Master yoga at Land O’ Lakes High School

Christie McClure paces before her students who stretch into warrior poses atop balance boards that, at times, bobble beneath unsteady legs.

The temperature in the yoga classroom is a perfectly regulated 90 degrees. Humidity is 65 percent.

Students expect to sweat and, to sweat a lot.

“The key to being on the board is you always want to have big breaths,” McClure tells her students, who are members of the Land O’ Lakes High School Yoga Club. “You’re going to have to have full trust in me.”

At age 15, McClure is a master yoga teacher, certified nearly three years ago through Live, Love, Teach, a nationally recognized yoga alliance program. It’s an unusual accomplishment for one so young.

She also is founder of the yoga club, a feat she accomplished in her first year at Land O’ Lakes High School.

“It’s really rare for a freshman to do that,” said classmate and yoga club member, 16-year-old Vanessa Toro.

Toro is among more than 60 students in the club. There are no dues. But, once a month, on a Friday, a dozen or so students get their yoga togs on and settle onto the balance boards in the hottest room in Land O’ Lakes.

McClure teaches Baptiste-style yoga at Florida Power Yoga, at 7016 Land O’ Lakes Blvd., directly across from the high school.

McClure’s mother, Denice McClure, owns the studio, which lives up to the motto etched on the studio’s storefront window – “It’s Not Your Grandma’s Yoga.”

Baptiste is very physical, high energy and nonstop motion. Gentle yoga, it is not.

And, classes at Florida Power give yoga another twist with boards that test balance and strengthen the body’s core.

Denice McClure, also a master yoga teacher, is co-creator of The Original Power Board. A patent is pending on the sturdy board that is generally yoga mat size with a rocking motion and a paddleboard look.

The boards are used with all classes. Sometimes free weights are added.

“This actually gets you pumped and sweaty,” said 14-year-old Novatana Wheeler.

“This is a different type of yoga,” said Leslie Rabi, age 15.  “You’re constantly sweating and constantly moving.”

The yoga poses are familiar – the downward dog, the chair, warrior one and two, and at the end, a few minutes of meditation, in the dead man’s pose.

“You get to stop time basically,” said Christie McClure.

Yoga is a family passion.

The young woman stretched into her first downward dog at age 5. Her mother had raved about how awesome her yoga class was.

“Well, I wanted to do that,” she told her mother.

Denice McClure had been a stressed-out parent, living in Ohio, with not enough hours in the day. But, she took yoga at a friend’s suggestion and came away a convert.

“Every piece of my life made sense,” Denice McClure said. “I actually had more time by going there.”

Trained as a chemist, she retired at age 38 and toured the country learning from different yoga teachers and working toward master certification.

Her daughter was right there, undaunted by being a child novice among adults. She has a maturity that is earned.

“She gets acclimated to the adult world,” her mother said,  “and forgets she is 15.”

Christie McClure wanted to start a yoga club at Pine View Middle School. But, she had to wait until freshman year at Land O’ Lakes High School.

“I wanted to have a club where students could find an outlet and get interested in an activity,” she said.

The club also focuses on helping other students who need help buying books and other supplies. Special yoga events are held to raise money. The goal is to donate $2,000 to the high school by the end of the year.

One recent Friday afternoon, Justin Cheriyan, 15, took his first power yoga class. He is a yoga club member who plans to be back.

“I was looking for a more aggressive form (of yoga) to relieve stress,” he said.

The appeal of power yoga covers the gamut from weight loss, to meeting up with friends, to becoming a more conditioned athlete, Christie McClure said.

Behind her, an eye-catching mural captures the spirit of power yoga with messages encouraging participants to “challenge your limits,” “get ready to sweat,” “inhale,” and “wring it out.”

Just give it your best and the rewards come, the young yoga teacher said.

“As long as you’re getting messy and feeling great, that’s what our goal is,” she said.

Published December 9, 2015