One Love Yoga extends daily practices ranging from beginner classes like slow flow yoga to more advanced classes such as aerial yoga and barre.

A class at One Love Yoga aims to provide a relaxing atmosphere with music and a warm, welcoming environment. Instructors guide a person through yoga flows while encouraging you to focus on breathing throughout your practice, yoga instructor Anne Laing said.

Laing recently took over the studio, previously owned by partners Tim and April Huth. 

“Focusing on your breath and slowing your breath down helps shift you into the parasympathetic nervous system,” Laing said. “That’s the point where your heart rate slows down, your mind calms down and your body is able to heal.”

Each class at One Love Yoga starts and ends with time to focus on your breathing and set an intention for your day. Whenever a participant’s thoughts wander, they are welcomed back to focus on your breathing and recenter yourself on the practice, Laing said.

Yoga goes beyond physical health and wellness. Laing said One Love Yoga focuses on both the physical and mental aspects of yoga and the benefits it provides.

Members are also a key part of One Love Yoga, Laing said. They have multiple members including Kent and Stow residents, college students and campus athletic groups.

The members and instructors at One Love Yoga are all important in creating a safe environment for yoga.

“We try to make a welcoming environment with friendly teachers, and we are lucky we have friendly students,” Laing said.

Member Terri Cardy shared her “life-changing” experience at One Love Yoga during her seven years there.

“I started coming to yoga and it was way more than balance and flexibility, it just became a de-stressor,” Cardy said. “I set my intention at the beginning of the yoga practice, and for that one whole hour it’s just focusing on my intention, my breathing, and my mind-body connection.”

One Love Yoga is located in the old silk mill in downtown Kent across from the Kent Free Library on River Street. People can register for their first yoga class at One Love Yoga on the Mindbody app, or on One Love Yoga’s website, where they offer student discounts and list multiple classes every day.  

EmilyJo Jaeger is a reporter. Contact her [email protected].