When Haley Picotte-Stozek founded Inner Light Yoga Studios, she had one vision: to teach Yoga for every body. An ardent musician, Haley did not take up her own Yoga practice until after college. It took a burnout from a competitive music education degree—and the struggle of her early professional years—to bring her face-down on a mat for the first time. And help her find herself.
“After my first few classes, the yoga bug bit me hard,” she laughs. “The more I practiced the better I felt and the better I managed my stress.” As she became more deeply involved with her practice, Haley rediscovered her own center. She began making life decisions that led to happiness, harmony and more alignment with her true self. “Yoga can change your life,” she attests. “It can help you find your inner light.”
Several years later, “the bug” led Haley to open Haleybird Studios, a private studio offering an eclectic combination of music lessons and Yoga. Music soon fell by the wayside, but Yoga of every style blossomed. The studio grew to encompass multiple instructors at any given time, teaching multiple styles of yoga for all physical levels, emotional needs and body types.
Today, Haley and her team view themselves as a collective who deliver Yoga in the unique the way that every body needs it. And their spacious studio in Wauwatosa proves their commitment. It’s equipped to support every level of physical ability—from traditional mats to straps, bolsters and other equipment needed for therapeutic Yoga.
“We truly do offer Yoga for everyBODY,” Haley says proudly. “More than that, we are passionate about cultivating the whole person through Yoga. No matter what our size, shape or ability, the Inner Light within each of us shines at equal brilliance and value. We just have to find and follow it.”
This deeper realization led Haley and her team, in August 2016, to rename their studio Inner Light Yoga Studios. But the new name isn’t the only reflection of their refined focus. The Inner Light team has also unveiled Yoga Your Way, a new, completely customizable approach to traditional Yoga classes that makes private, small-group yoga affordable for the average yogi.
“We’ve taken the flexibility and pricing of a group yoga class, and paired it with the options and control of private or small group practice,” Haley explains.
The name Inner Light recalls to a story told in yoga circles: “Once upon a time, all the gods were frustrated with humanity, so they stole their divinity, trying to decide where to hide it.”
One suggested the bottom of the ocean. Another, the far flung reaches of outer space. Finally, a third suggested that the divine light be hidden with mankind—for “they will never find it there.”
The image of the Light speaks to the insight of this tale, and to our belief that yoga is a path of peeling back the layers of ourselves and finding that we truly are whole and perfect within.
Our Inner Light burns true, regardless of our exterior size, shape or physical ability.