Courtney Bauer, the Founder of ANYA, and Shannon Swift, its Director of Operations, shared their story with me in calm voices that echoed across the cavernous studio with high ceilings, mirrored walls, large, open windows, and silken hammocks hanging from the ceiling. In 1998, when Courtney was a twenty-three-year-old graduate student studying counseling psychology, she searched for a "bridge" to combine her other passion for fitness. She found that that bridge was yoga. “Counseling psychology is about listening to and validating people's stories,” she explained, “and yoga is this ancient system based on meditation - exploring the spirit and the mind."
In 2009, Courtney founded ANYA and created the ANYA Method - though she says that “create” was not quite an accurate word. “It’s not so much about being original anymore,” she clarified. “It’s more, how do we translate what's already been done into our lives?” The ANYA Method, though technically Courtney’s own, draws influences from yoga, Pilates, and counseling psychology.
What sets the ANYA Method apart is its influence on meditation through movement. Drawing on Courtney’s dual passions, ANYA students have the opportunity to be mindful and burn calories simultaneously. “Not only are they working out, but they’re also getting educated about their bodies and how to activate a meditative state.” She went on to say that it is the classes that make their space stand out from other yoga studios. All classes are taught by teachers who are trained in the unique ANYA Method. There are three different types of classes: yoga, an ancient, mindfulness-based way of life; Pilates, a newer system focused on fitness and exercise; and the more niche “AntiGravity” classes. AntiGravity, Courtney explained, utilizes the Harrison hammocks hanging throughout two of the rooms to allow people to experience weightlessness. “When else do we get a chance to literally flip our system upside-down? It’s medicine for the nerves.”
The entire facility is most impressive. Along with the main, large room, ANYA includes three smaller studios to accommodate more intimate classes. The variety of sizes “gives us a strong following,” Courtney commented. “People come here because they feel this warm sense of community, but they can also be anonymous.”
Courtney estimated that ANYA has served “thousands” of students since opening its doors. Perhaps unsurprisingly, part of ANYA’s appeal to such a wide crowd comes from the broad range of skill levels to which it caters. “I needed to create an environment - an immersive, cohesive community,” Anya said, adding that her instructors aim to make their classes accessible to a variety of skill levels. Often classes will feature a very mixed group from beginners to the most experienced, but the "teachers are very good at balancing that.” Ultimately, ANYA is here for everyone to, as Courtney put it, “get stronger, stand taller, look great, and feel amazing.”