In keeping with its name, Roots Shoppe, in Fort Walton Beach, offers yoga as it was traditionally meant to be: a means of personal growth, not merely a fitness practice. 

“Our soulmate yoga students are those who have a desire to root down into their authenticity and stand up in their personal power. If they feel like they don’t fit in a yoga class, we want them to come to ours,” says founder and owner Jessica Villarreal-Hays. 

Between its eclectic retail shop and the attached yoga studio, which holds group and private classes for adults and kids, Roots Shoppe reflects and reinforces the growing trend toward diversity and self-acceptance, Villarreal-Hays says. 

“Inclusivity, social justice and consent are all matters we put extra emphasis on here,” she explains. “Every body is a yoga body—every shape, fitness level, color, gender, nationality, etc. Rather than a heavy focus on fitness, our focus is on you connecting in with your body and your breath, varying your practice to whatever feels good for you in that moment.” 

Roots Shoppe’s yoga studio overlooks the water, with high ceilings, cork floors and expansive views. It offers multiple weekly yoga classes Monday through Friday, including SoulShine, Unwind, Traditional Kundalini, Summoning Shakti, Gratitude Flow, Flow On-The-Go, Kundalini Energy Flow, Ananda Flow and YoGay, “a rainbow flow for every body.” It also holds special classes for the lunar cycles each month, as well as pop-up specialty classes.

Location: 357 Beal Parkway NW, Fort Walton Beach, FL.  For more information, visit CGypsyMuse.com.