Miami’s recent growth has not just been in real estate and hospitality, businesses from all around the United States are making their way into the 305. With fitness at the forefront of many lifestyles in Miami, there is no doubt that the city is hungry for more new and exciting workout regimes.

As the largest yoga studio brand in the country, CorePower Yoga is so excited to officially be stepping into the Miami heat. From its first location in Denver, the brand has hit almost every major city from east to west.

Niki Leondakis, CEO of CorePower Yoga

We had the opportunity to catch up with Niki Leondakis, CEO of CorePower Yoga to talk all about the Miami expansion, and what is next for the ever-evolving brand. With its first-ever Miami outpost set to open in late summer 2022, the team is so excited to move, sweat and create a community here in the Magic City.

CorePower already has locations in major cities around the U.S. Why Miami and specifically why now?

Now more than ever, there’s an increasing awareness and desire among consumers to maintain and improve their health and wellness, which has encouraged people from all backgrounds to adopt fitness as an essential part of their lifestyles. Boutique fitness is expanding beyond the traditional norms of the fitness space to incorporate unique features, innovative concepts and a more intimate sense of community that makes it more attractive and compelling to consumers than big-box gyms.

As we looked to expand our footprint throughout the country, we knew Miami would be the ideal city to open our first studio in Florida because health and fitness are such a central part of Miami’s DNA. Like the history and culture of Miami, yoga has a rich heritage and CorePower has re-conceptualized the practice for modern culture and lifestyles. Our mission is to make it accessible to everyone through an intensely physical workout rooted in the principles and mindfulness of yoga but dialed up with killer music and awesome teachers.

Our new studio is located in Miami’s vibrant Brickell neighborhood, which we feel has the perfect mix of serenity and active lifestyle, which reflects everything CorePower stands for. We specifically chose a space that would be conveniently located, walkable, and appeal to people who live and work in the area. We designed the studio with two beautiful practice rooms that have breathtaking views of the bay from floor-to-ceiling windows, private locker rooms with showers, and curated retail. Most importantly, we want to offer a safe and supportive space – because at our core, we value our community.

Miami was also a natural choice for us because we have a large New York City CorePower community who travel to South Florida often and have been asking us to open studios here, making it a logical extension and a great way to kick start our growth in the market. We know Miami is ready for CorePower Yoga and we are honored and thrilled to finally have a place here that we can all call home.

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What sets CorePower apart from other yoga studios on the market?

CorePower Yoga is the largest yoga studio brand with over 220 studios across the country as well as virtual Live Stream and On Demand classes. We offer a holistic mind-body experience that’s different from traditional yoga – it’s a fitness-focused approach that blends yoga principles, strength training, heat, and mindfulness for a well-rounded workout.

Our unique line up of classes is unlike any other by providing intensely physical workouts rooted in the mindfulness of yoga – they are fun, energizing and set to incredible music. Specifically, our classes focus on the Asanas – or the physical postures – of yoga. The mindfulness comes from coordinating breath to movement with awareness in the present moment. From low-intensity, foundational practices such as C1 to high-intensity, muscle-sculpting classes like Yoga Sculpt (which we believe will be a hit among Miamians), as well as restorative classes and guided meditations, we offer a wide range of class formats for all levels.

Beyond personal development and attaining your personal goals, we pride ourselves on building a sense of community through inclusion and accessibility. We are so much more than a class you take as part of your daily routine, rather, we nurture real connections between our students, teachers, and staff so they can experience the profound benefits of yoga on and off the mat while making lasting relationships.

How do you plan to introduce yourself to the Miami community?

It starts at the grass-roots level by building relationships with surrounding businesses. We are bringing something new to a city built on the celebration of our differences but unified as one family. We did not want to just open the Brickell studio and call it a day. It’s so important to us that we really ingrain ourselves into the Miami community and do our best to become part of the city. To do this, we hosted complimentary C2, Bodyweight Yoga Sculpt and other fan-favorite classes at Brickell City Centre’s beautiful Garden Rooftop Deck and Citizens Miami, which included tastings from their incredible culinary brands. We have an exciting lineup of complimentary community classes and celebrations coming up, as well as plans to give back to the community and support local causes through donation-based classes.

As with all our studio openings, we want to welcome Miami residents to our CorePower community by offering Founding Members who sign up for the All-Access Membership 25% off their regular monthly rate for life! This includes unlimited classes at any studio, as well as unlimited access to Live and On Demand classes.

What has been the biggest challenge of expansion?

As with so many industries, the fitness and wellness industry was turned upside down because of the pandemic, but we’re very excited to be building back our community and opening new studios across the country this year. Though it was a challenging period, it afforded us the opportunity to listen and learn, and it taught us how to be quick and nimble so we could support our consumers with free and accessible yoga products when they needed us most.

What can we expect next?

Our Miami opening is just the beginning, and we could not be more excited to continue our growth in Florida. With community at our core, we want to work with local businesses and listen to our students to curate classes based upon their preferences, as well as workshops and events that serve them directly. For the most current brand and studio news, check out our Instagram and Twitter channels.

As a company, now more than ever, we’re dedicated to making yoga more accessible to everyone through our virtual offerings and new studio openings. We opened two new studios earlier this year in Manhattan Beach, CA, and Midtown, New York City, NY, and have eight more openings planned in cities across the nation for 2022. For class schedules, class descriptions, Yoga on Demand, class packs, membership signups and more, check out corepoweryoga.com or download our new CorePower Yoga app.