Guest post by Ginni Beam, Sunstone FIT.
The joining of the two biggest yoga brands in North Texas—Sunstone, and American Power Yoga—has the Dallas yoga community abuzz. Sunstone has purchased APY, but both companies will be changing, bringing together the best they each have to offer. It’s big news for Dallas fitness!
Over the past twelve years, Sunstone has gone from a single Uptown yoga studio to the leading provider of affordable boutique fitness in Dallas, with thirteen Texas locations and plans to expand by several locations this coming year. Their success has been largely due to their dynamic classes, highly educated instructors, and accessibility (classes cater to all fitness levels).
Historically, Sunstone has only offered classes with a consistent sequence of postures or exercises. Every Fire class, for example, goes through the same 27 postures in the same order, holding each one for the same amount of time. This consistency has been a selling point, allowing students an easy way to track their progress and deepen their practice without worrying about what posture comes next. But some students want more variety than the current model offers. Others fear that Sunstone’s introduction of fitness classes (like hot Pilates, resistance stretching, and exercise classes using weighted balls) indicates a move away from their yoga roots. The fitness classes have been hugely popular, but students still want more yoga. This is where the APY acquisition comes in.
American Power Yoga instructors create their own class sequences, and no two are exactly alike. The APY methodology is the yoga go-to for the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, and is taught at the Mockingbird studio and through DVDs, online instruction, and television segments. APY’s Kurt Johnsen will work with Sunstone to design a “Teacher’s Choice” series based on the current APY method. This unscripted vinyasa power yoga class will then be launched in all Sunstone studios.
Says Sunstone CEO Brandon Hartsell, “[APY’s] experience will inform the training, content and launch of new yoga offerings for Sunstone. The American Power Yoga method approaches yoga in a way that Sunstone has yet to incorporate into our class offerings. The integration of this brand into Sunstone provides us a platform on which to share the APY approach to yoga. It answers the requests by our students to provide more yoga options, and does so through a tried and true method that we can really get behind.”
Kurt Johnsen agrees: “The marriage of our two brands is really a big deal. Our companies share a mission to share the tools found in yoga with as many people as possible. Through becoming a part of Sunstone, American Power Yoga has gained a means of offering our students more access to healthier, better lives.”
Leave a Reply