“This is completely unlike me. I always know where I have to be and I’m there. I’ve just had so much going on lately, but I guess I like the stress.” And with that, in walks, Kimberly Fowler, owner of YAS Fitness Centers and the empress of all things fitness. So, she’s a little late for her interview with Genlux and a lot more toned than she is tardy, but as the “New Face of Modern Yoga”, Fowler’s booming business and burgeoning celebrity has kept her in high demand.

Fowler’s Yoga for Athletes® program has gained a cult following with more than 500 YAS-goers frequenting her, ultra-modern Abbot Kinney studio on a daily basis. Her unique blend of yoga and in-door cycling, coupled with her promise of “no-chanting, no granola, and no Sanskrit” has proven to have mass appeal.

“I started the Yoga for Athletes® program because people try to force themselves into a pose and end up injured, so they don’t like yoga,” she explains. “They don’t realize that it takes a while for the body to adjust, to turn yourself into a pretzel. Every pose has a lesser or more advanced level so athletes don’t get injured.”

However, before Fowler reached her iconic yoga status, her less then humble beginnings left her a fighter long before she mastered the Warrior pose. Coming from an impoverished background and alcoholic parents, Fowler acted as mentor for her younger siblings while also juggling several jobs to fund her college career.

“Sports and athletics were more important to my family then education. I came from a poor family so athletics always took priority over learning.” After becoming the first college graduate from her family, her aspirations for higher learning led her to law school, but were temporarily put on pause when doctors discovered she had an inoperable brain tumor. With a “screw this attitude” towards surgical procedures that could’ve greatly impaired her joint movement-the unthinkable for a tri-athlete-doctors assured Fowler that her days were numbered.

Miraculously beating the odds through unconventional treatments and the “mind over matter” outlook, Fowler became cancer-free and steadily continued her law practice until 1982 when she was hit by a car during a bicycle race. Following the suggestion of her physical therapist, she explored the healing powers of Iyengar yoga. The yoga proved instrumental not only in her recuperation from the bicycle accident, but in the recovery from a near fatal rock-climbing more than fifteen years later that left her with a punctured lung and an injured kidney – a kidney that against the advice of her doctors, Fowler refused to have removed.

“I guess you can say that yoga has saved my life a couple of times when nothing else could; a lot of it is just mind over body.”

Shortly before her free-climbing accident, Fowler had transitioned from Houston-based lawyer to Monaco-based lawyer (reaping the benefits of her friendship with Prince Albert) to COO of The Winning Combination, an American vitamin company. Fowler’s shift from the gavel-pounding and pinstripe-suited field to that sun salutations and spandex became official after having spent several months in the hospital mending the wounds from her climbing accident.

“I realized that I didn’t want to waist my time in a hospital and that I just wanted to spend however much longer I had doing what I love to do, and that meant spinning and yoga.”

Fowler, with her black nail polish, Edie Sedgwick-reminiscent bob, and signature low-rise black YAS sweatpants, doesn’t fit the stereotypical image of a soft-spoken, earthy yoga guru; in fact, she is notoriously the ‘anti-guru.’ Her progression into the yoga realm is far from conventional; after two decades as a litigator (“the scariest kinds of lawyers.” Cher quips in the 90’s classic Clueless), and then as the only female executive of The Wining Combination, yoga was an unlikely career move.

“As a lawyer you fight every day, and even if you win a case, you don’t touch people’s lives. And I get so many testimonials about how YAS has changed lives in a way that has nothing to do with money. After years of being a lawyer and a corporate exec I got tired of fighting all the time.”

Combing the yin and yang energies of spinning and yoga, Fowler’s sequence allows students to sweat out their aggression on the bike before lunging deeper into warrior two’s or surrendering in child’s pose-all to the tune of a fabulous Rolling Stones or Zeppelin track.

“People see yoga in a certain way so they stay away from it,” explains Fowler. “This studio is definitely a safe haven and I’m not trying to preach or conquer anybody, I just attract people who wouldn’t go for it; I attract the athletes.”

