Central Florida Green Guide

Full Circle Yoga is one of the few studios in Orlando that offers Ashtanga Yoga, and at three different levels.  Ashtanga Yoga was made popular by Madonna back in 2000 in her movie The Next Best Thing.  It’s a vigorous form of yoga that delivers a full body workout and feels something like the combination of running 5 miles and taking a ballet class, if you can imagine that! The studio owners, Susan and Lewis Rothlein, started teaching in 1997 and moved around to different locations as their student following grew. In 2001 they incorporated as Full Circle Yoga, Inc. and finally in 2003 they moved to their own building on Orange Avenue in Winter Park. The studio is set in the back of a plaza where they share parking with a two other businesses.  

Susan teaches the Prenatal, Mom and Baby, and occasional Baby Massage classes while Lewis teaches Ashtanga I, II and III and an Ashtanga Basics class. They have a staff of 5 other instructors who teach Ashtanga, Flow, and Hatha Yoga. The studio hosts weekend workshops and week long teacher trainings with some of the big names in Yoga like Shiva Rea, David Williams, David Swenson, Doug Swenson, Kathy McNames, and Brian Kest.

There is ample parking, though if you come on a Saturday morning at 8:30 or 10:30 you’d better get there at least 20 minutes early as they have a limit of 35 students and those two classes fill up quickly.  I’ve been turned away at the door several times as I tried to come in after the class started and it was completely full. 

Classes can be paid for as you go or you can save money by paying for a group of classes at one time or an unlimited class card.   

I’ve personally tried all of the classes Full Circle Offers.  I took my first Prenatal Yoga class at Full Circle Yoga 5 ½ years ago.  I looked forward to it each week and even doubled up on the classes as my due date approached and I felt more aches and pains.  The class really helped me to connect with my baby and connect with other moms who were going through similar issues in their pregnancy. After having my first child, I wanted to get back in touch with the moms from my prenatal class that had delivered,  so I started the “Mom and Baby” and “Baby Massage” classes.  When my daughter outgrew those I decided I need some “me” time and tried both the Hatha and Ashtanga classes.    My first Ashtanga class left a lasting impression.  The sound of everyone chanting and Ohm-ing was magical and the Yoga was much more intense than I had expected but I loved it and I’ve stuck with it ever since, even through my second pregnancy.   I’m now taking the Ashtanga II class which is a challenging full 90 minutes of yoga.  If you’ve never taken a yoga class, I highly recommend starting out at a yoga studio like Full Circle.   You will get more attention from a teacher to correct your form and modify poses if you lack flexibility or have injuries.  For more information about Full Circle Yoga you can contact the studio directly at 407-644-3288.Gretchen is a 34 year old stay-at-home mom, a Certified Health Educator and Wellness Coach. She believes a plant based diet is healing, therapeutic, and the best diet for preventing or reversing disease. She is passionate about educating families about plant based diets, exercise, and stress reduction. She enjoys practicing Ashtanga Yoga, spinning, experimenting with Vegan cooking, Juicing, Sprouting, and feeding her family as wide of a variety possible of raw organic fruits and vegetables each day.