Charlotte’s oldest yoga studio will not return to its building after COVID. Here’s why
Iyengar Yoga Charlotte is leaving its brick-and-mortar space permanently amid the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. Phyllis Rollins first opened the studio in 1993, calling it The Yoga Center — and it has been credited as the very first yoga studio in Charlotte.
8th Street Studio will continue to be utilized by Pilates Body Shaping, which has shared the building with Iyengar.
The Iyengar studio transitioned to offering online classes in March due to the coronavirus. Although it is leaving its physical location in Elizabeth, it will continue to expand its online class schedule.
“It really is the end of an era. We were the first studio in Charlotte, but we are certainly not the first to close its doors,” said Rollins. “Some of my students have been with me since 1991. They are family to me. I know their family, their kids, their kids’ kids. Even when you do the right thing, it doesn’t mean you aren’t going to be sad.”
The Iyengar Yoga studio, once the backdrop for an episode of the TV show Homeland, was dedicated to the practice of yoga inspired by B.K.S. Iyengar. Rollins studied with Iyengar, dubbed “the Michaelangelo of yoga” and “the king of yogis,” and his daughter Geeta, on several occasions. Rollins has also held various leadership roles in the Iyengar Yoga Association and at one time was the only Iyengar certified teacher in N.C.
Iyengar Yoga focuses on the structural alignment of the body, and uses props including blocks, blankets and belts as part of the practice.
‘The reality of setting up a yoga studio where people are 10 feet apart’
“If I could imagine a way to make it work or make it safe I would,” said an emotional Rollins. “The reality of setting up a yoga studio where people are 10 feet apart, where there can be no hands-on teaching adjustments, no telling students to go grab three blocks and a chair, yoga in masks — I just can’t imagine, and I have an active imagination.”
One of the benefits of offering online classes is that Rollins has been able to attract students from as far away as San Diego and Denver. She is hoping to add an introductory course where she can provide interactive feedback to students.
“This has been a difficult decision for me and there have and continue to be more than a few tears. If in the future we can safely be together in class, I will be looking for a new space to do that. But for the foreseeable future or until there is a vaccine, our practice has to be something that we do at home,” Rollins stated in an email to her students on Sunday evening.
Pilates Body Shaping has been teaching virtual workouts during the coronavirus pandemic. “PBS has nothing but love and best wishes to Phyllis Rollins and Charlotte’s Iyengar Yoga Community as it moves forward onto a different path,” the studio posted on Instagram on Monday. “We have shared the space for 19 years with love, support, and friendship. For that, we are grateful. PBS is looking forward to continuing to grow in the current space with more to come.”
Editor’s note: Although Iyengar is leaving the 8th Street Studio, the building will continue to be used by Pilates Body Shaping. The original version of this article omitted Pilates Body Shaping’s plans to stay in the space.
This story was originally published May 25, 2020 at 9:21 AM.