This business will come to wherever you feel most comfortable to relax through yoga
Keishera Lately, Topeka Capital-Journal
4 min read
For many, yoga is a means to relaxation, health and peace of mind.
This Topeka business aims to help followers reach their goals wherever they please.
Yoga on the Go, owned and directed by Misha Reed, will have classes in your home, workspace or other space that best suits you.
Classes include the option of single or private group sessions, along with public community classes and workshops. Options include Gentle, Restorative, Reiki, Yin Yoga and more.
Misha Reed holds her hands in a namaste pose Wednesday at Empower Life before she taught her gentle yoga class. Reed's business, Yoga on the Go, has classes here and other areas around Topeka for $15 per class. The first class is free to try.
Reed said one of the things that sets her apart is the technique she provides to her customers.
"My whole thing, which I think makes me different than other businesses and other yoga studios, not only here in Topeka, but maybe a little bit further out, is that everything I do is focused on relaxation," she said. "So, if you come to one of my yoga classes, you have a better chance of falling asleep than you do sweating."
Love of yoga is 'people feeling physically comfortable in their bodies'
Reed said her love for Yoga stems from her time as Miss Greater Topeka 2015 and later competing for the title of Miss Kansas. During that time, Reed was a 22-year-old Washburn University sophomore who wanted to use her platform to address the issue of sexual assault and the topic of consent.
"When I was researching how to help survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, I came across how yoga is an adjunct form therapy," Reed said, "and it can be used to help trauma survivors of all backgrounds."
Reed said her pull toward yoga wasn't because of the exercising and the way it made her feel physically.
"It was about, yes, people feeling physically comfortable in their bodies," she said, "but people feeling emotionally well. And that is what is the driver for me."
Misha Reed, right, instructs, from left, Nicole Lutz, Jessie Conner and Angeiqué Taylor to roll their necks Thursday during her gentle yoga class at Empower Life.
Although seeing the comfort of others drives Reed, it's also guiding her to want to achieve more.
She said her next step is to specialize in more styles of yoga, such as prenatal and trauma sensitive.
Making connections in the community through yoga
Reed began Yoga on the Go in 2018 and since has taught classes at such senior living homes as Celebration Villa, Capital Ridge and others. She has also participated in various community events, most recently the For The Culture KS event that occurred in July at Evergy Plaza.
She said expanding her clientele has been the most challenging part of running Yoga on the Go.
"If I hadn't kept trying and reaching out to people, I wouldn't be where I am today," Reed said. "And I would like to be further along, but I'm not mad about where I'm at. I just keep trying."
Misha Reed says her Yoga on the Go classes are meant for anyone interested in trying yoga. Participants will need to bring their own yoga mat, but everything else will be included.
Reed, who also works as a case manager at Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center in Lawrence, said she has found it easy to connect with people once they attend one of her classes.
"I feel like the people that I see in my classes — I feel like we both want to show up as our best selves," Reed said.
She said she would like to see more people who look like her in the crowd, and she wants it to be a space inclusive for everyone.
"I don't see a lot of me in the crowd when I'm up there teaching," Reed said. "But I thought that maybe me being who I am, I could give other people who look like me a space to do this. And I'm just not really seeing that."
When is the next time you can participate in a Yoga on the Go class?
Reed instructs a one-hour Midweek Melt class at 6:30 p.m. every Wednesday at Empower Life, 3345 S.W. Gage Blvd. Midweek Melt classes are $15 a person.
A 45-minute Reiki session is priced at $45; one-hour private yoga sessions are $60. Two gift packages are also available — one is a 10-session yoga package for $120.
Nicole Lutz, a volunteer at Empower Life, has been attending Reed's classes for two months. She said she enjoys the quality of the class.
"They're not hard, but they're very worthwhile. Very fulfilling," Lutz said "I have fibromyalgia, so I have a lot of pain. Like after my first class, my next day was amazing."
Lutz said she had never participated in yoga before. After research, she thought other classes may be too daunting, so she chose Yoga on the Go.
"This class is not intimidating at all," she said. "You can work at your own pace. If something needs modified, she can help you modify it where you can still participate. She's great, she's funny.
"If you need a hug, you get a hug. All around, it's just awesome."
Keishera Lately is the business reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. She can be reached at klately@cjonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @Lately_KT.
