Fitness hobby turns into career for owner of StudioVIBE

Patty Geiger, a mom of two, never set out to make a career in fitness and wellness. It had always been a side hobby, but never seemed like the basis for an entire work life.

"I always taught fitness classes," said Geiger, a former math teacher at Cary High School. "I love movement. I like how I felt when I movemy body." 

But after teaching fitness classes by renting space at dance studios, friends and students started encouraging her to open her own space. She took the leap when she leased a small space on Chatham Street in downtown Cary as Triangle Pilates.

The studio offers pilates, yoga (including prenatal programs), TRX and barre classes. There's TotFusion for kids ages 2 to 5 and KidFusion for kids ages 6 to 11. It also offers private sessions, workshops, birthday parties, summer camps and more. Geiger tells me that some high school athletes come in for one-on-one yoga sessions.

Jamie Sharp, a mom of triplet four-year-old girls, helped build the studio's youth programs. She started teaching TotFusion before her own girls reached age 2. Today, her daughters are often found playing "yoga class" at home. 

Sharp said yoga for kids is a great way to teach them coordination, strength and flexibility of both mind and body.

"They are busy busy busy on the go, in the car everywhere with mom," Sharp said of today's kids. "And just learning to use tools to teach them to calm themselves down and self regulate is really important." 

Over the next four weeks, Sharp and other StudioVIBE instructors will share yoga sequences and breathing techniques that you can use with your kids - from babies and up. So check back on Wednesday for more.