Aside from the seemingly unlikely marriage of cardio and core work, Fowler further flouts the more traditional chanting and meditative practices of yoga as well as the ninety-minute Power Yoga craze, as her classes are designed to meet the one-hour mark.

“Time is so valuable and I’ve noticed that after an hour of yoga half the class bails, so I decided to make it shorter so people will stay to absorb all the elements of the class.”

Citing her corporate and law background as well as her type-A personality, Fowler applies the same conquer-all and business-savvy approach to a yoga empire that has come to include several instructional DVD’s, two book deals, The No OM Zone (Rodale 2011) and Flat Belly Yoga! (Prevention Books 2013). A reality show is in development, following the opening of her next studio, her own yoga clothing line that includes skull-and-bones theme, and eventually, an anti-aging vitamin line.

“I think I appeal to a broad base and not to an elite group. I’m like everybody else-I’m not totally flexible, I don’t do some poses correctly, and I don’t just do yoga,” she explains. “Nobody is perfect and nobody has the same body or the perfect pose, and I represent that.”

A strong advocate of movement in maintaining a healthy lifestyle and a preference for strong yoga bodies over ‘waify’ figures, Fowler continues to be a one-woman powerhouse single-handedly revolutionizing the age-old practice of yoga, all from the comforts of her minimalist Venice Studio, where she still teaches on the weekend.

“I remember driving down Abbot Kinney and I saw this building with broken windows and the ‘for lease’ sign dangling off the side. It was a gang area. People thought I was crazy, but somehow I knew it would work. But, I never knew it would work out this well. This is absolutely wild!”

Skulls were my symbol when I raced as a triathlete. My bike had skulls on the handlebars; my running shirt had a skull print. I used the skulls to help me take it to the next level. When you show up to a race decked out in skulls, you better be a “badass!” And you might not know that I also have a skull tattooed on my back.

So when I started the skull yoga line, I wanted to make it as badass as what I wore to compete. I was in my 40s when I started YAS, and I was doing something no one had done before by combining yoga and Spinning.

I knew I was on to something when the editor of “Yoga Journal” ordered the skull V-back top.

I caught the wave of skulls being popular — a lot of high-end designers like Alexander McQueen started using them. Who doesn’t have one of his skull scarfs? I really thought I would only be using the print for a few years, now I can’t get rid of the skulls.

I tried to discontinue the skull print, but there was and “uproar.” Everyone at YAS loves them to this day. In fact, I have new skull leggings coming in, and when I tried them on in the lobby of YAS Venice, a bunch of students tried to buy them off my body. Very funny!

While yoga has moved into the mainstream and even beyond the mat − we’ve caught office mates mid-spinal twist − it’s still a centuries-old practice steeped in tradition, so it makes sense to show some respect. Here are our top five etiquette tips, and if we’ve missed a pet peeve, be sure to leave us a note below.

Come to class 10 minutes early, especially if you’re a newbie, to give yourself time for a quick meet-and-greet with your yoga teacher and a chance to set your mat where you’d like. Coming late can interrupt the class flow, as does an unexpected ring tone. Enjoy the hour off the grid; if you must keep your cell on, set it to vibrate.

While yoga is a time for inward focus, you’re also getting up close with fellow yogis, so it’s best to dress (and smell) the part: clean yoga clothes, mat and towel; no perfume; freshly applied deodorant/mouthwash. Women should wear tight-fitting tops so inversions don’t become peep shows. And guys, please no going commando with loose shorts or poses like standing splits can get a little X-rated. A couple more tips: Yoga is a barefoot practice, so leave shoes and socks at the door. And if you sweat, wipe down your area and mat after class to keep things clean for the next group.

Mind the sound

While yoga can sometimes be a social setting before and after class, keep the chit-cat to a minimum as some students might take a short pre- or post-class meditation. And once the teacher is set to start, it’s time to listen. We speak up to 20,000 words a day – enjoy the verbal break.

