Kind Roots Yoga helping neighbors find their magic

Often, Abbey Porte Glover said, people tell her they feel like they’re staring out the window of a “magical treehouse,” where the tops of the trees are right at the height of the windows at her new Forest Park yoga studio.

When owner and instructor Glover opened her Kind Roots Yoga studio earlier this summer, she said it almost instantly became “a home away from home” not just for her, but for dozens of people seeking an untraditional and comforting place to practice yoga.

“We are different than many studios,” Glover said. “It’s not a high-intensity studio where you’re scared to show up for class. Here, it is very relaxed in class, outside of class, before and after class. Communication is important. [Kind Roots Yoga] has a very magical feel, neighborhood feel.”

Filled with natural light, decorations like hanging flower walls and bamboo blinds, fireplaces with small candles and an array of crystals, Kind Roots Yoga has two medium-sized studio rooms, each a bathroom, in addition to a common area for people to hang out before and after classes. 

Glover said she wanted the studio and classes to give off an energy that people would want to come back to, where “people felt loved and supported and guided.” Kind Roots Yoga, which opened in May, is for people of all walks of life and experience levels, she said.

Glover completed her ashtanga and children’s yoga training at Birmingham Yoga in February. Although it wasn’t in her plan to open a business so quickly, the older, two-story building at 825 39th St. S. fit all her needs perfectly. 

Glover first got into yoga in 2015, when she was going through a hard time as a single parent trying to transition from grad school and figure out who she was and what she wanted to do. 

Before yoga, she said, she felt high-strung and stressed all the time.

“Now, I’m the most mellow person. With yoga, when you do this every day, it’s pretty hard to get rattled,” she said. “They don’t always believe me when I say I used to be [stressed].” 

By 2016, she developed a daily yoga routine and her daughter even started to join her with her own routine, which is one of the reasons why she became interested in the benefits of children’s yoga.

“A lot of people come into it on a physical level, and then they leave feeling more at ease and at peace,” Glover said. “People fall in love with instructors and movements and how it makes them feel.”

In addition, yoga provides people with mental and emotional healing, she said, which can be as important as the physical exercise and movement. 

Often, the act of being still and quiet for several minutes can make a big impact on a person, she said, which is why she introduces many classes by asking participants to set an intention and focus on it for five minutes. The goal is slowing down racing thoughts and forcing focus instead.

The response, she said, is amazing.

Various classes are offered almost every day, including vinyasa flow, ashtanga, Pilates, restorative and yin-style yoga. People are welcome to bring personal mats for the hour-long classes or the studio offers props including bolsters, blankets, mats and essential eye pillows.

Ashtanga, which is what Glover teaches, is a system of yoga that involves synchronizing breath with a series of postures. It is more of a major workout, Glover said. The restorative classes are taught by other instructors and offer a more calming experience.

Kind Roots Yoga has six instructors, but she said it’s changing and sometimes new instructors will come in to do a short series or specialized class. 

Other classes include Growing Roots in Journaling, which guides students through finding purpose and exploring topics in their writing; Embrace the Basic, a beginner ashtanga-structured class where poses are taught at a slowed pace; and Exploring the Chakras, a class focusing on learning and developing the seven chakras, part of an Indian practice on meditation and spiritual energy.

Glover is also trained in children’s yoga, so she offers “Kiddie/Kiddo” classes, which are less about the physical aspect and more about teaching them to “listen, slow down, communicate, have character and be kind,” she said. 

The kids yoga is offered for children ages 4 to 11, and for the most part, she said, they all get along well together. The classes focus on games like “freeze dance” that incorporate yoga poses, as well as a “magic carpet meditation,” where Glover asks kids to close their eyes and go on an adventure to anywhere they want. 

“I ask them what they are seeing, hearing, feeling and then they go somewhere, and I guide them into anywhere they want to go, and fly them back and have them talk about it at the end,” she said. “They get into it, get excited to tell about it.”

Glover also sells passes for the Child Activity Studio, which is a huge area for younger children to play. 

In the fall, Glover hopes to add a massage area and will have a yoga retreat for about a dozen people.

Clients can purchase single-day or monthly class passes. For more information and rates, go to kindrootsyoga.com.