Shine On Yoga Brings Positive Vibes to Ferndale

Shine On Yoga in Ferndale aims to be more than just a studio – owner Linda Marchione hopes it will be a place where friendships and a sense of community form.

The studio at 22751 Woodward Ave., just south of Nine Mile Road, opened quietly last month and will hold a grand-opening celebration at 4:30 p.m. Friday, July 19, with live music, raw juices and the opportunity for community members to meet Shine On's teachers.

"We're delighted to be in Ferndale. Truly, truly, truly. I like the idea of a community," Marchione said. "I'm trying to make the studio almost like 'Cheers,' where everybody knows your name."

Besides practicing at Shine on Yoga, students can grab a cup of tea and get cozy on one of the studio's couches, she said.

"We want people to come in and hang out with us and be friends," Marchione said.

The Huntington Woods resident said Shine On Yoga is about more than making money – it is a calling, so much so that she convinced her husband Vito to tap their life savings to finance the studio.

"He believes in me and he believes in a higher purpose and we both believe this is the right way to live – to help people," Marchione said. 

"We're just a small local business," she said. "There's a lot of studios up and down Woodward and a lot of them are established, huge studios with (financial) backers. I almost look at us as underdogs. We're the studio with heart."

Shine on Yoga offers ashtanga, slow flow, vinyasa, yin and mixed classes, with rates ranging from a $10 new-student special to a $240 20-class pass. 

The studio also will regularly coordinate community service opportunities for students with Gleaners Community Food Bank, where Marchione is an independent volunteer coordinator, and other charitable organizations throughout Metro Detroit.

"We're going to try to gather up ideas to help the community because, in truth, I know people want to help, but when you have to do things alone, it can be a little scarier," she said. "People like to whistle while they work.

"We try to teach the philosophy of yoga – connecting with yourself and your inner divinity and connecting with each other because, really, it's all about relationships," Marchione said.

Visit shineonyoga.net or "Like" Shine On Yoga on Facebook for more information.