Our Story
IN FEBRUARY 2008, owner Kate Jenkins walked into her first Bikram Yoga Class in Atlanta, GA while visiting a friend (who didn't tell her it was hot.... or 90 minutes). She promptly passed out before the class even started. It was the hardest, yet most exhilarating thing she had physically experienced. She couldn't wait to do it again.
She quickly found teacher, Stephen Fletcher at the Yoga Circle in Birmingham and became a regular student of his "26 postures" class. She and her husband made a temporary move to Daytona Beach, FL that same year. She devoted that year to continually deepening her understanding of many forms of yoga. She knew she wanted to attend a yoga teacher training to become a yoga teacher. Kate attended a seminar in Orlando, FL with the expectation not liking the controversial yoga guru Bikram Choudhury. The reverse happened. She enjoyed every minute of Bikram's seminar, posture clinic and never ending class. At that point, she made the commitment to attend teacher training with Bikram for 9 weeks in the Spring of 2009 in Palm Desert.
In April of 2011, Bikram Yoga Birmingham was born. In January of 2014, we became Kiva Hot Yoga. The name comes from a Native American gathering place. A "Kiva" is found in ancient and current Pueblo Indian villages. It is a place where we come together as a community to learn, to better ourselves, to support each other, to give back to the community and a great place to SWEAT!
Our logo comes from a Native American story: The world was a cold and dark place. There was a turquoise stone that steadily became more bright and more beautiful. It eventually became so powerful, it burst open from the small stone and became the sun.
We look forward to teaching you about yoga and about yourself. We strive to be the best instructors we can be so that you can achieve your goals and go through life with more ease and comfort. Our core offering is a traditional 26 postures class. It's a great place for anyone to start with no experience. We welcome all- young and old; strong and weak; stubborn and open minded. We will see YOU in class!