Good vibrations spreading from Urban Vybe

Stacy Wise (left) and Jo Stokes are inspiring and teaching good health from their recently opened studio in Lakeside.

“You’re going to open your own studio, aren’t you?” Robert Luleff insisted to Jo Stokes (future owner of Urban Vybe) the day after she quit her job as the yoga teacher trainer at Lifetime Fitness in Flower Mound in 2015.

How did he know? Stokes had told no one, save for family and her longtime friend, future Urban Vybe co-owner, Stacy Wise.

“I have the perfect location for you,” insisted Luleff, a good friend and fellow yogi who (unbeknownst to Stokes) was a broker with City Commercial Realty.

A year and a half later, Luleff looks like a prophet.

“Lakeside,” smiled Stokes and Wise from the recently opened Urban Vybe on Lakeside Parkway, “fits our studio beautifully — body and soul. It is perfect, just like Robert said.

“We love the community, the active lifestyle, the people, and the park just outside our door,” they agreed.

So how did Luleff know? Call it good vibes. (Note: He also knew that when Stokes no longer served his yoga teacher at Lifetime Fitness, she would find a way to teach somewhere else.)

“It’s all about love!” exclaims the Urban Vybe web site. “Well … love working your butt off, and discovering your full potential.”

“Opening our own studio has been a dream for over ten years,” said Wise, who credits Stokes with getting her started in the business 17 years ago. “We had all these great ideas on how to create the perfect studio.”

You’ll see lots of them in practice at Urban Vybe.

Great teachers, the latest equipment, infrared heat, salt lamps, for instance.

The yoga studio features far infrared heat and accommodates 27 mats with room to spare.

“Jo and I are both teachers,” said Wise. “We love people and love motivating them. And we know a lot of friends who are great teachers too.” The Vybe “tribe” currently numbers over 20 (see their stories here).

“We love to support & take care of our amazing teachers too,” Stokes said.

Then there’s the array of classes, some very specialized, that start at 5:30 am.

Seven different yoga classes are offered that range from the meditative to the high-flying (aerial yoga taught by Stokes) to the fun (e.g., Funky Friday Happy Hour Yoga). Many are quite intense.

You’ll find spin classes, pilates, boot camp, core, and kickboxing (click here for the complete list).

In every class, Stokes and Wise have thought carefully about the teachers as well as the equipment and techniques.

For example, Wise employs the Bodhi Suspension System® in her highly popular “Urban Evolution” small group training class.

Another, called Kardio Barre, is designed to “blast” fat and firm the body by combining cardio training with dance-based toning.

Wise, a certified nutrition coach, also offers personal nutrition coaching, as well as her “Nutrition 101” workshop to inspire and guide clients toward a healthier lifestyle.

Stokes and Wise creatively sought to maximize the efficiency of their space along Lakeside Parkway.

“We decided on a unisex bathroom,” explained Stokes. “It helped give us the room to enlarge our yoga studio to fit 27 mats comfortably, so people aren’t mat to mat.”

They invested in top-of-the-line Keiser bikes for the spin classes and in the far infrared heating system for the yoga studio.

A few members of the Vybe Hot Vinyasa Yoga class feeling invigorated after their 75-minute workout on a Saturday morning.

“Far infrared heats your body from the inside out,” said Stokes, “rather than a conventional heating system that blows hot air on you. Infrared rays excite the water molecules in your cells, they vibrate and produce heat.

“We love to talk about vibrations,” she laughed. “Seriously, it is great way to increase detoxification.” (Read more.)

There’s another vibe that permeates Urban Vybe: community.

“We like to create a social environment,” insist Stokes and Wise. “We are more than just a place you go to work out and leave.”

The location in Lakeside helps. So do the adventure vacations offered by Urban Vybe where healthy activities and meals are emphasized. As well as the yoga happy hours, yoga in the park, classes with live music, and the personalized service.

“It’s about creating a community where you feel supported and you support others.”

On the evening of Friday, March 11, Stokes and Wise felt the love as 200 friends showed up to celebrate the grand opening of the studio.

“It was so humbling,” said Stokes and Wise, “to see so many of our friends and students rally around us. We have made a lot of connections over the years and to see them all here was amazing.”

Many more are in the making as they “spread good vibes” from that perfect location in Lakeside.

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