By Heather Hartzell | hhartzell@alextimes.com

Power Nectar Yoga, a new hot yoga studio, opened at 2708 Richmond Highway in July.

It is the second studio owned by Jane Bahneman, an Alexandria native and yoga practitioner and teacher of nearly 20 years. After a ribbon cutting ceremony on June 28, Power Nectar Yoga held its first class on July 14.

While Blue Nectar Yoga, Bahneman’s first studio in Falls Church, offers a more traditional approach to yoga practice, Power Nectar Yoga offers exclusively heated classes.

“We’re opening – when the heat index is 110 degrees this week – opening a hot studio,” Bahneman said, laughing. “But, you know, it’s giving us time to kind of flush out some of our systems.”

The studio will offer a variety of classes, including hot vinyasa flow and warm sattva vinyasa, to yoga practitioners of all skill levels.

Situated between the Potomac Yard and Del Ray neighborhoods, Power Nectar Yoga has attracted mostly locals and commuters thus far, Bahneman said.

“Based on the experiences we’re having so far … so many people that are coming to the studio live really, really close. So it’s really hyper-local, which is good,” Bahneman said. “Or commuting, that’s the other piece we’ve found. Anyone who’s commuting in and out of D.C. or in and out of Maryland, they’re finding this location to be ideal.”

Gayle Reuter, a member of the Del Ray Business Association, said the studio already fits in with the local community. “With the strong wellness aspect of Del Ray, we think they couldn’t have picked a better location,” Reuter said.

Nectar Yoga Studios became a reality nearly six years ago, after many years of planning. Bahneman’s experience working for a corporate company helped her open a business of her own, Bahneman said.

“I had that entrepreneurial bug and just thought it was time to take all the skills I’ve acquired in my career and apply them to my dream. … I very diligently, in the roles that I had prior to being a business owner, I soaked everything I could up,” Bahneman said. “So when it came that time [to open a business], I had built my skill set to hopefully a place that at least gave me an edge or an advantage to finding some success in the space.”

Throughout her years of practicing and teaching yoga, Bahneman said she’s seen many ways in which yoga can be exclusive and esoteric. When it came time to open her own studio, Bahneman wanted to create a space where everyone felt welcome. Her commitment to her vision and her experienced staff helped make this goal a reality, she said.

“Our tagline is ‘we are yoga without attitude,’ and I think that that experience is felt from the moment that people walk into our doors,” Bahneman said. “We’ve always wanted it to be that when someone walks into our doors, no matter if it’s their first class or their 10th year practicing, that everybody is treated the same, that they walk in and it feels like home.

“I’d say what sets us apart is really that down-to-earth attitude. And we are a mission-driven business. We build community, and yoga is our tool,” she said. “I think community is often lost with the virtual world and where things have gone, and I don’t know that there’s a ton of spaces where people can walk in and just be who they are.”

As a long-time resident of Alexandria, Bahneman said she is grateful to open her new studio in her own community. “They’ve gotten involved right away,” Reuter said. “We love that they immediately became a part of our annual Well Ray festival.”

Bahneman said giving back to the community is a major component of Nectar Yoga Studios. “I think [yoga is] about creating a space where transformation can occur. And not only providing that space in the community, but finding ways to give back to the community we serve,” she said. “I really want to give people a space to get quiet and go in and really discover their own being, their own sense of purpose … Everybody’s looking for purpose or meaning, and everybody’s doing it in a different way, and so I hope that we create spaces that enable people to step in.”