And mind the Savasana

Don’t ditch out on the end-of-class Savasana (a.k.a. Corpse) – it’s the most important pose of the practice for you and those around you. Corpse pose is a time to rest and let your hard work sink into your body. If you do need to leave early (or take a bathroom break during class), it’s best to go before Corpse and when your fellow yogis aren’t in a balancing pose.

Sign in and pay

Yoga classes typically aren’t free, so be sure to sign in and pay for the experience you’re about to enjoy.

Of course I didn’t agree. But I got it. People have had strong feelings about what’s “real” yoga and what’s not for as long as there’s been yoga. You can see it today in the way people argue about Bikram. I tried not to take the criticism of YAS and my approach to yoga personally: I was an athlete who loved yoga. It was the most natural thing in the world for me to adapt it to fit my life and sports training. And I saw how combining yoga and spinning and YOGA for ATHLETES® opened up a lot of people to yoga who had never tried it before because it was too out there or elite seeming.

Still, one thing did frustrate me about the way people dismissed what we did at YAS: I have experienced the same great health benefits “traditional” yoga is credited with from practicing my own, non-traditional approach. I could make a pretty good case that it saved my life at least once and maybe more.

I was told that I had brain cancer and six months to live my last semester of law school. That was over 25 years ago. Not only did I survive cancer, I graduated law school. At the time, I was an avid triathlete and yoga practitioner. The calming and destressing effects of yoga on me were huge. I’d been given a death sentence or the “option” of undergoing debilitating surgery that I’d chosen not to undergo. Keeping my head as I pursued alternative therapies—and my law degree (no way was I giving up at that point)—was crucial. The no-nonsense yoga I practiced was my most powerful tool against totally losing it. Which I didn’t do: More than twenty-five years later I’m still here and still practicing yoga my way (though I stopped practicing law years ago).

Not that it’s always been a walk in the park. I’ve had a couple severe sports accidents that resulted in life-threatening injuries. Free climbing outside Las Vegas in the mid-nineties, I fell off the mountain and got impaled on a stump. Ouch doesn’t begin to describe it. I was alone, in shock, bleeding internally with broken ribs and a punctured kidney. And I somehow made it off the mountain to a hospital. I know that without the breath control and calm I’d learned over the years from practicing yoga, I never would have made it. (Thank god I didn’t have to cut off my arm!) And it was yoga that played a key role in returning me to health: I can’t see how I would have regained my strength and flexibility without it.

All this to say that, if anyone has benefitted from practicing yoga, I have. And though YAS and my YOGA for ATHLETES® approach isn’t “traditional,” I’ve gotten the same incredible health benefits from doing yoga that people have gotten from it for centuries.

YOGA + WEIGHTS combines moves from Fowler’s signature YOGA for ATHLETES® class with 3-pound handheld weights so students get more than strong, they “Get RIPPED!”

“Yoga elongates your body, and paired with weights, the result is long, lean muscles,” says Fowler, founder and CEO of YAS Fitness Centers. “YOGA + WEIGHTS takes the strength training of yoga to the next level.”
The 30-minute YOGA + WEIGHTS takes students through a series of weight-bearing poses — including Chair and Warrior poses paired with a shoulder press and Side-Angle Pose matched with a lateral row — all with Fowler’s signature Sanskrit-free, easy-to-follow instructions.

Many doctors recommend weight training as the best way to prevent bone loss. “As women near 40, we start to lose muscle mass, which can cause bone loss,” says Fowler. “YOGA + WEIGHTS let’s you build muscle mass without bulking up, and the more muscle mass you have, the more calories you burn.”

A former elite triathlete, Fowler is known for designing yoga classes with athletes in mind. “Many of my students were taking yoga classes and then rushing off to the gym to lift weights,” Fowler says, “so I created an all-inclusive class.”

