Liz Malaugh is opening a new yoga studio in Shockoe Bottom. Photos by Michael Thompson.
A Short Pump resident hopes to bring a renewed sense of calm to Shockoe Bottom.
Liz Malaugh is opening Adya Yoga and Ayurveda at 1801 E. Broad St. She plans to open the studio Jan. 9 in a 2,000-square-foot space in the Branch Public Baths building.
Adya Yoga and Ayurveda will offer yoga classes rooted in the tantric tradition. Malaugh said her studio would incorporate the spiritual principles that underlie the practice of yoga in way that is more in depth than most yoga studios.
“This is more focused on energetic healing and personal transformation,” Malaugh said. “It’s more than yoga.”
In addition to popular fitness-focused classes, Adya Yoga will offer classes on digestive health and inner peace. There will also be prenatal classes and classes for kids.
Adya Yoga will also do ayurveda consultations. Ayurveda is considered the medical side of yoga in that it focuses on creating a healthy body and mind, according to Adya Yoga’s website.
In choosing her location in the Bottom, Malaugh, 37, said she liked the idea of opening in a building with a history of cleansing. Her East Broad Street building was built in 1909 as Richmond’s first public bath house, which eventually closed in 1950.
“The energy is just beautiful,” she said of the property. “It’s got so much natural light.”
Malaugh, 37, has been a yoga teacher on and off for the past 16 years. She has a master’s degree in biology from Villanova University. She moved here four years ago with her family from Philadelphia.
She said a trip to India this year inspired her to open a yoga studio of her own. After seeing the poverty there, she said she decided she wanted to take a more active role in contributing to a better world.
“I had this realization that I live this cushy middle-class life,” she said. “For the next 40 years I could be happy getting manis and pedis, but there would be part of me that would be missing.”
Yoga isn’t missing in Richmond, and Malaugh will have plenty of competition for her new venture. Humble Haven Yoga is in the works in Shockoe Slip, which is also home to Shockoe Slip Yoga. Further afield, there is Willow Lawn’s The Hot Yoga Barre and several Hot House Yoga locations, among other studios in the area.
Malaugh hopes her studio will stand out in its incorporation of spiritual healing. She has hired about nine ayurvedic consultants and seven yoga teachers to help her. The studio will host workshops on various topics aimed to help people find balance and calm in their lives. Malaugh plans to host monthly meetings to share the deeper teachings of yoga.
“So many people are exhausted by western medicine,” Malaugh said. “People are looking to feel better without taking 20 pills a day.”
Classes will be offered seven days a week. It will cost $250 for a yearlong membership with Adya Yoga, but memberships are now on sale for $200.
On Sundays Adya Yoga will have donation-based classes, with all the proceeds and goods going to Greater Richmond SCAN, a nonprofit that works to prevent and treat child abuse.
Liz Malaugh is opening a new yoga studio in Shockoe Bottom. Photos by Michael Thompson.
A Short Pump resident hopes to bring a renewed sense of calm to Shockoe Bottom.
Liz Malaugh is opening Adya Yoga and Ayurveda at 1801 E. Broad St. She plans to open the studio Jan. 9 in a 2,000-square-foot space in the Branch Public Baths building.
Adya Yoga and Ayurveda will offer yoga classes rooted in the tantric tradition. Malaugh said her studio would incorporate the spiritual principles that underlie the practice of yoga in way that is more in depth than most yoga studios.
“This is more focused on energetic healing and personal transformation,” Malaugh said. “It’s more than yoga.”
In addition to popular fitness-focused classes, Adya Yoga will offer classes on digestive health and inner peace. There will also be prenatal classes and classes for kids.
Adya Yoga will also do ayurveda consultations. Ayurveda is considered the medical side of yoga in that it focuses on creating a healthy body and mind, according to Adya Yoga’s website.
In choosing her location in the Bottom, Malaugh, 37, said she liked the idea of opening in a building with a history of cleansing. Her East Broad Street building was built in 1909 as Richmond’s first public bath house, which eventually closed in 1950.
“The energy is just beautiful,” she said of the property. “It’s got so much natural light.”
Malaugh, 37, has been a yoga teacher on and off for the past 16 years. She has a master’s degree in biology from Villanova University. She moved here four years ago with her family from Philadelphia.
She said a trip to India this year inspired her to open a yoga studio of her own. After seeing the poverty there, she said she decided she wanted to take a more active role in contributing to a better world.
“I had this realization that I live this cushy middle-class life,” she said. “For the next 40 years I could be happy getting manis and pedis, but there would be part of me that would be missing.”
Yoga isn’t missing in Richmond, and Malaugh will have plenty of competition for her new venture. Humble Haven Yoga is in the works in Shockoe Slip, which is also home to Shockoe Slip Yoga. Further afield, there is Willow Lawn’s The Hot Yoga Barre and several Hot House Yoga locations, among other studios in the area.
Malaugh hopes her studio will stand out in its incorporation of spiritual healing. She has hired about nine ayurvedic consultants and seven yoga teachers to help her. The studio will host workshops on various topics aimed to help people find balance and calm in their lives. Malaugh plans to host monthly meetings to share the deeper teachings of yoga.
“So many people are exhausted by western medicine,” Malaugh said. “People are looking to feel better without taking 20 pills a day.”
Classes will be offered seven days a week. It will cost $250 for a yearlong membership with Adya Yoga, but memberships are now on sale for $200.
On Sundays Adya Yoga will have donation-based classes, with all the proceeds and goods going to Greater Richmond SCAN, a nonprofit that works to prevent and treat child abuse.
Yes. The Broad St. Bath house was the Branch Bath House No. 1 and the bath house on Monroe Park was the Branch Bath House No. 2.
Residents are hoping VCU will do its best to preserve Bath House No. 2 as it constructs new Gladding student dorms.
There is a highway marker at Branch Bath House No. 1 that mentions both bath houses:
http://www.markerhistory.com/branch-public-baths-marker-sa-68/