Yoga is on its way to campus with a new center devoted to the ancient art opening up on Walnut Street this fall.
Power Yoga Works will be opening its newest location in October, taking over the former location of Campus Market on the 3900 block of Walnut, next to Kinko's.
Bill Raup, founder and owner of Power Yoga Works, said that Penn offers a wonderful atmosphere in which to open his second studio.
"It's a great area," Raup said. "There's a lot of good, positive energy, and that's why I picked this area."
"And [the Penn community] doesn't have any yoga," he added. "There's no visible presence in that area."
Raup, a native Philadelphian, also likes particular attributes of the 40th and Walnut area.
"I like the fact that there's a Freshgrocer, which is really in line with what we teach -- healthy food, healthy living," he said.
"It's a multicultural area as well," he said, adding that the space also has great visibility.
Raup said that there is an apparent demand for yoga at Penn.
"There's just a need for the type of yoga that I teach," he said. "What I teach is different from what is taught all over the city.... It's a workout-based yoga, and also brings in positive principles of life as well."
"It's not just a yoga class where you get a workout; it also has a spiritual aspect to it," Raup said.
Power Yoga Works will, however, have to compete with yoga classes that will eventually be offered at the new Pottruck Health and Fitness Center just a few blocks east at 3701 Walnut Street.
Vice President for Facilities and Real Estate Services Omar Blaik said that Power Yoga Works had received a lot of interest from Penn students and faculty in the classes at the flagship Malvern, Pa., studio.
"They are the ones who projected that there's tremendous demand," he said. "From the store that they have outside the city, they are getting quite a bit of demand from Penn, whether [it be] faculty or students that are traveling that far to be there."
Currently, the space is still undergoing renovations in order to build the actual studio, add restrooms and include a retail store for yoga products.
Blaik said he hopes the new yoga studio will bring more life to that part of Walnut Street.
"Our thinking is to put a yoga place on the first or second floor... with the notion of animating the street," he said.
Among students, there is varied awareness of the upcoming opening, and there are also mixed opinions regarding the demand for yoga classes at Penn.
College sophomore Sarah Chambers said she had heard of the new studio and would go to yoga classes there.
"My other roommate does yoga, and she wants to go too," said Chambers, who does yoga on her own using videotapes.
Some students said that while they themselves are not interested in yoga, they know others who would probably attend classes at Power Yoga Works.
"I have friends who do yoga," said Wharton senior Calvin Chan, who was not aware that Power Yoga Works is opening next month.
Others commented that they do not perceive a large demand for yoga classes among Penn students.
"I think it's really cool, but I don't know if anyone's really looking for it," said Jennifer Ingerman, a College sophomore.
"I don't know who's dying to take a yoga class, but I'm sure they're out there," College sophomore Claire Duncan added. "I've heard it's fun."