YOGA + WEIGHTS (YAS Productions), $14.95, available at www.go2yas.com.

Kimberly Fowler started a fitness revolution in 2001 when she founded YAS Fitness Center in Venice, Calif., the first studio dedicated to Yoga And Spinning®. Known for her no-frills approach to yoga, Fowler was called a rebel for combining heart-pumping cardio with NO OM yoga. Once a yoga oddity, YAS has gained a massive following of over 50,000 members with four locations in Southern California and sparked the new trend in hybrid fitness, spawning thousands of yoga studios inspired by Fowler’s concept. Deemed “the new face of yoga” by CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Fowler is the yoga expert for the LA Marathon, author of the Amazon best-selling book The No Om Zone and and, a brain cancer survivor herself, has raised $1 million for charities such as ThinkCure!. Follow Kimberly @kimberlyYAS and www.facebook.com/KimberlyFowlerYAS

It was tough in the beginning; back in 2001, Venice, California was gang-ridden and not exactly the place one would think an innovative upscale gym would be located. But Kimberly and YAS hung in there, and as she aligned the stars, the neighborhood transformed around them. The once sketchy neighborhood is now lined with high-class shops and bistros, and bustling with over 500 students a day happily sweating their way through YAS.

Fitness studios have cropped up all over the country using Kimberly’s business model, some even stealing her logo colors “green & gray,” which ten years ago, people thought strange. “Being an innovator is hard,” says Fowler. “When you first come up with your idea, everyone thinks you’re insane, saying it will never work, and then, when it takes off, everyone copies you.”

With four Southern California locations and over 50,000 members, Kimberly has led a yoga revolution. She is the yoga expert for the LA Marathon, contributor to countless magazines, star of a collection of fitness DVDs, designer of YAS’s Yoga and Sportswear line, and author of the Amazon best-selling book, The No OM Zone. A former triathlete and cancer survivor, Fowler has publicly shared her experiences through YAS, by raising over a million dollars for charities such as Think Cure!

About YAS

Founded in 2001 by Kimberly Fowler, YAS Fitness Center was the first studio dedicated to the combination of spinning and yoga, sparking the yoga hybrid movement that remains today’s biggest fitness trend. YAS attracts strong and capable clients seeking to take their fitness to new levels. With locations in Venice, Silverlake, East Costa Mesa, and Downtown LA, YAS is a place to come together with like-minded people for hard work and fun. Kimberly’s pioneering one-hour yoga class, YOGA for ATHLETES® integrates movement, strength, and breath work to help athletes excel, no matter their sport or ability level. Kimberly’s bestselling practical guide to yoga, The No OM Zone, is available at all YAS Fitness Centers, as are her three DVDs and celebrated YAS yoga and sportswear line. YAS offers comprehensive teacher training based in Kimberly’s original yoga hybrid philosophy.

I recently returned from a trip to the east coast as Prevention Magazine’s featured instructor at their 2nd Annual Yoga Studio in Southampton, NY. There, at the Prevention Yoga House or “Yoga Pop-Up,” I taught YOGA for ATHLETES® and YOGA RIPPED classes — a whole lot of them — for three days over the July 15th weekend.

And it was a whole lot of fun. Attendees enjoyed free classes, energy-boosting refreshments, healthy goodies and more, and I got a nice write up in KDHamptons.com, “The Luxury Lifestyle Diary of the Hamptons,” for my pioneering role in the hybrid yoga craze. But I have to admit, teaching five classes a day was tough!

As always, though, my students made it all worth it. I was only there for the weekend, but I had “regulars,” which was very sweet. One woman drove out from Delaware, took all five of my classes, then drove back home! And Prevention’s publisher, Laura Petasnick, and the magazine’s fitness editor, Jessica Cassity, came to my Yoga Ripped class. Yoga Ripped was my most popular class at the event, which sort of figures with all those type-A New Yorkers (not to insult anyone, I’m way type-A, myself).

