The connotations of “South Tampa” are as numerous as they are diverse. To some it conjures history: All those period-piece bungalows. To others, it’s leafy, affluent neighborhoods. Or urban elites. Or SoHo night life. Or a confluence of Irish pubs. Or political barometer. Or Gasparilla ground zero.
Now add “yoga hub.”
Within the last month, two studios and a nationally-known, yoga-oriented apparel show room have opened. Evolation and Bella Prana are on South MacDill and the Lululemon Athletica Show Room is on South Howard. Moreover, Lululemon is currently scouting South Tampa for its retail outlet. (Also opening in the same time frame: Happy Buddha Yoga Lounge on Cass in downtown. And the new Tampa Museum of Art is offering yoga — included in the admission price — on Saturday mornings.)
The growing yoga presence is building on the burgeoning popularity of yoga, per se, as well as the success of two incumbent studios in South Tampa. The recently-expanded Yogani Studios on South Platt has been a yoga beacon for a decade. The Lotus Room opened its South Kennedy studio five years ago.