As part of our four-part series on young entrepreneurs, we profile Ryann Doucette and Amy Ballinger, owners of Moksha Yoga Winnipeg.

Some say a successful business is built on blood, sweat and tears. For Ryann Doucette and Amy Ballinger, owners of Winnipeg’s Moksha Yoga hot yoga studio, the sweat part holds true. Both women have turned their passion for practising yoga into a business model that improves the mind, body and soul of their clients and also gives back to the community they serve.

Movement of the body has always played a role in the two women’s lives. Doucette has an honours degree in Outdoor Recreation, as well as being a Can-Fit Pro Certified Personal Trainer and Group Fitness Instructor, a Twist Conditioning Certified Bosu Ball specialist and is STOTT Pilates trained. Ballinger, who is originally from Toronto, is a former dancer and is certified to teach various styles of yoga. Both women are also certified as group cycling instructors.

But it was their love for clarity of mind that brought the two together. The women met in Thailand while training to become Moksha Yoga instructors. After their month of intensive instruction, Doucette returned to Winnipeg with the intention of opening a studio, while Ballinger continued to travel the exotic country. The women kept in touch after the training and ultimately decided to team up on the project.

While she prepared to move, Doucette scouted for the perfect studio locale, which turned out to be the former Body Works studio on Donald Street. The custom woodworking done by Scott Jessiman and the furniture from Lindsey Steek and Company have transformed the space.

This ambience trickles into the main change areas, a second floor Pilates/spin studio and the 1,550 square foot heated studio where the Moksha classes take place. Instead of just heating the air, as many hot studios do, Moksha uses radiant heating panels, which warm objects, and are more efficient at producing the desired temperature of 37°C to 39°C. The 12-foot ceilings and tropical plants also help increase oxygen production and air circulation.

The studio floor is made from cork, which not only is more environmentally sound, but is more shock absorbent, making it an ideal alternative material for people with lower back pain.

The floor in some sense is a physical manifestation of the philosophies of accessibility and sustainability behind Moksha Yoga. Founders Ted Grand and Jessica Robertson both had a background in not-for-profit work before they came to practice yoga. And it is this background in human rights and environmental protection that has shaped every aspect of how Moksha Yoga as a community was founded. Both Doucette and Ballinger continue to grow that community through the Winnipeg studio.

One example of this community initiative is “Karma Class”, a $5 Friday evening yoga class where the proceeds go to a local charity. In their first month they raised $1,271 for Winnipeg Harvest, and have gone on to support Siloam Mission and the Manitoba Marathon. The class also allows people who are otherwise unable to afford the standard class rate to enjoy the benefits of a hot yoga session.

The women are also making yoga more accessible to people that may not be able to afford it through their “Energy Exchange” program. Through it participants work at the studio in exchange for classes. “We had the whole program filled before we even opened the studio,” says Ballinger.

Stella, a participant in Energy Exchange since the beginning, can’t image being without it. “I’m a single mother and this gives me access to yoga again,” she explains. “It’s such an amazing program, there’s nothing else like it out there. And through it, you just feel like part of a family.”

Moksha Yoga also operates on a deep sense of how people’s actions affect the natural environment. Every studio must follow strict environmental guidelines, from utilizing sustainable materials to environmentally friendly cleaning supplies. The Winnipeg studio even has all its tap water filtered to promote patrons’ use of reusable water bottles and sells SIGG water bottles for students to fill.

The studio also participates in Zero Footprint, a carbon offset program. This organization analyses your monthly heating, energy and water bills to determine your carbon footprint. The business can then make a donation to offset this footprint by planting trees, protecting watersheds, etc. “We want to be the greenest studio in the city,” says Ballinger. “We are committed to making our studio as green as it can be.”

Having previously worked in the retail and the fitness scene, both women say they had a good understanding of the physical and emotional demands of the business going in. “You really have to love what you’re doing. We’re here a lot. This is our life. I think Ryann only sleeps about four hours a night,” laughs Ballinger. “But there is such a positive energy and sense of community here—we’re just too happy to be a part of that to want to do anything else.”