What else… Oh! I got my first-ever “tip,” money-wise, after teaching class. It came from an “older gentlemen” and his wife, Marvin & Mercedes. Experience-wise, students at the event ran the gamut from “newbies to yogis,” which makes teaching more challenging. But I obviously did something right: I got a “seated ovation” after every class (which was also very sweet .

All in all, it was a wonderful time. Sherri and I spent a couple extra days in New York City after the event, which is always nice, but the heat this time was overwhelming and we were very happy to return to the cool ocean breezes of our Venice home.

Over the weekend of June 11-12, the YAS Team, members, instructors and staff came together for our second annual YAS-A-THON for ThinkCure, our fund raiser that included silent auctions and a 3-hour Spinning© marathon for the Los Angeles Dodgers’ cancer fighting charity. Between our four Southern California YAS Fitness Centers, we raised over $175,000 for cancer research done here in Los Angeles!

For the second year in a row, YAS was the #1 fund raiser for ThinkCure, which is amazing! I was also asked to throw in the “first pitch” at the game against the Angels. Wow what an honor! And a funny thing happened on the way into Dodger Stadium, I ran into Tommy Lasorda! I asked him for some free “pitching advice” and to sign my ball (I had my ball and glove with me just in case they let me warm up). He told me to “throw it into the stands.” Boy, I wish I could throw that far!!

Well, I did get it to the catcher, Dioner Navarro. He was giving me moral support. My goal was not to throw it into the dirt and wind up on a first-pitch blooper reel. YAS definitely hit one out of the park for cancer research!

I also got to speak with Stephen J. Forman, M.D., who has led City of Hope research efforts, and to present him with the Big Check (yes, he does look like Steven Spielberg). We talked about how the funds YAS raised for ThinkCure—now over $300,000 in just two years—has made a big impact on research related to cancer in children. “Go YAS!”

I can’t thank the YAS Team enough for all the time and effort everyone put into this year’s YAS-A-THON! Hopefully we can raise even more money next year…

And I’ve got to say, they’re good at it: Last year YAS raised nearly $140,000 and was ThinkCure’s leading fundraiser! It doesn’t surprise me, we have such an amazing YAS family. Americans are good at giving back and it’s something business owners should be good at too. After all, it’s a win-win proposition for causes that are important to your community and for your business.

By helping others, your business helps strengthen and support your community. And the stronger your community, the stronger your business. Giving back is critical to those you’re helping. It also generates good will for your business. At YAS, fund raisers like YAS-A-THON for ThinkCure are a powerful way for people to come together for a common cause and to create new and deeper friendships and bonds. And giving back just feels good. It’s good for moral at your business and in your community. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

Our YAS Gives Back philanthropic effort has been going strong for a decade, providing donations for virtually all local school fund raisers while fund raising for neighboring schools, kid’s athletic programs, flood relief (for Katrina victims) and other causes. Every time we give back, we strengthen our YAS family and our local communities.

I’m beyond grateful for all the efforts everyone has put in over the years to help YAS raise funds and awareness for great causes. I’m especially excited by the amazing outpouring for our 2nd Annual YAS-A-THON and Silent Auction for ThinkCure, coming up Saturday and Sunday, June 11th and 12th. And I’m excited for the event. Check out the video (below) for last year’s YAS-A-THON to see why.

To find out how you can support this year’s YAS-A-THON for Think Cure and help us break last year’s fund raising record, go to YAS-A-THON First Giving page.

You could say that Kimberly Fowler is one tough yogi. She began her yoga practice after being hit by a car in the 1980s while in law school (and working two jobs). She soon recovered but a year later was diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer (she beat that, too). It wasn’t until age 40, after falling thirty feet while mountain climbing and landing on a tree stump (it took her a year to recover) that she created a business around her life and passion — practicing yoga and helping people. Yoga for Athletes® was then born. The rest is history.

Read my complete mindbodygreen.com interview with Jason here.