how we came to be…

A wee bit of history


My name is Katy, mom of four and the founder of Studio South. Once upon a time, I couldn’t touch my toes (the V-Sit was never my friend in grade school), I wasn’t flexy bendy or in particularly great shape. Quite frankly, after taking a few random yoga classes I disregarded it as something those “other people” do. I didn’t think I was good enough.

As fate would have it, I stumbled upon Hot House Yoga Studio in Virginia Beach. I went looking to drop a few pounds and found so much more. I spent the summer of 2010 falling in love with yoga (insert images of Dirty Dancing here … me as “Baby” and yoga as Patrick Swayze). At the time I was wife and mother of 2 babies (2 and under), and now yogi. I discovered that yoga helped me on all levels… what does that mean? For the first time in my life, I became very aware of who I am and how I treat myself (i.e. what I eat, what I think, choices I make). Plain and simple, yoga made me aware of the present moment. I’m far from perfect, but yoga helps me to be present with my family, my friends and myself. Yoga slows time down in this crazy, fast paced world.

At the end of the summer, I decided three things. The first was that I was one of those “people”. Afterall, we are all those people. If you can breathe, you can do yoga. Second, I was going to yoga teacher training, ASAP. Third, my hometown (“born and raised on the playground is where I spent most of my days”) needed a yoga home like the one Hot House had created in Virginia Beach. A non-judgemental, welcoming space where everyone (big, small, young, experienced, blue, inexperienced, green, you name it) could feel comfortable to experience their yoga.

I spent the next three years planning, learning, and growing. My driving force, I want to share with Williamsburg and beyond all the wonderful aspects of yoga that help me so much.

Thank you for allowing to share yoga. If you’ve read this far, what are you waiting for? Hope to see you on your mat 😉

Katy Henderson

Katy Henderson

500hr E-RYT / AromaTouch Certified / Yoga for Arthritis Certified

Nonnie Wright

Nonnie Wright

200hr RYT / Barre Philosophy Certified

Karen Grainer-Lubore

Karen Grainer-Lubore

500hr RYT / 200hr E-RYT

Felix Vlad

Felix Vlad

500hr RYT / Barre Philosophy Certified

Tiffany Reaves

Tiffany Reaves

200hr RYT / Barre Philosophy Certified

Stacy Nelson

Stacy Nelson

500hr E-RYT / Prenatal Yoga Certified / Breakti Motion Certified

Candace Kehayes

Candace Kehayes

200hr RYT / Barre Philosophy Certified

Nora Cho

Nora Cho

500hr RYT / 200hr E-RYT