DOWNEY – Downey residents can now enjoy the spiritual and physical benefits of yoga close to home with the opening of Downey Yoga.

Downey Yoga’s founder Jovon Bernal has been a resident of the city for 22 years, and a certified yoga practitioner for 13 years. However, up to this point, Bernal has had to travel outside of the city to be able to practice at a decent yoga studio. 

“The city of Downey does not have a yoga studio, the practice itself is very meaningful to me so I wanted to give to the community,” said Bernal. “As a practitioner - and I know I’m not the only one in Downey – I have to travel pretty far to get to a good quality yoga studio.”

Before the opening of Downey Yoga, Bernal would sometimes spend around one to two hours combined travel time to travel from Downey to a studio and back.

“That’s a lot of time,” said Bernal. “We all work, and we all have a lot of things to do…two hours is a lot of time…It’s a struggle…”

With the opening of her new studio, Bernal envisions a space where the community can “not only get a physical practice, but find connection.”

“Yoga is not just a physical practice,” said Bernal. “…meditation, concentration, detachment – there’s all these different legs of yoga.

"My vision is to be able to create a space for the community and surrounding areas to come in and find a place to decompress, to release, to find that connection, to find self-realization, and to share that with their family, friends, and their coworkers, and to be able to live a more fulfilling life.”

The new studio will offer several different classes for various forms of yoga, including Vinyasa, pre-natal, restorative, chair yoga, and gentle flow. Classes will run from 6 a.m. throughout the day, and are aimed for all levels of participant.

The studio is located within Myrtle Plaza off of 3rd Street and Mytrle.

For more information, visit downeyyoga.com.