Seminole Heights Yoga Studio Focuses on Beginners

Jai Dee translates from Thai as "good heart." If our local yoga community was looking for its  good heart, then it won’t have to go far.

Jai Dee Yoga and Wellness Studio opened in 2008 at 5803 N. Florida Ave. The warm and welcoming space is cozy, like you just entered a friend's house where she had cleared all the space, all the surfaces and got it ready for a yoga class.

I asked Gwen Hanner, the owner of Jai Dee,  why she chose to open her studio in Seminole Heights. As it turns out, Hanner is a psychotherapist who has operated a practice here since 1995.

"I referred people often to yoga as an adjunct therapy," Hanner said. "I became aware that I wanted more movement available, more movement around me and more movement in my practice. … Part of it was selfish, too. The building was vacant. I inquired about it and then purchased it after long negotiations."

Jai Dee is a boutique style studio. The space is fully utilized for the practice of yoga. The intimacy of the space gives the practitioner excellent attention from instructors, almost to a degree of a semi-private class for the cost of regular class.  

Yoga instructor Leah McAllister has taught Introduction to Ashtanga Yoga at the studio for a year and half. Her classes are on Wednesdays at 1 p.m.

"It really is a gem [of a studio], and I feel really lucky to teach and practice there," she said. "I love this class because we work methodically through the primary series, often dialoging about theory, anatomy, history, with the added bonus to be in a small group setting."

The “Vinyasa-style” studio is serious about teaching beginners, Hanner said.

“One of the things [new] this year is to have a beginner class every day of the week," she said.

I thought that was a great idea, because there are very few studios in the area that have at least one beginner class everyday of the week. 

On Saturday, Jai Dee will be among businesses featured at the Holistic Heart of Tampa Health Fair at the Seminole Heights Garden Center on Central Avenue.

From 11 a.m. 2 p.m., visitors can learn about acupuncture, psychotherapy, sound therapy, massage, hypnotherapy and, of course, yoga. There will be free yoga demonstrations for adults and art and yoga projects for all ages.