We sat down with Bill Sternberger, our yoga instructor, to discuss all things EvolveAll Yoga. Bill is a certified Yin Yoga instructor, certified Vinyasa Teacher (RYT®) with Yoga Alliance, and certified yoga trapeze Instructor. You can find him teaching yoga classes on Tuesdays and Saturdays or at the studio throughout the week training in our jiu jitsu program.

Tell us about EvolveAll’s yoga program. I understand things are expanding.

We’re excited to have yoga back at EvolveAll. We’ll have vinyasa and hatha classes, those are the main styles we’ll practice. Those are moving with breath and they’re also holding postures as well depending on the class. They’re more fast paced but focused on strength and flexibility. In time we’ll add workshops so keep your eyes on the events page for deep dives into different parts of yoga. We’ll do some philosophy. We’ll do some song bowls. All sorts of things.

Who might benefit from participating in EvolveAll yoga classes?

The yoga program is all-levels by design. We want everyone from those coming back from injury to new beginners to advanced practitioners. In fact, in one class you may find people taking different expressions of the yoga posture depending on where they are. Make sure to show up a little early and talk to the teacher if, for example, you have some extra tightness or you want to explore some postures further so that we can make sure we accommodate that in the class.

What’s your favorite pose to do?

In my younger days, my favorite pose would always revolve around some kind of arm balance or inversion or something fancy. These days, with injury and age and all that kind of stuff, it’s evolved and I simply like twists, forward folds, hip openers, anything that’s going to help my jiu jitsu.

What’s your favorite pose to teach?

Teaching students is a whole different ball of wax. I used to love teaching headstands simply because a lot of times students didn’t think they could. Unless they have some medical condition preventing them from doing an inversion, it’s actually quite accessible. Watching them finally nail that headstand after all the attempts is very rewarding.

When you’re not helping people improve their mobility and flexibility, what are you up to?

When I’m not trying to help people with their mobility, I’m trying to strangle them—in the jiu jitsu program, that is. We practice yoga and “murder yoga.”

This year, we’re celebrating 15 years of EvolveAll. What has EvolveAll meant to you?

My son and I joined EvolveAll about a year and half ago. We were coming out of the pandemic, and we had experienced all the same things a lot of people did: eating, eating, eating, no exercise, no exercise, no exercise. It started out as simply trying to get back into shape and reinvent what normal is. Coming to EvolveAll was trying to reinterpret the world. What we found was something totally different.

My son started doing jiu jitsu and I was training with him. That gave us a bond that we didn’t have before. Over the years, my son and I used to do yoga together, but doing “murder yoga” is totally different. So, for us, it’s been a lot of fun evolving our own relationship and our skill set as well. EvolveAll is a very important part of our lives.