GREENVILLE — Yoga enthusiasts in Greenville will be bending and stretching under the tutelage of a new instructor beginning July 1.
On that day, Erica Menke will officially be taking over classes at elementsLife Yoga, at 120 West Third Street in Greenville.
The studio will also receive a new name — “Nature’s Heart Yoga.”
The current studio, run by Emily and C.J. Jasenski, has been in business for nine years, and has been at its current location for five.
Menke is originally a native of Crawfordsville and LaFayette, Indiana. She, and her daughter Megan, 5, have been residents of Greenville for two years.
Menke says the decision to pursue yoga instruction as a career came quickly, as she’s been training to teach yoga only since October.
“Originally I wasn’t doing it to go into teaching, I was doing it for my own healing purposes,” she said. “Then in January I got a little nudge from Emily to start teaching. So I started teaching in February down at Crossfit in the Darke.”
“My first class, I had 11 people in there, and as soon as I got done, I knew that’s what I wanted to do,” she explained.
Menke says she hopes this will be a full-time vocation and eventually looks forward to conducting two to four classes per day. The studio will offer yoga for enthusiasts at all levels, from beginners to intermediate students to those looking for a more energetic challenge.
“It’s going to be my livelihood,” she said. “I’m going to be certified [as a yoga instructor] in August. I plan to continue what Emily and C.J. have built and grow it even bigger.”
Emily Jasenski, who has been a yoga instructor since 2003, isn’t disappearing from the scene entirely, however.
“I’ll continue to teach here and offsite at other yoga studios,” she said.
Asked why she’s leaving elementsLife, Jasenski said, “I’m professionally ready to move on. I will always teach yoga, because yoga’s a part of me. My career’s going in a different direction, down a different path.”
Jasenski is also expecting her third child, and says she is looking forward to “being a mom for awhile.”
She also says she has faith they are leaving the studio in good hands with Menke.
“Erica’s going to put her own flair, her own energy [into the business],” said Jasenski. “I’m very, very excited.”
“I’d been thinking about going in a different direction with my work for a long time, she added. “It was just a matter of finding the right person that was in the right place in their live as well as having the drive to want to grow the business. Erica was the right person at the right time.”
For more information on Nature’s Heart Yoga, including rates and schedule, visit the studio’s website at naturesheartyoga.com.
