About The BE

VISION

The locally grown and nationally recognized home of client-centered mindful movement practices.

MISSION

The Body Electric Yoga Company provides supportive and beautiful environments to improve the health and happiness of the people of Tampa Bay. We are an inclusive and outward-looking community that is non-intimidating and non-dogmatic in our approaches and philosophies. We provide high-quality instruction drawing from many modes and lineages. We believe in the myriad personal and cultural benefits of yoga practice. The BE’s goal is to uplift every individual we reach, and to reach as many individuals as possible. We believe people should be empowered to become their own best teachers, and we strive to provide customizable models of fitness. We believe in giving people agency and tools so that they may create a sustainably healthy lifestyle.

CULTURE

• WELCOMING. We make everyone feel like they belong. There is no hierarchy of status here and no guru, but instead we are empowered to become our own best teachers.
• OPEN. We believe that yoga is like language, a living thing, kept alive and relevant by its users. We are non-dogmatic in our approaches and philosophies, welcoming ideas from all styles, studios, lineages, and teachers, as well as other modalities. We don’t say there is one right way or a wrong way. We actively adapt and implement new knowledge.
• COMMUNITY-MINDED. We are outward-looking and community-minded. We believe in the personal and cultural benefits of yoga practices and mindful mental and physical fitness. We believe that what we do has the power to uplift our city and world, and so we partner with many entities to spread the practices and philosophies of yoga and mindful fitness.
• EXCELLENT. We don’t rest on our laurels, but never stop learning and improving. We are authentic to ourselves, always growing and not beholden to any tradition.
• FUN. We like fun and don’t take ourselves too seriously. We make yoga accessible without dumbing it down. We retain beginner’s minds and check our egos.
• INCLUSIVE. We are committed to cultivating a diverse community, in which all people may feel they belong. We work to ensure that people feel respected, valued and seen for who they are as individuals. We are cognizant of personal and cultural biases, and curious about the realities and ideas of other people.
• ORGANICALLY GROWN. We make decisions and expand in ways that are natural and in line with these core values.

BE STORY

The Body Electric Yoga Company was founded in 2013 by Jenny Miller and Katelyn Grady, who believed that yoga was for everybody. Rather than trading on yoga’s mystique and esoterica, they were convinced that the ancient practice could be made friendly and accessible without being dumbed down. They saw a need for an outward-looking, community-oriented space where people could discover their best selves. They imagined a beautiful space where they themselves would like to teach and practice.
For two years Grady and Miller planned and schemed, working their day jobs, building their brand, and writing many business plans in a fruitless effort to secure a commercial loan. In the end, they were able to open with their small savings and a lot of help from some good friends. They rented half of the building at 7th St N and 30th Ave. N in St. Petersburg, Florida, a former icehouse with a friendly landlord. With a beautiful, historic space and just four teachers, they opened their doors on March 4, 2013.

There were 21 classes on the weekly schedule, and their operations manual consisted of one yellow Post-It Note with three rules written on it:
1. Be 30 minutes early
2. No shit talk of any kind
3. Long Savasanas

Today, The BE owns and operates out of the entire building at 3015 7th St, with four practice rooms, a large lobby and retail space, showers, and a teacher’s lounge. The weekly schedule includes nearly 100 in-house and virtual classes, taught by some of the best yoga instructors you’ll find anywhere. In addition, The BE offers workshops and offsite events, partnering with local businesses, civic organizations, and non-profits too numerous to list. The BE now serves thousands of students every week.

A dedicated front desk team takes excellent care of customers and keeps The BE open for business 7 days a week. The BE’s retail store, The Om Depot, offers the community a place to find high-quality yoga and fitness clothes, mats, and products by local makers.

In January 2020, The Body Electric Athletic Company opened in South St. Pete. The BE Athletic was a 15,000 square foot sanctuary for mindful fitness. The gym offered group fitness classes with the same core values and vibes BE clients had come to expect. COVID temporarily shut down The BE Athletic, and it was never able to fully realize its original momentum and promise. The gym was closed at the end of 2022.

The growth of The BE has always been organic, relying on its original core values. Yoga is a living, adaptable technology that its teachers and practitioners actively reorient to continue addressing yoga’s foundational inquiry: how best to live? As with language, it’s today’s users who keep the tool sharp and vibrant, so no one is beholden to any great book or lineage, though The BE’s staff are committed students of yoga’s history and philosophies. Free from dogma, at The BE students and teachers explore, ask questions, and experiment with many styles and modalities.

Today, The BE believes there is an offering on the schedule for everybody. Whether you’re a gym rat or straight off the couch, a veteran yogi or “the world’s tightest person,” The BE’s got something for you.