Meet Sandra Vanatko of Indra’s Grace: A Yoga & Meditation Studio

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sandra Vanatko.

Sandra, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Never did I imagine when I opened Indra’s Grace 8 years ago what it would become today. When I opened Indra’s Grace I had $12 left in my bank account the night before. I was so scared, I was living with my sister, I was opening the studio in a small town in a small room inside an office space my brother in law let me build into paying full rent. I was in a new town and didn’t know anyone but my family but I said YES. Just say YES and you will be on the most amazing unknown adventure of your life.

8 years later I am absolutely in love with the amazing people in my life that have shown up fully, committed, and willing to love and serve Indra’s Grace. We opened our second location the Sunday after Thanksgiving 2017 to serve the Fort Worth community. Indra’s Grace now has two locations to serve the greater Fort Worth area.

We have highly skilled compassionate teachers which most of them have over 500 hours of advanced training. We have the most variety of class styles including Hatha, Hatha flow, vinyasa, kundalini, seniors, beginners, and restorative yoga. We also have one-to-one therapeutic sessions, craniosacral therapy available, chakra balancing, reiki, and more available.

Has it been a smooth road?
Bringing Yoga to Weatherford was not an easy road. Many people had lots of ideas of what Yoga was and it was interesting navigating students questions about what Yoga is and what it isn’t. I taught Yoga as a science in Weatherford. I was always giving the physical, mental, and emotional benefits of the practice. By offering the “why” behind the postures and pranayamas people were more likely to try it and also explore it on their own. As students felt the changes in their own bodies they wanted more. I have always encouraged students to develop a home practice.

I taught classical Hatha Yoga. I also shared practices I had learned traveling all over Asia that included tapping and body bouncing practices for better circulation. New students would often time say, “Wow! This is really different!” As they practiced with us they started to see how much variety Yoga offers and how many tools and fell in love with the practice with us! New students that had only practiced specific styles would sometimes struggle with what I taught and say, “this isn’t Yoga!”. I would always gently tell them it’s just a different style. As they stayed with us they would fall in love with the variety and depth of what we were able to offer with all our classes.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Indra’s Grace: A Yoga & Meditation Studio story. Tell us more about the business.
We are a very heart-centric community. I am so proud of the amazing community of students and teachers we’ve built. It feels like one big Yoga family. We have an amazing karma seva program that allows students that can’t afford classes to participate in an energy exchange program for classes. As a community, we have raised over 12k in scholarships to help students that could not afford Yoga teacher training to be able to participate.

We have a thriving senior community that does Yoga in Weatherford and we offer our classes to them at special pricing to make it more affordable for those on budgets. We have run free classes for cancer patients and offer Yoga as a healing modality. Our mission is to offer students a variety of tools to help empower their home practice. Our mission is to reach everybody and everybody through the variety of classes and styles we offer.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
We hope to continue educating our community through the variety of practices we offer. It’s our mission to empower students with tools for self-management and self-regulation. We love to serve our students in a way that lets them live their best life in body, mind, and spirit.

Pricing:

• $88 monthly membership
• 4 Classes for $55 for Adults
• 12 Classes for $150 for Adults
• 4 Classes for Seniors Classes $40
• 12 Classes for Seniors Classes $108
• Special Pricing for Military and Students with valid ID

Contact Info:

• Address: Indra’s Grace Weatherford: 131, West Church Street, 200, Weatherford TX 76086
  Indra’s Grace Fort Worth 620 South Jennings Ave, 76104
• Website: www.indrasgrace.com, www.3treeyoga.com
• Phone: 682-803-0727
• Email: indrasgrace@gmail.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IndrasGrace.Yoga.Weatherford/, https://www.facebook.com/3TreeYoga/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/indras-grace-a-yoga-and-meditation-studio-weatherford, https://www.yelp.com/biz/indras-grace-fort-worth-fort-worth

Image Credit:
Photo Credit: Jenny Reitz Karma Fly Design

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