kcruz@hcnews.com | 817-573-7066, ext. 258