West Dundee studio offers yoga for moms and kids

Cary resident Liz Gregerson has experienced firsthand how powerful yoga can be while navigating motherhood.

While pregnant with her second child, she attended classes at the former Radiant Heart Yoga, a studio in West Dundee for women, pregnant women and their children. Having practiced and taught yoga for years prior, Gregerson hoped taking toddler classes with her young daughter, as well as prenatal classes, would be a relaxing and healthy way to exercise during her pregnancy.

More than that, she said, she became part of a community of women going through similar experiences who could share their struggles and joys, ask questions and bond with one another.

Now, Gregerson, 29, hopes to carry on that legacy and maintain a community atmosphere with a new studio of her own: ohm Mother Yoga, located at 647 S. Eighth St.

The opportunity fell into her lap, she said, when the owner of Radiant Heart Yoga announced she was moving to California earlier this year.

“I think it's the same message and the same mission, just with a breath of fresh air and a new energy,” Gregerson said. “It's a safe space for women to come and practice yoga and connect with other women.”

A ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house run from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Aug. 19. The studio has been holding classes since early July to best determine what the community wants.

ohm Mother Yoga offers classes for women and children at all levels and ages, including prenatal, baby, tot, kids, family, fertility and women's yoga. One of the studio's goals, Gregerson said, is to enhance a woman's relationship with her family and herself.

For Nicole Lehmann, an Elgin resident who is pregnant with her third child, the classes serve as both an active and educational opportunity.

“It's very community centered, and you meet a lot of moms in the same situation you're in,” Lehmann said, pointing to opportunities to ask questions both in class and on Facebook groups. “It's a really good source of information.”

That's the point of ohm Mother Yoga, Gregerson said — to give women a support system.

“That's my goal is to make it a little easier and nicer for women to be pregnant and have babies,” she said. “I hope they don't feel alone and can be part of something bigger than themselves.”