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Local Business in the Spotlight for Promoting Healthy Living in Ohio
< < Back toOne local business is in the spotlight for promoting a healthy way of living to people in the Athens area. Inhale Yoga Studio was one of nine businesses featured in the Ohio Business Profile program. The program was created by Secretary of State John Husted to highlight local businesses across the state.
“I think it’s really great they’re starting to say ‘Not only do you file your filing with us, but we want to showcase you and say you’re important to the overall health and fiscal health of our state and the growth of our state and the community members that live in it,’” Michelle Stobart, owner of Inhale Yoga Studio, said.
Each month the Ohio Business Profile Program has a different theme. This month’s theme is healthy living, specifically focusing on tackling Ohio’s obesity rate.
Ohio has the 8th highest adult obesity rate in the country with more than one-third of Ohioans considered obese.
“Each year, Ohio’s statistics in national health studies worsen, which increases healthcare costs and harms our productivity, but what’s worse is that it reduces the quality of life potential that each person has,” Secretary Husted said.
Michelle Stobart loves to share her healthy lifestyle habits with others. She first opened Inhale Yoga Studio, located in downtown Athens on Court St., seven years ago.
“It [yoga] is just this beautiful practice that not only creates a strong, flexible mobile body but also creates this strength of mind and will,” Stobart said. “It’s everything from understanding who are on the inside and how you interact with the world on the outside.”
Through yoga, there are a number of health benefits including muscle strength and tone, improved respiration and energy, cardio and circulatory health, increased flexibility and weight loss.
According to Dr. Loper, a dietician at the Central Ohio Nutrition Center, being overweight is linked to a number of health problems including cardiovascular problems, diabetes, hypertension and several common cancers.
“Now we’re seeing a lot of people in their 20s and 30s that seem to have the higher instance of obesity. Not just overweight but the obesity,” Dr. Loper said. “Eating and exercise, yes they may be the main thing, but there might be other factors in the world that are going on that are effecting the obesity.”
Loper said lack of sleep and stress can also lead to weight gain. Inhale Yoga Studio is a place where one can go to meditate let go of their stress.
“Kind of all that nagging stuff just drops away and we fell that release of tension, of stress, of that daily worry and anxiety that we carry around,” Stobart said. “Yoga is for everyone, and it’s just a matter of finding the right class and I would love to help someone find their way into the right class.”
Other businesses featured in this months’ Ohio Business Profile Program are:
-Northstar Cafe (Franklin Co.)
-Pulse Yoga/Fitness Studio (Union Co.)
-Grace Green Beauty (Butler Co.)
-Speciality Fitness Equipment (Cuyahoga Co.)
-Native Cold Pressed (Franklin Co.)
-Rare Air Fitness (Wayne Co.)
-Chagrin Valley Soap and Salve (Cuyahoga Co.)
-The Greenhouse Tavern (Cuyahoga Co.).